It has been said the hardest part of stock trading is knowing
when to sell. I'll vouch for that. Any numbskull (like me) can plop
down money and buy anything. Since you don't make money ( or loose)
until you sell, knowing where or when is more important that
knowing where or when to buy.
I have been getting killed lately on days when I cannot be at
the PC, while working. I have got stopped out so many times- at a
loss, it's pissing me off. Many of my gains have been less than
they should be, because my bracket is to low.
The old watch list had guidance about where to place stops and
exit points. Without those, this is Hoodoo voodoo for me, and the
results show it.
In the absence of guidance from the BPT watchlist, is there any
good rule of thumb to apply? Some of the charts that have
accompanied the stocks listed on the TI have suggested stops
commented. Most do not, nor do they have suggested profit exit
points.
I just got home after being gone 3 days and brought up my
accounts and read the bad news. Ugly, and the market has been going
up!
ragwing- Since the
market has been so strongly lately, many/most stocks have moved
higher with little retracement. The old saying, a rising tide
raises all ships has been going on for most stock.
First off you have to define what you are trying to do and what
style of trading, but since you work a job it sounds like are
trying to swing trade. For swing trading you will need to
place wide enough stops to account for some noise, vs day trading
when stops can be ridiculously tight at times.
Since most stocks haven't retraced too much, perhaps you are
placing your stops too tight and getting stopped out on noise.
RichieD had a nice writeup of what he looks for, and this is
also why many times we'll buy within a pattern near a trendline
support or MA so that we can have a tight stop. Of course
some stocks we only bought once they take out resistance, kind of
depends.
However without seeing your actual trades, what stocks you
bought, what prices you bought them at, and where your stops were,
it's hard to comment or help you. Basically we need details.
Therefore why don't you email us this information and Steve
or myself would be happy to go over your trades with you over the
phone and see if we can help.
also, when looking at the watchlist, remember that it's more of
a list of trade ideas and a guide. However regarding stops,
targets etc, while not every trade idea on the list has this, a lot
of them do. Here's a link to the triggered trades on the
watchlist, read the dated comments above the chart pictures (NOT on
the charts themselves), you will see that many of them have
comments for stops, targets, suggestions about taking some profits,
etc.
Note, many times I forget to add stops to the table, therefore
it's be to look at the trades in this manner so that you can view
my comments instead, non-table view
I use the free section at stockcharts.com to identify technical
support levels on the stocks I buy. I often look for
horizontal support which is easy to identify with the aid of a
t-square type tool that comes up when you check the inspect box at
the top of a chart. Check it out. Sometimes I place a
stop below that horizontal support or just below the middle
bollinger band (dotted line) which often acts as good support when
a stock is moving higher; bollinger bands are an option in the
overlays section. Then there are Matt or Steve's triangles,
which frequently act as support or resistance, as do moving
averages. Play around with all these to find what feels best
to you. Never expect to sell at the very top and learn to
trust your instincts.
Perhaps more important than any mechanical approach is to insure
you only trade when everything else in your life is going well.
Otherwise, your judgement may be clouded. Learn from
your mistakes (we all make them), keep things simple, never have
regrets and always look ahead.
Need help selling
Posted by ragwing on 8th of Feb 2012 at 06:19 pm
It has been said the hardest part of stock trading is knowing when to sell. I'll vouch for that. Any numbskull (like me) can plop down money and buy anything. Since you don't make money ( or loose) until you sell, knowing where or when is more important that knowing where or when to buy.
I have been getting killed lately on days when I cannot be at the PC, while working. I have got stopped out so many times- at a loss, it's pissing me off. Many of my gains have been less than they should be, because my bracket is to low.
The old watch list had guidance about where to place stops and exit points. Without those, this is Hoodoo voodoo for me, and the results show it.
In the absence of guidance from the BPT watchlist, is there any good rule of thumb to apply? Some of the charts that have accompanied the stocks listed on the TI have suggested stops commented. Most do not, nor do they have suggested profit exit points.
I just got home after being gone 3 days and brought up my accounts and read the bad news. Ugly, and the market has been going up!
ragwing- Since the market has been
Posted by matt on 8th of Feb 2012 at 10:39 pm
ragwing- Since the market has been so strongly lately, many/most stocks have moved higher with little retracement. The old saying, a rising tide raises all ships has been going on for most stock.
First off you have to define what you are trying to do and what style of trading, but since you work a job it sounds like are trying to swing trade. For swing trading you will need to place wide enough stops to account for some noise, vs day trading when stops can be ridiculously tight at times. Since most stocks haven't retraced too much, perhaps you are placing your stops too tight and getting stopped out on noise. RichieD had a nice writeup of what he looks for, and this is also why many times we'll buy within a pattern near a trendline support or MA so that we can have a tight stop. Of course some stocks we only bought once they take out resistance, kind of depends.
However without seeing your actual trades, what stocks you bought, what prices you bought them at, and where your stops were, it's hard to comment or help you. Basically we need details. Therefore why don't you email us this information and Steve or myself would be happy to go over your trades with you over the phone and see if we can help.
I'm sending you a pm with contact information
also, when looking at the
Posted by matt on 8th of Feb 2012 at 10:43 pm
also, when looking at the watchlist, remember that it's more of a list of trade ideas and a guide. However regarding stops, targets etc, while not every trade idea on the list has this, a lot of them do. Here's a link to the triggered trades on the watchlist, read the dated comments above the chart pictures (NOT on the charts themselves), you will see that many of them have comments for stops, targets, suggestions about taking some profits, etc.
Note, many times I forget to add stops to the table, therefore it's be to look at the trades in this manner so that you can view my comments instead, non-table view
http://breakpointtrades.com/stockwatch/print_watchlist/1/All/
Ragwing: I'm no expert either when it comes to selling but......
Posted by RichieD on 8th of Feb 2012 at 08:25 pm
here's what works for me:
I use the free section at stockcharts.com to identify technical support levels on the stocks I buy. I often look for horizontal support which is easy to identify with the aid of a t-square type tool that comes up when you check the inspect box at the top of a chart. Check it out. Sometimes I place a stop below that horizontal support or just below the middle bollinger band (dotted line) which often acts as good support when a stock is moving higher; bollinger bands are an option in the overlays section. Then there are Matt or Steve's triangles, which frequently act as support or resistance, as do moving averages. Play around with all these to find what feels best to you. Never expect to sell at the very top and learn to trust your instincts.
Perhaps more important than any mechanical approach is to insure you only trade when everything else in your life is going well. Otherwise, your judgement may be clouded. Learn from your mistakes (we all make them), keep things simple, never have regrets and always look ahead.
Good luck.
Words of wisdom there -
Posted by pebs on 8th of Feb 2012 at 11:23 pm
Words of wisdom there - thank you.
Nice post RichieD, thanks for
Posted by matt on 8th of Feb 2012 at 10:28 pm
Nice post RichieD, thanks for taking the time to share :)
Well said. especially those last
Posted by mugsy on 8th of Feb 2012 at 10:10 pm
Well said. especially those last 7 words!