Is it easier to sell stocks in the middle of the day or wait until the market closed & sell beginning of day?

Question

I know there is a lot of factors that go into this but I'm looking for more general terms. So if I bought a stock at $5 and it went up to $10 by 1pm. And I bought another stock at $5 and at the end of the day I checked and its up to $10. Is it easier for me sell that stock right then at 1pm for $10 or if using Etrade put in my trade order for them to sell it first thing in the morning?

Answer 1

Every day is different... but if you DO make 100% in a few hours...SELL.. right then and there !!

...but be aware that if you are trading in an ordinary brokerage account, that money you made is not creditted to your account for three days...do not try to " buy" again the next day with THAT money...you'll get yourself into a day-trading hole... could get restrictions on trading from it.

Answer 2

I don't know about E trade, but you can easily sell a stock while the market is open, that is 9:30 am EST to 4:00 pm EST, there is no best time. If your stock trades on a major exchange or NASDAQ, you will have no trouble anytime the market is open. If you wait until the morning you are taking a big chance. Let's say your stock is at $10 at 3:58 pm EST and you don't sell it. Then after the market closes news comes out that your company that you have stock in published fradulant reports to look better, it might open the next morning at $1.00 per share and you lose a lot of money! this has happened, so don't wait if you want to sell, just do it.

Answer 3

You have made a 100% profit.  What is the opening price going to be tomorrow?  Unkown.  But, after that big of an increase I would take the profit now and not risk a huge drop the next morning.

Answer 4

No real formula, but a few suggestions.

If a stock announces bad news prior to the market open and you want to sell, it is usually best to sell it at the open, as soon as possible.

Volume can sometimes lag during the 12-1PM EST hours, and on Fridays during the summertime as alot of traders leave early for the weekend, on rare occasions this may create a bit of an edge when buying.

The last hour of trading is usually a good short term indicator of where a stock or the overall market maybe headed.