The Best Time to Buy

— S.H., Mansfield, Ohio

A Instead of thinking of percentages, consider whether the company is still executing well. Many people bail out after a particular gain, such as 10 percent or 30 percent. But it’s often more profitable to hang onto the stock for years or decades, as long as it keeps growing and you retain faith in it. You would have regretted selling Microsoft shares in 1990 after a 100 percent gain, right? It would have kept doubling your money for many years. Don’t hang on blindly, though. Follow the company’s progress and prospects.

Q Is there a best time of day, week, month or year to buy or sell stock?

— P.W., Baton Rouge, La.

A Don’t look at your watch or calendar for that look to your notebook or noggin. Ask yourself if you’ve done enough research to determine that the company is financially healthy and growing, has sustainable advantages over its competitors and has a promising future. Then determine whether the current stock price offers a good chance of growth. Some terrific companies might be priced so high that it’s hard to rationally imagine them advancing much more in the next few years.

Evaluating a company’s fair value is not easy, though. Measures such as price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios and price-to-cash-flow ratios can help, but in order to keep improving your results, aim to keep learning more about investing. You can do so at www.fool.com/how-to-invest and at Morningstar.com.

Once you’re confident that you’ve found a great company selling at a good or great price, that’s the best time to buy.

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