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Does it concern anyone else how the US index funds have rebounded and exceeded their 2008 highs, while the rest of the world's index funds have stabilized somewhere between their 2008 highs & 2009 lows. Even in Canada (whose economy typically mirrors ours) they've yet to exceed their 2008 levels on the Toronto Exchange. Meanwhile, while better than 2008, our economy is not exactly thriving. Are we in for another bubble?
I'm by no means an economics expert and certainly open to correction as to why this is sensible, but it does concern me some..
(I do not post this in investing because I am more concerned about the broader implications for the U.S. national economy than I am for my portfolio.)
With most of the wealth of the US concentrated in the hands of a small plurality, which is currently growing, and having most of that money probably in the hands of Wall Street, this does not come as a surprise.
I feel the real issue is the income inequality and not specifically how much money is being thrown into the stock market.
What upsets me is the recent revelation that high speed traders are able for a fee to positon their super fast computers right next to the stock exchange's computers and buy up the stock investors are trying to purchase in a fraction of a second before they do then sell it back to them at an inflated price. That is insider trading.
I worry about what the companies I am invested in are doing, and pay ZERO attention to what "the market" is doing. If my stocks go up, they become more valuable. If they go down, they become more affordable, and I buy more. In between the two, I collect dividends. What "the market" is doing does not concern me in the slightest.
Except I'm not even concerned with individual stocks right now. As a long-term investor of a diversified, aggressive fund-of-funds, my only concern is that the market rises overall over the next 30-40 years.
It concerns me only because of the fact that people use the stick market as an indicator of the market. It has record highs, let's see what happens when we start to remove the training wheels. If we are still reasonably high to what we have, I'd say we're recovering, it'd not then you have to wonder...
It has record highs, let's see what happens when we start to remove the training wheels.
Record highs are not at all significant, especially considering most stock valuations are at reasonable levels. Compare stocks to food - the price of steak in the supermarket hits all time highs quite often, but that by itself is not a reason for it to go back down. And consider how steak prices would do if you took away all the chicken and pork, because that's the situation we're in. With interest rates on savings vehicles and bonds almost non-existent, the stock market is the only game in town if you want to grow your money. The largest debtor on the planet, the US Government, has a vested interest in keeping interest rates at next to nothing, and that's just where I believe they're going to stay for a long, long time. So load up on the prime rib now while it's relatively cheap. Buy and hold stock in solid companies, reinvest your dividends, and average down your cost basis on any weakness.
Does it concern anyone else how the US index funds have rebounded and exceeded their 2008 highs, while the rest of the world's index funds have stabilized somewhere between their 2008 highs & 2009 lows. Even in Canada (whose economy typically mirrors ours) they've yet to exceed their 2008 levels on the Toronto Exchange. Meanwhile, while better than 2008, our economy is not exactly thriving. Are we in for another bubble?
I'm by no means an economics expert and certainly open to correction as to why this is sensible, but it does concern me some..
(I do not post this in investing because I am more concerned about the broader implications for the U.S. national economy than I am for my portfolio.)
It concerns me enough to not buy US (large cap) stock until a significant correction occurs, although it isn't as bad as either the 2000 peak or the 2007 one.
It concerns me enough to not buy US (large cap) stock until a significant correction occurs, although it isn't as bad as either the 2000 peak or the 2007 one.
A lot of those are the dividend payers, which have attracted a lot of attention, because of a lack of other places to put money.
There is still a lot of value out there. The obvious places, have been bought up.
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