Anyone else having panic attacks about the market?

[W2R]

I was nervous too, but made no changes at all. Yay!!

My conclusion is that the correct level of risk for me is 60% stocks, not 75% stocks as I had in 2006.

It didn't feel good, not one bit good, but what I felt doesn't matter. What I DID (or rather DIDN'T DO) is what mattered. 8)

 

[d]

i did a small amount of buying during the "sale" ... now will start to consider a bit of selling ... not market timing, just rebalancing (i do it small "chunks", but somewhat frequently as the market might dictate). net result, i'm smiling a bit, but a dip is never fun, and until more time passes, don't know that it's done.

 

[Sam]

I was nervous too,

An understatement, for me at least. I was really concerned, not because of the fluctuation, but because of the reason behind the fluctuation (China, Asia, Europe and then the US).

but made no changes at all. Yay!!

Neither did I. Double yeah!

 

[Nords]

Are those of you who stained your shorts and sold about ready to buy again?

Eh, I shorted FirstFed Financial and Abercrombie & Fitch. I coulda sold a couple weeks ago.

But I think there's time to turn these into bigger long-term cap gains.

 

[haha]

i did a small amount of buying during the "sale" ... now will start to consider a bit of selling ... not market timing, just rebalancing (i do it small "chunks", but somewhat frequently as the market might dictate). net result, i'm smiling a bit, but a dip is never fun, and until more time passes, don't know that it's done.

This is market timing. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

ha

 

[d]

just rebalancing

... market timing would be when i change my allocation from planned targets.

 

[audreyh1]

Oh man - Is that correction already over? I can't believe it was over so quick.

Audrey

 

[Texas Proud]

I'm with you Audrey.... I was hoping to move some of my mother's money into stocks... but wanted to talk to her about how much... I was hoping it was going to go down a bit more than it did... hoping for the 10% correction...

 

[donheff]

Oh man - Is that correction already over? I can't believe it was over so quick.

Audrey

Might not be. We all need to be prepared for a big one. Maybe now, maybe not for years. Now that I am already ERed (DW to follow shortly) I begin to understand the need for some bonds in the mix. A little less volatility would be comforting.

 

[al_bundy]

i think at best we'll get a summer rally until reality slaps people in 3Q or in 2008. Wall Street is hoping for a rate cut to sell more mortgages so people can refi into another ARM and postpone the rate adjusts. They are praying for the fed to save them from their mistakes.

The fed has a long history of showing the finger in these situations until there is a real crisis. aka 1998

 

[kcowan]

I think we have not seen the real correction yet. When a dip reaches 10% and then triggers programmed trading of all the trailing stop loss orders then we will see some real buying opportunities...

 

[W2R]

I didn't have any panic attacks or flutters until today, when my portfolio total got within 0.4% of a long desired goal.

The good days play with me more.

Mine reached a goal this morning that it would have reached on February 27th, if the market had not dropped. Now I can celebrate!

Naturally, I don't expect this to be the end of it. But the fact that the market has stabilized and then recovered to such a great extent before possibly dropping again, is very pleasant to observe.

 

[d]

I think we have not seen the real correction yet

... the recent dip certainly doesn't qualify as a correction by traditional standards ... and even if it did, there's nothing to preclude another one just around the corner.

 

[Mwsinron]

I am invested for the rest of my life. So since I dont short anything why should I get worked up over a small dip like this. Obviously if we have a super duper 50 percent drop I suspect we all have more worries than our money

 

[redduck]

Well, no panic here, but, it was a wake-up call when the market dipped like it recently did. It appears that fear is the movitation I need to rebalance, which means making my portfolio more conservative. It really is a greed vs. fear situation. And, as I'm getting older, fear is definitely becoming the stronger motivator.

 

[haha]

I am invested for the rest of my life. So since I dont short anything why should I get worked up over a small dip like this. Obviously if we have a super duper 50 percent drop I suspect we all have more worries than our money

One might think so, but it would not necessarily be true. Major indices dropped by that or more in '73-'74 but corporate sales and profits continued upward. There was relatively high unemployment, but not proportional to the stock market drop.

So we had better find some other nostrum to comfort the fears.

Ha

 

[Cut-Throat]

One might think so, but it would not necessarily be true. Major indices dropped by that or more in '73-'74 but corporate sales and profits continued upward. There was relatively high unemployment, but not proportional to the stock market drop.

So we had better find some other nostrum to comfort the fears.

Ha

I think Ha is correct on this. I think that if anyone was 'worried' about the market after this little 2-3% selloff needs to read or re-read 4 pillars of investing.

I think anyone that is investing in stocks better plan on a 50% drop within the next 20 years. So when it happens, you won't do something stupid. It might happen next year or it might happen after another 15,000 point run-up of the Dow, but it probably will happen.

Invest accordingly.

 

[bobbee25]

Diversify - to what, seems when the market goes down diversity only around the amount of loss, 2% on one, 20% on another .... no offset.

For the long term - if you loose a lot and it will probably come back in 15 or 20 years, how do you sleep during the interm with a big chunk gone. Just keep saying to yourself it should come back one of these years.

 

[Cut-Throat]

Diversify - to what, seems when the market goes down diversity only around the amount of loss, 2% on one, 20% on another .... no offset.

For the long term - if you loose a lot and it will probably come back in 15 or 20 years, how do you sleep during the interm with a big chunk gone. Just keep saying to yourself it should come back one of these years.

Here is the deal. If you are still working, it's a good deal for you - You are now buying stocks at a discount! - You'll be in even better shape when you retire!

If you are already retired, you ran FireCalc and based upon the worst case conditions you are Okay! - The market only dropped 50% - That is not the worst case, so you are in great shape. The P/E ratios have dropped and when you rebalance the next time, you'll be getting those stocks at bargain prices - Still a good deal! If you don't rebalance and buy these stocks, you'll be screwed!

Waiting 15 or 20 years would be normal. Get used to it.

If you don't understand these fundamentals, you'll probably do something stupid!

Again - The market will drop - It's not IF it's WHEN!

 

[Meadbh]

In a word, NYL, no.