Hi Ryan,
Ever situation is different and each 'dog' is different. I've talked about my process of selling stocks many times before, and it applies to this situation as well. Perhaps this will help. I always ask myself the following:
Question 1 - Has my investment thesis change? If no - then I'll likely hold, but maybe not as it will depend on my answer to the question 2. If yes, has it changed for the better? this is obviously a good thing. If yes, has it changed for the worse? This is a bad thing, and i will start to consider selling at this point.
Question 2 - Is there a better use of my cash? In other words - If I sell my position today, is there another investment that I find more attractive and that will yield better returns? If the answer is yes, I will sell my 'dogs' and move on - doesn't matter how big the loss. If the answer is 'no', then I may hold on to my 'dog' if my investment thesis hasn't changed. If its changed for the worse, likely i will still sell even if i don't see any better options.
It is a simple process, but one that i find works well. It takes the emotion out of investing for me.
One of the big issues with investors is emotion and the need to recoup their losses. Case in point, if you bought ACB (using your example) a year ago at around $60.00 per share, then you are sitting on a loss of 90%. To recoup that loss, ACB will have to jump by ~985% to get back to $60/share. How many stocks jump that munch? Even the best high-flying stocks, that have considerable momentum and positive growth don't post those kind of returns in a year. Over a few years sure, but even those are few and far between.
Hope this helps. It's hard to take a loss, but sometimes it is the best course of action. I used my process to dump Cineplex in the summer at a 50% loss - but good thing I did, otherwise I would have been sitting on even greater losses. The investment thesis had clearly changed, AND there were plenty of more attractive opportunities. Just remember, no one is perfect and even the world's best investors have investments that don't quite work out. The key to success is having more winners, and to have an exit plan when things go south.
Mat