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Please, this is once in a 100 year pandemic. If you are 61 like I am you sit it out until deaths start going down. I got out when the Dow was 27k. I’ll probably get back in at 23k.
So how am I going to lose?
I had a big advantage I knew this wasn’t just like the flu.
If you are 61 and panic selling, it sounds to me like your allocation into individual stocks was too high, hence the panic selling.
I'm sure everyones intent is to "probably" get back in at a certain price. Good luck, but just know that this absolutely goes against the commonly accepted knowledge and allocation principals that just about everyone acknowledges as best practice. Roll the dice though, it MIGHT work for you, but don't let that fool you into thinking you are a master market timer.
If you are 61 and panic selling, it sounds to me like your allocation into individual stocks was too high, hence the panic selling.
I'm sure everyones intent is to "probably" get back in at a certain price. Good luck, but just know that this absolutely goes against the commonly accepted knowledge and allocation principals that just about everyone acknowledges as best practice. Roll the dice though, it MIGHT work for you, but don't let that fool you into thinking you are a master market timer.
Hedge funds are selling their stocks, why do you think it fell like that? it's not a bunch of average joes with 401ks freaking out, actually you guys are the ones who hold because you know next to nothing about stocks while the professionals are selling and rebalancing all the time.
Hedge funds are selling their stocks, why do you think it fell like that? it's not a bunch of average joes with 401ks freaking out, actually you guys are the ones who hold because you know next to nothing about stocks while the professionals are selling and rebalancing all the time.
Right, I know nothing.
I have an account for trading and I have a long term 401k/IRA. The trading account is one thing and I try to leverage shifts, the risk on that money I'm willing to toy with for the potential returns. My 401k is rebalanced automatically and sometimes by me as I see fit. There is a huge difference between rebalancing and pulling out.
No money that anyone "needs" in 3-5 years should be tied up in stocks, and if you look at a 3-5 year window, I'd be more likely to say that this is just a good time to add to positions, maybe rebalance some here and there, but pulling out 80% and hoping to time a better entry is a fools game.
Hedge funds are selling their stocks, why do you think it fell like that? it's not a bunch of average joes with 401ks freaking out, actually you guys are the ones who hold because you know next to nothing about stocks while the professionals are selling and rebalancing all the time.
And also, the "professionals" who are selling and rebalancing are the ones managing your ETFs and mutual funds, so why are you panic selling while they are trying to manage the funds the right way.
Ill just go back to my corner over here where I know nothing though.
And also, the "professionals" who are selling and rebalancing are the ones managing your ETFs and mutual funds, so why are you panic selling while they are trying to manage the funds the right way.
Ill just go back to my corner over here where I know nothing though.
I don't consider it the right way to lose 30-50% of your investment in the short term, only to have to wait years to break even. The better way to get out and back in. An even better way is to get out, short, then get back in when things change. Your strategy is not a strategy, it's just hands off.
And there are scores of people who have 401ks, stocks etc and know nothing about the stock market.
I don't consider it the right way to lose 30-50% of your investment in the short term, only to have to wait years to break even. The better way to get out and back in. An even better way is to get out, short, then get back in when things change. Your strategy is not a strategy, it's just hands off.
And there are scores of people who have 401ks, stocks etc and know nothing about the stock market.
Fact is you are wrong. I said I rebalance manually sometimes and my funds automatically rebalance each quarter, thats not hands off. I've also stepped up my per pay check contributions so I add more now while the markets are tanking as Id rather ramp up my dollar cost averaging now instead of just timing it to hit the max at the end of the year. Its also not panic selling 80% and locking in losses and just hoping I get back in at a good time.
Looking at data going back to 1930, Bank of America found that if an investor missed the S&P 500′s 10 best days in each decade, total returns would be just 91%, significantly below the 14,962% return for investors who held steady through the downturns.
The firm noted this eye-popping stat while urging investors to “avoid panic selling,” pointing out that the “best days generally follow the worst days for stocks.”
Looking at the Dow Jones Industrial Average as a reference point, this pattern could be seen playing out this week. The 30-stock index posted sizable losses on three days this week, but it also enjoyed the two largest daily point gains on record and ended the week with a 1.8% gain.
Go ahead though, sell at the bottom and think you are going to time your way back in, all of the data suggests you will fail...and already have failed sitting out certain days so far.
I guess I couldn't accept the reality that this could explode the way it did. It seemed nightmarish to think we were facing something worse than the Spanish flu.
It's been a long time since the US faced a true pandemic.
It's not hard to imagine the consequences of a virus that is even 1% more transmissible than this one is. Nor one that is even 1% more lethal.
I devoutly hope that this proves a real wake-up call, and that no president or congress or state and local officials from this time forward are ever so cavalier again. We need more basic research into the nature and spread of viruses. We need plans in place for when the next dangerous virus emerges - and one will. We need more attention paid to the needs of the people who must work in jobs that increase their exposure because they have no other economic choices.
AND - we need to take ordinary flu a lot more seriously than we do. If we were used to taking flu seriously, this corona virus would not have made such an inroad before people started changing their behavior.
It's been a long time since the US faced a true pandemic.
It's not hard to imagine the consequences of a virus that is even 1% more transmissible than this one is. Nor one that is even 1% more lethal.
I devoutly hope that this proves a real wake-up call, and that no president or congress or state and local officials from this time forward are ever so cavalier again. We need more basic research into the nature and spread of viruses. We need plans in place for when the next dangerous virus emerges - and one will. We need more attention paid to the needs of the people who must work in jobs that increase their exposure because they have no other economic choices.
AND - we need to take ordinary flu a lot more seriously than we do. If we were used to taking flu seriously, this corona virus would not have made such an inroad before people started changing their behavior.
We need to go back to listening to the experts in this country.
I got lucky and pulled my 401k accounts, and most of my Ameritrade acct, out of stocks about 3 months ago because I felt they were overinflated. A pullback was overdue and the pandemic just sped it up. Once the curve is rounded I'm back in. Just wish I'd had the foresight to buy a few of those short etfs for the ride down.
That would be great and if so the Nation as a whole should be proud of itself for the efforts of our people. Now in this Trump is in a no win situation. if a "only" a thousand people die he will be accused of taking draconian measures which destroyed "obama's" great economy. And if millions die he will be accused of being a complete failure end not doing enough. Politically its a no win, this would apply to whomever was in office and i am sure will be a commercial used against every mayor, governor etc in upcoming elections. Isn't politics grand...
7065 deaths as of half an hr ago...and it's only April 3rd...so much for not even 1000 by the end of April
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