How to make money when stock prices fall?

Asked by: Judy Bailey  |  Last update: January 27, 2026
Score: 4.9/5 (18 votes)

Bear market investing: how to make money when prices fall
  1. Short-selling.
  2. Dealing short ETFs.
  3. Trading safe-haven assets.
  4. Trading currencies.
  5. Going long on defensive stocks.
  6. Choosing high-yielding dividend shares.
  7. Trading options.
  8. Buying at the bottom.

How can you profit from a falling stock price?

Short Selling: Profiting From Stock Declines
  • Borrow and sell. The short seller borrows shares of a stock and sells them at the market price. ...
  • Price declines. If the stock price drops (as the short seller expects), they can buy the shares back at the lower price.
  • Buy them back and return.

What to do when stock prices are falling?

Short sale: Borrow someone else's shares. Sell at current price. Wait for price to fall. Buy back at lower price. Return shares to owner. This has unbounded upside risk should share price increase significantly.

What is the 7% rule in stocks?

The 7% rule is a straightforward guideline for cutting losses in stock trading. It suggests that investors should exit a position if the stock price falls 7% below the purchase price.

How to make money when the stock market crashes?

Another way to monetize a down market is to use options strategies, such as buying puts, which gain in value as the market falls. Some investors sell call options, which will expire to a price of zero if they expire out of the money. Similar strategies can be employed in bond and commodity markets.

What Do I Do If I Bought a Stock, Then the Price Goes Down?

17 related questions found

Do I lose all my money if the stock market crashes?

Do you lose all the money if the stock market crashes? No, a stock market crash only indicates a fall in prices where a majority of investors face losses but do not completely lose all the money. The money is lost only when the positions are sold during or after the crash.

What options to buy when stock goes down?

A put option gives you the right to sell a specific stock at a specific price, on or before a specific date. The value of a put increases as the underlying stock value decreases. Put options can be used to try to profit from downturns, or they can be used to protect a portfolio against them.

What is the 90% rule in stocks?

The Rule of 90 is a grim statistic that serves as a sobering reminder of the difficulty of trading. According to this rule, 90% of novice traders will experience significant losses within their first 90 days of trading, ultimately wiping out 90% of their initial capital.

Should I sell my stocks now in a recession?

As long as you have sufficient time and money—whether from wages, retirement income, or cash reserves—it's important to stay the course so you can potentially benefit from the eventual recovery. That said, it generally makes sense to sell some investments and buy others as part of your regular portfolio maintenance.

What are Warren Buffett's 7 principles to investing?

Warren Buffett's Value Investing Guidelines
  • Buy Companies at Bargain Prices. Warren Buffett is a true value investor. ...
  • Be Patient. Wait for the right time to buy. ...
  • Go Against Conventional Wisdom. ...
  • Stick with What You Know. ...
  • Be Self-Confident. ...
  • Buy Companies with Competitive Advantages. ...
  • Believe in America.

Where to put money if the stock market crashes?

If you are a short-term investor, certificates of deposit (CDs) issued by banks and Treasury securities are a good bet. If you invest for a longer period, fixed or indexed annuities or even indexed universal life insurance products can provide better returns than Treasury bonds.

What to do when your stock plummets?

What to do when a stock you own crashes
  1. Manage your emotions. ...
  2. Remember your shares represent part ownership in the business. ...
  3. Determine the cause of the sell-off. ...
  4. Reassess the long-term outlook. ...
  5. Decide whether to buy more, cut your losses or hold.

How to make money in a falling market?

Take a short-selling position. Going short in bearish times is one of the most common bear market strategies among traders. As a trader, you'll short-sell when you expect a market's price will fall. If you predict this correctly and the market you're trading on does decline in value, you'll make a profit.

What to do when stock price is falling?

What to do during a stock market crash
  1. Know what you own — and why. A fear-driven reaction to a temporary slump isn't a good reason to dump an investment. ...
  2. Trust in diversification. ...
  3. Consider buying the dip. ...
  4. Think about getting a second opinion. ...
  5. Focus on the long term. ...
  6. Take advantage where you can.

At what point do you sell a losing stock?

According to IBD founder William O'Neil's rule in "How to Make Money in Stocks," you should sell a stock when you are down 7% or 8% from your purchase price, no exceptions. Having a rule in place ahead of time can help prevent an emotional decision to hang on too long. It should be: Sell now, ask questions later.

Do you owe money if a stock goes negative?

Do you owe money if a stock goes negative? No, you will not owe money on a stock unless you are using leverage, such as shorts, margin trading, etc., to trade.

What is the 3-5-7 rule in trading?

The 3 5 7 rule is a risk management strategy in trading that emphasizes limiting risk on each individual trade to 3% of the trading capital, keeping overall exposure to 5% across all trades, and ensuring that winning trades yield at least 7% more profit than losing trades.

How long will it take for the stock market to recover?

On average, it takes around five months for a correction to bottom out, but once the market reaches that point and starts to turn positive, it recovers in around four months. Stock market crashes, however, usually take much longer to fully recover.

How do I protect my 401k from a stock market crash?

A financial advisor can help you make moves to protect your retirement savings from market volatility.
  1. Protecting Your 401(k) From a Stock Market Crash.
  2. Don't Panic and Withdraw Your Money Too Early.
  3. Diversify Your Portfolio.
  4. Rebalance Your Portfolio.
  5. Keep Some Cash on Hand.

What is the golden rule of stock?

2.1 First Golden Rule: 'Buy what's worth owning forever'

This rule tells you that when you are selecting which stock to buy, you should think as if you will co-own the company forever.

What is the 50% trading rule?

The fifty percent principle is a rule of thumb that anticipates the size of a technical correction. The fifty percent principle states that when a stock or other asset begins to fall after a period of rapid gains, it will lose at least 50% of its most recent gains before the price begins advancing again.

What is the 4% stock rule?

Understanding the 4% rule

Using historical stock returns and retirement data from 1929 to 1991, Bengen determined that retirees can safely withdraw 4% of their retirement balance, in a 50/50 stock and bond portfolio, to live on during their post-employment years—with annual readjustments for inflation.

How do people make money when stock goes down?

What Is Short Selling? Short selling is a strategy for making money on stocks falling in price, also called “going short” or “shorting.” This is an advanced strategy only experienced investors and traders should try. An investor borrows a stock, sells it, and then buys the stock back to return it to the lender.

How should a beginner start trading?

Here's a breakdown of some simple tips to kickstart your journey:
  1. Open a Demat account. ...
  2. Understand stock quotes. ...
  3. Bids and asks. ...
  4. Fundamental and technical knowledge of stocks. ...
  5. Learn to set stop losses. ...
  6. Seek expert advice. ...
  7. Start with safer stocks.

How to make money buying puts?

Put buyers make a profit by essentially holding a short-selling position. The owner of a put option profits when the stock price declines below the strike price before the expiration period. The put buyer can exercise the option at the strike price within the specified expiration period.