Getting soaked on my 401k's this week.

flhrci

flhrci

Final Approach
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David
I hate seeing them drop so much but I know the advice is to let it ride. Just makes me sick to see my money evaporate.

David
 
Buying opportunity...

But I have the tendency to try to catch the falling knife.
 
If you can't take the ride ,get off the bus.
 
That right. Bargain shopping. And dividend yields are pretty high right now.
 
flhrci said:
I hate seeing them drop so much but I know the advice is to let it ride. Just makes me sick to see my money evaporate ...
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The evaporation is virtually certain to be temporary. This is just mild turbulence -- 10% over a few days. It isn't "advice" to let it ride, it is historical data that says letting it ride is a winning strategy.

When my stuff is going up I follow the market. When it's going down I am a long term investor. This attitude has served me well. I was 100% equities for the 1987 crash (23% 1-day) and didn't make a move. About 75% equities for 2007/8 (50%) and didn't make a move. Right now I am 50% equities and sitting on a bunch of cash hoping for a Dow 14,000 buying opportunity. I think we're overdue for a 20%+ correction. If it happens I'm a buyer. If not, 50% is not a bad allocation for where we are in life.

For confidence, read anything by William J. Bernstein. http://www.efficientfrontier.com/
 
I want a plane. I lost one this month. Not a fancy one but one none the less. Ugh!!!!! Good thing I don't need the money for 15 or so years.
 
You don't take a loss unless you cash out. So no worries unless your retired or will be very soon. Up the percentage you put in now it will come back.
 
airdale said:
The evaporation is virtually certain to be temporary. This is just mild turbulence -- 10% over a few days. It isn't "advice" to let it ride, it is historical data that says letting it ride is a winning strategy.

When my stuff is going up I follow the market. When it's going down I am a long term investor. This attitude has served me well. I was 100% equities for the 1987 crash (23% 1-day) and didn't make a move. About 75% equities for 2007/8 (50%) and didn't make a move. Right now I am 50% equities and sitting on a bunch of cash hoping for a Dow 14,000 buying opportunity. I think we're overdue for a 20%+ correction. If it happens I'm a buyer. If not, 50% is not a bad allocation for where we are in life.

For confidence, read anything by William J. Bernstein. http://www.efficientfrontier.com/
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Nice work. If I was in your position, I would have a hard time keeping myself from putting some of that 50% to work right now!
 
N659HB said:
It still hurts.
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From Bill Bernstein:

"The best financial advice I ever got was from Fred Schwed's classic book, Where Are the Customers' Yachts?, first published in 1940. Schwed wrote:

" 'Like all of life's rich emotional experiences, the full flavor of losing important money cannot be conveyed by literature. Art cannot convey to an inexperienced girl what it is truly like to be a wife and mother. There are certain things that cannot be adequately explained to a virgin either by words or pictures. Nor can any description I might offer here even approximate what it feels like to lose a real chunk of money that you used to own.' "
 
I'm going to ride it out. I only lost $4k last month. We now have the ability to redistribute our investments. I may give it a try this spring.
 
I've seen a lot of folks (fools?) who were years n' years away from 59.5 quit contributing during such downturns. You gotta stay put and keep the faith, which isn't easy.
:hairraise:
 
Conoco Phillips, six year low right now, dividend yield 7.5%. Dividends can change, but not likely very much. Petroleum stocks not a good idea for the long term, but here's a short term sure thing that'll net you 7.5% return.
 
write-stuff said:
Conoco Phillips, six year low right now, dividend yield 7.5%. Dividends can change, but not likely very much. Petroleum stocks not a good idea for the long term, but here's a short term sure thing that'll net you 7.5% return.
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Pass performance...screw it, I'm in.
 
write-stuff said:
Conoco Phillips, six year low right now, dividend yield 7.5%. Dividends can change, but not likely very much. Petroleum stocks not a good idea for the long term, but here's a short term sure thing that'll net you 7.5% return.
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I had actually purchased some COP last year, chasing that 6% (at the time) dividend.

Liquidated it a few weeks ago, taking losses in it in 2015 to offset gains elsewhere.

I've been in the market since before the Dow broke 1,000 for the first time. Through ups and downs. Using dollar cost averaging to my benefit. Overall, with patience, it's worked out.

So far.
 
I am recently retired, so I am not contributing any more. So this really really hurts. I lost ~$40k today and around $200k this week.

This really hurts.

But I did just buy a new house on the river for cash, so that is cash that won't devalue much in the long term.
 
JOhnH said:
I am recently retired, so I am not contributing any more. So this really really hurts. I lost ~$40k today and around $200k this week.

This really hurts.

But I did just buy a new house on the river for cash, so that is cash that won't devalue much in the long term.
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I have done pretty good with real estate and happy with the outcome...:yes::)
 
Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.

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Go here, https://www.google.com/finance?cid=983582 or your favorite stock market ticker page. Click through the different zoom levels on the graph. You'll notice crazy swings at the 1day, 1 week, even 1month levels... then zoom way out to the 5year, 10 year levels.

The farther out you go, the more you can see why these big dips everyone panics over all the time don't really matter.
 
FastEddieB said:
I had actually purchased some COP last year, chasing that 6% (at the time) dividend.

Liquidated it a few weeks ago, taking losses in it in 2015 to offset gains elsewhere.

I've been in the market since before the Dow broke 1,000 for the first time. Through ups and downs. Using dollar cost averaging to my benefit. Overall, with patience, it's worked out.

So far.
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Funny, I did EXACTLY the same thing but further back last year. Bought it back in two orders in the last two days for 2 points less than what I sold it for. Nice little boost!
 
Buffet been buying some oil company, think I might be COP?
 
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