Record Dow! Whee!

[W2R]

It looks like a double scotch day to me ... I think I will need to [-]'hide my head in the sand' [/-] keep to my buy and hold plans.
... but been there .. done that.

Strangely, my Roth IRA balance was lower six days ago. Can't check my TSP for another 10 hours or so.

I had been planning on buying a little VFINX with my taxable money anyway, so I just did that. I suppose it is probably too late for Vanguard to do it before it goes back up, though.

 

[martyb]

Ohhhhhhhh......my achin' TSP!

 

[Nords]

Perhaps this is a good time to reconcile one's theoretical tolerance for volatility with reality...

We were up more yesterday than we were down today.

I find that I enjoy the upward volatility more than the downward!

 

[W2R]

Ohhhhhhhh......my achin' TSP!

Oh, thanks! I forgot that we can get share prices before we get our account balances.

Looks like my TSP is not doing too badly, thank goodness. I have 40% G fund, to reduce volatility since I am just 2 years from ER. So, I lost less than 2%.

 

[Dawg52]

I find that I enjoy the upward volatility more than the downward!

No $h!t. Down 1.2% today. Financials hurt me.

 

[Spanky]

We are -1.32%.

 

[kumquat]

Last checked NW on Sept. 30. Next check Dec. 31. Less stress this way. Your results may vary. Enjoy!

 

[megacorp-firee]

Either I'm getting immune to these [-]rollercoaster drops[/-] corrections or maybe the 'bucket methodology' is working. I am sleeping fine.

 

[brewer12345]

Either I'm getting immune to these [-]rollercoaster drops[/-] corrections or maybe the 'bucket methodology' is working. I am sleeping fine.

I had a good bit of stress in the August implosion (much of which was job-related, in fairness), but am not too terribly concerned now. I was wondering why, and I think its a combination of the job stress being reduced a bit (junk market stopped imploding), seeing that most company managements have adjusted to the newly topsy turvy world, and knowing that the Fed is on the job helps a lot, too.

Personally, if I ran the Fed, I would have cut 50BP in August and 50BP in September. Bernanke was too slow to react, IMO.

 

[W2R]

Either I'm getting immune to these [-]rollercoaster drops[/-] corrections or maybe the 'bucket methodology' is working. I am sleeping fine.

Me, too. For once, I am among those who can cheerfully say that I took advantage of the correction to buy (though I had planned to do it this week anyway).

I noticed that the market is going down again today, and I'm embarrassed to say that I'm glad -- since I don't think Vanguard has completed my transaction yet, buying VFINX (500 index) using VMMXX (prime money market) to fund it. I arranged it online last night at 8:50, but I don't really know how long they will take to actually complete the purchase. Maybe it will be Monday morning.

 

[simple girl]

I noticed that the market is going down again today, and I'm embarrassed to say that I'm glad -- since I don't think Vanguard has completed my transaction yet, buying VFINX (500 index) using VMMXX (prime money market) to fund it. I arranged it online last night at 8:50, but I don't really know how long they will take to actually complete the purchase. Maybe it will be Monday morning.

We bought this morning, and Vanguard says the trade date will be Monday (should be the price at the end of the day, since it is a mutual fund). When you do your transaction on-line, they always tell you what the trade date will be. Yours might be the end of today since you got it in before 10 p.m. last night (I think that's the cut-off for next day trades).

We always kinda hope for a "down day" when we put in a buy order, too. Sometimes we luck out, sometimes we don't.

 

[W2R]

We bought this morning, and Vanguard says the trade date will be Monday (should be the price at the end of the day, since it is a mutual fund). When you do your transaction on-line, they always tell you what the trade date will be. Yours might be the end of today since you got it in before 10 p.m. last night (I think that's the cut-off for next day trades).

We always kinda hope for a "down day" when we put in a buy order, too. Sometimes we luck out, sometimes we don't.

Looks like the market is flat today anyway, so it probably won't matter one way or another. Next time I will look for that date! Thanks for the tip.

It's nice to learn that 10 p.m. is the cut-off for next day trades. Thanks for that info, which is good to know! I saved the page with the confirmation number, assuming it would have the expected transaction date on it, but that would be too sensible.

 

[megacorp-firee]

Either I'm getting immune to these [-]rollercoaster drops[/-] corrections or maybe the 'bucket methodology' is working. I am sleeping fine.

A related follow up to this ... and my new sleeping habits. I just got back from my annual physical. For the 1st time ever, I have overcome my 'white coat syndrome' blood pressure test. Every previous physical, my blood pressure was 'close to the line' (130+ over high 80's or low 90's). When I tested using my cuff at home (and calibrated to doctor office), I would be 130 or lower over 80 or lower. I attributed this to my new retiree status. The doctor said he may need to prescribe retirement as a new prescription for high blood pressue.
... one more reason NOT TO WAIT!

 

[W2R]

A related follow up to this ... and my new sleeping habits. I just got back from my annual physical. For the 1st time ever, I have overcome my 'white coat syndrome' blood pressure test. Every previous physical, my blood pressure was 'close to the line' (130+ over high 80's or low 90's). When I tested using my cuff at home (and calibrated to doctor office), I would be 130 or lower over 80 or lower. I attributed this to my new retiree status. The doctor said he may need to prescribe retirement as a new prescription for high blood pressue.
... one more reason NOT TO WAIT!

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Sounds like ER really agrees with you.

 

[Dawg52]

Dow down 360. Not gonna look at my brokerage account until middle of December. Probably do some selling then to take some losses against gains already booked. These kind of days are getting old.

 

[happy2bretired]

...and somewhat scary.

 

[Nords]

Dow down 360. Not gonna look at my brokerage account until middle of December. Probably do some selling then to take some losses against gains already booked. These kind of days are getting old.

...and somewhat scary.

The market sure did hammer our indexes today, but we're still eking out a 7.9% gain YTD. Wish we felt comfortable putting more of our cash into this buying opportunity.

But diversification seems to be doing its job. Would this be a bad time to point out that Berkshire Hathaway just closed above $135K/share ($4500 per "B" share) for the first time and is up nearly 23% YTD, with all of that gain being made in the last 3+ months?

 

[FinallyRetired]

Would this be a bad time to point out that Berkshire Hathaway just closed above $135K/share ($4500 per "B" share) for the first time and is up nearly 23% YTD, with all of that gain being made in the last 3+ months?

Ahh... yes.

 

[W2R]

Dow down 360. Not gonna look at my brokerage account until middle of December. Probably do some selling then to take some losses against gains already booked. These kind of days are getting old.

I'll say. Take my eyes off the market for one day, and look what happens! I just found out a minute ago.

I think it's important to remind myself that the Dow only lost 2.4% today, after a solid gain yesterday. 360 points sounds like a lot, but it really isn't compared with 13300 points.

 

[Spanky]

Dow down 360. Not gonna look at my brokerage account until middle of December. Probably do some selling then to take some losses against gains already booked. These kind of days are getting old.

Yea, it's getting more scary. Our portfolio value declines 2.36% from 10/31. DW says that we should consider getting out of the market.

 

[Raygun99]

Panic never helps. Regret will seep in after rash decisions. Just always remember to take profits a little at a time and invest a little at a time. Pigs get fat hogs get slaughtered.

 

[Nords]

Yea, it's getting more scary. Our portfolio value declines 2.36% from 10/31. DW says that we should consider getting out of the market.

Classic investor psychology, although pointing that out won't further improve the [-]martial[/-] marital harmony.

I make a special "full disclosure" effort to inform my spouse of days like this just so that she's desensitized to them. If it's especially bad, instead of units of dollars I express it in units of possessions. ("Sorry, honey, full disclosure-- our portfolio is down a whole Prius today.") And it helps me share the load of dealing with my own investor psychology.

A year from now we'll be looking back on this with nostalgia: either from Dow 15,000 and thinking how little faith we had, or from Dow 12,000 and wondering how we could've been so blissfully ignorant.

The choices are learning to cope with the investor psychology issues or choosing another asset allocation...

Want2retire, there's a whole school full of thesis students who should thank you for giving them the opportunity to research this thread!

 

[twaddle]

The psychology does seem different this time. So far, the drop is smaller than August, but people seem more worried.

Is it oil at $100/bbl? Or giants like Citicorp getting cut in half by the housing bust? Or the dollar tanking? Or the prospect of a democrat in the whitehouse next year?

It's a real mystery.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

So much for diversity. Everything I own went down except the money market account and the cd's... :

 

[twaddle]

Whatcha talkin bout? TIPS were up today. Up 9% YTD. Oh, that's right. You don't believe in TIPS.