Effective Stock Limit to Sell

[bryant9967]

Hello. I was wondering, how effective is it to set a sell limit on a stock, by that I mean, telling your broker that if the stock reaches a certain level they should sell it? I always wanted to know how to make money in the stock market - without the agonizing stress and uncertainty. Please tell me how is that possible.

[aquaswim47]

You use stops or trailing stops when you want to sell a stock at a loss from its highest price; it's merely a method of safety that ignores any potential upside. That said, I believe that an 5-12% trailing-stop order is able to limit losses from gyrations in individual stocks. However, if the market tanks and you own a good stock, than you will miss out on that stock's returns because you sold it prematurely. However, a stock like TEVA that was trading at over $40 per share and dropped below $33 (it fell all the way to $29.83 from $45.91 per shaer and now trades at $38.12 per share) would have been good to sell at $38 per share and then when it fell below $33 to rebuy that stock. Off course, an over 20% drop in the price of a great stock is unusual and those opportunities don't come knocking on your door. You've got to go find them and by investoe's estimates, you have only a 15% chance of being successful of beating the market.

I've used trailing stops of 2-10% (mostly between 5-8%). I've sold CBH for a slight gain on a 2% trailing stop. I would use a trailing stop that is <5% if you truly want to sell the stock but are attempting to get the best possible price for that stock. The price needs to be above what it's normal (such as 2-3 times its normal) daily gyration will be. For example, CBH may gyrate 1.75% so 1.96% was above that 1.75% gyration.

Never put your trailing-stop on auto-pilot. During times of excessive trading (such as a 400 point drop in the Dow), the price that you sell the stock at and the actual price you receive (will be much lower). On the other hand, you may have wanted to buy at that price (not sell). That's the downside of a trailing-stop; you sell at an inopportune time and at a lower price than the trailing stop. A similar thing would happen if the company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in which the stock drops to near zero (and renders your trailing stop ineffective).

But enough of my speal, I think an 8-10% trailing stop is what most people should use.

[pedro_9k6k]

Have you ever tried Portfolio crafter on Internet? I came across it on google search and immediately started making profit. Most people don’t believe when I tell them. Manny has been extremely accurate in the 4 months I have been with Portfolio Crafter. Some of his calls include a 65% return of SONS in which I made a profit of $1800 in under 3 weeks, although I did leave this trade early to lock in solid gains. Other returns include a $1000 profit on ACF in less then a week, a $400 profit on NVDA on a 15% return in less then a week, and a profit on LU of $500 and growing (as this is being written) in less then two weeks. I think their site name portfoliocrafter.com. It works for people like me who actively monitor the market or for people who can only follow the market every couple of hours via his email alerts. You don't need to follow every second of the market to make money using Portfolio Crafter."

[Yee Sian]

Originally Posted by pedro_9k6k

Have you ever tried Portfolio crafter on Internet? I came across it on google search and immediately started making profit. Most people don’t believe when I tell them. Manny has been extremely accurate in the 4 months I have been with Portfolio Crafter. Some of his calls include a 65% return of SONS in which I made a profit of $1800 in under 3 weeks, although I did leave this trade early to lock in solid gains. Other returns include a $1000 profit on ACF in less then a week, a $400 profit on NVDA on a 15% return in less then a week, and a profit on LU of $500 and growing (as this is being written) in less then two weeks. I think their site name portfoliocrafter.com. It works for people like me who actively monitor the market or for people who can only follow the market every couple of hours via his email alerts. You don't need to follow every second of the market to make money using Portfolio Crafter."

Sorry, but I do not quite see how what you said is related to the thread. Your other thread about Portfolio Crafter should suffice

[aquaswim47]

I agree that the post is inappropriate. We provide each other advice on stocks. Nice work.

Please take a look at my stock list. I'm hoping that you take a look at it and potentially research some of the stocks on your own. You might disagree with me on a stock that I hate (BAC) and choose to buy it, for example. I think you should take a look at it. I will be creating a mutual fund list when the market falls more. Right now, I'm bearish on the market. I like those funds that short the market if a 10% loss in the market could be a nice profit for you.