Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Ah yes, the acuity of hindsight, etc. But even for us stodgy buy-and-holders, it was a scary time. Right up until the Election, 2016 was sequence of gyrations atop of an otherwise flat market, which followed an overall negative trend in 2015. I don't mean to say that even 2 years constitute a substantial trend, but consider, how dispiriting it is to be talking about even a 5% correction, after two years of sharp but inchoate oscillations, themselves following 15 years (we're going back to 2000 now) of lackluster cumulative progress.
I welcome the current trend, realizing that it will eventually taper and cede primacy to something else, and that in turn to something else. The lesson of this thread, and all such threads, is to embrace humility. Those who upbraid embarrassed prognosticators of the recent past, will duly themselves find embarrassment. And with that, I'll shut up now....
because everyone who has not got burned yet still has that vision in their head that they will have all this cash and markets fall a few thousand points . they will be there , cash in hand and make lots of money .
most of us learned how that usually works out the hard way and we bail and end up throwing in the towel and buy in higher as markets pass us by .
but that is not the same thing as adjusting your comfort level after markets have a huge run up . you are not trying to outsmart the markets . you are just making a change regardless of where you think markets are headed so your stocks get back in your target zone for volatility .
Ah yes, the acuity of hindsight, etc. But even for us stodgy buy-and-holders, it was a scary time. Right up until the Election, 2016 was sequence of gyrations atop of an otherwise flat market, which followed an overall negative trend in 2015. I don't mean to say that even 2 years constitute a substantial trend, but consider, how dispiriting it is to be talking about even a 5% correction, after two years of sharp but inchoate oscillations, themselves following 15 years (we're going back to 2000 now) of lackluster cumulative progress.
I welcome the current trend, realizing that it will eventually taper and cede primacy to something else, and that in turn to something else. The lesson of this thread, and all such threads, is to embrace humility. Those who upbraid embarrassed prognosticators of the recent past, will duly themselves find embarrassment. And with that, I'll shut up now....
Yep, can't disagree with any of that.
I was nervous at the end of last year...so I sold a small portion of my stock funds (just under 3%) and moved them into stable value. I'll probably move another 2% out of stocks and into stable value early next year.
If a person must take money off the table, they should do it in small increments. Boring, I know. But financial success is mostly about being steady and not making huge moves one way or the other. Only a tiny % do well making huge moves.
if someone is a long term investor pulling money out to try to time things is usually a poor idea .
but if the run up has pushed stocks out of your comfort range or you feel uncomfortable and want a bit less allocated to stocks , there is nothing wrong with re-allocating or rebalancing .
the trouble is when you get the vision of the markets plunging and you will be standing there cash in hand .
we are seeing what typically happens when volatility picks up and the leveraged money has a much greater loss potential in dollars . so machines sell to reduce positions and leverage which brings on more selling .
we are ripe for a very very nasty sell off on auto pilot .
at this point , being retired , out of comfort i moved from 50 to 40% equities . the small shift makes me a bit more comfortable . i did not do it to try to time things , in fact i have no issues staying at 40% equities forever . but i do have a comfort range i will stay in , and if things reduce i will be more comfortable at my higher end of my range .
if you could time the market you'd be filthy rich. but you can't so don't try. you'll usually be wrong.
if you're old and close to retirement you shouldn't be largely exposed in the stock market anyway.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
