Stock Markets Exposed

When trading stocks, would it be wise to do this? (please look at details)?

I am part of a stock trading simulation game for my US history class extra credit, and my goal is to reach at least a 5% increase. I have permision from my teacher to get help from others, so please don't feel guilty about giving me advice hehe~ right now, i have a 4.43% increase, and I have 500 stocks in RFN and FAZ each. So....here's my question...Would it be wise to sell my stocks if the current price of one stock is a lot higher than the price that i bought the stocks? Basically, would my percent increase stay the same, go down, or go up? I hope this question makes sense ...-_-; please and thank you! i'm sorry, when i said buying and selling STOCKS, i actually meant buying and selling SHARES....sorry for the confusion...

Public Comments

1. Locking in you profits is always a good idea. the decision would be based on..... which one is more likely to not to continue to move or maybe go down! your "percentage" earned is based on the value (cash) before you invested & what you have at the end of the day. The number of shares is never important. FAZ & FAZ are not made to hold more than a day. These "stocks" are really ETF's that makes more money when the market goes down. The caculation to do this is very involved..... but a real investor would generally not hold this stock past a day or two. The "prospectus"... the legal document that explains this ETF clearly states this. I would consider selling both. These ETF's can move quickly in the opposite direction. Take your profits & reinvest them in other issues. Perhaps the person that gave you these two can suggest two others to make your goal.
2. Inverse and leveraged ETFs tend to go down in value over the long-term. Which means that you should do only short-term trading with them. And you should sell, when they go up. Or else you will loose your profits if you keep holding on.
3. If you sold, it would lock in your gain and it would stay where it was. Most professional traders follow trends, which means that if something is working, they stick with it until it stops working.
4. When to sell has nothing to do with when you bought it. The concept of locking in gains is good for your ego, but leting profits run is good for your account balance. You sel based on your outlook for the future, not the past.