should i sell or hold on to my 100 shares of cintas stock down 6.67% in after hours luck or skill?

Question

a few days ago i asked about luck and skill in stock trading i bought 100 shares of cintas (ctas) at about 40.00 i knew they were having a webcast after the market closed today. during the day it rose about 1.00% to 40.50, i thought about selling it thinking the webcast would have bad news. well i kept it and bad news came it dropped 6.67% in after hours trading.after reading that they had 37 consecutive years of growth in sales and earning to date ,and they had rcently raised their dividends and all that good stuff their share price is now 37 and change. shall i sell my 100 shares tomorrow to cut my losses or hold on to them for the longer term. i have alot of questions about stock trading but will stop here for today.if you remember my other question i would like to say thanks for all the great answers

Answer 1

I hope you got a stop loss in it. But you bought it a few bucks below the 52 week high and you gambled on the earnings report. 8%+ hit you lost close to $300 if it goes down further cut and run.

Answer 2

I would actually go over whatever information Cintas provided-- listen to the telecast if you have time, you should be able to get it online or a record on a phone. Sometimes stocks will drop if they miss earnings by a few cents, but this doesn't necessarily mean that the company has bad long term prospects-- just that its earnings came in below estimates. On the other hand if there is something that threatens the long term profitability of the company you might consider selling.

A bit more generally, don't sweat small movements in price-- if you sell every time a stock fluctuates by a percentage or two you'll be eaten alive by comissions and taxes.

Also, ignore the previous post about stocks always dropping on earnings. Frequently stocks go up after earnings, often quite a lot.

Answer 3

Do you still have conviction about your trade? If you do, hold on to it. Psychology is one of the most important aspects of investing (or trading). Many traders lose money because they always buy at the high, and sell at the low. It sounds simple, but it is not. There is a natural tendency to buy when a stock is hot. Chances are, by the time a stock hits your radar screen, the real money has been made, and it is at or near it's high. When the stock falls, the tendency is to bail at or near the low. This is why long term investors tend to outperform short term traders over time. If you have carefully researched your investments, and are only investing in stocks that you have relative confidence in, you will not be worried about one earnings announcement or one dip in the stock. If you did not do your homework, I suggest cutting your losses when the market opens.

Answer 4

Of course it's down; the company reported earnings this evening. Stock usually always go down on earnings reports whether the stock did well or not; there is always a sell off after earnings are announced. Hang on to it a little bit longer because it has bounced twice and, technically, it is supposed to start going up now.

Here is the 5 year chart

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=CTAS&t=5y

Answer 5

Why did you purchase? If you purchased and not using a promote plan, I believe you perhaps gambling the sport incorrectly. That stated, I keep convertible desired Ford inventory in my speculative portfolio. I bought part of my role for the period of the final surge and an additional 25% in these days. (IOW, I am down to twenty-five% of my fashioned role) If the rate holds subsequent week, I will most probably promote the relaxation. My opinion is promote. (Full Disclosure: I possess Ford Motor Capital Trust II in my speculative portfolio)