Meet the Street: Know When to Hold 'Em and When to Fold 'Em

The end of the year is always a good time to take stock -- no pun intended -- of your investments and decide what's worth keeping and what isn't.

Unfortunately, selling stocks and funds can be very difficult for many investors, especially when it means realizing a loss. But selling poorly performing investments, taking tax losses on them and reinvesting the proceeds in better-performing vehicles is an essential part of building a successful portfolio.

To get some thoughts on how to surmount the psychological obstacles to selling losing investments, as well as strategies for discerning what to keep and what to toss, we spoke to Don Cassidy, senior research analyst at fund tracker Lipper. Cassidy is the author of five books on investing, including his latest, It's When You Sell That Counts, which identifies reasons investors can be reluctant to sell their investments, and offers advice on how to overcome them. ...