Should Investors Sell Stocks to Buy More Stocks? | The Motley Fool (2024)

As stocks across all industries are trading down, how do investors decide when and where to sell their holdings to generate some extra investing capital right now? In this segment of Backstage Pass, recorded on Dec. 1, Fool contributors Brian Withers, Rachel Warren, and Brian Feroldi respond to a member's question.

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Brian Withers: How do you decide which winner to trim to raise cash today? David Gardner talks about trimming the weeds and watering the flowers. I don't know if you want to trim your winners to raise some cash. And you never want to be a desperate seller. Either of you have some thoughts on that one?

Brian Feroldi: Rachel, you can go first.

Rachel Warren: OK, yeah, I was thinking about this. Of all the stocks in my portfolio right now. I was very -- I studied the stock market a long time before I got into it, and I really like the companies. Not all of them are performing as I would love right now. I own a lot of growth stocks. That's definitely part of the reason behind that.

For me personally, I can't see myself trimming many of my current holdings to generate cash. One thing I do often is reinvest my dividends. That could be a great way to get a little extra capital for investing. I always try to set aside some cash regularly, just particularly for the sake of investing so that I can continue to stay invested in the stocks I love and add to new ones.

Brian Feroldi: Brian Withers is like: "What's a dividend? I don't have any of those. [Laughter] I only buy companies that lose money."[Laughter]

Brian Withers: Exactly. It's got to have a negative bottom line, come on. [Laughter]

Rachel Warren: Oh, man.

Brian Withers: Jeff Reuben asks, we'll finish up with this one, "Would you buy and average down from here?"

I guess I look at that as: If you are working and you're saving money, you're living below your means, meaning you have some money at the end of every month, you should be continually investing and taking advantage of the dollar-cost averaging into the market over time.

I don't know that. You always want to buy the strongest companies. If the stock is down doesn't necessarily mean that it's a great buy. And so you want to make sure that you look at that.

Brian Feroldi: Yeah. To answer the question before, though, more seriously, I look at the companies that I hold, and I always ask myself: "Is the thesis on track? Is the reason that I bought this company still in track?"

By the way, it's really easy to fool yourself into thinking the answer is yes when the actual answer is no. For example, I'm wrestling with that with Zillow right now. Yes, the thesis is still on track even though they torched the one high-growth part of the business.

But I would look at that.

You want to cull the losing businesses or the mediocre businesses from your portfolio, not the stocks themselves. Like Zoom for example, if you just look at Zoom's stock price over the last year, you're like: terrible, terrible company It's down 70% from its high. But which number that we just got over there was bad? Was there one? [laughs]

Brian Withers: Yeah. I don't think there was.

Brian Feroldi: This is why investing is hard. [laughs]

Brian Withers: Exactly.

Brian Feroldi: It has to be hard. If it was easy, everybody would do it.

Brian Feroldi owns Zillow Group (A shares), Zillow Group (C shares), and Zoom Video Communications. Brian Withers owns Zoom Video Communications. Rachel Warren owns Zoom Video Communications. The Motley Fool owns and recommends Zillow Group (A shares), Zillow Group (C shares), and Zoom Video Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Should Investors Sell Stocks to Buy More Stocks? | The Motley Fool (2024)

FAQs

Does Motley Fool recommend when to sell? ›

We do realize however that significant price changes over time are worrisome to our members, and try to post additional articles and research on stocks that have seen a down turn. If a buy recommendation turns into a hold or a sell recommendation, we will always let you know.

Does Motley Fool actually beat the market? ›

Performance. Motley Fool prides itself on the historical performance of Stock Advisor's investment picks. In fact, the team has an average stock pick return of 628% and has quadrupled the S&P 500 over the last 21 years, according to its website.

Does Motley Fool pump stocks? ›

One of the biggest reasons that the Motley Fool should not be confused with a pump and dump scheme is their decades of experience with happy, loyal customers. They practice what they preach when they say they want investors to hold onto stocks they recommend for the long-haul – not a few weeks to get rich quick.

Is it better to invest in more stocks? ›

The more equities you hold in your portfolio, the lower your unsystematic risk exposure. A portfolio of 10 or more stocks, particularly across various sectors or industries, is much less risky than a portfolio of only two stocks.

What is the 3-5-7 rule in trading? ›

The 3-5-7 rule in trading is a risk management guideline that suggests limiting the amount of capital you put into any single trade. According to this rule, you should not risk more than 3% of your trading capital on any one trade, no more than 5% on any one sector, and no more than 7% on all trades combined.

Is Motley Fool respected? ›

If you invest in single stocks, it's not always easy to pick the next winner in the stock market. The Motley Fool is a well-respected stock picking service with a nearly 30-year track record.

What is the average return on Motley Fool? ›

The average return of all 500+ Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations since the launch of this service in 2002 is 751% vs the S&P500's 161%. That means they are now beating the market by OVER 4X since inception.

What are Motley Fool rule breakers? ›

Motley Fool Rule Breakers is a stock picking service that is tailored for users looking for high-growth stocks in high growth industries. This is The Motley Fool's 2nd newsletter.

Does Motley Fool recommend penny stocks? ›

Penny stocks tend to be much riskier than other stocks.

Plus, they are often shares of unproven companies, where there's a very real risk of losing your entire investment. In other words, they simply are not worth buying for most people who want to invest in the market to take a reasonable risk and build wealth.

What are Motley Fool's double down stocks? ›

"Double down buy alerts" from The Motley Fool signal strong confidence in a stock, urging investors to increase their holdings.

Is Motley Fool Everlasting stocks worth it? ›

Overall Performance

Everlasting Stocks is up 31.75% as of February 2024, while the S&P 500 is up 32.46% over the same time period (since 2018), for a total underperformance of 0.71%. Pro Tip: The Motley Fool Everlasting Stocks portfolio has seen some ups and downs throughout its life.

Why are the rich selling their stocks? ›

The reason behind this move is to secure their wealth amidst rising interest rates and economic uncertainty. Similar issues are still ongoing to this day. These wealthy investors are shifting from a focus on asset growth to wealth preservation in order to protect their assets.

Should you buy more stocks when they are down? ›

Buying stocks when the overall market is down can be a smart strategy if you buy the right stocks. You could pick up some blue-chip winners that will perform well in the long run. Weaker stocks that rode the market higher are better avoided.

How much money do I need to invest to make $1000 a month? ›

Invest in Dividend Stocks

A stock portfolio focused on dividends can generate $1,000 per month or more in perpetual passive income, Mircea Iosif wrote on Medium. “For example, at a 4% dividend yield, you would need a portfolio worth $300,000.

At what point should you sell your shares? ›

Occasionally, markets can get overly optimistic about the future prospects for a business, bidding its stock price to unsustainable levels. When the price of a stock reaches a level that cannot be justified by even the best estimates of future business performance, it could be a good time to sell your shares.

How often does Motley Fool make recommendations? ›

Introduction to The Motley Fool's investing philosophy, backed by monthly stock recommendations, our top ETFs, and core financial planning guidance. 20+ years of a market-beating track record that consistently recommends 2 stocks each month, plus broad allocation guidance via stock and fixed income ETFs.

At what percentage should I sell my stock? ›

How long should you hold? Here's a specific rule to help boost your prospects for long-term stock investing success: Once your stock has broken out, take most of your profits when they reach 20% to 25%. If market conditions are choppy and decent gains are hard to come by, then you could exit the entire position.

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