Through this whole episode I've avoided stealing even a cursory glance at my 401k knowing the field of slaughter it has become. Against my better judgement, and out of a growing sense of morbid curiosity...I looked.

Eh, as long as you are contributing every pay period, you are picking up additional shares at a discount. If your employer matches every pay period, even better. Unfortunately, my employer does their match in a lump sum in February, so the timing didn't work out so well for me, lol.

It will get better for sure, but I just had to lift the bandage up.

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Eh, as long as you are contributing every pay period, you are picking up additional shares at a discount. If your employer matches every pay period, even better. Unfortunately, my employer does their match in a lump sum in February, so the timing didn't work out so well for me, lol.

It will get better for sure, but I just had to lift the bandage up.

Yeah man, its ugly.

It is a serious wake up call about the importance of adjusting risk as you get closer to retirement.

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Meh... don't look at your 401k until December then get back to me.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

yesterday prior to market close I xferred 20% of my funds from money market (cash) to large cap (S&P500). Wondering if I should take the plunge back into with another 40% or so. I'm at 70% bonds/mmarket right now.

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I'm just gonna die poor.

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yesterday prior to market close I xferred 20% of my funds from money market (cash) to large cap (S&P500).  Wondering if I should take the plunge back into with another 40% or so.  I'm at 70% bonds/mmarket right now.

Take my opinion as just that.

There are two trains of thought that come to mind.

I bought in just a bit last week and it's doing decent, but I only have small positions right now.  The difference is I'm moving money in a regular brokerage account rather than a 401k so I can back out at any time with the click of a mouse (real time not having to wait until the end of the trading day).  The approach that I'm using is to buy-in in steps.  We are seeing another day (so far) to the up side which is what I like to see.  Depending on how the rest of the week plays out I may take another step in and increase my position(s) and/or perhaps buy some other things on a moderate down day.  I don't want to buy-in too fast with too much risk and end up with another wild swing down.  I am confident that what I have bought right now is going to do well long term so the small portion of my portfolio at risk right now is kind of a "hedge" against another major down turn.

On the other hand, if I am in a 401k, especially if your company matches I would probably be a bit more aggressive.  You are buying stocks at a deep discount right now.  If your available choices offer sectors I would look to that rather than an index fund.  There is nothing wrong with an index fund and I do invest a portion of my portfolio in them, but certain sectors tend to beat the indexes every year.  By the way, one of the index ETFs that I do tend to buy shares in also is a S&P 500 fund.

The thing is to focus on at least a year out.  Don't worry so much about the day-to-day moves or even week-to-week moves in the market.  Look more towards the 52 week number.  I happen to watch the market daily because a very small portion of my portfolio is individual stocks and I want to keep track of them.  I bought a small position (100 shares) in Micro$oft last Tuesday at around $135 or so a share (I was hoping to get in closer to $130).  It pulled back under that for a couple of days but is now up over $150.  Depending on conditions when it has a moderate down day I'll probably improve my position.  It's a company that will eventually get back to it's 52 week high of around $190 and it pays a good dividend.  It's just not going to get back up there until Q1 of next year or possibly later.

Again, this is just how I look at it and how I invest.  I am by no means a professional money manager and as I said, take my advice/opinion however you want.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

yesterday prior to market close I xferred 20% of my funds from money market (cash) to large cap (S&P500).  Wondering if I should take the plunge back into with another 40% or so.  I'm at 70% bonds/mmarket right now.

Personally, I would be cautious with the job report due tomorrow. Probably not going to look great.

---

yesterday prior to market close I xferred 20% of my funds from money market (cash) to large cap (S&P500).  Wondering if I should take the plunge back into with another 40% or so.  I'm at 70% bonds/mmarket right now.

Personally, I would be cautious with the job report due tomorrow. Probably not going to look great.

I could be wrong, but the job report probably won't be that bad tomorrow because I do believe that much of the data is based on last month.  I'm thinking next month's report is going to look really bad.

EDIT

I was wrong.  The latest news is that the job report isn't going to be pretty.  Combine that with a tweet sent out by Bernie Sanders threatening to hold up the stimulus package passed by the Senate and four republican senators having issues with the relief package expect a down day tomorrow.  It may be my opportunity to make another "step in".  Markets lost an awful lot in the last 10 minutes of trading despite the DOW still ending positive.

---

There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

Personally, I would be cautious with the job report due tomorrow. Probably not going to look great.

I could be wrong, but the job report probably won't be that bad tomorrow because I do believe that much of the data is based on last month.  I'm thinking next month's report is going to look really bad.

EDIT

I was wrong.  The latest news is that the job report isn't going to be pretty.  Combine that with a tweet sent out by Bernie Sanders threatening to hold up the stimulus package passed by the Senate and four republican senators having issues with the relief package expect a down day tomorrow.  It may be my opportunity to make another "step in".  Markets lost an awful lot in the last 10 minutes of trading despite the DOW still ending positive.

I don't think it's wise to base investment decisions on the next day's news, especially because the big players who move the market know tomorrow's news long before you do.

---

yesterday prior to market close I xferred 20% of my funds from money market (cash) to large cap (S&P500).  Wondering if I should take the plunge back into with another 40% or so.  I'm at 70% bonds/mmarket right now.

Take my opinion as just that.

There are two trains of thought that come to mind.

I bought in just a bit last week and it's doing decent, but I only have small positions right now.  The difference is I'm moving money in a regular brokerage account rather than a 401k so I can back out at any time with the click of a mouse (real time not having to wait until the end of the trading day).  The approach that I'm using is to buy-in in steps.  We are seeing another day (so far) to the up side which is what I like to see.  Depending on how the rest of the week plays out I may take another step in and increase my position(s) and/or perhaps buy some other things on a moderate down day.  I don't want to buy-in too fast with too much risk and end up with another wild swing down.  I am confident that what I have bought right now is going to do well long term so the small portion of my portfolio at risk right now is kind of a "hedge" against another major down turn.

On the other hand, if I am in a 401k, especially if your company matches I would probably be a bit more aggressive.  You are buying stocks at a deep discount right now.  If your available choices offer sectors I would look to that rather than an index fund.  There is nothing wrong with an index fund and I do invest a portion of my portfolio in them, but certain sectors tend to beat the indexes every year.  By the way, one of the index ETFs that I do tend to buy shares in also is a S&P 500 fund.

The thing is to focus on at least a year out.  Don't worry so much about the day-to-day moves or even week-to-week moves in the market.  Look more towards the 52 week number.  I happen to watch the market daily because a very small portion of my portfolio is individual stocks and I want to keep track of them.  I bought a small position (100 shares) in Micro$oft last Tuesday at around $135 or so a share (I was hoping to get in closer to $130).  It pulled back under that for a couple of days but is now up over $150.  Depending on conditions when it has a moderate down day I'll probably improve my position.  It's a company that will eventually get back to it's 52 week high of around $190 and it pays a good dividend.  It's just not going to get back up there until Q1 of next year or possibly later.

Again, this is just how I look at it and how I invest.  I am by no means a professional money manager and as I said, take my advice/opinion however you want.

Great info above.  I don't know enough about Brokerage Link to go that route today but I did just switch most everything over to the S&P 500 fund just prior to pulling up your post  (so I was glad to see you were on the same page).  My thought process is those companies can now absorb ~ 3 months of instability and are still a long way from their record highs.  Each day I feel like I'm making the move a day or 2 late but then when I look at how little we've climbed up the V, I still see there is still a long way to go (and profit on the way).

** fingers crossed !!!

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The DOW does not seem to currently care about unemployment.

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I could be wrong, but the job report probably won't be that bad tomorrow because I do believe that much of the data is based on last month.  I'm thinking next month's report is going to look really bad.

EDIT

I was wrong.  The latest news is that the job report isn't going to be pretty.  Combine that with a tweet sent out by Bernie Sanders threatening to hold up the stimulus package passed by the Senate and four republican senators having issues with the relief package expect a down day tomorrow.  It may be my opportunity to make another "step in".  Markets lost an awful lot in the last 10 minutes of trading despite the DOW still ending positive.

I don't think it's wise to base investment decisions on the next day's news, especially because the big players who move the market know tomorrow's news long before you do.

Oh I agree.  The news is just part of what I use to make a decision.  My line of thinking is more along the lines of a few individual stocks that I had my eye on.  I was expecting a down day today and was hoping that I would have an opportunity to get some Boeing stock (I missed my buy target).  I wanted to get in at around $150 but it way overshot that mark.  While it's still probably a good buy right now at around $180 I am going to hold off for now and see what the market overall is going to do.  We are very close to exiting bear market territory (up over 20% off of the lows).

The DOW does not seem to currently care about unemployment.

From what I understand the bad unemployment number was pretty much priced into the market already.  The projected number was as high as over 4 million and the number came in at roughly 3.2 million.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

Wow.  What an unexpected trading day (by me).  The DOW up over 1300 points is not what I expected.  I'm thinking that there is a lot of buying at "discount prices" right now.  I just don't know how much it's going to be sustained.  I would like to see a "moderate" day either way tomorrow either up or down.  By "moderate" I mean a move by the DOW in the +/- 100's of points rather than the +/- 1000's of points.  Fridays are usually a "consolidation" kind of day in the markets plus there are a bunch of margin calls coming due.  I really don't want to see a wild swing one way or the other.

Take my opinion as just that.

There are two trains of thought that come to mind.

I bought in just a bit last week and it's doing decent, but I only have small positions right now.  The difference is I'm moving money in a regular brokerage account rather than a 401k so I can back out at any time with the click of a mouse (real time not having to wait until the end of the trading day).  The approach that I'm using is to buy-in in steps.  We are seeing another day (so far) to the up side which is what I like to see.  Depending on how the rest of the week plays out I may take another step in and increase my position(s) and/or perhaps buy some other things on a moderate down day.  I don't want to buy-in too fast with too much risk and end up with another wild swing down.  I am confident that what I have bought right now is going to do well long term so the small portion of my portfolio at risk right now is kind of a "hedge" against another major down turn.

On the other hand, if I am in a 401k, especially if your company matches I would probably be a bit more aggressive.  You are buying stocks at a deep discount right now.  If your available choices offer sectors I would look to that rather than an index fund.  There is nothing wrong with an index fund and I do invest a portion of my portfolio in them, but certain sectors tend to beat the indexes every year.  By the way, one of the index ETFs that I do tend to buy shares in also is a S&P 500 fund.

The thing is to focus on at least a year out.  Don't worry so much about the day-to-day moves or even week-to-week moves in the market.  Look more towards the 52 week number.  I happen to watch the market daily because a very small portion of my portfolio is individual stocks and I want to keep track of them.  I bought a small position (100 shares) in Micro$oft last Tuesday at around $135 or so a share (I was hoping to get in closer to $130).  It pulled back under that for a couple of days but is now up over $150.  Depending on conditions when it has a moderate down day I'll probably improve my position.  It's a company that will eventually get back to it's 52 week high of around $190 and it pays a good dividend.  It's just not going to get back up there until Q1 of next year or possibly later.

Again, this is just how I look at it and how I invest.  I am by no means a professional money manager and as I said, take my advice/opinion however you want.

Great info above.  I don't know enough about Brokerage Link to go that route today but I did just switch most everything over to the S&P 500 fund just prior to pulling up your post  (so I was glad to see you were on the same page).  My thought process is those companies can now absorb ~ 3 months of instability and are still a long way from their record highs.  Each day I feel like I'm making the move a day or 2 late but then when I look at how little we've climbed up the V, I still see there is still a long way to go (and profit on the way).

** fingers crossed !!!

If you are dealing with a 401k (which is what I assume) being aggressive is the right thing to do, especially if your company matches your contribution.  An index fund is going to rebound and eventually go up over the long term.  While most every company in that fund is off of 52 week highs, they will eventually recover (for the most part).  You are buying shares at discounted prices.

As I have stated before, I really like the tech sector and if your 401k has a fund weighted towards tech I would explore possibly investing in that as well.

I moved to IRA(s) a while back because due to the nature of my job I had several 401k's from working for different contractors (I've held the same job but worked for several different companies).  I consolidated them into my own investment accounts and have managed them for a while, especially since the last few companies that have held our contract had crap 401k plans and no matching.  I personally have both a traditional as well as a ROTH IRA for myself and my wife that I manage and regularly contribute to.  I feel that I have done well to this point as far as making investment decisions and managing the funds.  It does take a lot of work and a lot of research.

Once again as I have stated many times before, I am by no means a professional investor so take my advice however you want.  I'm just telling you what I would do right now.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

Who would you rather play poker against - professional poker players or drunken sailors?
Right now you are playing against drunken sailors. If you are smart there should be easy pickings.

I tend to worry about the stability of the whole market: the dollar and the financial system itself.
When the system is stressed, first thing they do is change the rules.
The Federal Reserve just changed the rules - did anybody notice?

As announced on March 15, 2020, the Board reduced reserve requirement ratios to zero percent effective March 26, 2020. This action eliminated reserve requirements for all depository institutions.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetaryp...rvereq.htm

The Federal Reserve with no reserves? Maybe they should change the name.

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Who would you rather play poker against - professional poker players or drunken sailors?
Right now you are playing against drunken sailors.  If you are smart there should be easy pickings.

I tend to worry about the stability of the whole market:  the dollar and the financial system itself.
When the system is stressed, first thing they do is change the rules.
The Federal Reserve just changed the rules - did anybody notice?

As announced on March 15, 2020, the Board reduced reserve requirement ratios to zero percent effective March 26, 2020.  This action eliminated reserve requirements for all depository institutions.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetaryp...rvereq.htm

The Federal Reserve with no reserves?  Maybe they should change the name.

It's the banks with no reserve requirements, not the FED, but scary nonetheless, esp considering they can borrow at 0% to meet said requirements.

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The FED never had any reserves; the reserve requirement was for the banks, as a minimal cushion.
What does a run on the banks look like if the banks have no reserves?
Granny withdraws $300 at the ATM and whole system collapses?

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The FED never had any reserves; the reserve requirement was for the banks, as a minimal cushion.
What does a run on the banks look like if the banks have no reserves?
Granny withdraws $300 at the ATM and whole system collapses?

Yes, that was my point.

It looks not good, I would imagine!

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The FED never had any reserves; the reserve requirement was for the banks, as a minimal cushion.
What does a run on the banks look like if the banks have no reserves?
Granny withdraws $300 at the ATM and whole system collapses?

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

Was able to open a small position in Boeing at $162.  It's still above my preferred "buy-in" price of $150 but either way I believe over the long term it's going to give me some good returns.  The market is "moderately down" and I use that term lightly given the high volatility that we have seen.  Down 600+ points on the DOW has kind of become the new "normal" recently.  Keep in mind we are still up for the week and if I recall correctly just yesterday we had a near 1200 point gain just yesterday.

Now I happen to be optimistic but I would encourage people to be cautious.  There is the possibility that we could test the lows again, but at this point I don't think (hope) we will.

Keep in mind a lot of margin calls were due today and I'm thinking that many of the "big boys" are doing some consolidation.  Watching the last hour of trading will be interesting today.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

Futures down. Strap in.

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