Anyone with mutual funds selling?

[Rot 911]

How much farther do you think the market will drop? I hate to keep hanging on like I did in 2000 and lose 25%

[frogger]

DON'T PANIC!

[jluetjen]

Buy low -- sell high. That means you should be shopping now, not selling!

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Kurt V

How much farther do you think the market will drop? I hate to keep hanging on like I did in 2000 and lose 25%

Cindy & I are still in. We were waiting for this "correction", so we may have bought in a few days too soon. However, long haul thinking applies with us...Day traders we aren't.

[74-911]

Originally Posted by Kurt V

How much farther do you think the market will drop? I hate to keep hanging on like I did in 2000 and lose 25%

Like most everyone else, I lost a LOT (on paper anyway) during the .com bust and also in the great Oct '87 selloff. Didn't sell either time and got it all back and a lot more by just hanging in there. This to shall pass, just no one knows the timeline.

[on-ramp]

at some point you have to realize your gain and bank your profit. isn't that the whole point? you will never buy at the very bottom or sell at the very top. rule of thumb. if you have a good profit, take a little off the table. and save it for "the bottom"..

btw, you guys still betting on the stock market to make you rich? it's nothing but a casino. what goes on at Wall st. every day is not investing. it's a sick game. who do you think is responsible for the every day upswing and downswings in the market? The avg. Joe who slaves away 8 hrs a day at work? no way.
It's all the day traders, about 100-200 of them, they trade on fundamentals? RI G H T! all the stories you hear " fear", etc, are catalysts for market moves.
YOU are just a small fish caught in the stream , a stream created by the Big Boys, the "Club", the Big Players. Like a said, it's a sick game, it's not investing. the rich make their money with very little risk. YOU , on the other hand, put your money in the market, fold your arms, and hope for the best. Passive investing. Risk with no control.

sure, you might tell me stories of people you know that made well investing in the market. they just got lucky, and are in the minority. but do you really want to wait 20 years to find out how well you did?

I'm going to quote Wayne here, and he is correct:

"The stock market is similar to Vegas - don't play with money you can't afford to lose"

[on-ramp]

Originally Posted by Kurt V

How much farther do you think the market will drop?

dude, do you think anybody knows? maybe you should consult your local fortune teller. and if they did, do you think they would tell you?

[ken_xman]

Originally Posted by on-ramp

at some point you have to realize your gain and bank your profit. isn't that the whole point?

btw, you guys still betting on the stock market to make you rich? it's nothing but a casino. what goes on at Wall st. every day is not investing. it's a sick game. who do you think is responsible for the every day upswing and downswings in the market? The avg. Joe who slaves away 8 hrs a day at work? no way.
It's all the day traders, about 100-200 of them, they trade on fundamentals? RI G H T! all the stories you hear " fear", etc, are catalysts for market moves.
YOU are just a small fish caught in the stream , a stream created by the Big Boys, the "Club", the Big Players. Like a said, it's a sick game, it's not investing. the rich make their money with very little risk. YOU , on the other hand, put your money in the market, fold your arms, and hope for the best. Passive investing. Risk with no control.

sure, you might tell me stories of people you know that made well investing in the market. they just got lucky, and are in the minority. but do you really want to wait 20 years to find out how well you did?

I'm going to quote Wayne here, and he is correct:

"The stock market is similar to Vegas - don't play with money you can't afford to lose"

This is the kind of thought pattern that causes volatile swings in the equity market. You make money with time in the market, not timing the market. You need to be exposed to proper portfolio management. There is nothing "Vegas" about it. There needs to be a core long term portfolio, and a small % you get to pick as "bets". Wall street.... I resemble that remark.
I manage the real money for several guys that own seats on the floor of the NYSE. They lose sight of the big picture, watching daily movement. I am afraid you are too.

[on-ramp]

Originally Posted by ken_xman

This is the kind of thought pattern that causes volatile swings in the equity market. You make money with time in the market, not timing the market. You need to be exposed to proper portfolio management. There is nothing "Vegas" about it. There needs to be a core long term portfolio, and a small % you get to pick as "bets". Wall street.... I resemble that remark.
I manage the real money for several guys that own seats on the floor of the NYSE. They lose sight of the big picture, watching daily movement. I am afraid you are too.

well, they are there daily. what else are they going to do? twiddle their thumbs?
they watch daily movements

IF i had money in "IT", I would try and time it. Buy low, sell high, right? you buy when you think it's around bottom and sell at around the top, if you can, OR sell sell sell if you have a good profit. There is always another buying opportunity. Always.

short term profits realized over and over again equate to higher ROI than long term holdings that are realized.

[jluetjen]

My MBA Finance professor said that if you see a $10 bill on the floor of the stock exchange, don't bend over and pick it up -- because it's not real. If it was, someone would have picked it up before you. I believe that this pretty well sums of the "Chicago School" of thought on the subject.

BTW - I wasn't advocating market timing. But selling just because the market is down and you have paper losses is a great way to lock in those paper losses for the very simple reason that it violates that little piece of common sense that I quoted.

[ken_xman]

Originally Posted by on-ramp

short term profits realized over and over again equate to higher ROI than long term holdings that are realized.

That might hold true, but the odds are not in your favor to do so.

[ken_xman]

Originally Posted by jluetjen

My MBA Finance professor said that if you see a $10 bill on the floor of the stock exchange, don't bend over and pick it up -- because it's not real. If it was, someone would have picked it up before you. I believe that this pretty well sums of the "Chicago School" of thought on the subject.

BTW - I wasn't advocating market timing. But selling just because the market is down and you have paper losses is a great way to lock in those paper losses for the very simple reason that it violates that little piece of common sense that I quoted.

I agree. If you want to be tactical with cash on the sidelines, now would be a good entry point. Don't quote me next week, and say I was wrong. Look back 5 years from now, is more my point.

[Evans, Marv]

Yep. If you are in for the long haul, just stay there. If I had a bunch of liquid cash right now, I'd be buying and buying.

[LakeCleElum]

This drop is caused by bad news in the housing/mortage market. Last time it was the price of fuel......Neither is the end of the world.......Unless you need your money right away, do the laid back Jefferson City thing and "let 'er ride.......In the long run, the market takes 3 steps forward and one back.......

I think it's all a house of cards and will come crashing down some day for us in the US. However, I don't think that what's occurring now..........

[Chocaholic]

On-ramp.....ok, enlighten us. Where (specifically) are you investing for retirement (long term)?


The original question asked if anyone is selling. Why would you do that now??? I've been transferring cash to my Janus account about every 2-3 days since the market started falling 2 weeks ago. Added $3k to my Contrarian Fund this morning. Will keep transferring cash to stock as long as the price keeps falling. It's a great time to buy, and to lower your average cost basis.

Buy low, sell high. This ain't the time to sell, especially if you're in it for the long haul.

[on-ramp]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

On-ramp.....ok, enlighten us. Where (specifically) are you investing for retirement (long term)?


Buy low, sell high. This ain't the time to sell, especially if you're in it for the long haul.

Mike,

here are my thoughts on the subject. "Retirement" is a government/corporate made scam in this country, designed to collect fees and expenses from you until you "retire", at the age of 65. I don't have a 401k and I don't believe in them. when you give in to the system, you are playing by someone else's rules..besides, do you really want to "retire" at 65 ? some of us never even get there.
make your OWN "retirement" plans, not what someone else has to offer you. I dont understand how some people make plans for 30 years ahead in their life when they can't even plan for next week, or next month, or next year. it's insane

furthermore, all that money you are putting away in your 401k, in 20 years it will be worth 1/2 of what you think it's worth, due to the falling dollar value. did your 401k company tell you that? ha! it's a risky proposition.

[Chocaholic]

And if you happen to live to be 80, how do you plan to pay for food, clothes and shelter? It's irresponsible to live only in the here and now. Are you counting on your kids to support you? Are you counting on your health to always enable you to work? Are you counting on the government (my tax dollars) to take care of you? I understand your skepticism in the market, I share many of your concerns. But, it's like (so-called) global warming. You can't draw reliable conclusions over events of the last week, month or even year. Look at the market over many years. It's been a reliable ride up.

Balance is key. Enjoy life, but not at the expense of your old age. Heck, if I don't make it far enough to use my retirement savings, I'm happy to pass it to my kids to help them enjoy their lives. So....answer the original question....how are you preparing for life beyond your working years? And, if you're not, why not just say so?

[Rot 911]

Thanks for the insight guys. I'm going to keep some cash, but keep in the market and like some of you said "buy low."

[911teo]

The stock mkt is falling right now because we are seeing a deleveraging in the financial markets.

The world carry trade has come to an end. Everybody (and this is not me and you but the big pension funds) was borrowing money in Yen (close to zero financing) and investing them in riskier assets in other economies (real estate and stock mkt in US, UK, Europe etc).

It all started with the real estate bubble bursting in California. This has created some problem for the sub-prime sector. Subprime are those mortgage pools made by loans to sub-prime creditors. They carry higher returns but higher risks.

A lot of people were invested in them... it looks like more than what the market could take.

As houses went down and we had the 1st defaults the mkt collapsed.

It looks like stocks got caught in this de-leveraging action.

But stocks were not overvalued and it should be temporary.

Hold on to your stocks and don't sell.

The FED has just announced they cut their discount rate (mind u not their targed rate) by 50bp.

This should give reliefe to the mkt and stop the flight to quality we have seen in the last 4-5 days.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by on-ramp

furthermore, all that money you are putting away in your 401k, in 20 years it will be worth 1/2 of what you think it's worth, due to the falling dollar value. did your 401k company tell you that? ha! it's a risky proposition.

Yep, the stock market over the long haul is just like Vegas, except you're the house ! Thankfully, my "reality" does not match your theory. As I mentioned in another thread, I once calculated what I had paid into a single 401k at one company early in my career, and it's simply mind-boggling what that single account (rolled to a IRA brokerage acct. when I left) has grown to over time. The general consensus is that "most" cannot beat a 401K's performance when you factor in a company match and tax implications, and I agree. But, that's just one facet of a diversified strategy...