The Biggest Way Investors Screw Up... And How to Avoid It

Doc's note: There's one mistake lots of investors make – and it can devastate your portfolio. In today's issue, Dr. Steve Sjuggerud explains the simple way to avoid it...


What's the biggest thing investors screw up?

I've thought a LOT about that question. And I know that the answer will help a lot of folks avoid big losses.

Investing is full of pitfalls. Even if you buy the right investment, your trade can go south in plenty of different ways. And after years of writing and talking to my readers, I think I've uncovered the most obvious issue...

Most investors have no idea when to sell.

This is a tough realization for many. When you're clicking "buy," you don't want to stop and think through what would cause you to sell. It's exciting to make an investment... No one wants to kill the thrill with the homework of selling.

The problem is that a great trade is made up of two things... a great buy and a great sell.

The biggest thing investors screw up is only worrying about the buy. But you can solve this problem with a simple step.

Let me explain...

Seabridge Gold (SA) is, to this day, the best-performing stock recommendation of my career.

I recommended it back in July 2005 in a high-priced, speculative newsletter I used to write. Shares of this best-in-class gold explorer went from around $3 to more than $30 by the time we sold in 2009. Subscribers who followed my advice locked in a 995% gain.

As you can see below, though, that decision to sell was important. The stock ultimately gave back all of its gains... It traded for around $4 a share in 2015. And it's trading around $22 a share today. Take a look...

Today's price is 35%-plus below where I told readers to lock in profits back in 2009. The problem is, I know many folks never sold.

I've spoken to dozens of readers at conferences who bought Seabridge on my original recommendation... and held on to it years after I recommended selling. They rode it all the way up... and all the way down.

Our subscribers at Stansberry Research often take our buy advice... But for some reason, they don't always sell when we say sell.

Now, that's fine... if you have a different exit strategy that happens to work for you.

But what I've learned is that most investors have no exit strategy at all...

Either they don't want to sell when they're up because they think more gains are coming, or they don't want to cut their losses when they're down.

Sometimes "holding and hoping" might work for you – by chance. The problem is, "hanging in there" is not an exit strategy. If all you're doing is hoping, you have no control. You are not investing based on risk and reward.

So the day you enter a trade, make sure you know what will cause you to exit that trade.

This is how I'm approaching the Melt Up today...

We've seen a historic market rally of over 60% since March...

But no matter where you think stocks could go next, I urge you to prepare for a Melt Down in stocks.

Now I don't think you need to go out and sell all your stocks right away, but I do believe it's time to make sure you have an exit plan in place.

Now, if you follow my work, that's great.

But I don't care what stocks you own or whose investment recommendations you follow...

Please... if you don't know when you are going to sell your stocks, I urge you to watch this message.

With more stimulus on the way and the lowest interest rates in history, I know it seems like stocks will only keep going up...

But don't fool yourself into thinking things will be different this time. 

The Melt Down is coming, and it will arrive at the exact moment you least expect.

Which is why I recently put together my own plan for when I'll personally exit stocks.

And you should know, this same plan can work on any portfolio of stocks – not just my own.

Good investing,

Steve