When do I sell my Wares

when to sell
In the markets, the decision of when to sell is as important as when to buy.
They say we shud be greedy when people are fearful and be fearful when the ppl are greedy.Over the last one month the market have had a rollercoaster ride.
One day it is up by 200 points and the next day it is down by 200..fORGET the fluctuations on a day to day basis, the prices fluctuate on a broad range on the same day.
Hence the moot question is what should one do ? shud we buy or sell or stay invested ??
Let me present my point of view :1. For some stocks you need to have a target, that is I am expecting 30% profits and once I achieve that profits I will sell off my stocks.
2. For some stocks which are more or less evergreen..I cant say TCS.Infy are evergreen any more, things change any minute..such stocks you can keep for a longer time..rather than a target. Such stocks, you can sell a portion of your stocks once yu reach yur target and then as the stocks reach higher targets, increase your stop loss.
3. And at times, for some stocks, you have to ignore the various lows or highs of the stocks. For e.g. you can take Ansal Properties,, this stock hits the upper circuit on one day and the next day it hits the lower circuit. For such stocks, a better attitude is to just ignore the daily stock moves and hold onto your positions.
As much important it is to decide what to buy and when to buy, it is equally or more important to decide when to sell a stock.My short experience of 2-3 years in investing says that it is important to encash yur profits. One shuld keep encashing the profits when the stock reaches new highes. Else you might just end up with no profit/loss. I can give an example of some commodity stocks, the stocks reached double my acquisition price and hoping that they will cross further highs, I held on..and the end result was I was back at my acquisition price with no profit or loss.Hence it is better to encash your profits for some stocks.
All said n done..investing in the markets requires you to be v disciplined and not take hastydecisions in fit of emotions..