Our analysis of over 6,200 trading days shows that Tuesday has historically produced the highest average daily returns at 0.062%, while Friday and Monday show the lowest average returns at about 0.009% each. Wednesday and Thursday fall in between, with average returns of 0.024% and 0.042%, respectively.
Some traders follow something called the "10 a.m. rule." The stock market opens for trading at 9:30 a.m., and there's often a lot of trading between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. Traders that follow the 10 a.m. rule think a stock's price trajectory is relatively set for the day by the end of that half-hour.
You might need to sell a stock if other prospects can earn a higher return. If an investor holds onto an underperforming stock or is lagging the overall market, it may be time to sell that stock and put the money toward another investment.
The 3 5 7 rule works on a simple principle: never risk more than 3% of your trading capital on any single trade; limit your overall exposure to 5% of your capital on all open trades combined; and ensure your winning trades are at least 7% more profitable than your losing trades.
The "11 am rule" refers to a guideline often followed by day traders, suggesting that they should avoid making significant trades during the first hour of trading, particularly until after 11 am Eastern Time.
The 70:20:10 rule helps safeguard SIPs by allocating 70% to low-risk, 20% to medium-risk, and 10% to high-risk investments, ensuring stability, balanced growth, and high returns while managing market fluctuations.
Selling a stock for profit locks in "realized gains," which will be taxed. However, you won't be taxed anything if you sell stock at a loss. In fact, it may even help your tax situation — this is a strategy known as tax-loss harvesting. Note, however, that if you receive dividends, you will have to pay taxes on those.
Monday is probably the best day to trade stocks, since there is likely considerable volatility pent up over the weekend. That said, Friday can also be a good day to trade, as investors make moves to prepare their portfolios for a couple of days off. The middle of the week tends to be the least volatile.
O'Neil says, "The secret is to hop off the elevator on one of the floors on the way up and not ride it back down again." So after a significant advance of 20% to 25%, sell into strength. When you sell like this, you won't be caught in heart-rending 20% to 40% corrections that can hit market leaders.
Under the current T+2 rule, investors have two business days after executing a trade to settle the transaction.
Let the index/stock trade for the first fifteen minutes and then use the high and low of this “fifteen minute range” as support and resistance levels. A buy signal is given when price exceeds the high of the 15 minute range after an up gap.
Focus on trading the stocks at the bottom and top of the list, when sorted by Change from Open. These are the stocks with the biggest price moves since the open, both to the upside and downside. Go through some of the ones at the top and bottom of the list, and watch for trade setups.
Stocks generally perform better between November and April than between May and October. Increased volatility on the third Friday of March, June, September, and December when options and futures expire. Simultaneous expiration of stock options, stock index futures, and stock index options.
Historically, the United States Stock Market Index reached an all time high of 6099.97 in December of 2024. United States Stock Market Index - data, forecasts, historical chart - was last updated on January 14 of 2025.
Assuming they make ten trades per day and taking into account the success/failure ratio, this hypothetical day trader can anticipate earning approximately $525 and only risking a loss of about $300 each day. This results in a sizeable net gain of $225 per day.
In short, the 3-day rule dictates that following a substantial drop in a stock's share price — typically high single digits or more in terms of percent change — investors should wait 3 days to buy.
If you're looking for the best time to either buy or sell a stock during the trading day it is; During the last 10-15 minutes before market close. Or about an hour after the market opens.
Current tax law does not allow you to take a capital gains tax break based on your age. In the past, the IRS granted people over the age of 55 a tax exemption for home sales, though this exclusion was eliminated in 1997 in favor of the expanded exemption for all homeowners.
What is the wash sale rule? On its surface, the wash sale rule isn't very complicated. It simply states that you can't sell shares of stock or other securities for a loss and then buy substantially identical shares within 30 days before or after the sale (i.e., for a 61-day period, since you count the day of the sale).
You should sell a stock when you are down 7% or 8% from your purchase price. For example, let's say you bought Company A's stock at $100 per share. According to the 7%-8% sell rule, you should sell the shares if the price drops to $93 or $92.
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.
One frequently used rule of thumb for retirement spending is known as the 4% rule. It's relatively simple: You add up all of your investments, and withdraw 4% of that total during your first year of retirement. In subsequent years, you adjust the dollar amount you withdraw to account for inflation.