I like when the market ends the week up

[retiredinnyc]

I know I'm in this stock market thing for the long haul and I've heard to only check things maybe every few months but when the week ends up for the averages I have a nice feeling that carries me through the weekend.

[retiredinnyc]

From the look of things I'm going to have a less than wonderful weekend, everything is down

[UnrealizedPotential]

Yes, everything is down. The market now thinks a rate hike will happen in December. It is effecting REITS big time and to a lesser degree other segments of the market. I think this too shall pass. The market knew this was coming. I do agree that we will see our first rate hike in December. Borrowing costs go up and that is why the market is in a sour mood.

[VFK57]

My equities are down. When the dollar is getting stronger we have less exports what is bad for economy. I have doubts about Feds hiking the rate this December.

[audreyh1]

You need to step away from the tape! If it drives your mood you will have a tough time staying the course.

Remember - all moves are temporary.

The is more to life than markets!

[DEC-1982]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 You need to step away from the tape! If it drives your mood you will have tough time staying the course. The is more to life than markets!

+1

Or OP can focus on the 281,000 jobs created in October (which will be revised of course). or the average hourly earnings up 9 cents, 2.5 % annual increase. There are many good things happening, or at the very least it's not all bad.

[statsman]

Been trying to formulate a plan to move from 80% bonds/20% TIPs funds. In the meantime, we got slammed this week, especially today. The days of comfort and security of owning anything bond-related are long gone. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[doneat54]

It's back up now.

While I agree that this latest correction was expected, I am/was surprised at how long it lasted. Will be interesting to see where things go over the next 3-6 months..

[Tailgate]

when I peek and it's down I just go over to FireCalc and run the numbers again to feel pretty damn good...works every time

[robnplunder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by statsman Been trying to formulate a plan to move from 80% bonds/20% TIPs funds. In the meantime, we got slammed this week, especially today. The days of comfort and security of owning anything bond-related are long gone. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

How did you get into 80% bond in the 1st place? That's pretty unusual.

[statsman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robnplunder How did you get into 80% bond in the 1st place? That's pretty unusual.

Back in the beginning of 2008, my wife and I decided we were risk averse and didn't like being the stock market. Looking back, it was more about not enjoying the volatility of the stock market and watching our accumulated "net worth" change so much on a daily basis.

So, with the Dow sitting at 13,000 in early May 2008, we pulled the trigger and transferred all of $550K sitting in our 401(k)s into bond funds. More specifically, the split was 60/40 total bond market fund/TIPs fund in my 401(k), and 60/40 Dodge & Cox Income/VG GMNA fund in my wife's 401(k). Balances at the start were pretty close.

Initially, this looked like a wise decision given what the stock market ended up doing late 2008 into mid 2010. Believe me, none of this had to do with market timing. It was mainly to be able to get to sleep at night. By the end of 2012, we made at least 7% annualized on the original $550K. We were still far ahead of where we would have been had we stuck with our original AA (~70/30).

As with most people not liking the volatility of the stock market, there was never a time to get back in. And with my layoff in late 2012 from a company I had worked for over 30 years, we didn't have much confidence in the economy (still don't to this day - the markets are being propped up, and it's not to the advantage of the small investor, in our opinions).

So, we are now (hopefully!) less than a year away from retirement (current date is Labor Day next year). I will be 57.5 and my wife will be approaching 64. Our tax deferred accounts totaled $1.23M coming into November. Given the past week, drop that to around $1.22M.

I feel we saved well, and honestly, the move out of stocks in May 2008 was probably really good for our health. Between my company being on perpetual layoff notice from late 2007 thru 2012 (and still to the present) and the passing of my mom during that time, it was great to not have to worry about losing our "net worth" in the stock market.

That isn't the case any more. My funds have performed poorly the past three years. My wife's have at least produced a positive return after inflation. I am in the process of transferring my 401(k) to my VG tIRA, as the last opportunity to rejoin the company dissipated last month. I need to rethink how I will invest my funds and whether to adjust my wife's.

Oh yeah, there's almost $1.1M cash sitting in a money market earning very little. We aren't hurting, but our plans from May 2008 have been blown out of the water by the way bond funds have performed so poorly in recent years. Where is the flight to safety now?!

Sorry about the rant.

[ejman]

Not everything is down! My Vanguard small cap value index is up. My wife's Fidelity Contra is up and the Mutual series funds did very well today...

[ejman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by statsman Back in the beginning of 2008, my wife and I decided we were risk averse and didn't like being the stock market. Looking back, it was more about not enjoying the volatility of the stock market and watching our accumulated "net worth" change so much on a daily basis. So, with the Dow sitting at 13,000 in early May 2008, we pulled the trigger and transferred all of $550K sitting in our 401(k)s into bond funds. More specifically, the split was 60/40 total bond market fund/TIPs fund in my 401(k), and 60/40 Dodge & Cox Income/VG GMNA fund in my wife's 401(k). Balances at the start were pretty close. Initially, this looked like a wise decision given what the stock market ended up doing late 2008 into mid 2010. Believe me, none of this had to do with market timing. It was mainly to be able to get to sleep at night. By the end of 2012, we made at least 7% annualized on the original $550K. We were still far ahead of where we would have been had we stuck with our original AA (~70/30). As with most people not liking the volatility of the stock market, there was never a time to get back in. And with my layoff in late 2012 from a company I had worked for over 30 years, we didn't have much confidence in the economy (still don't to this day - the markets are being propped up, and it's not to the advantage of the small investor, in our opinions). So, we are now (hopefully!) less than a year away from retirement (current date is Labor Day next year). I will be 57.5 and my wife will be approaching 64. Our tax deferred accounts totaled $1.23M coming into November. Given the past week, drop that to around $1.22M. I feel we saved well, and honestly, the move out of stocks in May 2008 was probably really good for our health. Between my company being on perpetual layoff notice from late 2007 thru 2012 (and still to the present) and the passing of my mom during that time, it was great to not have to worry about losing our "net worth" in the stock market. That isn't the case any more. My funds have performed poorly the past three years. My wife's have at least produced a positive return after inflation. I am in the process of transferring my 401(k) to my VG tIRA, as the last opportunity to rejoin the company dissipated last month. I need to rethink how I will invest my funds and whether to adjust my wife's. Oh yeah, there's almost $1.1M cash sitting in a money market earning very little. We aren't hurting, but our plans from May 2008 have been blown out of the water by the way bond funds have performed so poorly in recent years. Where is the flight to safety now?! Sorry about the rant.

Dunno Statsman. looks to me like you have done pretty well turning your $550 K in your 401K in 2008 into $1.2 million today. After all, from January 2008 to October 2015 the S&P 500 with dividends reinvested gained only 77% so your $550K would have grown to $973K. Of course, I don't know how much you contributed to the 401K's during that period so the comparison may not be fair but all in all since you seem to have the magic touch, just keep doing what you are currently doing!

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ejman Not everything is down! My Vanguard small cap value index is up. My wife's Fidelity Contra is up and the Mutual series funds did very well today...

A small cap fund in my wife's 401k goes up 0.74% today, while a large cap fund is up 0.35%. This compares well with the S&P which is flat and Nasdaq which is up 0.38%.

Overall, I lost a bit of money because a utility fund is down -3.5% along with some material stocks. Similarly, bonds get hurt by the surety of Fed rate increase in December, but REITs got hurt the worst (I do not own any). One REIT is down more than -5%.