Stocks? Sitting tight? Selling? Buying?

[Kev Williams]

I make my money the old-fashioned way. Good or bad, my portfolio is everything-proof...

[Doug Dawson]

I make my money the old-fashioned way. Good or bad, my portfolio is everything-proof...

Unfortunately, investing, either directly, or indirectly (through Social Security (payroll tax) or a pension (pension fund)), is the only way to fund yourself in retirement, unless you want to work til the day you die, for most people.

[roger wiegand]

Sitting, but may rebalance. Went over heavily to more stable investments in 2016, expecting extreme volatility, so losses are marginal at this point. Following this correction adjusting the stock percentage back to pre-2106 levels later this year may be prudent.

[Lisa Starr]

Buying...I've had some cash that I didn't want to put into a CD becauseof the low rates available. I'm discussing investment options with the advisor and expect to move $20,000 or so into the market this week and next.

[Bruce Volden]

I was one of those "noob" investors back in June 1987. Stuck 15K in through an IDS advisor. Lost a whole lot of it!
By December I was up 2500 bucks?? It was in an aggressive fund. I was then happy. This one may take awhile though me thinks.
I think I'll try a little day trading soon.

Bruce

[Jeff Body]

Does anyone have any books they'd suggest reading to learn about this stuff?

I pretty much know nothing about it other then I lost $16,000 over the last few weeks in my 401K. Last week I'd had enough and moved it all into bonds because I saw the market continue to drop and it pained me to keep losing money. My basic plan is to watch the news and look for a climax to this virus stuff and move it back into my fidelity (accounts?) again. If I break even and regain that $16,000 I'll be happy.


But I'd really like to learn more about the stock market and how to work it. Any suggestions?

[Ronald Blue]

If I was invested in stocks I would definitely be sitting. You haven't lost a penny until you sell. That's the mistake so many make. They blink. I'm thinking it may be a good opportunity soon to invest. I don't think the slide has ended yet though.

[julian abram]

Does anyone have any books they'd suggest reading to learn about this stuff?

I pretty much know nothing about it other then I lost $16,000 over the last few weeks in my 401K. Last week I'd had enough and moved it all into bonds because I saw the market continue to drop and it pained me to keep losing money. My basic plan is to watch the news and look for a climax to this virus stuff and move it back into my fidelity (accounts?) again. If I break even and regain that $16,000 I'll be happy.


But I'd really like to learn more about the stock market and how to work it. Any suggestions?

You need an investing plan that fits your age and goals. Here is a good place to start thinking about your journey. This is a tried and true investment philosophy of Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard the second largest asset management company in the U.S.
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads®_investment_philosophy

[Doug Dawson]

You need an investing plan that fits your age and goals. Here is a good place to start thinking about your journey.
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads®_investment_philosophy

I agree. There is an immense literature on this subject, but that's a good place to start. And the forums at bogleheads.org are a good place to witness how people are behaving, one way or the other.

Stay the course, once you're on the right one (known only to you.)

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Does anyone have any books they'd suggest reading to learn about this stuff?

I pretty much know nothing about it other then I lost $16,000 over the last few weeks in my 401K. Last week I'd had enough and moved it all into bonds because I saw the market continue to drop and it pained me to keep losing money. My basic plan is to watch the news and look for a climax to this virus stuff and move it back into my fidelity (accounts?) again. If I break even and regain that $16,000 I'll be happy.


But I'd really like to learn more about the stock market and how to work it. Any suggestions?

A few general concepts (I am not an investment advisor)

(1) Of the thousands of stocks only a few will truly outperform the market. You cannot consistently identify them in advance.

(2) Most of the markets gains come on a very small number of trading days. A recent study showed that if you missed the 50 best days of the stock market since 1928 you would give up 2/3 of the returns you would get if you just bought a diverse basket of stocks and held them. You cannot consistently identify those days in advance.

(3) Active trading costs you two ways: commissions, and the spread on the stock price. Investment in actively managed funds adds the fee for the manager.

These are some of the main reasons why the typical advice for a typical investor is to buy a broad market fund with low fees and simply hold it.

It is not easy advice to follow in times like these. But Buffett makes a lot of money when there is "blood in the streets" by buying from people who do not follow that advice.

[michael dilday]

You never know what the market is going to do tomorrow. It's like when you have a cold you think you can beat and you start feeling so bad you make a doctors appointment. For me I usually start feeling better before I make it to the doctors office. Same with the market. When you decide to sell often it is at or near the bottom and you lock in your losses and are late to the recovery. I use Wells Fargo Advisors and have a team that manages it for me. They are the experts. And my guy is also a woodworker so we have a lot to talk about and share.

[Doug Dawson]

Pretty scary stock market, I'm trying to sit tight but must admit I've sold some. What are you doing? I know, I know, Warren Buffett is out there buying, but I'm no Warren Buffett. It's a lot easier when you have billions to be a buyer at this time.

Here is some "perspective" content:

https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/vie...ewpost=5103487

And here is some more:

https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/vie...ewpost=5103533

[bob pfohler]

I retired from my previous job last January . I had the option of leaving my investments with the company and I did for the first year.
About 2 months ago my financial advisor told me he thought it was time to roll them into cash and look for something else. I did just that and really lucked out! I love that man!

[Stephen Tashiro]

To the first question, not unless that was specified in the will, .

To clarify, the first question is about what a brokerage does to distribute an account to declared transfer-on-death beneficiaries. A will would have no say in that. Does the brokerage liquidate all the non-cash assets in the account and distribute only cash?

[Doug Dawson]

To clarify, the first question is about what a brokerage does to distribute an account to declared transfer-on-death beneficiaries. A will would have no say in that. Does the brokerage liquidate all the non-cash assets in the account and distribute only cash?

No, they should just transfer title to the account. With updated basis, of course. (That is, capital gains would be based w.r.t. the date of death.) It may be up to the new account holder (or their accountant) to determine what that basis is. That's why we have lookup tables for historical stock prices.

Again, as I noted, anything else would be kind of weird.

This is in the United States, of course.