Trading places

[dallas27]

This correction was my first 6 digit net worth drop. Didn’t even blink, in fact I found myself thinking about those two old rich dudes at the party in that movie trading places (eddie murphy/dan akroid) who would purposely try to lose money on their bets.

I am certainly not trying to lose money, but I certainly realized I could drop a cool hundred grand and not really give two hoots much like those old dudes. Not from a place of arrogance, but more how fortunate I must really be, probably much more than I deserve.

 

[RunningBum]

I remember the movie well. I don't remember them purposely trying to lose money on bets or anything else. The part about the bet was that they were for just a buck or two bet they were willing to ruin two lives. Is there a scene I'm forgetting?

 

[jazz4cash]

Not the way I recall that movie, but it's the second time it's been cited on this forum and I heard an audio clip (get back in there and sell! Sell! SELL!!)on Bloomberg or CNBC. All since Friday.

 

[NW-Bound]

This correction was my first 6 digit net worth drop. Didn’t even blink, in fact I found myself thinking about those two old rich dudes at the party in that movie trading places (eddie murphy/dan akroid) who would purposely try to lose money on their bets.

I am certainly not trying to lose money, but I certainly realized I could drop a cool hundred grand and not really give two hoots much like those old dudes. Not from a place of arrogance, but more how fortunate I must really be, probably much more than I deserve.

Once one has been in the market for a while and made some good money, giving back $100K is no longer that big a deal, particularly if he thinks he will regain it in the near future. Else, I am sure it hurts a lot more.

In the Great Recession of 2008-2009, some posters here talked of losing $1 million buck or more. I did not have enough then to exceed that, but would now. Would not say that I would not blink. We talked about the Great Depression, and about how long the market took to come back then. None of the posters thought that we would recover in just a few years.

How much would I need to have before I can say "Meh" for losing $1M? Will I ever find out? Do I want to find out?

 

[RobbieB]

The bet was "breeding or environment", a classic for $1. Nobody wanted to lose.

What movie did you watch?

 

[scrabbler1]

There were two $1 bets in the movie. The first was "breeding versus environment" done by the Duke brothers, the old men. The second was between Winthorpe and Valentine, to see if they could make themselves rich while sending the Duke brothers to the poorhouse at the same time. (I forget which one lost.) So they were trying to make someone lose money, just not themselves.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

Great movie, and quite educational in terms of market psychology:

Take a look at about 5:30 into the clip, it is a classic insight into fear and greed (in this case fear as pork belly prices are falling).

 

[athena53]

I also lost $100K over the 2-day period; it's recovered some. Still over the very nice round number I hit last October. Iron-clad rule of investing; you don't get reward without risk.

 

[GravitySucks]

Looking at the bright side of being on the low side NW compared to this board...
I only lost five figures. An entry level Lexus at most.

 

[dallas27]

Ya, maybe it was a different movie, brewsters millions or something like that. I remember the scene but not 100 percent sure the movie, it was a tiny scene in a much larger movie with no plot consequence.

Nonetheless, the sentiment stands and I’m glad to have “passed the test” of a big loss nominally, though not percentage wise.

 

[kimcdougc]

I must say I appreciate all the great advice I have received from this forum. It allowed me to not panic and sell in the last two day dips. I have recovered pretty nicely form the drop already.

Thanks again for all the great advice.

 

[Perryinva]

Well, I must be in the wrong equities , though most all of mine is in funds. I’ve not recovered anything of the lost gains made in Jan, my balance is almost exactly what it was on Dec 27. In a previous post I said about January, too much too fast, and did actually sell about 20% prior to the drop to begin-a rebalance. Pure luck. So my paper losses could have been much worse, and I’m 25% cash now. I’m not a big roller like many here, only gained like 20k, but agree with the general consensus of don’t panic. I admit to buying in on a favorite stock at the very bottom, and it is up from there.

 

[SJ1_]

Ya, maybe it was a different movie, brewsters millions or something like that. I remember the scene but not 100 percent sure the movie, it was a tiny scene in a much larger movie with no plot consequence.

Nonetheless, the sentiment stands and I’m glad to have “passed the test” of a big loss nominally, though not percentage wise.

was Brewsters Millions where he tried to lose money
loved Richard Pryor

 

[NW-Bound]

Well, I must be in the wrong equities , though most all of mine is in funds. I’ve not recovered anything of the lost gains made in Jan, my balance is almost exactly what it was on Dec 27...

Don't feel bad as I am in the same boat, even though I am mostly in individual stocks and not MFs. I think most posters are also down since beginning of year. On the other hand, if one is concentrated in a few stocks, anything is possible, including bigger losses.

Still, I have some MFs, mainly to see what they do out of curiosity. If I own them, they show up on my Quicken screen and it makes it easy to see and I will not forget to check. There are some MFs that still show gain for the year, as much as 3 to 4%. However, I do not see any that regains its recent high.

 

[Ian S]

Having weathered the 1987 crash when I lost about $50K on a net worth of about $225K, I was not too phased by the events of this week. In those days there was no online trading and brokers' phone lines were busy so you were kinda forced to sit there and just watch the financial talking heads on TV. Fortunately, most of the losses were recovered within a few months demonstrating that you should never panic in these situations.

 

[W2R]

I must say I appreciate all the great advice I have received from this forum. It allowed me to not panic and sell in the last two day dips. I have recovered pretty nicely form the drop already.

Thanks again for all the great advice.

Well, hang in there! I think perhaps we are not done with this quite yet.. I regard it as good practice for dealing with bigger market drops later on.