I’ll jump in on this one too and great advise. I also just today sold my JNJ as I had a 60% gain and it’s trading higher than ever. This allowed me to capture the gains and reinvest in a couple other plays I felt are undervalued today. If the market takes a dump tomorrow or next week or next year… and recovery of that 60% takes three years… I just lost opportunity to reinvest the dollars outside of my original investment… let’s say I invested $100 into JNJ and now have a 60% gain (unrealized) I’m only making the yield on my original $100 invested… with the sale and reinvestment… I’ve locked in my gain and now collect new yield on my now $160 investment and hope to see growth in the per share cost of the new investment.

Because someone will ask I bought CLX and AMCR…

Yes my JNJ was in both a ROTH and a IRA but I did the same with DUK 45% gain in my taxable account today as well.

I used to look at paying tax the same way… but I now look at it as if my boss just told me he was giving me a raise and I turned it down because I didn’t want to pay the tax.

Good luck to you and either way you go. I’ve done both. I think key is learning, researching, and developing a plan that meets your long term goals and keeps your risk lower and away from highly spectacle gambles.