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SO how did all of you who were watching the trend and were going to miss the down turns fair???
i bet it was alot harder to get yourself to bail then you thought...
i cant say whether this is the next big one or not, but i know id never time getting out and getting back in again correctly.
at one point we were down 1,000 points.... between greece and the fact procter and gamble displayed their price wrong for a few minutes sent the markets plunging....
I've been transitioning my portfolio, creating my bond ladder for when I retire in 4 years. I saw the big drop and I thought it was nice not to be going down as much. By the same token, I don't go up as much either. I was itching to get back in, but though now is not the time, just keep transitioning.
well...I am the stupid one and stayed in the market until today. I actually sold most of my stocks 5 minutes before the market glitch today (May 6). I lost all the gain for the last 6 months. Fortunately, I only invested 5% of my cash in the stock market, and I have 1% in Gold.
I know I know...
I don't believe in stock market anymore. That is why I only play with 5% of my cash in the market. The rest 80% are in bank CD's , and 15% in conservative income funds. I can not think of any good investment these days. Not even in real estate market, ie, income property.
I sure worry that inflation will eventually eat out my cash. But until I figure out a better way to invest, I say cash is king.
yep cash is king, until its not , thats the only bad thing about cash.... but i think long term we will do fine..... its all about real diversification... not the balonay wall street handed us .
corporate bonds ,municipals,reits, foreign stocks ,commodities are not much protection against the drops... whats ever is bad for stocks is equaly bad for the rest of the group.
.
thats why all these target funds got creamed.
only equities,gold, long term treasuries and cash are true diversification. while some days all may move in the saqme direction longer term the trend is they all move differently at differerent times..
it was thought oil was a proxy for gold but 2008 taught us it wasnt.
dont forget commodities crapped out in 2008 vs new highs for gold.
the key is rebalancing once a year.... even gold bought at 1000 an ounce in the 80,s would have given you a 9.2% return over decades just by rebalncing and buying gold when it was sooooo cheap or long term tresury bonds when inflation fears were running wild. by constantly adding more of the loosers you get ready for the next cycle and as we all know every asset class has its day in the sun.
the rebalncing makes it all come together nicely
the whole point is no economic event can ever devaste you... holding bonds or cash and betting the ranch on low inflation is just as risky as putting all your money in cash and gold. and betting on high inflation... if you think your going to time things in time to switch good luck.
anytime you think your going to out smart the markets do yourself a favor,visit the madman in vegas and have dinner and a show with the loss of your money.
Last edited by mathjak107; 05-06-2010 at 04:56 PM..
In fact, off-hand I can't think of even one regular on this board who has made such a statement.
Care to let us in on the closet market-timers amongst us?
And as an aside, the NYSE & NASDAQ just cancelled all trades made between 2:40pm and 3:00pm that were more than 60% off.
Lots of good talk about the need to slow the market down and how major trades can be in in a micro second. One errant thumb perhaps and it all went tumbling. The good thing about being old is you can remember the other the sky is falling days previously and the inevitable bounce back. Greece is fascinating to watch play out and hopefully is a warning to American politicians that partisanship is not a path we should continue going down. Saw a good article today about health care reform and the potential nightmare reality it could become. If it starts to unravel we will need collaborative problem solving and not partisan I told you so.
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