Selling a stock or mutual fund does not mean you always have to buy a new one immediately. There are circumstances when this is not advisable, not the best way to follow a path of safe investing.
Too often people think that just because a stock was ‘stopped out’ and sold they have to immediately pick a new one and buy it that day. While many investment software strategies may give you such recommendations there are situations when this is not the best course.
Following a Weekly Strategy
If your investment technique or your investment program is based on a weekly or even monthly evaluation what do you do when an ETF sells mid-week because you have ‘stops’ set with your broker?
Rather than panic wondering what to buy it is easier and just as rewarding to simply follow your established strategy. In other words, if you normally evaluative or update your strategies on Saturday, wait until then to decide what if anything to purchase next.
By waiting until your normal time you will achieve three results:
- Less stress
- Your ‘buy’ decision will be based on your normal process
- You will better know if it is even time to ‘buy’ or take a break from investing
Using a Daily Strategy
If you examine your portfolio or retirement account every day and a position sells out mid-day, the principle is the same as if it were a weekly strategy. Wait until your normal time to update your strategy and then make a decision on what, if anything, to purchase.
Let your Technique Rule
By following your technique, your normal process of evaluating buy/sell recommendations from your investment software you can avoid:
- Making a buy decision based on yesterdays or last weekend’s information
- Being sure your software doesn’t give a market exit signal
- Rushing a decision
The other advantages of this process includes that you do place stop orders on your investments based on your strategy rules. This helps you to lock in profits and minimize losses.
Also, by waiting until your normal time to evaluate your investments you will not suddenly, or worse, repeatedly find yourself exceeding the amount of time you want to spend managing your retirement or wealth accounts. In this way you won’t get discouraged and decide you don’t have the time to handle your future and give up the potential to grow your portfolio.