(03-02-2020, 08:08 PM)Jags Wrote:

(03-02-2020, 05:14 PM)jagibelieve Wrote: I did something that I normally wouldn't do... bought back in during the last hour of trading.  I managed to improve my positions on a few ETF's that I'm long in and get them close to being out of "the red".  I'm going to wait and see what the market does over the next few days before I consider putting any more money back in.

I expected a move to the positive today, but didn't expect a record single day gain.  The DOW posted it's highest single day gain ever.  Expect perhaps a few days of "modest gains" and perhaps a downside move here and there.  I want to see some stability before I go back to "all in".  If there are more wild swings one way or the other I would caution against buying in.  A few days where the market indices are pretty much stable are what we need.

Do you have a financial advisor?   This stuff
Is way over my head.  We have many resident pros here.   I’m not sure where you’re at.  But if you have a reputable advisor, he/she should be able to move whatever and whenever you please or as they deem necessary.  

Something tells me you’re more than aware of all that.  

Hope it all works out.

I don't have a financial adviser, though I would recommend getting one to anyone not experienced in trading/investing.  I do a lot of reading and researching and have been actively investing in the market since around the late 90's/early 2000's.  During that time up until around 2010 or so I also contributed to my company's 401k offering(s) which included company matching.  Since then I have consolidated all of my 401k accounts into 2 IRA accounts (one traditional and one ROTH).

My situation is a bit different than most people.  I work for government contractors so while my job has been the same over time, the companies that I worked for always changed depending on who gets the latest contract.  That's why I had so many different 401ks.  The latest company to get our contract doesn't match and had crappy options so I decided to consolidate and manage my retirement accounts on my own.  I managed to do alright, but I imagine that I probably would have done better with a professional money manager.  Either way I have always "beat" the market averages and have a nice "nest egg" for retirement saved up and have supplemented my income with my own investments.

I am also fortunate enough that I have a job where I can keep financial news on (mostly FOX Business) and keep up with what is happening throughout the day while I am at work (for the most part).

The best advice that I would give anyone is to either hire a professional or just contribute to your 401k regularly.  If you are under 50 years old just keep adding to your position and don't try to "manage" your allocations based on day-to-day or even month-to-month moves in the market.  Over time you will end up making more money because even in a down swing like we saw over the last few weeks you are still buying stocks at "bargain" prices and when the market recovers they will be more valuable.  Also, if you are not an active trader/investor don't pay too much attention to the daily or weekly swings in the market.  I would stay away from "trading" and just invest.

Another piece of advice that I would give is to stay away from individual stocks and concentrate on groups of stocks.  I will rarely buy individual stocks, though I have done so and did well (for the most part) with those investments.  Have they all be "winners"?  Certainly not.  I personally stay away from mutual funds and invest mainly in ETF's and concentrate on sectors more than anything.

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