S&P flat in past decade (brokers, trading, stocks)

[cvap]

Is anyone else getting sick and tired of the market?Not only was the S&P 1340 in 1999,the same as it is today,75% of long only managed portfolios underperformed the S&P in that period.I think we better start trading the market or get out of it.

[vincentnyc]

did u ever read the fine print *historical performance are not an indicator for future performance***?

[cdelena]

Here are the returns from the Coffeehouse portfolio which is a simple diversified allocation of indexes.

Year Return
1991 23.55%
1992 9.57%
1993 15.64%
1994 -0.58%
1995 22.89%
1996 14.53%
1997 17.95%
1998 6.88%
1999 8.30%
2000 7.25%
2001 1.88%
2002 -5.55%
2003 23.56%
2004 14.18%
2005 5.97%
2006 15.002%
2007 2.91%
ANNUALIZED 17 YEAR RETURN 10.5%

[lchoro]

S & P 400 Midcap Index (MID) and S & P 600 Smallcap Index (SML) have done much better in the last 10 years. It's no guarantee that they won't fall much farther and faster than the SPX in the future.

[John23]

It's funny how the "conventional wisdom" never seems to change, even as the data/results gives you another story...

-Buy and hold

-Buy for the long haul

-Stocks go up 10% a year...

Thats all broker talk. 1999 was the high point, so it looks bad now. If you measure the s&p in euros or gold or inflation adjusted, its probably down 50-60%. It means the market has to double just to break even. Not good...

[The_Anonymous_American]

You left out the most important advice which is to buy low and sell high, as in buy the dips, sell the rips.

[Nor'Eastah]

Originally Posted by John23

It's funny how the "conventional wisdom" never seems to change, even as the data/results gives you another story...

-Buy and hold

-Buy for the long haul

-Stocks go up 10% a year...

Thats all broker talk. 1999 was the high point, so it looks bad now. If you measure the s&p in euros or gold or inflation adjusted, its probably down 50-60%. It means the market has to double just to break even. Not good...

Glad somebody brought up the issue of "inflation adjusted". We are so trained to think in nominal terms, are we not? The purchasing power of the dollar is a serious issue. As for the brokers, I never take advice from someone who's looking to sell me something...