The difficulty of the small investor

Bear

The concept of leaping into what appears to be the low
is dangerous.

1. No body knows for sure, if it really is the bottom.

2. If you guess wrong, you have already committed
all of your money. Unlike a mutual fund, you do not have
fresh cash flow to correct your mistakes.

3. The present situation is of such a huge and international scale,
it is dangerous to assume you know what is actually going on.

4. The present P/E may in fact be high, in light of the oncoming recession.

5. While it is too late to pull out of the market, it may not be prudent to
commit what ever you may have left in cash reserves.

6. These huge swings are only for professional traders. This crises will take
some time before it is resolved.



Nibble if you must, but be careful of betting all of your chips on a single hand
in the big game. Smarter folks then us have gotten their clocks cleaned.

mhammerman

"...it is dangerous to assume you know what is actually going on...smarter folks then us have gotten their clocks cleaned."

I suspect that MOST of us have had our clocks well cleaned, some more than once but still a valid observation.

Bullish

You have only lost, if you sell! I'm down a pretty penny myself. But will not sell, untill i have strength. I don't bet more, than i can afford to lose. So i don't have to sell. I'm still buying on the dips. to get my overall price down. There is alot of volitility now, & nobody really understands what's gonna happen next. Play your cards right, & there's alot of money, to make right now!

storm888

"....there's alot of money, to make right now! .."

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Yup.

But, as bear said, it is dangerous out there.

I often visit a trading room where folks rent terminals to make
their trades. Many of the customers look like the same crowd
you see iin Vegas; most lose ALL of their money.

Wall Street, at its best, is a crooked and rigged casino. Under
the current circumstances, it is more dangerous than ever.

LOTS of stuff will likely retest its lows, and go lower. This is
no time for buy-and-hold, and folks without LOTS of experience
and CASH need to be VERY cautious.

dac076

4. The present P/E may in fact be high, in light of the oncoming recession.

Good point. We've had many years with the P/E above the average, there's no reason why we can't have several years below it.

cohodk

You have only lost, if you sell!


I love statements like this. Its like the guy on DEAL OR NO DEAL that has $250,000 on the table and says he came there with nothing so he cant lose. Uncomprehensible stupidity.