How do you NOT Buy+Hold?

[Kaitlyn]

Of all the stocks I have invested in, MOST of them I have kept until this day. Sure, a lot of investing techniques call for long-term horizon and I am totally fine with that. However, I think - it seems - there are also investments being made that I shouldn't be holding on for so long.

Does this make sense? What do you guys think? How do you determine/decide that you'll sell a stock, take the gains versus holding it hoping for even more over a longer timeframe?

[Sauerkraut]

Don't know if there's a hard and fast rule. For me, it's usually a gut feel.

For ex. I just sold all my holdings in RCI.B. They've been missing targets and started laying off staff. They're still a solid company and will probably continue to pay a nice dividend for a while, but I think their business has seen better days. Too much competition in that space. I want to get out while the share price is still ok.

[Kaitlyn]

Don't know if there's a hard and fast rule. For me, it's usually a gut feel.

For ex. I just sold all my holdings in RCI.B. They've been missing targets and started laying off staff. They're still a solid company and will probably continue to pay a nice dividend for a while, but I think their business has seen better days. Too much competition in that space. I want to get out while the share price is still ok.

Haha and on the flipside I basically just got in to RCI.B for the nice dividend - and dividend growth. And I also expect cap gains on top

[Sauerkraut]

Haha and on the flipside I basically just got in to RCI.B for the nice dividend - and dividend growth. And I also expect cap gains on top

Well good luck to you. Hope it works out. I personally think Rogers is losing their economic moat.

[SkimGuy]

Most investors have a stop/target price. No emotional decision required whatsoever.

[Nyte]

It depends on why you bought the company in the first place. I have stocks where I expect them to do well over the next several years or decade, but there are also stocks where I just picked it up since I expected a sudden swing and sold it after a few days. A good test would be, if you had the money, would you buy more of that stock today at the current price (if you ignored allocation and stuff), if not, you should consider selling.

[ACC-Major]

Don't know if there's a hard and fast rule. For me, it's usually a gut feel.

For ex. I just sold all my holdings in RCI.B. They've been missing targets and started laying off staff. They're still a solid company and will probably continue to pay a nice dividend for a while, but I think their business has seen better days. Too much competition in that space. I want to get out while the share price is still ok.

Too much competition? lol
We are still paying way more for the same services than the US.

Just that people have been complaining about Rogers network being subpar to Bell and Telus

[noob666]

Too much competition? lol
We are still paying way more for the same services than the US.

Just that people have been complaining about Rogers network being subpar to Bell and Telus

Actually they're losing business.

They missed there last price target and employee is being lay off.

[Sanyo]

Telecoms still has some growth left to it, more so Bell and Telus with their new fiber cable system. Rogers is a dead goose, the new CEO is a moron (sorry to say but I hate putting numbers guys in those roles as they often lack creativity, plus not to mention he is killing my beloved Jays by being cheap and not spending money to get good players!)

[cjottawa]

“Our favorite holding period is forever.” - Warren Buffett

That's buy and hold. Only buy stocks that you'd feel comfortable leaving alone in your portfolio for 20 years, as if you'd fallen into a coma. (or that you'd feel comfortable losing entirely)

I'm mostly in index funds because I don't think I'm smarter than the average bear; I don't think I can stock pick any better than anyone else.

Full disclosure: I keep about 5-10% of my portfolio in shares of about two dozen Canadian companies that offer both DRIPs and SPPs. I never sell them and the dividend is automatically reinvested to purchase more shares, in factional amounts.

[SkimGuy]

“Our favorite holding period is forever.” - Warren Buffett

That's buy and hold. Only buy stocks that you'd feel comfortable leaving alone in your portfolio for 20 years, as if you'd fallen into a coma. (or that you'd feel comfortable losing entirely)

<b>I'm mostly in index funds because I don't think I'm smarter than the average bear; I don't think I can stock pick any better than anyone else.</b>

Full disclosure: I keep about 5-10% of my portfolio in shares of about two dozen Canadian companies that offer both DRIPs and SPPs. I never sell them and the dividend is automatically reinvested to purchase more shares, in factional amounts.

That's one way to look at it, and I sort of agree with you. It's not that I don't think I'm smarter than the average investor, it's just that why bother? All signs point to having an index ETF portfolio being sufficient for 95% of the general public, and that's the outlook I'm gonna take.

[ccyk]

“Our favorite holding period is forever.” - Warren Buffett

That's buy and hold. Only buy stocks that you'd feel comfortable leaving alone in your portfolio for 20 years, as if you'd fallen into a coma. (or that you'd feel comfortable losing entirely)

I'm mostly in index funds because I don't think I'm smarter than the average bear; I don't think I can stock pick any better than anyone else.

Full disclosure: I keep about 5-10% of my portfolio in shares of about two dozen Canadian companies that offer both DRIPs and SPPs. I never sell them and the dividend is automatically reinvested to purchase more shares, in factional amounts.

buffett sells all the time. it is not like he never sell. and he gambles a lot too. he got squeezed out of his billion US short position back in 09/10.

[netriones]

I sell/reduce positions when the price go so far out of line with it's value and buy more when quality business go on sale.
I hold the losers until the end or recovery such as YLO/RIM. (Small positions only) :D

[jedi1648]

BUy and hold is generally a good policy, because it is difficult to time the market. But then again, with uncertain market outlook, and with downing market affecting your sleep, it is better to sell to take profit or to stop loss, and wait for the mkt to recover.

[cjottawa]

That's one way to look at it, and I sort of agree with you. It's not that I don't think I'm smarter than the average investor, it's just that why bother? All signs point to having an index ETF portfolio being sufficient for 95% of the general public, and that's the outlook I'm gonna take.

100% agree with you there! Most people would be best served sticking with a basic index fund based portfolio such as those detailed by Canadian Couch Potato: http://canadiancouchpotato.com/model-portfolios/
(myself included)

[McPaul]

I pick a broken stock of a highly reputable company that is highly volatile. I usually only have a couple to four stocks at any one time and ALL my money is in there. I keep an eye on the stock and sell as soon as it's gained between 10-15%. sometimes I use limit sell orders. 12% seems like a nice round number. I do that repeatedly throughout the year and watch my money "compound" throughout the year. I'll do both: cycle through the same stock multiple times, or pick new stocks. sometimes it takes a couple of weeks to get to that range and sell, sometimes it takes several months. thus far this year I've completed 8 cycles. average of 1*1.12 8 times = 2.48 times my original investment. a decent return. Sometimes I catch a dividend, which helps. I invest 100% in the US through Waterhouse.

Perhaps sometime after Canada has a banking crisis and bank stocks get hammered and then start to recover, I'll start putting large amounts into Canadian bank stocks, but not yet.

[Allen32]

My rules:

On double sell half (or the whole thing if company is mediocre)
If the stock is buy & hold: Buy more if it it is lower then my original purhcase price
Employ stop loss if lower the 7% of my original price
Never exceed 10-15% of my portfolio on any one investment

[morpheiz]

100% agree with you there! Most people would be best served sticking with a basic index fund based portfolio such as those detailed by Canadian Couch Potato: http://canadiancouchpotato.com/model-portfolios/
(myself included)

Do you DRIP your index ETFs? Or constantly add your savings amounts to them?

[cjottawa]

Do you DRIP your index ETFs? Or constantly add your savings amounts to them?

I'm actually into TD e-Series mutual funds - no fees, no commissions, no loads, fractional purchases and the dividends are reinvested. I add "from time to time" (quarterly, typically).

Once my portfolio grows large enough to offset the trading commissions, I'll look at ETFs with lower MERs.

[smihaila]

"no fees"? Are you kidding, right? The management fees and other brokerage operations are hidden within MER itself. Also, even with their "fiduciary duty" (always good on paper only), they can always decrease the value of the units and steal a "bit" of money from there.

I don't trust the mutual funds here in Canda, even when advertising low MERs. In fact, Canada is starting more and more to look like a "financial crooks paradise" - white collar crimes which go unsanctioned by the government (see Conrad Black etc).

[Stryker]

"no fees"? Are you kidding, right? The management fees and other brokerage operations are hidden within MER itself. Also, even with their "fiduciary duty" (always good on paper only), they can always decrease the value of the units and steal a "bit" of money from there.

I don't trust the mutual funds here in Canda, even when advertising low MERs. In fact, Canada is starting more and more to look like a "financial crooks paradise" - white collar crimes which go unsanctioned by the government (see Conrad Black etc).

I dunno. I looked at TD e-Series Canadian fund over at Globefund (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/funds-and-etfs/funds/summary/?id=52602), and after accounting for MER, this fund's tracking against the index looks fairly reasonable to me.

[DaFonz]

I pick a broken stock of a highly reputable company that is highly volatile. I usually only have a couple to four stocks at any one time and ALL my money is in there. I keep an eye on the stock and sell as soon as it's gained between 10-15%. sometimes I use limit sell orders. 12% seems like a nice round number. I do that repeatedly throughout the year and watch my money "compound" throughout the year. I'll do both: cycle through the same stock multiple times, or pick new stocks. sometimes it takes a couple of weeks to get to that range and sell, sometimes it takes several months. thus far this year I've completed 8 cycles. average of 1*1.12 8 times = 2.48 times my original investment. a decent return. Sometimes I catch a dividend, which helps. I invest 100% in the US through Waterhouse.

Perhaps sometime after Canada has a banking crisis and bank stocks get hammered and then start to recover, I'll start putting large amounts into Canadian bank stocks, but not yet.

How do you decide when to sell on the downside?

[brunes]

I dunno. I looked at TD e-Series Canadian fund over at Globefund (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/funds-and-etfs/funds/summary/?id=52602), and after accounting for MER, this fund's tracking against the index looks fairly reasonable to me.

I am pretty sure the eSeries funds are totally automated to track the index. I don't think there is a person involved at all which is why they have such a low MER for a big bank.

[Stryker]

I am pretty sure the eSeries funds are totally automated to track the index. I don't think there is a person involved at all which is why they have such a low MER for a big bank.

Brunes,

Rick Carrick of the G&M wrote an article just over a year ago, "TD's e-series funds: Easy to love, hard to buy" (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/tds-e-series-funds-easy-to-love-hard-to-buy/article624596/)

"Tom Dyck knows the conspiracy theory about the well-loved but frustratingly elusive e-series of index funds he oversees as president of TD Mutual Funds."

" Mr. Dyck has a team of people working on the sales issue."

I myself, purchase TD e-Series funds along with broad based index ETF's through TD Waterhouse for the RRSP's. Easy enough to buy for me.

[boipinoi604]

Before I even think about the holding part, the question is:
Do I even dare to pick stocks? Do I have any clue how to quantify a company? Do I even know how to look at their financial statements? How do i even value a business?