Recently, someone asked me if you can really buy or sell a listed stock whenever you want, and the answer is more complicated than it seems. It all depends on whether you trade directly or through CFDs, but there's a detail that many forget: market hours.

Look, most people don't realize that you can't sell a stock at 3 a.m. if the market is closed. There are four main sessions: London, New York, Sydney, and Tokyo. If you want to trade German stocks like Mercedes-Benz, you have to wait for the European market to open. Outside of trading hours, forget it. And on weekends, there's simply nothing.

Now, when should you actually sell? That's the interesting part. A few years ago, I saw the case of Twitter, which rose from $48 to $72, but then the lows started becoming lower than before. That was a clear sign of a trend reversal. If you had seen those confluences (decreasing highs, decreasing lows, EMA crossovers), you could have sold around $67 in October. By December, it was at $40, and then it dropped further.

What's interesting is that you can buy or sell a listed stock using technical analysis, but you also need to understand what's happening with the company. Netflix is a perfect example. In 2020, they had a boom due to lockdowns, but in 2021, growth slowed significantly. When Disney+ and HBO Max entered with strong competition, subscribers started to decline. Combined with price increases, that was the final blow. The monthly chart clearly showed the peak in 2021 and the subsequent fall. If you combined fundamental analysis (fewer subscribers) with technical analysis (moving average crossovers), you could have sold above $520 in January 2022. Now, they are trading much lower.

Here's what many don't understand: you can buy or sell a listed stock in several ways. There's direct purchase, where you actually own the asset, or CFDs, where you simply benefit from the price movement without holding it in your portfolio. With CFDs, you have more flexibility but also more risk.

Regarding the technical process, it's quite simple. Find the asset, click sell, and you can do it at the current price or place a limit order waiting for it to reach a certain value. But here’s the critical part: always use a Stop Loss. It’s non-negotiable. If you buy something at $2,220, set a Stop Loss at $2,120 to limit your losses. Some even move it afterward to secure minimal gains.

What really separates winning traders from losing ones is psychology. I’ve seen people who understand perfectly when to sell but don’t do it because they’re afraid or hopeful for a rebound. Then comes the regret of not having sold, which leads to even worse decisions. You must be willing to accept small losses and not check your trade every minute.

Another point: before deciding whether you can buy or sell a listed stock, study the company. What does it do? Does it have competitors? Are its finances solid? Are there important news upcoming? The economic calendar is your friend. And the leverage you use also greatly affects your margin.

In summary, selling stocks isn’t complicated, but doing it at the right moment requires analysis, discipline, and a bit of patience. Most fail because they let emotions take over, not because they don’t know how to press the button.