[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"