Greed & Hope

Always take your profit too soon.

Sell too soon. Don’t hope for winning streaks to go on and on. Don’t stretch your luck. Expect winning streaks to be short. When you reach a previously decided-upon ending position, cash out and walk away. Do this even when everything looks rosy, when everyone else is saying the boom will keep roaring along.
The ONLY reason for not doing it would be that some new situation has arisen, and this situation makes you all but certain that you can go on winning for a while.
Except in such usual circumstances, get in the habit of selling too soon. And when you’ve sold, don’t torment yourself if the winning continues without you.

When the ship starts to sink, don’t pray. Jump.

Learning to take losses is an essential speculative technique. MOST never learn it. Take losses at once and move on. Take small losses to protect yourself from the big ones.
Beware the 3 obstacles to jumping ship:
– fear of regret ( that the loser will turn out to be a winner when you’ve bailed-out )
– Unwillingness to abandon part of an investment ( become willing to abandon )
– Difficulty of admitting you made a mistake.