Trading the stockmarket (NO Referrals)

Associate
Joined
18 Feb 2007
Posts
2,123
If I crumble now, I'm down an amount I dare not even type hence it gives me a heart attack.

No, I'm neck deep in it now. I gotta stay on this ship or go down with it. No getting out now.

I know how you feel. Head says keep everything invested & largely ignore the stockmarket news - it will only cause additional distress watching things plummet over the new few weeks, or longer. The rational part of me knows things will recover ( if it doesn't we're all screwed anyway ) but I'm not convinced there is going to be a quick recovery ; I think the aftermath of this crisis is going to be felt for years. And therein lies my problem - prior to this crisis I was looking to disinvest in approx 5 yrs.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Aug 2006
Posts
10,034
Location
ChCh, NZ
I know how you feel. Head says keep everything invested & largely ignore the stockmarket news - it will only cause additional distress watching things plummet over the new few weeks, or longer. The rational part of me knows things will recover ( if it doesn't we're all screwed anyway ) but I'm not convinced there is going to be a quick recovery ; I think the aftermath of this crisis is going to be felt for years. And therein lies my problem - prior to this crisis I was looking to disinvest in approx 5 yrs.

The aftermath won't be pretty. Here in NZ we've been put into 4 week isolation as of Thursday and the local indices here … it's like being repeatedly kicked in the peaches. Another 10% casually wiped off today. The US Futures market last I checked was already tripping breakers at open bells. I'm not even looking anymore. Trump will probably come out and waffle something stupid causing further damage.

Ah my friend. Testing times. Testing times. I know the saying goes; May you live in interesting times. Give me back the predictable and boring.

I've dropped another 1000 bucks this morning into the market (which will promptly disappear at opening). I might stop for a while now as I'm not too sure what's happening with my job with us all being at home.
 

daz

daz

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
24,076
Location
Bucks
I think the thing to bear in mind is probably almost everything else you own is down in value significantly as well - your car, watches, your house etc - but you don't get daily/hourly/minutely price updates on those so it doesn't enter your consciousness to sell them or to panic. You wouldn't sell your Rolex because it had dropped 30%, and try to buy back when you feel the price had stabilised (unless you actually needed cash right now...)?
 

Bes

Bes

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
7,318
Location
Melbourne
I think the thing to bear in mind is probably almost everything else you own is down in value significantly as well - your car, watches, your house etc - but you don't get daily/hourly/minutely price updates on those so it doesn't enter your consciousness to sell them or to panic. You wouldn't sell your Rolex because it had dropped 30%, and try to buy back when you feel the price had stabilised (unless you actually needed cash right now...)?
This. Great way of putting it in perspective.
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Jan 2018
Posts
14,742
Location
Hampshire
I think the thing to bear in mind is probably almost everything else you own is down in value significantly as well - your car, watches, your house etc - but you don't get daily/hourly/minutely price updates on those so it doesn't enter your consciousness to sell them or to panic. You wouldn't sell your Rolex because it had dropped 30%, and try to buy back when you feel the price had stabilised (unless you actually needed cash right now...)?

Its different though, people buy those things because they want them, they want the physical product. People only buy shares to make more money really, so when it starts tanking and they are losing vast sums they feel it more.
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Dec 2004
Posts
15,844
I think the thing to bear in mind is probably almost everything else you own is down in value significantly as well - your car, watches, your house etc - but you don't get daily/hourly/minutely price updates on those so it doesn't enter your consciousness to sell them or to panic. You wouldn't sell your Rolex because it had dropped 30%, and try to buy back when you feel the price had stabilised (unless you actually needed cash right now...)?

Cars, watches, and houses provide most of their value through their utility, not their speculative future value.

You *know* your car will nosedive in value, but that is the trade-off for having a vehicle that will get you from A to B. A house puts a roof over your head.

Stocks have no value other than their ability to appreciate and pay dividends (unless you care about voting rights, but that's a stretch).

Still, sentiment is right, but that's a crappy analogy.
 
Associate
Joined
18 Feb 2007
Posts
2,123
When the death numbers in NYC start rocketing the US indices are going down the toilet, dragging the whole world down with them.

I think volatility won't bottom out until this happens on a larger scale throughout the U.S - and that's possibly 2-4 weeks away. And late last night I was reading that Trump is considering suspending the stockmarket for a month.
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Mar 2012
Posts
6,567
Cars, watches, and houses provide most of their value through their utility, not their speculative future value.

You *know* your car will nosedive in value, but that is the trade-off for having a vehicle that will get you from A to B. A house puts a roof over your head.

Stocks have no value other than their ability to appreciate and pay dividends (unless you care about voting rights, but that's a stretch).

Still, sentiment is right, but that's a crappy analogy.

It's somewhere in the middle.

The utility of a Ferrari isn't what gave it value, nor a Rolex. Hell, I've not worn a watch in years and drove a £500 Fiesta for a year once.

Houses are the same, some people live in houses they don't utilise fully.

That said stocks are a completely different kettle of fish, there's less sentiment for sure.
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Dec 2004
Posts
15,844
Selling now would be madness surely.

Depends on if you think it has a lot further to fall doesn't it? It's certainly more mad than selling up a couple of weeks ago, but if markets keep plummeting then it's going to look quite sane in a couple of weeks. Everyone has to make their own assessment of the situation. Be wary of making sentimental decisions based on not crystallising previous mistakes.
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Jan 2006
Posts
15,989
Buying or selling has way more to do with your timeline here.

If your 30 years from retirement, leave it alone, don't touch it. If your paying regular monthly premiums into ISA/pension - leave it alone.

This is totally different to someone "trading" trying to make money in the short term, or someone who is 6- 12 months from retirement or needing the funds for a purpose.

Everyone on here has totally different timelines to each other. I've touched nothing - my pensions/ISA/shares - all still invested, all have dropped no doubt. Have I looked at them - Nope not once.

Looking at the hugely decreased values isn't going to "help" - it will only make me feel sad in the short term. However, that is offset against me paying regular monthly premiums into my pension.

I would suggest to anyone with a timeline of over 5 years to leave any pensions/ISA well alone. You invested in the funds you were happy with, you've seen good solid returns over the 2019 calendar year, things have gone south from there but you are only going to crystallise the losses if you change things now. You still have the same number of units/shares you had before.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,158
Location
UK
Would your future self - say 10 years - thank you for selling at a loss, or be glad that you put more money in during a bear, and have retired early as a result?

People thought they were on to a good thing with an ever increasing market, and probably shouldn’t have been in at all. Your savings might lose another 50% Get out! Get out while you can!!!!!
 
Back
Top Bottom