“Buy the dips, sell the rips” (Wall Street adage)

“Buy low, sell high” is an old Wall Street maxim on how to make money. This often means to “buy on the dips” (or “buy on dips” or “buy the dips,” meaning to buy when the market has gone down) and to “sell on the rips” (or “sell on rips” or “sell the rips,” meaning to sell when the market has gone up).
 
“Buy on dips and sell on rallies” is cited in print from at least 1888. The second phrase is also given as “sell on bulges” or “sell on peaks.” In the 2000s, it was finally made to rhyme as “sell on rips.”
   
 
19 October 1888, Wall Street Daily News, pg. 2:
Wide fluctuations and general feverishness were predicted, hence suggestions to buy on dips and sell on rallies.
 
19 December 1888, Wall Street Daily News, pg. 2:’
Their advice was to buy on dips in preference to the rallies, and then only the very best of dividend yielding properties.
 
17 August 1899, Omaha (NE) World Herald, pg. 7:
Buy the dips.
 
12 April 1900, Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer, pg. 10:
Unless all signs fall from this time on it will be better to wait and sell on the rallies, of which there are likely to be many, than to buy on the dips.
 
14 December 1901, Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer, pg. 15:
As decline and is merely a good trading market for the man who has courage and sense enough to buy on dips and sell on rallies.
 
26 March 1905, Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer, pg. 12:
Unless something of importance develops the price level is likely to continue to swing up and down within a narrow limit, and the best way to trade is to buy on the dips andtake small profits when they are in sight.
     
Google Books
January 1911, The Ticker and Investment Digest, pg. 110:
If the first, you are a Newton, a thinker; if the second, a mere trailer, a “sucker.” If the first, you buy on the “dips” ; if the second, on the “bulges” : and that, you at least know, makes a difference.
 
28 November 1913, Columbus (OH) Ledger-Enquirer, pg. 6:
Spearson, Hammil & Co.—We would buy on dips and sell on advances.
 
7 July 1914, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram, pg. 11:
Financial Bulletin—Traders sell on rallies and buy on dips.
   
Ne York (NY) Times
Treasuries Drop After Fed Signal
By KENNETH N. GILPIN
Published: May 18, 1990
(...)
’‘Right now we are in a counter-trading market,’’ the bond trader said. ‘‘That means you buy on the dips and sell on the upticks. It will probably be that until we get through the employment number.’’
 
Google Books
Tips and Traps for Making Money in Real Estate
By Robert Irwin
Published by McGraw-Hill Professional
1993
Pg. 17:
Thus, real estate today is more like stocks and bonds. To win you need to play the market — buy on the dips, sell on the spikes.
 
New York (NY) Times
CREDIT MARKETS; Treasury Prices Mixed Amid Rate Uncertainty
Published: July 22, 1994
(...)
Notes and bills may seesaw as “short-term traders buy the dips and sell the rallies,” he said, based on conflicting notions of slower growth and rising inflation, which diminishes bonds’ value.
 
Google Books
Buy the Rumor, Sell the Fact:
85 Maxims of Wall Street and What They Really Mean
By Michael Maiello
Published by McGraw-Hill Professional
2004
Pg. 77 (Buy the Dips):
Every investor who’s ever seen a stock chart knows that the market often rises after it falls. By all means, buy low and sell high, if you can. The phrase “buy the dips” is often spewed from the mouths of television’s financial commentators and it always seems like a great idea—in retrospect.
   
TheStreet.com
Kass: The Hardest Stock Market to Navigate Ever?
11/20/07 - 12:05 PM EST
Yesterday’s opening missive—Get Real and Drop the Rose Forecasts—delivered a familiar refrain: Stay cautious and trade/invest small with volatility on the rise.
   
It is for these reasons that I have suggested that opportunistic trading/investing (i.e., buying the dips and selling the rips) and lower-than-usual positions are strategies that can deliver excess returns in an increasingly volatile market.
 
TheStreet.com Real Money
Five Maverick Long-Side Bets
By Alan Farley
RealMoney.com Contributor
11/20/2007 11:36 AM EST
My short-side list has been growing rapidly in November’s market malaise. But I haven’t given up completely on the long side. In fact, there are two excellent buying strategies that still show managed risk and adequate reward, despite the persistent wave of selling pressure.
 
First, apply Doug Kass’ methodology of “sell the rips, buy the dips.” Of course, this isn’t a new way of trading. It just means that buying pullbacks and selling rallies is a good way to profit when the market chops around in unsettled conditions.
 
Forbes.com
Malaysian shares close lower on US worries, post-election concerns - UPDATE
02.28.08, 5:35 AM ET
(...)
“We are on a strategy to buy on dips and sell on rallies,” he said. “To be honest, there is a lot of uncertainty about how the market will perform after the general election.”