Make It Stop!!!!!

[njhowie]

...and there is not a bottle of hand sanitizer to be found.

We were in a Bath and Body Works this weekend. They had plenty, but were limiting to 10 per customer (pocket size).

 

[aja8888]

Rather than buying large quantities of TP rolls, I think we will just order a few packs of Depends and practice old age.

 

[Clone]

Where are you at?
There is no paper towels or TP shortage by us...not yet.

NW Phoenix area (Sun City West). We were in Costco yesterday, and they were cleaned out. Today Walmart was being swarmed, folks were actively cruising the aisle watching for somebody to bring out another pallet. It was crazy!

 

[Amethyst]

I'm not sure that the numbers are actually inflated. From what I read, the statistics include deaths from the condition of pneumonia (inflamed lungs filling with fluid) caused by the influenza virus, versus pneumonia as a separate, bacterial disease.

I have a friend, whose chronic heart disease periodically lands him in the hospital with fluid-filled lungs. Yet I expect his eventual death will be included in heart disease, not pneumonia statistics.

The US is apparently alone in throwing in a whole host of non-flu maladies (pneumonia, etc.) in the flu death statistics, so the number of deaths is significantly overstated.

 

[ER Eddie]

Rather than buying large quantities of TP rolls, I think we will just order a few packs of depends and practice old age.

lol. Plus, that'll keep the zombies away, too.

 

[ER Eddie]

Wow, 80,000 people died in the US in the 2017-2018 flu season. Worst season on record.

My hospital (previous employer) would tell everyone to get a flu shot every year, but I never got one. I'm not an anti-vaccer or anything, I just never come down with the flu, so I didn't see why I should get poked for no good reason (that's what she said). The hospital would always make me sign a form saying I understood I was putting the entire human race at risk by my foolishness, and that I could very well die, but I was fine with it. One time I claimed I had religious reasons for refusing, which was hogwash but made me laugh.

(I should clarify, for those of you who might think I'm an awful person, that I worked for a hospital but not in a hospital. I didn't work with patients.)

 

[Aerides]

Yep!

Today’s close 23,851. Close on 2/12 29,551. That’s a drop of 19%.

Math is hard!

yes i was being a bit facetious with the "tad more than 4%", since the person I was responding to had said something about it only being a 4% drop. But also the numbers changed throughout the day, so the finals are different than I captured.

I'm perplexed ...the DJIA is down ~4.3%, the S&P 500 is up ~2.5%, and the Russell 1000 is about even over the past year as of this afternoon. This hardly seems like a 'crash'...

 

[cyber888]

I'm waiting for another 30% down and I'm buying buy buying. Everyone is still scared of the virus, so this ain't over. And Russia just declared WAR against the Saudis on Oil .. jezz .. States, Cities, and Towns on quarantine lock downs, starting wth Illinois and California. Treasury yields inverted and at their lows. JP Morgan said to sell on any strength .

 

[mrfeh]

Today was the first time our portfolio ever declined 6 figures in one day.

Still working, and I know our AA is correct, so it really doesn't bother me.

 

[Scout]

It sucks for a lot of people. You're entitled to feel sucky...Many, Many people feel that way and its normal! My heart has been beating a little faster these past 2 weeks because we are retiring next year and have seen our NW drop by mid six figures over these 2 weeks! But that said, not everyone is fortunate to have saved enough to even have this type of problem to worry about. So I pause, take a breathe and remind myself "this too shall pass."



But what does really get under my skin is when I hear these arrogant/out of touch jerks make comments like "YEAH, I hope it drops another 15% so I can buy more!" Perhaps these folks don't have much skin in the game to begin with, IDK....But fine, celebrate your flash-sale, but keep your gleeful comment to yourself because this market is killing many peoples retirement and pension funds and to be so flippant about it, its just dead wrong!



If you are younger with a longer time horizon or have a $***ton of money to reinvest in this declining, bipolar market then its a great opportunity. But many folks who are close to retirement or already in it and have to watch their investments go backwards without the benefit of many years or regular income to take advantage of these declines.

Well said
Thanks

 

[RAE]

I'm waiting for another 30% down and I'm buying buy buying. Everyone is still scared of the virus, so this ain't over.

I tend to agree. This is a LONG ways from being over. As the spread of this thing rapidly escalates (and all indicators are that it will), more travel restrictions will have to be implemented, along with all sorts of other measures. All of this stuff will add to the public's fear and confusion, which has to affect business and ultimately the markets. Buy the dip at your own risk right now.

 

[steelyman]

I think the most important thing retirees learn is patience. It’s a long haul.

 

[FREE866]

IMO Market is prepricing a significant recession at this point. If that doesn't happen , and I don't think it will, all you traders should be loading up here. I'm an investor with God willing a 40 year investment timeframe so my AA isn't changing and I'm doing absolutely nothing.

“The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect.”—Warren Buffett

 

[Finance Dave]

I'm buying...bought another $50k towards the end of today. That's my third chunk since the downturn. Will keep buying if it falls further. My equity position is only about 18% and I will NEVER have it above 40%. Investing in rental properties was something we did to diversify out of equities 13 years ago...and it has turned out to be a very smart move. Those properties don't go up much, but they haven't dropped a penny over the past 2 weeks.

I sleep just fine at night, and don't need any covers over my head.

 

[Scout]

I'm buying...bought another $50k towards the end of today. That's my third chunk since the downturn. Will keep buying if it falls further. My equity position is only about 18% and I will NEVER have it above 40%. Investing in rental properties was something we did to diversify out of equities 13 years ago...and it has turned out to be a very smart move. Those properties don't go up much, but they haven't dropped a penny over the past 2 weeks.



I sleep just fine at night, and don't need any covers over my head.

13 years ago the s and p was at 1300ish. You missed out on one of the strongest bull markets in history. Your money would be well more than doubled today, even after this 19% pullback, had you remained. I’m really glad you’re not pulling the covers over your head though.

 

[FANOFJESUS]

NW Phoenix area (Sun City West). We were in Costco yesterday, and they were cleaned out. Today Walmart was being swarmed, folks were actively cruising the aisle watching for somebody to bring out another pallet. It was crazy!

Wow that is wild.

 

[Cassius King]

But what does really get under my skin is when I hear these arrogant/out of touch jerks make comments like "YEAH, I hope it drops another 15% so I can buy more!" Perhaps these folks don't have much skin in the game to begin with, IDK....But fine, celebrate your flash-sale, but keep your gleeful comment to yourself because this market is killing many peoples retirement and pension funds and to be so flippant about it, its just dead wrong!

Wow, just wow.

 

[RobbieB]

Yeah, don't worry, be happy! Lot's of dough to be made here.
Now is the time I'm glad I have 20% in bonds. Not to mention I cut a 100 g's before the fall. Got enough to last 5 years easy.

 

[tulak]

Sorry, I’m happy the markets are dropping. It was overvalued sans coronavirus. This was a long, overdue trigger. Of course, it’s going to make it worse than it otherwise would have been, but so be it.

Markets have never had steady growth. Over the last decade, we’ve all gotten too complacent. I enjoyed the ride up, as many here, but I’m equally enjoying the ride down.

Why?

Because when we hit bottom, we can then enjoy the ride up again knowing it’s based on fundamentals. It’s time the tide went out for a bit...

 

[NW-Bound]

It sucks for a lot of people. You're entitled to feel sucky...Many, Many people feel that way and its normal! My heart has been beating a little faster these past 2 weeks because we are retiring next year and have seen our NW drop by mid six figures over these 2 weeks! But that said, not everyone is fortunate to have saved enough to even have this type of problem to worry about. So I pause, take a breathe and remind myself "this too shall pass."

But what does really get under my skin is when I hear these arrogant/out of touch jerks make comments like "YEAH, I hope it drops another 15% so I can buy more!" Perhaps these folks don't have much skin in the game to begin with, IDK....But fine, celebrate your flash-sale, but keep your gleeful comment to yourself because this market is killing many peoples retirement and pension funds and to be so flippant about it, its just dead wrong!

If you are younger with a longer time horizon or have a $***ton of money to reinvest in this declining, bipolar market then its a great opportunity. But many folks who are close to retirement or already in it and have to watch their investments go backwards without the benefit of many years or regular income to take advantage of these declines.

If the market drops another 15% on top of the 19% it already lost, I sure hope there are a lot of those jerks who will step in to buy. Else, it would drop even more.

Should we call jerks those who sold and drove the market down?

It's a free market. People bid the stocks up into the overvaluation range, and they take for granted the double-digit returns year after year as a birthright. When the late Bogle told them to expect only 6%/year or so on the average, they said the old man did not know what he was saying. Now when the masses are selling, some people have to step up to buy.

Well, I had 60% stock when this all started. Wish I had reduced it further, so that I have more cash to buy when the real jerks are liquidating their stocks.

 

[easysurfer]

I Beg of You To Make It Stop

Glad I retired a month ago so I can stay in bed today with the covers over my head ...

Yes, I know—if your AA is right, you can relax, blah blah.

Doesn’t mean this doesn’t SUCK ?

Here you go :

 

[Markola]

I think the most important thing retirees learn is patience. It’s a long haul.

+1. I’m personally more curious to see where the markets end up on 12/31/20 so that I can judge the year, not that I’ll change anything, regardless. My own portfolio is back to August levels, i.e. just a blip that can be made up. For other “investors,” yesterday was one of those occasional panics where the herd just sells everything and flees to cash. In general, however, bonds have been way up this year. It’s possible that the herd will next fly to safety in bonds and we could also have even more interest rate cuts, both helping bond prices. Interest rate cuts might also help real estate prices. IOW, there’s much more to watch in this picture than the stock market.

 

[COcheesehead]

Less than 4 months from my last day of w*rk, I started a rising equity path strategy. I am at 22% equities and have been adding on the VIX spike days like yesterday.
It’s still hard to see any of your hard earned life savings disappear. Better days are ahead. Lots of deals out there.

 

[Toocold]

The issue that I face is that I exercised my stock options at the beginning of the year because I FIRE'd, leaving me with a bunch of cash. I need to figure out how/when to enter this silly market.

I wonder if it's easier to stay the course or to figure out whether you want to enter the market. Already bought twice -- about 20% of my cash position. My strategy is to go in 10% each month despite the gyrations.

 

[njhowie]

My strategy is to go in 10% each month despite the gyrations.

That's a very good approach.