I don't even know what to post in this thread as far as NEWBS -- i.e., 102 investing -- which to me - is entirely different than say - what "I" do.
You've all now witnessed the roller coaster ride the market can take you on. This is why I've preached to all --- buy great companies -- that pay dividends -- and then sit back and relax.
This last couple of weeks wiped half a million of gains (paper) from the account that I use here for examples. Did I sell or panic or freak out? NO. Why? Because I've seen it all before. WHAT DID I DO?? I began to look at where the damage was done -- and began to think about what I'd do differently or how I'd REBALANCE going forward should the opportunity present itself.
In other words --- I didn't act --- but I did put on my thinking cap.
There's an old old saying about "BUY THE DIPS -- SELL THE RALLY'S". I warn against this "trader" mentality. You should be thinking longer term - calm - steady - invest when you are ready. Not firing from the hip. If you're a seasoned pro -- then that kind of thinking "can" work. We're not seasoned pro's. We're investors in this thread -- just working our way to retirement - looking for ways to get us there over time.
Now - in full disclosure - I thought about where I'd lighten up and I waited for this mornings rally (I had no idea the market would fall so quickly - nor did I think we'd have a two day rally that snapped a lot of stuff back so quickly!) - and pulled the trigger on some trades. I have really large positions. When you're holding 10 or 20 or 30,000 shares per name -- you can lighten up by 5 or 10,000 shares while still maintaining a healthy investment. It's year end -- I see some losers that could be trimmed if we got a rally where I could hide (cover) those losses with trimming some gainers. That's what I did. I also had some stuff in very small positions that weren't paying much dividend that I looked at and thought --- okay --- going forward is it really worth it to me to have less than a 2% dividend, and in such small amounts (500 or 1000 shares). When I could just take that gain - and reinvest it going forward in something that will pay me north of 5%. I answered that question with the sell button.
Now I have way too much cash -- so I'll discuss with my banker dudes some of their ideas (an email was already sent)... and I'll see what's what going forward.
Now -- I pay attention to this stuff big time! You could say that I make my living paying attention to the market, because I do. I'm already retired -- and the gains and dividends I get from the market are what puts fuel in my race cars. So what "I" do is different than what YOU should be doing if you're a long way from retirement or your money is inside a retirement account. There - you just keep putting money in - come hell or high water - you plug that money in!! The LAST THING you want to do is to quit putting money to work because this week the oil complex tanks... THAT IS HOW NOT TO REACH YOUR GOAL!!
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