Stocks

Carmine

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 10
Hi everyone. Not sure where this goes, so I'll put it here. Last week, on the 14th, the stock market took a pretty good hit at losing 800 points. I believe this was because a federal agency reported that a recession might not be too far off in the future. If I understand this correctly, they reported that when short term interest rates were paying more % then invested long term rates, a recession always followed, because this isn't the way it's suppose to be. Might not be today or tomorrow, but definitely in the future. They claim it's never failed. So, it any members are investors in the stock market, did you do anything??? Sell?? Buy more at the dip?? Hold tight?? As for me, I added everything up and my return collectively was 25.8% on my investments. I normally don't get scared off by that stuff, hold my ground, but this time I think I was looking for an excuse to sell, and I did. Everything. I had been considering selling for some time, and this just pushed me over the edge. I know it rebounded some, 350 points, the following day. I still have no regrets. I would have done the same thing again. I kept the account open and I'm presently on the sideline waiting to see what might happen. I don't know how a recession could take place because the economy and job numbers are very good. But then again, I don't know that much about finances either or what drives the market or your big investment houses. By some estimates, this bull market has gone on for 10-12 years without a serious correction. That's unheard of from what I read. Happy investing to all, Carmine.
 

GCAMINO

 
Supporting Member 1
I'm holding tight. The market has been up and by some serious numbers. Any thing that shakes up wall street, aka , Trade wars, tariffs ,Iran, little rocket man, fake news!!!. will affect the market. You have to do what makes you comfortable. :rain. By the way could I borrow some money , I got a great tip from this guy at a bar, he said..........................:doh
 

Carmine

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 10
I'm holding tight. The market has been up and by some serious numbers. Any thing that shakes up wall street, aka , Trade wars, tariffs ,Iran, little rocket man, fake news!!!. will affect the market. You have to do what makes you comfortable. :rain. By the way could I borrow some money , I got a great tip from this guy at a bar, he said..........................:doh
Of course :laugh4:laugh4:laugh4:laugh4:laugh4, Carmine.
 

IMBVSUR?

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 2
I myself would not try to offer advice when it comes to investing. I pulled out of the market about 4 years or so because I could not understand how the stock market was so high. It seemed to being propped up. The economy and jobs didn't seem to support it. I am safe, but I lost a lot of revenue since then. :facepalm Oh well, my fault, but hey, I haven't lost anything either.
 

Carmine

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 10
I've been dabbling in the stock market since about 1987. I'm self taught. I read alot and listen. I pick individual stocks. Usually, only have 6-7 stocks to manage. Some are for dividends, other growth. Very diversified. Overall, I've done well in the market. Admittedly, had some real losers though. As I'm getting older, I seem to be more cautious with the stock market. I might not have the time to recover if I take a big hit. That in part was my reasoning for my sell off last week. Previously, during one small correction, I loss all my profit and even dipped into the principal. I said if I get back to where I was with both, I would consider selling. I did and then bailed out. It's nice to sit on the sidelines and watch. Much less stress for me. I've never seen the market with it's highs and lows, advances and decliners, as I have recently. A few hundred points either way means nothing I guess. I really think there is something brewing. Nice to be a spectator, Carmine.
 

Tom Kochtanek

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 12
Wait a minute, don't you have to make more than you spend each month to put $$$ into the stock market? That's the limitation for many of us, most have a tendency to exhaust available monthly income, and some even more (credit card debt) :) :) :). When I was working I always used to tell my wife we had too much month at the end of the money :).

Now in retirement it seems that we have more free time and therefore (some of us, like my wife) spend more time shopping (online) for things we might not need, but seem to have to have... Nary a day goes by without that ring of the doorbell and the drop off of something from Amazon or some other online retailer :).

That said, I handle all the accounts for the two of us, and her interest in things financial is limited by choice. I tend to think long term, she is more day-to-day practical. For some 20 years I spent a month in Chapel Hill, NC as a Visiting Professor and they paid very well. I never let on to what that amount was, I just hid it away into a long term investment account. That seems to be the only way I could ever save up for the purchase of long term investments. Not that I have a lot compared to some. I remember years ago her brother and I talking about investments and he noted that he put something like a thousand away every month and I was shocked. I think that's about what I used to make in a month...

I can never tell where things are headed in terms of the overall economy, but it does seem we are moving towards indicators of a recession. We can all recall the last one in 2007-8-9 and that one hurt me big time. I had just developed some acres I held long term into building lots (at a huge cost I might add) and by 2008 no one would lend me money to build houses on. So I had to either go belly up on the lots or hang on for dear life. I bit the bullet and chose to hang on. I feel like I'm still crawling out from under that mounting debt. Speaking of debt, now is a great time if you need to borrow or refinance. Rates are super low and you can still command fixed rate loans. I am in the process of repackaging all my marbles into one consolidated loan. I'll spare you the details but commercial rates are less than 4% (they are generally one point higher than home loans for personal property) and I suspect that might change over the coming year. The recent drop in the Fed's interest rate helped me even more in the past few weeks. I've spent the last month packaging proposals up for various banks to consider (I am a bit of a whore with regards to lenders, I go with the lowest rates and least closing costs irregardless of my relationship with the bank officers) and hope to nail things down in the next few months.

I might even have to extract some booty ("cash out") to push some of my hobby projects along a little faster...

Enjoy it while you can, this is a great time to be in debt on secure properties so long as you can make those monthlies :).

Cheers! TomK
 

Fathead Racing

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 7
The economy to date is still booming! The so called indicator’s seem to be the alphabet news programs that are dying for a recession to derail Trumps 2020 White House bid. There are no, I repeat *NO* economic indicators showing that we are headed for a recession. The Fuss over China is overblown and is causing some market fluctuations but the US economy is strong. Predictions for a recession point to 2021 but let’s see. For now I’m hanging tight. Some interest rates are upside down at the moment and that used to be an indicator in the past but my guy is telling me that does not hold water today. Trump does not have control Over the Fed and he does not agree with them often. My advice, just like the old saying goes, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket “.
 

Junky

Well Known Member
Never invest that which you can't afford to loose. I have never been a believe that the ups and downs in the market can be played by individuals that don't have the stomach or the expertise needed, so I am in for the long haul. In many instances, I pull out my principal and leave the profits behind in the stock, assuming that it will either grow, and I win, or if it all goes belly up, I have lost nothing. Most of my investments are in dividend paying stocks or bonds that have a fixed return on investment. I don't have that much in the market, probably less than 8 Billion dollars, so a point here or there isn't going to effect me that much. Got to run, since I am having lunch with Bernie Madoff this afternoon, and he has promised me a great tip on investing. :facepalm:good
 

bjburnout

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 4
I don't know what to believe anymore, except not to believe anything on TV, in Print, or on the Radio from anyone. All sides have an agenda, and none of it is for the betterment of the citizens of the US.
..to quote Mark Twain...."if you don't read the newspaper you will be un-informed and if you do read the newspaper you will be mis-informed"........guess that goes for all the other media as well.......:confused
 
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