Who's had it with the stock market

[Mr Miyagi]

Vent on

I am losing so much money in my 401K I may never retire (currently single and 47 yrs old).

I guess its only a real loss when I sell..So I suppose its best to stick it out and not bail now..EVENTUALLY (I hope) it will be back

End of Vent

[BlueZero]

Re: Who's had it with the stock market

I'm with you! I'm only 32 so I don't need to worry right now too much. I haven't put any money in my IRA for 2007 and think I might just skip this year. With everything going down I will buy a CD with a low fixed rate so at least I won't be losing money. Of course if things pick up I will be missing out on a heck of a good deal with all these low prices. I don't think it's going to start climbing any time too soon.

[BlueZero]

Re: Who's had it with the stock market

As my broker says... "You haven't lost any money yet, just value."

Cuz that makes it so much less painful. lol

[CarbonBlack]

Re: Who's had it with the stock market

i am only 19, but I am a politically aware sort of person.

in todays paper (denver) they had a graph of gold prices.
It is amazing how much the prices have risen.
You should check into gold investments. at least with gold, you can hold it in your hand!

-nick

[Lt1Corvette]

Re: Who's had it with the stock market

I pulled most of my money out besides a few mutual funds and good old Exxon stock in early December, avoided a lot of the downhill. I was swing trading through Jan and Feb, primarily shorting stocks and did well with that. The declining in the value of the dollar and the inflation we are going to see next year is what is really concerning me.

[PorscheGuy997]

Re: Who's had it with the stock market

For now, my mutual funds (college funds) are staying put.

It seems the market responds to three things: interest rate, inflation, and oil.

The interest rate needs to stay relatively the same.

Inflation has been playing a huge factor in the global market. Americans spend a majority of their income and save little. In doing so, there are more American dollars floating around, which decreases the value of the dollar.

Oil prices are always a concern. I am against government intervention and taxes. It seems that most people want to 'punish' oil companies for making a profit. So, they want to hammer them with taxes. This is totally unjust because other businesses don't have to pay a tax for making a profit. In the end, consumers will be the ones footing the bill.

[southpactire]

Re: Who's had it with the stock market

I think now is a great time to be buying the stock of stable companies while they are "on sale" due to market fluctuations. I just put my 401k into mutual funds in February. It had been earning a very low yield in ultra safe investments before and I was concerned that I was playing it too safe and it wouldn't grow enough to retire on. I have somewhere between 15 and 20 more working years, so I don't look at the current market volatility as money "lost" but more like an opportunity to buy more shares for the same dollars.

[CarbonBlack]

Re: Who's had it with the stock market

to follow up with my prior post:
--gold is currently at $990 per ounce
--gold has had a 31% increase in value in the last year
--gold has had a 18% increase in value since January

(source is the "Denver Post")

-nick

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Who's had it with the stock market

Back in the early '90s when the housing market in SoCal was taking a dive I knew a guy who was complaining that the value of his house had fallen from roughly $700,000 to about $595,000. I asked him two questions: what did you pay for it and do you plan on selling soon? His answers: $450,000 and No.

So. It was still worth $145,000 more than he paid for it but since he was staying put, what did it really matter? Fast forward to 2005 and the house was worth about $1.4 Million. Today it's dropped to about $1.25 Million. He's not terribly upset at this point.

[Mort Corey]

Re: Who's had it with the stock market

Yeh, I've made and lost more money on the house I've owned for twenty years than the amount I first paid. I don't really consider it an investment...just a comfortable place to live. In some ways it's like a car....maintenance is never ending.

In late 2000 I moved most all my IRA stocks into weapon firms (Northrup, Boeing, Raytheon and Lockheed) and they've done pretty well and do pay small dividends as a bonus. I figure they've got a few more years to run as the military starts replacing worn out stuff.

I've accumulated a lot of stuff that's appreciated quite handsomely over the years....fine art, rare coins, gold coins, collectable firearms, etc....but the problem with that kind of stuff is that I like owning it and liked it when I bought it originally......kinda like my wife of 32 years (ducks head to avoid the slap upside it).

Mort

[kellyinkc]

Re: Who's had it with the stock market

It's the nature of the beast. It goes up and down. I am riding it out. The Sub-Prime melt down runs deep. I found a good article on how it went down.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/business/19leonhardt.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=boom+goes+bust&st=nyt&oref=slogin

Thats my .02.

Kelly

[Mr Miyagi]

Re: Who's had it with the stock market

It's the nature of the beast. It goes up and down. I am riding it out. The Sub-Prime melt down runs deep. I found a good article on how it went down.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/business/19leonhardt.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=boom+goes+bust&st=nyt&oref=slogin

Thats my .02.

Kelly

I sure hope there isn't a Government bail out for the lenders or borrowers. I feel sorry for both..but they made an adult decision and have to live with the consequences.

As a group, the US population seems to more and more not want to take responsibilites for their own actions..Bad things are always someone elses fault.

Stuff happens..get over it..or make some better decisions up front...There are lots of people around the world that would give everything/anything to have our quality of life..Many of us just b!th about how bad we have it..

My rant is now complete

[kellyinkc]

Re: Who's had it with the stock market

Yes, both sides were wrong. Consumers were lured in by low rates and should have known better. For example, when we bought our house, we bought a house under what we could in theory afford. We wanted to live after we got the house.
As fas as the bail out, the Fed Reserve has stepped in, but they are not part of the US government. They lent the money to the Bear Stearns mess to help put out the inferno.

I agree people want the government to take care of them, A.K.A. Socialism.

[Superior Shine]

Re: Who's had it with the stock market

I have invested completely in w8006 foam polishing pads.

[kellyinkc]

Re: Who's had it with the stock market

I have invested completely in w8006 foam polishing pads.

They might be worth more the the dollar is right now......

Kelly