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The Kitchen Table

No one's mentioned the stock market.......

12 years ago

Is it the elephant in the room? I for one feel a bit dazed by what's been happening. When the market fell in 2008 I had to take a job outside the home. I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that again--especially with gas prices where they are now.

I didn't sell any stocks last time, and eventually made most of my money back. Sure hope it won't be any worse this time, although three years doesn't seem nearly long enough between "corrections."

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Comments (24)

minnie_tx
12 years ago
I think the discussion would get too political I'm sitting firm with my Fidelity accounts .
glenda_al
12 years ago
Had a talk with my advisor and he said now it NOT the time to move anything. SIT TIGHT GLENDA, and I will.
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There's usually major volatility around the market as it works through the bottom, so it would often be well to be making ongoing commitments periodically as one felt that the bottom was being developed. Not getting bent out of shape as the values went down again, figuring that, after while, there'd be recovery in quality companies, and the more commitments that one had made on a regular basis through a prolonged bottom, the larger would be the amount eligible for increased value as the market moved ahead again. But I'm not expecting a major move ahead soon, as I think that our difficulties are much deeper than in earlier recessions. If I'd suggested to you, five years ago, that there might be a possibility, in a few years, of GM being at risk of going bankrupt ... you'd have laughed me out of town! And it seems to me that a number of our problems aren't just cyclical ... they're structural: many of these disappearing jobs aren't going to reappear later ... at least, not in our portion of the global economy. Although several here disagree with me, my feeling is that I'd like to get the debt on the house paid off - to be out of debt. But I'd want to have a substantial cushion available in case of emergency, especially in these times of major economic uncertainty, with so many layoffs taking place. Having lived in 22 locations during my 80 years, I've never owned a home, so never had a mortgage. That said - I frequently lack that emergency fund, myself, of 3 - 6 - 9 months' or a year's income in case of major immediate emergency. But I have a credit card, which I almost always pay off in full prior to due date, and a Line of Credit at the bank, fully secured by stocks and mutual funds, which I can draw on to pay off that emergency loan that I'd put on the card. The Line of Credit bore no initiation fee, and there's none for inactivity, either. Would your lender be willing to offer you a Line of Credit, using stock or mutual funds' certificates (could be part of your emergency fund, if you know for sure that your lender will give you an LoC) along with using the equity in your house, while you still had a substantial amount owing on your mortgage? I don't like to borrow for consumption purposes, but I may borrow to invest in quality assets (whatever they may be!), as I have something of ongoing value to show to offset the loan that I owe. If I do borrow for consumption, I want that on a different LoC, as interest on investment loans is deductible ... that for consumption purposes usually is not. Good wishes for making a decision which will please you on an ongoing basis as you choose which path to follow. ole joyful
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lazypup
12 years ago
My brother makes his entire income from the market and he says the smart money is making a fortune right now.

He says you have to know what stocks will almost always be there and those that hang near the top of the pile. When the market flops he buys every share he can get at rock bottom price, then sits on it till it regains in 6months or a year and sells some off for a hefty profit
ntt_hou
12 years ago
There are enough mentioning on the news. Dwelling on it won't do us much good. Like some of you already said, leave it alone and sit tight.
monica_pa Grieves
12 years ago
At my age, my portfolio is balanced, designed more for income than gambling. So, not panicking.
Although my gold mining company is doing great.
cbtexas
12 years ago
I got totally out of the market the week before the debt ceiling decision fiasco. I am so glad I parked my money in a money market account for now until the dust settles. Nothing wrong with stepping aside to avoid the falling knife. The charts just don't look right and I think a bottom is down below. I will be looking to get back in when the charts look right. Lazypup, it would be interesting to know what stocks your brother is buying up. I would like to research them.

Minnie, thanks for looking out for us. Don't know what we would do without your constant baby sitting us.
alisande
Original Author
12 years ago
Yes, buy low, sell high: the old advice still stands. What your brother does, Lazypup, is great if you happen to have a lot of cash hanging around to make those purchases. One might say it's an illustration of how "the rich get richer." :-)
alisande
Original Author
12 years ago
There are enough mentioning on the news. Dwelling on it won't do us much good.

The thing about the news, though (other than the fact that I don't watch it on TV) is that we can't talk back to it. Dialoguing isn't necessarily the same thing as dwelling. I think it's always usually good to talk about what's on our minds. :-)
ntt_hou
12 years ago
Alisande, I agree, it's good to let it out. That answer was mainly about me and why I was among those that didn't mentioned about the stock market.
jemdandy
12 years ago
After today, the stock market isn't worth mentioning, literaly.

I believe this time, it was panic selling and and sell-offs triggered by automated limits set in many big investors computers. It was akin to a bunch of lemmings going over a cliff and made about as much sense.

The manager of one of my funds took a cash position on part of that fund last week, selling off what he thought was the most vulnerable. Well, today, that fund suffered mightly anyway. At least, the manager has some cash to buy good, but depressed stocks this week.

In my basket of stocks, Procter & Gamble held up the best. It stayed even for most of the day and finally succumbed to a minor loss at day's end. I'm not sure what that is all about, but its the one stock that did not tank today.
marie_ndcal
12 years ago
No money in stocks, but many pensions are affected by the market. We will see.
Chi
12 years ago
I think it'll stabilize. People are freaking out after the events of the last couple of weeks but I'm confident things will come back.

My investment accounts are built for more risk since I'm still in my 20's so I'm not even going to look at them, lol. I don't want to know what happened. No sense in stressing myself out for something I won't touch for a while still. It'll come back.
maire_cate
12 years ago
My DH just keeps shaking his head. He's not worried so much about our personal funds since we have very little market exposure and what we have is fairly well protected. But he is sick with what it means to the US as a whole - the economy, the recovery, the lack of recovery, our children. He is a pragmatist and has been expecting something of this nature for a while - this however is much worse then he thought.
ruthieg__tx
12 years ago
We have plenty in the market and it hurts to see what is happening but we are also buying. It's not just the US that is affected ............We cringe every day at another days loss but we have always made our money back and then some. The market is volatile and you have to have guts to hang in there but it usually pays off.
jannie
12 years ago
I'm 58 and I'm really worried about my 401K that I'm hoping to draw an annuity from starting next year. My fund was worth 128K in 2008, went down to 80K, but I sat tight and it was soon back over 100,000, then 110, most recently (July 2011) it was right back at 128K. Now I'm afraid to look. My parents told me the Stock Market is like a roller coaster, but it always rebounds and ultimately goes up over time.
Lily316
12 years ago
We are doing nothing. Sitting tight as we always do. I am getting an inheritance check today and am NOT investing in stock at least right now.
Jodi_SoCal
12 years ago
Just sitting tight with Fidelity in our back pocket.
Our corporate stock (a high tech company) showed only a slight decline yesterday but is still a solid investment.
glenda_al
12 years ago
Well, it didn't stay UP long today! In the red AGAIN!
vannie
12 years ago
The stock market is not for the weak of heart! LOL I've had stocks for over 40 yrs. and watched it go up and watched it go down. Most of our stock was bought b/c of the dividends they paid--and a lot are utilities. We're always gonna need utilities. People will quit buying a lot of things, but they're not gonna give up their utilities. Sure, I'd love to see it soar like an eagle--but it's a gamble. You just don't put all your eggs in one basket--we've got some CDs paying almost nothing, but they are there. My Daddy, who was a brilliant investor, would be out buying. Right now. Today.

My DH sells metal detectors and his business has soared. These folks are finding gold in the lakes in East Texas that are so low, and other places. A lady last week had found thousands of $$$ worth of gold--so much that she upgraded her detector. Maybe we should be doing that!!

The market falling isn't gonna turn my electricity off, or take food out of my mouth. You just gotta ride it out. And maybe buy some stuff!!
monica_pa Grieves
12 years ago
Uh...the DOW is up well over 300 right now. Heading to be up about 400 by close.
ruthieg__tx
12 years ago
Yes the market closed up today because the Feds said they would keep rates low for the next two years and that's a good thing but ...........Uh for those of us who have lost a small fortune in the last few weeks, it's good news but we would have rather not fought this battle..........
xminion
12 years ago
I said on another thread here to buy gold. Today it was at 1768. Look for it to go to 2,000 by the end of the year.
glenda_al
12 years ago
Wow, it was in the red when I left to go get a free ice cream cone, and when I came back over 400!

Talk about roller coaster.
fran1523
12 years ago
I'm sitting tight too. I looked over some old records and realized that just two years ago my accounts were as low or lower than they are now. As I look at it, it's not your money until you sell.

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