ugh almost ready to give in to panic

[cloudeleven]

Well, if it makes you feel any better, China's stock market is down 56% since last October. At least we're not down that much.

This time last year a lot of Chinese were quitting their day jobs so they could make a living day trading.

 

[Milton]

Without cable or satellite, I couldn't get most of the channels I like to watch, so my tv would only be useful for watching dvds...

That's what I do (and the vast majority of the DVDs come from the public library).

Still, I pay a lot for that "privilege"...

Yes, you do. Still, we all need some entertainment in our lives, and cable isn't that expensive relative to many other pastimes.

The real reason I got rid of cable is because mindlessly watching television (which nobody has to do, but is an easy trap to fall into: "let's see what's on ...") is such a huge time-waster. And I have zero desire to watch all the stupid commercials.

 

[NW-Bound]

Hello my compatriots,

May I get back to the original discussion, namely the "butter knife panic" experienced by wallygator69?

In 2000, I stayed away from bogus companies with no earnings, and bought "real" tech companies (semiconductors, telecoms) etc..., which I later found to be overpriced compared to historical values, though a lot "cheaper" than the dotcoms.

Thanks to that, plus the keeping of 30% in cash reserve, my portfolio only lost 50% of its value, as measured from the top in March2000 to the bottom in Oct 2002.

But I hung on and did not sell out at the bottom. As mentioned, I still had cash, but was too afraid to buy more. Still, perseverance paid off, and I now have 33% more than my top in 2000, despite already losing 12% since Oct 2007.

Having survived that, I try to do better this time. Though I am never fully invested (too chicken and always want some cash handy) and always keep 33% in MM, I have just sold enough yesterday to raise the cash to 50%.

Call me a market timer if you will, but with this cash I am going to sit it out, and will not be losing sleep. At some point, I may be buying back, but just do not know when. In the long run, I may not beat the buy-and-hold investor, but I admit that I do not want to have to entertain the "butter knife" solution

Just my 2 cents.