Can I really sell shares whenever I want? The truth about market hours and exit opportunities

When you start in the world of stock market investing, one of the most common questions is whether you have full freedom to liquidate your positions whenever you want. The answer is more complex than it seems and depends on factors that go far beyond your will.

Two different paths in the stock market

Before delving into when you can sell shares, it’s essential to understand under which modality you operate. There are two well-defined methods:

Direct buying and selling of assets: When you truly buy shares, you acquire ownership of the security. It’s similar to investing in real estate: you acquire the asset at a certain price, wait for it to appreciate, and then sell for a profit. With this method, there is a logical restriction: you cannot sell what you do not own.

Through Contracts for Difference (CFD): This is the modality that dominates modern online trading platforms. The beauty of CFDs lies in the fact that you can speculate on price changes without actually owning the asset. Your profit or loss depends solely on the movement between your opening and closing prices. The broker manages all the infrastructure while you take advantage of volatility.

The real limitations: trading hours and closing zones

This is where reality hits the novice trader. No, you cannot sell shares “whenever you want.” There are specific trading hours that vary depending on the stock exchange where the securities are listed.

Globally, four main sessions are recognized: London, New York, Sydney, and Tokyo. Each operates on its own schedule, and it’s imperative that you synchronize your selling attempts with these periods. For example, if you want to sell Mercedes-Benz (headquartered in Germany) shares, you must wait until the European stock market is active, approximately between 3:00 am and 11:00 am New York time. Outside these windows, there simply is no available counterparty.

Something many traders forget: markets do not operate during weekends. Trading closes on Friday and reopens on Monday. If you have an open position on Friday and an important geopolitical event occurs over the weekend, you will have to wait until Monday to react. This is what veterans call “gap risk.”

The art of identifying the right moment to exit

Knowing that I can sell shares whenever I want during market hours is one thing. Knowing when to actually do it is the true art of trading.

The confluence of signals

The best trades are not made for a single reason. They are made when multiple indicators point in the same direction. This is where technical and fundamental analysis come into play together.

Trend changes detected by EMA: Exponential Moving Averages (EMA) are your silent allies. When the short-term EMA crosses below the long-term EMA, it’s time to pay attention. In a genuine bull market, selling opportunities are scarce. However, when lower highs and lower lows start forming, the tide has turned.

Let’s take the real case of Twitter between May and December 2021. The asset started at $48, reached a peak of $71, then retreated to $64 (higher low), went back to a high of $72, but the next low was just $63 (lower low). This structural break indicates a trend reversal. When the next high did not surpass the previous one, the confirmation was unequivocal: the market had turned bearish.

What happened afterward? Levels that previously served as support turned into resistance. The chart generated increasingly lower lows. The stochastic indicator showed overbought extremes. EMA crossings signaled a bearish crossover. Everything converged. On October 19, a short entry was validated around $67. By December, Twitter was trading at $40.59. It is now well below $34. Multiple confluences = high-probability operation.

Fundamental analysis: The business argument collapses

Now consider Netflix, where technical analysis complements fundamental analysis.

Netflix experienced extraordinary growth during 2019 and 2020. In 2019, it added users with an annual increase of 19.96%. In 2020, with the pandemic and worldwide lockdown forcing people to stay at home, growth accelerated to 21.90%. Shares were soaring.

But the seeds of the problem were already planted. Starting in November 2021, shares began a decline. Why? The numbers told the story:

• In 2021, subscriber growth plummeted to just 8.74%
• In 2022, Netflix not only stopped growing but lost 2.2 million subscribers

The causes were visible to anyone willing to see: continuous increases in subscription fees, the emergence of formidable competitors (Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video), content fatigue. The business model that had dominated the previous decade was being challenged.

This is where the trader must recognize that selling shares is also a risk management act. If you own Netflix at $680 in October 2021 and see fundamentals deteriorating, you should sell. It’s not a failure; it’s prudence. Shares fell to $176. Those expecting a “magical recovery” were punished by the market.

How to execute the sale when you decide to do it

When you finally decide it’s time to exit, the technical process is remarkably simple. Most brokers and CFD platforms offer intuitive interfaces.

Typically, you locate the asset you want to sell, and two clear options appear: Sell (sell at the current market price) or Sell Limit (set a target price and wait for the market to hit it).

The market order executes immediately at the best available price. The limit order allows you to set a pending order; if the price never reaches your target, the order is never executed.

Some brokers allow editing the order after it’s placed. This is especially useful if, after selling, you want to move your Stop Loss above the entry price to secure profits. For example, if you bought Google at $2,220 and set a Stop Loss at $2,120, you can later adjust it to $2,240 once the price rises, ensuring that even if the position closes, it does so with a small profit.

Psychology: The real limiting factor

Here’s the secret that few mention: most traders do not sell shares when they should because their emotions sabotage their decisions.

Experience on a demo account does not prepare you for the psychological stress of seeing real money in the red. When your real capital is at stake, the discipline you showed in practice evaporates. You catch yourself checking the position every minute, with your pulse racing, hoping it will “go back up.”

The uncomfortable truth: Sometimes you have to accept the loss. A 20% loss rate is normal. The abnormal thing is that it doesn’t go back up because you made the wrong initial decision.

Develop your psychological strength. Practice discipline even when it’s painful. Recognize that you won’t recover the capital “tomorrow” after a loss. Self-control in the face of red numbers is what separates profitable traders from those who capitulate emotionally.

The technical barriers you must consider

When trading with leverage, the landscape changes. If you use 1x leverage for a position of $2,220, you need that capital available in your account. But if you use 10x, you only need $222. The difference is in the margin required to keep the position open.

This flexibility is attractive but dangerous. Leverage amplifies gains but also losses. A 5% drop with 10x leverage can wipe out your entire position.

Additionally, before deciding to sell shares of any company, study its financial balance sheet. What does it sell? What is its competitive position? Does it face obsolescence risk? Tesla dominates electric vehicles today, but when Toyota and other traditional manufacturers enter with their own lines, will there be room for everyone?

Monitor the economic calendar. Central bank decisions, employment reports, and inflation data can trigger unexpected movements in your stocks. If you plan to sell, make sure to do so before crucial information is published that could change market sentiment.

The golden summary for traders

Yes, you can sell shares whenever you want within the trading hours of your respective exchange. Not during weekends. Not outside session hours.

But the real question is not whether you can sell, but whether you know when you should do it. That requires:

• Rigorous technical analysis (structures of highs and lows, EMA crossovers)
• Solid fundamental analysis (business fundamentals, growth, competition)
• Strengthened psychology (discipline, acceptance of losses, self-control)
• Risk management (non-negotiable Stop Loss, sensible leverage)
• Market knowledge (schedules, margins, economic events)

Most traders fail not because they cannot sell shares whenever they want, but because they do not recognize when they should do it. That is the difference between trading and investing with purpose.