Shorting a stock is the exact opposite of buying a stock. When you short a stock you are hedging your bets that the stock will go down in price unlike when you buy a stock and believe the price will go up.

Many investors try and short a stock way to early as they believe the stock price is way overvalued. However many times a stock that is overvalued in price may become even more overvalued especially when the stock market is in an extended upward move. The proper time to short a stock is after it has encountered its first major sell off and bounced which sets the stage for a second stronger move to the downside.

Thus the best time to short a stock is to wait for it to bounce after it makes its initial sell off and then try and catch the second stronger move downward. When looking for stocks to short make sure they are exhibiting these three characteristics.

1. The stock has already undergone one significant move downward after making a top.
2. The stock then finds support at a certain Fibonacci Retracement Level or Moving Average and rallies on poor volume.
3. The stock then stalls out near its 38.2%, 50% or 61.8% Fibonacci Retracement Level after rallying.