Page 493 - THE MARKET WHISPERER

THE MARKET WHISPERER 48 9

is not necessarily true. Strong stocks do not sell easily. The more their

price rises, the more the interest in selling them decreases. The greater

probability is that investors will continue holding winning stocks well into

the new tax year.
For how long will they hold these stocks? Until there is no choice but to

sell. April 15th is the date by which tax returns must be filed, together with
any payment due. Deposits to the IRS account can also be made only until
April 15th. As a result, many investors sell their stocks only towards the
end of March or early April to raise money to pay their taxes.

An investor who needs the cash will execute sales generally up until the

first week of April, since brokers take three days to release cash to their
clients. The third day is known as settlement day. It takes another two

days until the settlement actually shows in the client’s bank account.

Holidays

The stock exchanges are open most days of the year, other than certain
holidays. About a week before any of these, your broker will send you a
“short trading week” reminder with details.

Pay attention to the fact that sometimes trades will be executed only
during the first half of the day. You should receive information from the
broker on that as well. Shortened trading days are usually “bridges”
between vacations and are known to have low volumes, making it best to
avoid trading altogether.

Naturally, the risk of holding stocks for a swing over several consecutive
days of holidays is greater than for a regular weekend. More days off means
a greater risk that something bad could happen. Towards vacations and
long weekends, I tend to reduce the quantities of stock I hold for a swing.

Summary

Below is a summary of non-trading days you should keep updated and

mark in advance on your personal calendar (highly recommended!)