I like this....note that there are 3 people in the picture.
and this....
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Sell, Sell, SELLLL!!!
so sayeth cramer anyway.
First off i should say that i don't condone selling right now..well, not for everyone. I actually have been asked this a few times in the last week. I must spend too much time on bloomberg at work. For most people this fall shouldn't prompt mass selling but it truly depends on your situation. If there's money invested in equities that you may need in the next 5 years (for retirement, a house whatever) then i would sell and horde cash. Never invest what you can't afford to lose. However if you don't need the cash in the next 5 years then turn to history and realize that markets in the long run will continue to perform as long as business's continue to exist.
I however am a bit of a hypocrite (don't say anything mel) because i liquidated virtually all my equities about 5 months ago. I'm not gonna pretend i saw this coming ..not exactly anyway, but i knew that our economy wasn't sounds and the cheap money policies of Greenspan would catch up. Lucky me i suppose. For someone in my position (relatively young, long investment horizon) this kind of drop affords some opportunity to really find some bargains. I plan to keep my investment strategy exactly the same...find a solid company....selling at a cheap price...go in big...hold!!! From that standpoint if you are riding this out...it would be a good time to re-evaluate where your money is and make sure the companies you own are solid.
Start with these questions...
Why did i buy this company? (hint: "To make money is a BAD answer"..or rather, a very incomplete answer)
What's it's competitive advantage?
Who are it's competitors?
Can i trust it's management?
There's a million more worthwhile questions to add...but start with those.
It's best to try to look at investing as if you're buying the whole company. Why buy a little piece if you're not willing to buy the whole company? That would be speculation. And if you're willing to buy the whole thing, would you sell your company if it went up 5%? 10%? No, most likely you'd continue to grow it until you need to sell..not just because the market says it's worth a bit more.
A few of my favorite quotes and my take on them.....i wont cite sources cause I'm lazy
"Short term markets are voting machines, long term markets are weight machines. " i.e....buy for the long term. The real value will reveal itself over a long enough horizon.
"When there's blood on the street, buy". similar to "when others are greedy be fearful, when others are fearful be greedy" i.e. situations like today may present some real bargains.
In a strange twist this fall is having some unusual impact on muni bonds. watch their returns...
As for what to do with your cash right now? Again...do you need it in the next 3 months...5 years? You can put together a CD ladder and get about 25% over 5 years guaranteed. Even just sitting on cash isn't a bad idea. I'd be very concerned with buying and commodities or other assets right now due to the risk of deflation.
ok, enough preaching. i just find economics and investing fascinating.
On a lighter note, we'll be getting some visitors this weekend. Maw, paw, mo and bro will be coming out for a long weekend. The weather is looking pretty good for a nice fall weekend and i think we'll spend sometime outdoors here in lovely oakland county michigan.
Regarding my treatments....they are progressing as planned. They don't give me any real bad side effects, just some mild stomach issues and a little light headedness, but it passes quickly. This time of year it's tough to eat well too...there's just too many opportunities to eat badly! But if I learned one nothing from AntiCancer it's that eating well is critical to being healthy and fighting cancer.
First off i should say that i don't condone selling right now..well, not for everyone. I actually have been asked this a few times in the last week. I must spend too much time on bloomberg at work. For most people this fall shouldn't prompt mass selling but it truly depends on your situation. If there's money invested in equities that you may need in the next 5 years (for retirement, a house whatever) then i would sell and horde cash. Never invest what you can't afford to lose. However if you don't need the cash in the next 5 years then turn to history and realize that markets in the long run will continue to perform as long as business's continue to exist.
I however am a bit of a hypocrite (don't say anything mel) because i liquidated virtually all my equities about 5 months ago. I'm not gonna pretend i saw this coming ..not exactly anyway, but i knew that our economy wasn't sounds and the cheap money policies of Greenspan would catch up. Lucky me i suppose. For someone in my position (relatively young, long investment horizon) this kind of drop affords some opportunity to really find some bargains. I plan to keep my investment strategy exactly the same...find a solid company....selling at a cheap price...go in big...hold!!! From that standpoint if you are riding this out...it would be a good time to re-evaluate where your money is and make sure the companies you own are solid.
Start with these questions...
Why did i buy this company? (hint: "To make money is a BAD answer"..or rather, a very incomplete answer)
What's it's competitive advantage?
Who are it's competitors?
Can i trust it's management?
There's a million more worthwhile questions to add...but start with those.
It's best to try to look at investing as if you're buying the whole company. Why buy a little piece if you're not willing to buy the whole company? That would be speculation. And if you're willing to buy the whole thing, would you sell your company if it went up 5%? 10%? No, most likely you'd continue to grow it until you need to sell..not just because the market says it's worth a bit more.
A few of my favorite quotes and my take on them.....i wont cite sources cause I'm lazy
"Short term markets are voting machines, long term markets are weight machines. " i.e....buy for the long term. The real value will reveal itself over a long enough horizon.
"When there's blood on the street, buy". similar to "when others are greedy be fearful, when others are fearful be greedy" i.e. situations like today may present some real bargains.
In a strange twist this fall is having some unusual impact on muni bonds. watch their returns...
As for what to do with your cash right now? Again...do you need it in the next 3 months...5 years? You can put together a CD ladder and get about 25% over 5 years guaranteed. Even just sitting on cash isn't a bad idea. I'd be very concerned with buying and commodities or other assets right now due to the risk of deflation.
ok, enough preaching. i just find economics and investing fascinating.
On a lighter note, we'll be getting some visitors this weekend. Maw, paw, mo and bro will be coming out for a long weekend. The weather is looking pretty good for a nice fall weekend and i think we'll spend sometime outdoors here in lovely oakland county michigan.
Regarding my treatments....they are progressing as planned. They don't give me any real bad side effects, just some mild stomach issues and a little light headedness, but it passes quickly. This time of year it's tough to eat well too...there's just too many opportunities to eat badly! But if I learned one nothing from AntiCancer it's that eating well is critical to being healthy and fighting cancer.
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