Do not do as I do.?ÿ That's why I'm not in the stock market game.
There is investing, and then there is speculating. If you put $2 on a horse's nose in tomorrows race, that's betting. If you buy Initech at $2, thinking it will triple tomorrow, that's speculating. See the difference??ÿ Neither do I.
Investing is making regular contributions into a long term holding. For people like you and me an S&P 500 index fund is very appropriate. Or Kansas real estate, if you prefer. But not individual stocks.?ÿ?ÿ
not individual stocks
A portion of my money is in a stock-picking account. I have it divided among about 35 stocks and lean heavily on Value Line at the library for analysis, checking every weekly update.
I've done a little better than the SP500. Not much.
I figure that's enough different companies that one won't ruin me, and I'm not betting on the ones in the 500 that have poorer prospects.
It makes me more aware of what's going on than just using mutual funds alone.
Yip.?ÿ Long term returns for me.?ÿ Don't intend to ever spend it--------unless there is no other option.?ÿ Bad things happen that can cause huge debt in a matter of seconds.?ÿ Other bad things are just waiting for you to discover they exist.
I am content with my lifestyle.?ÿ Have no need for a seven-car garage so I can drive a different sports or luxury car each day of the week.?ÿ I could have a house worth $1 million.?ÿ That does not interest me.?ÿ Traveling the world just to say I saw such and such with my own eyes has no appeal.?ÿ Thus, any excess cash is available to gamble with (farming) or sock away where I hope to never retrieve it.
I learned as a teenager not to gamble for money.?ÿ Lost $20.00 one day on a track meet trip playing penny-ante Gut on the bus ride.?ÿ That takes real skill.?ÿ Really bad skill, that is.
Kinda reminds me of a song by Hank Williams Junior.?ÿ "Interest is up, the stock markets down and you only get mugged if you go downtown".?ÿ Several years old but things have a way of coming back.
Andy
There is investing, and then there is speculating. If you put $2 on a horse's nose in tomorrows race, that's betting. If you buy Initech at $2, thinking it will triple tomorrow, that's speculating. See the difference??ÿ Neither do I
The more the stock pricing detaches from traditional valuation metrics the more inclined I am to believe that I have a better idea what Stock X is going to do over a two-week window than over a two-year one.?ÿ?ÿ
You also can't put a stop loss on a horse bet; I'd be more inclined to go to the track if I could sell my $2 to win ticket for $1.75 if "Shady Nag" was trailing by six lengths at the 3/4 pole
You also can't put a stop loss on a horse bet; I'd be more inclined to go to the track if I could sell my $2 to win ticket for $1.75 if "Shady Nag" was trailing by six lengths at the 3/4 pole
My example would be more appropriate if I was buying expiring Initech call options for $2.?ÿ
Options are a whole different animal from stocks and much easier to lose most of your money.
You either gain or lose big on moderate moves in the underlying stock.
I sometimes look at options and nearly always decide the odds aren't worth it.
As the saying goes from all smart investors ?? Buy on Fear and Sell on greed?. Check out the fear/greed index, it might help with your investment decisions.
@bill93 Options aren't investing, they're applied statistics?ÿ?ÿ
My fastest appreciating asset over the past two years is an 11-year-old car.
@norman-oklahoma you can investigate a horses past performance and judge his completion pretty easily.?ÿ He's probably already raced the other horses before. Betting on horse racing is a lot less speculating than playing the stock market. I have a friend who hangs out in bars a lot. I don't think he even graduated from high school. He can pick the winning horse everytime or determine when when it's too close to call.
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can investigate a horses past performance and judge his completion pretty easily.
That's part of what you do with stocks, plus looking at current market and economic conditions and their projections.
The horse's past performance doesn't take into account any recent injuries, being off his feed, or random conditions in the race.?ÿ Same with stocks.
The horse's past performance doesn't take into account any recent injuries, being off his feed, or random conditions in the race
The all time record for the Yankees vs. my Mariners is 250-184. The Yankees are clearly the better franchise and for any given game I'd put my money on the Yankees. But they lose to the Mariners 42% of the time.?ÿ
My wife wants out of the stock market. I said better to wait at least 2 years. 9 months down then some recovery period after that.
My fastest appreciating asset over the past two years is an 11-year-old car.
Depending on how much gas it has in it...
The absolute best time to be selling, unfortunately, is when you have very little or nothing to sell.?ÿ The best time to buy is when you have very little or nothing available to invest.
That's part of what you do with stocks, plus looking at current market and economic conditions and their projections.
I bought AMZN yesterday. I hope I'm correct (THIS TIME) *! ?????ÿ
* (look in news for wife charged in shooting of amature stock investor)
My wife wants out of the stock market. I said better to wait at least 2 years.
There is dollar cost averaging into the market and dollar cost averaging out. About 5 years before your planned retirement date you should start DCA'ing out, to the proportion you want to be out.