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dex · 11-19-2008, 03:28 PM

S&P down 6.12% to 806.58 - Below the 2001 low - looking for support now - I have now idea where that is.

I have about 13% of my money to invest in the stock market still available.

Remember this adage - "The market teaches you to loose."
We were taught -
Buy and hold
Buy the dips
The stock market is a good investment - over time
A sharp decline means a sharp recovery.
The bear market is wiping away everything we believed in.

It is also wiping away all those advisers. There will be more to replace them - those that say they called this decline.

I feel stupid for buying a new house in 2006.
I feel stupid for buying for averaging into the market starting in May 2006
That is part of the bear market - it takes away your self confidence.

Are you feeling stupid?

I hope you have the ability to sit tight and take the long view - I know it isn't easy.

The above is similar to the thread I started below. But I felt the need to say it. I'm feeling stupid but staying the course.

Why Bear Markets Hurt So Much

Khan · 11-19-2008, 03:36 PM

A (minor) bright spot: a good time to convert my IRA to a Roth.

Texarkandy · 11-19-2008, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dex

....
I feel stupid for buying a new house in 2006.
.....

I sometimes regret not selling my house in 2006 at market highs. I was seriously thinking about it back then, just didn't do it. (I don't feel stupid though)

freebird5825 · 11-19-2008, 03:48 PM

nope, not feeling stupid.
disappointed
disillusioned
distinctly bummed out
but still staying the course. sigh.

lazygood4nothinbum · 11-19-2008, 04:00 PM

had i been brilliant, i would have ignored my accountant's advice about paying cap gains on the (then yet to be) inherited house, sold it right when the bubble peaked (well, right when i saw it going down), invested smartly into the market, and by now lost much of that to the recent crash. i figure that at what i might be able to get for the house today, because i was so stupid, i'm likely ahead about $30k.

had i been only somewhat intelligent, i would have reduced the price of the house after inheriting to about where i have it today when my oh so very smart financial friends told me to back then. so i would have lost 30% (down from peak) on the house sale and then somewhat intelligently invested that only to have lost yet another 30% when the stock market crashed. so on that game, i'm likely ahead over $200k.

apparently i'm not brilliant, i'm not even somewhat intelligent. god takes care of fools like me.

Moemg · 11-19-2008, 04:09 PM

I am completely disgusted with this market and I am getting very close to my bail out number . I know it is stupid to bail out at this point but I have just about had it . This continuous down market is brutal . I've lost about all I can handle . I 've joined Dawg In the head banging .

unclemick · 11-19-2008, 04:22 PM

Ah ha the Saint's/chief's game was not the low. Rat's!

My current friend has started her Christmas shopping(couldn't wait). Wally mart is mobbed while CVS is practically deserted.

The ability to watch world markets 24/7 is getting old and painful.

Wonder what the pssst Wellesley SEC yield is up to by now?

heh heh heh - I was gonna wait but my greed and lust meter is screaming off the scale. If I were only 40 years younger - all those stock buys!

unclemick · 11-19-2008, 04:40 PM

Hmmm - as mentioned some more Roth conversions

Still not too many losses cause I bought 1989 - 1995 time frame BUT maybe

some trade up in quality stock wise.

so far my food and utility stocks seem to have been the least hammered?

Ideas?

heh heh heh - when the fish are schooling - is it time to go fish?

Notmuchlonger · 11-19-2008, 04:50 PM

Im going to open up some special wine to celebrate.

Lazarus · 11-19-2008, 05:06 PM

Quit watching the market. Keep buying.

hankster · 11-19-2008, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg

I am completely disgusted with this market and I am getting very close to my bail out number . I know it is stupid to bail out at this point but I have just about had it . This continuous down market is brutal . I've lost about all I can handle . I 've joined Dawg In the head banging .

I also count myself among the head bangers. To rebalance or not to rebalance? Bigger chunks or small nibbles? GM bailed out or bankrupt? Would a bailout cause a rally? If so, how long lived? CRAPPPPP!!!

Maybe buy some stock in the liquor industry. Sales of Dawg's medicine should be increasing daily.

laurence · 11-19-2008, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg

I am completely disgusted with this market and I am getting very close to my bail out number . I know it is stupid to bail out at this point but I have just about had it . This continuous down market is brutal . I've lost about all I can handle . I 've joined Dawg In the head banging .

Don't do it! Stay away from the light!

Be strong and quit beating yourself up, people. Regrets are useless. I'm not saying you aren't allowed to feel bad, or be upset, that's human nature. But don't make it worse by thinking you could have done something different. Let's wait a year and take a look at our portfolios then.

dex · 11-19-2008, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laurence

Don't do it! Stay away from the light!

Be strong and quit beating yourself up, people. Regrets are useless. I'm not saying you aren't allowed to feel bad, or be upset, that's human nature. But don't make it worse by thinking you could have done something different. Let's wait a year and take a look at our portfolios then.

I haven't updated portfiolo prices since sept and won't do it until 12/31 when I computer my year over year net worth.

Thanks for the wise advise.

Moemg · 11-19-2008, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laurence

Don't do it! Stay away from the light!

Thanks Lawrence !

laurence · 11-19-2008, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg

Thanks Lawrence !

If I could I'd buy you all a beer. I feel just awful for the recent retirees and soon to be retirees. It's why it's so important not to sift through the numbers. If firecalc said your portfolio could survive the great depression and the stagflation of the 70's, then we aren't close to an issue yet here. It just hurts to look.

Dawg52 · 11-19-2008, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laurence

If I could I'd buy you all a beer.

I wish you could too. I'm almost out.

walkinwood · 11-19-2008, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laurence

If firecalc said your portfolio could survive the great depression and the stagflation of the 70's, then we aren't close to an issue yet here. It just hurts to look.

I keep telling myself that... but losing close to 30% of our portfolio in the first 7 months of early retirement! (we called it a sabbatical, but we were really hoping it would be ER for good). Its hard to keep faith in some numeric exercise that uses historic data.

The thing that keeps me going (and not selling out) is the fact that I'm 48 and can go back to work. Not yet though.. got plans through next May.

freebird5825 · 11-19-2008, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg

I am completely disgusted with this market and I am getting very close to my bail out number . I know it is stupid to bail out at this point but I have just about had it . This continuous down market is brutal . I've lost about all I can handle . I 've joined Dawg In the head banging .

here ya go, lady