Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Knowing When to Sell


Writing in the August 2013 issue of AAII Journal, Michael Kahn points out that all that’s needed “is a chart with one or more of the readily available tools found on most free financial websites. The goal is to spot stocks that have stopped going up or are about to stop going up.” His article is addressed to AAII members at:

Michael covers chart signals to look for, watching the trend, spotting the end of an upward run, looking for new lows after a new high is not reached, relative performance and fading momentum, and combining charts and fundamentals. His article includes a chart that illustrates two such signals. See:

I tend to look first at the MACD portion of first the 5-year chart and then the 3-month. For example, the MACD portion of my 5-year Yahool chart of VTI suggests a fresh buying opportunity of an ETF that tracks the total stock market. Also, its green 50-day moving-average line recently moved higher than its 100-day m.a. line. See:

And my 3-month chart provides double confirmation. It first provided a sell signal in mid-June 2013 when its  blue VTI line fell below its green 20-day m.a. line and a few days later crossed below its red 50-day m.a.
Also, the blue VTI line confirmed a buy signal first by crossing back above the green 20-day m.a. and again when the 20-day m.a. line moved higher than its red 50-day m.a. line. See:

You can find a thorough explanation of MACD at:


Never forget this: All investments and savings are gambles on the unknowable future and thus subject to loss as well as gain.
Do visit my website for lots more research I share with do-it-yourself portfolio managers:

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