Ouch, the markets are nasty!

Parent Cafe
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<p>Just wanted to complain. Is this the plunge before the summer dog days or just a roller-coaster dip? Who else is feeling like you’ve just pulled some Gs?</p>

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<p>mini-correction?</p>

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<p>Did mini make a big stock sale recently?</p>

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<p>Hmmm… It actually works out well for me. I recently needed to make a down payment on my construction loan and for some reason (did not understand why), I had to make a withdrawal from my stock account instead of the cash account. So I did that with the intention of buying back the stocks (actually a mutual fund). So the lower (temporarily) the better, I say.</p>

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<p>The markets are very nervous about Bernanke because they were used to Greenspan and they’re not used to Bernanke. I think it’s going to be wildly volatile until at least next January. Which is why I sold out enough stock to pay the kids’ tuition for the fall–last week (patting self on back).</p>

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<p>dmd77, If you have any more attacks of prescience about the stock market, would you mind posting them?</p>

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<p>Hmmm…I’m ignoring the Dow until it starts to go up again. :(</p>

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<p>Oil and gas futures. Buy what the Texas oilmen and the Iranian oilmen are buying, and you want go wrong.</p>

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<p>With the dow going so high, most experts predicted this.</p>

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<p>Well, unusually, I would disagree with Mini. Oil and gas futures are very high right now; longterm, you’re better off buying things that are underpriced and out of favor. That’s what the maxim “buy low and sell high” is about. Right now, oil and gas are high (as are oil company stocks). But bank stocks are momentarily out of favor, as are biotechs, and auto company stocks. </p>

<p>However, don’t confuse “out of fashion” with “no longer a good investment.” That’s the hard part. Is GM out of favor because people are putting their $$ in gas and oil stocks right now, or is it out of favor because it’s a badly-run company? </p>

<p>This kind of decision is why our stock account mostly holds index funds, with just a few individual stocks. One of which is Starbucks–which sells a legal addictive drug (caffeine) in a safe pleasant and socially acceptable system.</p>

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<p>I’ve done quite well in the last few years, but for me this run has not made up for the effect of the tech stock crash on my portfolio (which lengthened the odds of early retirement significantly) though it was gaining ground nicely. With the volatility in the markets, the mounting deficit, the falling dollar and the impending End of Real Estate as a fertile field for investment, it’s just worrisome. Points out that there are no guarantees, that the universal preference for a comfortable existence and a reasonable retirement situation is not written on tablets of stone. </p>

<p>Anyone have any exciting new recipies for beans and rice? I have lots of dandelion greens in my back yard that I’d be happy to share.</p>

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<p>I’ve been hit big as well!!!</p>

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<p>Oil at $105 (I bought more drillers today. ;))</p>

<p><a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20060519/bs_bw/pi20060519952692[/url]”>http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20060519/bs_bw/pi20060519952692&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Aah–the tech stock crash–that brings back humbling memories…</p>

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<p>Oil at $105 (I bought more drillers today. )</p>

<p>Mini, you are such a capitalist. :)</p>

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<p>“Mini, you are such a capitalist. :)”</p>

<p>Pig! :wink: (and eating at the U.S. President’s and the Iranian President’s trough - brothers under the skin.)</p>