Recently in the comments section of a post from July 2008, titled 30% today vs. 50% tomorrow, a reader John asks the following question,
“I noticed some of my mutual funds are showing a 70% return from one year ago (market low). Do you agree it’s a good time to sell some now and wait for a dip in the major indexes before getting back in? I’m of course talking about my funds invested in US equities.”
30% today vs. 50% tomorrow was a post I wrote discussing my long held belief that taking profits when available is never a bad investment strategy as long as you’re not intentionally attempting to time the market. Market timing is a bad habit in investing that far too many investors participate in by trying to anticipate moves in the markets for return/gain. No investor can successfully anticipate or predict movements or trends in the markets with 100% accuracy; so the question each investor needs to ask themselves is, “Why Try?” Read More…
Never, ever attempt to time the markets. The most successful investors such as Warren Buffet never succeeded by being precise on when to buy in or sell they focused in on one specific price and selling at a higher price.
I always realize the profits right away on all my investments. And then turn around and reinvest them into other equity.
Trying to predict the right time to sell is next to impossible. Market conditions are instantaneous and if you time wrong you are in for a world of hurt.
Take the global financial collapse of 2008. All was good and prime for a wonderful holiday season and then BAM! the next day the market dropped by half.