The Market ...... Not food

[Andy Cover]

I heard someone say today on TV that the stock market has lost trillions of $. That it had just disappeared into thin air.
What happened? Did dollar bills get burned, did property get lost?
It looks to me that the same number of dollar bills and the same cars, houses, and land that was on this earth 2 months ago are still here.
The stock that we own is still the same piece of paper that we owned before. It is just that people don't want to give us as much $ for that paper as they did before. The $ is still there.

Andy

[Butch Edwards]

I heard someone say today on TV that the stock market has lost trillions of $. That it had just disappeared into thin air.
What happened? Did dollar bills get burned, did property get lost?
It looks to me that the same number of dollar bills and the same cars, houses, and land that was on this earth 2 months ago are still here.
The stock that we own is still the same piece of paper that we owned before. It is just that people don't want to give us as much $ for that paper as they did before. The $ is still there.

Andy

yep..and it's color is red...which means we're still in the hole,as a nation..that hasn't gotten any better

[Greg Peterson]

I heard someone say today on TV that the stock market has lost trillions of $. That it had just disappeared into thin air.
What happened? Did dollar bills get burned, did property get lost?

Mainly devalued stocks. The value of the market will return eventually.

Kind of like home prices declining. No real, printed money has been lost, only theoretical 'value'. So long as you aren't trying to sell your house or live off the returns on your stock market investments, you haven't lost money yet.

The real culprit seems to be the grease that lubricates the wheels of commerce; credit liquidity. Those that have cash (banks) are not lending it out as freely as they have been. IMO, they are over reacting. Eventually things will loosen up and most or many stocks will regain some or all of their value.

Hopefully the lending institutions will return to more conservative lending practices and investors will adapt a long term perspective on investments.

[David DeCristoforo]

Pretty strange for me too but for a completely different reason. Being the "starving artisan at 60", I don't own a house or have an investment portfolio. Nor do I have any debt. No credit cards either. So all of this is swirling around me and I'm not loosing a cent! I have exactly what I have always had... the ability to work and earn a living. My only concern is that the people who might have hired me or bought my work will be hurting. But, there is little I can do about that at this point. For now I have a good project so we are OK..... no different than it's ever been.

[Mike Cornelsen]

I've got a little cash put away that I was going to remodel a bathroom with (not much, it's only a 5x7 bath). But since everything is in the tank, I'm thinking about throwing that cash at the market while everything is cheap. Come next Spring, if the market has recovered, I may get a free bath remodel. If not, I can probably have resaved enough to go ahead anyway.
I jumped in the market after the tech bubble burst. I was very cautious and by 2004-2005, I was sorry I hadn't thrown everything I could into the market.
Some people see this as catastrophe, I see it as opportunity.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I'm still in a buy mode. I hope to be able to retire next year. I'm already drawing a pension from one major company. I hope be in a position to retire and start drawing a pension from my current employer. The LOML could have retired a couple of years ago but stayed on to pay for my shop. She hopes to retire with a state pension and work part-time. I'll probably work someplace, maybe even for my current employer part-time, but I'll chose which battles and where I'll fight them.

My 401K is our "play money". I've supported myself since age 15 when I worked on oil rigs morning tower and went to school during the day. The play money.......Kenny Paul and Sharon are gonna go have some fun before it's too late.

[Butch Edwards]

I've got a little cash put away that I was going to remodel a bathroom with (not much, it's only a 5x7 bath). But since everything is in the tank, I'm thinking about throwing that cash at the market while everything is cheap. Come next Spring, if the market has recovered, I may get a free bath remodel. If not, I can probably have resaved enough to go ahead anyway.
I jumped in the market after the tech bubble burst. I was very cautious and by 2004-2005, I was sorry I hadn't thrown everything I could into the market.
Some people see this as catastrophe, I see it as opportunity.

the "experts" said this morning that this will NOT recover as quickly as that time period, and that the bottom is nowhere in sight... he suggested investing ONLY in mainstream comps like Nike/CocaCola/etc., because they don't depend upon credit... and be preparred to wait at least 5 years to see any return on investments...and if one had 5 grand to invest, to break it up into small pieces for investment...of course, these experts were the ones who led us down this road to begin wit....

[Ben Rafael]

When it comes to the market it has been my experience that the "experts" are wrong more often than they are right.

[Clifford Mescher]

When it comes to the market it has been my experience that the "experts" are wrong more often than they are right.

That is good for you. Do the opposite and make money.Clifford

[Ben Rafael]

I've seen newsletters that base their decisions(partly) on the opposite of the general consensus of market experts. I dont know what their track record is.
I usually add to my portfolio after large market drops. I dont care if the "experts" say the bottom is here or is coming soon, how do they know? Even if they said the bottom isn't here yet and it ends up being another 2%, waiting for that 2% is futile. Only pure luck would let you buy at the ultimate bottom and sell at the high

[Clifford Mescher]

That is why the rich get richer. Average people do not have the resources to buy when prices are low. Most people holding on for dear life, waiting for their stock to rise. Clifford

[Ben Rafael]

Yeah and no.
I see a lot of average people who play with their 401k plans, shifting between different asset classes as the market changes. Unfortunately, they seem to go the wrong way consistently, going into stocks when the market is up and into bonds when the market is low.
In general, the best thing you can do is sit on your hands, you may miss some opportunities, but you will also avoid selling at the wrong time.

[Tom Godley]

My original post was about a feeling -- something in the air -- Thursday the 2nd of October. It was a strange day.

When fear sets in people do strange things.

[Clifford Mescher]

Columbus Day. Stock up over 560 points. Still 3 1/2 hours till closing, though. Hope new feelings in the air. Clifford

[Lee DeRaud]

When it comes to the market it has been my experience that the "experts" are wrong more often than they are right.

Maybe, maybe not. You're only getting the advice they're willing to give away, and when it comes to "free" market advice, 'buys' and 'holds' outnumber 'sells' by a huge margin.

What I've seen is that when the respected experts say to buy a stock, the stock usually goes up. But knowing when to sell that stock is just as important, and you almost never hear that same expert say, "Hey, you remember that stock I told you to buy two months ago? It went way up, right? Well, now is a good time to take your profit and get out of it."