When to sell: Inside strategies for stock-market profits

by Justin Mamis

Book Overview

A classic book that was updated and revised in 1994, now with an updated foreword written by the author. A meaningful analysis, a few rules to follow, how to choose good charts, and numerous case... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0346123402
• ISBN13: 9780346123403
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: Cornerstone Library
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.

Customer Reviews

How do I know when to sell?

That's the big question. Sell too soon to lock in a small profit and you watch the market go on in your direction without you. That hurts because if you only waited you could have that bigger profit. Or maybe the market turns and you look like a genius? Sell too soon and you end up with a small loss that prevents you from a much bigger loss. Or does the market turn and your small loss would have turned into a big winner? This book goes into detail about when you should sell and when you should sell short. I have read many books on trading and this one covers those points in more detail, with more clarity, than all of the others combined. The large majority of books only talk about buying, usually in a bull market. They almost never tell you specifically when to get out of those positions, or if they do, they give a generic profit target like "2 or 3 times your initial risk". How is that good advice? They have no idea of the market that day or of your entry point. I consider myself to be pretty good at entries, almost surgical in precision, so I can use a smaller stop loss to know if the position is going to work. I would go broke if I stuck to "2 or 3 times my initial risk", my winning trades usually go much further and my initial risk is usually very small. Justin Mamis goes into the psychology of holding positions. He talks about how one professional trader told him "The public is most comfortable when they are sitting with losses". I read that and instantly knew he was correct. I have seen it in the past in my trading. I would be sitting there with a huge profit and I was nervous as hell. Then the next day I was sitting there with a big loss, and I was not nearly as nervous. How is that even possible? To me the loss was easier to accept because I rationalized it as a loss without giving thought to the size of the loss. Holding the winner is tougher because I was focusing on the size of the winner and did not want to close the position at a profit and leave money on the table. Leaving money on the table would turn that huge winner into a loser for me because I was not getting all of it. This is a tough business. Taking profits should not be so draining on your emotions. Justin explains his thoughts about how the stock market is an ideal arena for ones emotions. You have all the elements of reward and punishment, and many people carry lots of guilt on their shoulders, so losing money in the markets is therapeutic for them. It's sad, but it's probably closer to being true than to being false. The author goes into detail on market analysis and technical indicators and how to use them. He focuses on price action, but shows you how to use indicators if you need them. Justin talks about news items at tops and bottoms and tells you how to recognize when you are near tops or bottoms. That information alone is easily understandable and more than covers the low price of this important book. Read the authors other book

Best trading book I've ever read

I have been an investment professional for over 20 years. I have read dozens of books--most long before the flood of "you to can be a super trader" trash of the 1990s. This is the best one. Mamis is an original and independent thinker. The book deals with psychology, tactics, technical indicators. His "How to Buy" is not nearly as good.

If you don't have a real-life mentor...

If you invest, wish you had a mentor on the trading floor, but don't know anyone who works on the exchange, you should read this book. Mamis discusses not only market indicators so you can better time buys and sells, but explains what happens on the trading floor and how the professionals -- the "they" many investors refer to grudgingly -- benefit from herd psychology. After reading this you will better understand why the "average investor" is more likely to lose than win, and why many people, in fact, subconsciously prefer to lose. Mamis has an easy style which reflects his many years of investing experience -- it is not a dry, academic discusson of the market.Along with "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator" and a couple of others, this is one of the best and most informative books I've read about the market.

best of the best

I've read many investment books, both on technical and fundamental anaylsis. This is by far the best. Most books if followed will cause you to lose significant money; not this book. I highly recommend this book. Also Justin's book "The Nature is Risk" is the seconded best investment book I've read.

Cornerstones of Theory and Practice

Investors in general and beginning investors in particular are largely ignorant of the works of perhaps the most important men they could read, one of whom is Justin Mamis (another is Richard Wyckoff). This is due at least in part to the fact that most of the works of these two men have been out of print for so long. But three of Mamis' works are now back (cross your fingers for When To Buy, the only one still out of print) and increased profits are a virtual guarantee for anyone who takes advantage of this opportunity to obtain these foundation works and commit their lessons in strategy to his own plan for trading and investment.Very highly recommended and cheap at the price.