So where is the stock market going?

[John K Jordan]

Yes, John, that is correct. We separate investments into a balanced portfolio of buckets, usually 3-6. When the present administration was elected, we switched a couple buckets to growth stocks. When covid hit, we switched the growth stock bucket to commodities. Today, I switched the commodity bucket back to growth. I always have stock market tracking bucket, which tracks the S&P, I always have a blue chip dividend stock bucket, and always have some bonds.

Ha, it almost sounds like you and my guy have been talking!

[Aaron Rosenthal]

I'm an active investor.
One of the things I've learned that most full time professionals, with reasonably vast research departments, and a certain developed investment philosophy, are a blessed lot smarter than I am.
I watch some specialty TV programs, and listen carefully to their thoughts - NOT their picks.
Then I do my research, and if I like what I see, I'll buy with a definite target price to sell in mind. I also use stops.
I have a ways to go for my personal targets, but I don't need the money right now.

[Doug Dawson]

The stock market is not the economy. A good market doesn't mean anything but how willing people are to gamble. Like Tom said, buying existing stock doesnt add any capital into a company's assets or create new capacity, its just people trading paper back and forth like baseball cards. My retirement income is dependent on it, so I'm happy to see it grow, but I don't credit politicians sacrificing other important things just to make it grow faster.

At the most fundamental level, the value of a stock is about what you would consider that the associated company is going to do in the future. This is not gambling. If you want to gamble, go to Vegas. There is no conspiracy that I know of, where CEO’s of companies go to Vegas and bet on the craps tables to determine what their company is gonna do next. Heh.

[dennis thompson]

Yes, John, that is correct. We separate investments into a balanced portfolio of buckets, usually 3-6. When the present administration was elected, we switched a couple buckets to growth stocks. When covid hit, we switched the growth stock bucket to commodities. Today, I switched the commodity bucket back to growth. I always have stock market tracking bucket, which tracks the S&P, I always have a blue chip dividend stock bucket, and always have some bonds.

Doesn't this switching back and forth increase your tax liability? Unless , of course, your are invested in a tax deferred account ( IRA, 401K, etc)

[Brian Holcombe]

The stock market is not the economy. A good market doesn't mean anything but how willing people are to gamble. Like Tom said, buying existing stock doesnt add any capital into a company's assets or create new capacity, its just people trading paper back and forth like baseball cards. My retirement income is dependent on it, so I'm happy to see it grow, but I don't credit politicians sacrificing other important things just to make it grow faster.

One’s investing approach might be akin to gambling but the stock market itself is not. The function of the stock market is for companies to have easy and quick access to funding by raising capital with the sale of their stock. They sell equity, the public become owners with a stake in the company.

[dennis thompson]

Is investing in the stock market gambling? Certainly in the short run investing in the stock market is a gamble. But the difference between investing in the stock market and going to Vegas is that in the long run the odds are that your trip to Vegas will result in you losing money, while, in the long run, returns on the stock market have historically been positive.

[Doug Garson]

Me thinks for everyone who knows how to make money in the stock market by timing the market there are a few thousand who think they do. We invest long term in mutual funds thru a trusted advisor. Year to date this year we are up around 8%. I was thinking the market was heading down last March, our advisor disagreed, glad we took his advice.

[Doug Dawson]

Doesn't this switching back and forth increase your tax liability?

It certainly does, outside of the limitations of tax-advantaged accounts. There’s nothing wrong with paying taxes (that’s how a civilized society operates.) With investments that do really well, it’s part of the deal, that allows us to live in a country where that can happen. We also have good accountants...

[Bill Dufour]

My Schwab ETF fund charges about 0.02% a year in fees. No charge to buy or sell any stock. If you pay 1% more and get 1% more return then a non managed fund you have gained nothing except a higher tax bill.
Bill D

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/inve...avings-impact/

[Jim Matthews]

My Schwab ETF fund charges about 0.02% a year in fees. No charge to buy or sell any stock. If you pay 1% more and get 1% more return then a non managed fund you have gained nothing except a higher tax bill.
Bill D

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/inve...avings-impact/

Same approach with Vanguard for me.

The only stock purchase I made this past year was Plug Power. Everything else seems too much like gambling.

There's a lot of kited money sloshing around.

[Jim Becker]

I do the same with Fidelity...their funds. Zero cost. And let's just say that the market has been good to me to-date. I've only made minor adjustments since 2017 when I rolled my 401K and 403B into personal accounts there when I retired.

[Alex Zeller]

It seams to me that the market is high right now on hopes of another stimulus bill passing in Washington and the success of the vaccine. After that all bets are off. Another thing driving the market is the elections in Georgia. The odds are that at least one of the races will be won by a Republican. If the GOP keeps control of the Senate then Biden's tax plans are DOA. I actually did well last January. With Bernie Sanders looking like he could win the primary I moved a chunk of my investments to safe places. Pure luck as nobody expected the market to drop so fast thanks to the virus. At that point I moved the money back into a couple Vangard funds near the bottom. In the end what goes down always comes back up. It's the fools who could wait it out who jump ship who loose.

[Scott Kilroy]

My wife says the same thing and yes you could have made a lot more money but when you look at the company in depth somethings not right with Tesla. They have a lot of quality control problems. I know this from reading and also from firsthand of people who bought teslas and regret it. I really believe the fundamentals aren't right at Tesla and they're going to crash.

[Doug Dawson]

My wife says the same thing and yes you could have made a lot more money but when you look at the company in depth somethings not right with Tesla. They have a lot of quality control problems. I know this from reading and also from firsthand of people who bought teslas and regret it. I really believe the fundamentals aren't right at Tesla and they're going to crash.

I strongly suspect that this a personnel issue at the old NUMMI plant in Fremont. I’d be very interested to see how things change when the new Texas factory comes on line next year.

Here’s a start: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/b...sultPosition=1

BTW, the article is careful to avoid mentioning who is responsible, but you can get it from the comments.

[Jim Matthews]

Here’s a start: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/b...sultPosition=1

BTW, the article is careful to avoid mentioning who is responsible, but you can get it from the comments.

Perhaps you'll make your point, right out in the open?

Experts that actually get paid to build cars have stated theirs.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/op...ty/3113880001/