Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Stock Market Question - Time to Sell ?

My stocks are up 31 percent for this year. Thinking maybe it's time to take all the $$$$$
and run. Wondering is this is a smart move. Have only limited understanding of personal finance.

Don't fight the Fed.

So long as the Fed is still buying $85 billion per month in bonds, it's likely the market will continue to go up.

If they turn of the spicket while prices are high compared to earnings, then it's time to sell, and maybe even time to go short.

Okay

And IF / WHEN I move the money out of the stock market,
should I put it in bonds, gold / silver, bitcoins ... ?

As me at that time, we will have to see what additional variables are in play.

No, no and don't move money out of stock market. 60% stock and 40% bonds is the approximate asset allocation and keep it there. You will grow your money at 8-15% over the long term. Stay the course and you will win.

You got to know when to hold'em and when to fold'em.

The most difficult decision in investing is deciding when to sell. One lesson I've learned is that it doesn't have to be all or nothing. For example ... take half off of the table and you'll only be half wrong or half right. It's similar to dollar cost averaging but in reverse.

It's good food for thought.

Not a bad markup at all. If one still sees potential growth for selected companies (like Apple into Ipad/phones,health related, or the oil industry), I'd leave those alone. Might take profits from others though that are more volatile.

I took about a 40% hit by staying the course with our first crash, and it took about 5 years to recover. I was smart enough to bail just before the housing dive.

I began investing over 40 years ago and have been in the market mostly in mutual funds at 60/40 allocation. I began with $50 per month and grew to $2500 per month until I retired. My investment grew to low 8 figures and I have averaged 8-15% annual over these past 40 years.

I have seen many in and out investors over theses many years and they always loose more than they gain. Only the long term investors are the winners.

Cash is a reasonable position when deciding to get out of the market. I would recommend you get a subscription to Investors.com and they will tell you when the market is getting ready to crash and you can cash in. They track things like that on a daily basis and it is easy to log no every day and go through your reading routine. Someone who is not will to look at and analyze their investments on a daily basis should only be in cash.

What percentage of your portfolio did you lose in 2008?

Respectfully disagree. The guy's made 30%.....time to sell. The markets are a fabricated fraud, manipulated by a bunch of white collar felons. Record personal debt that cannot be paid, record federal debt that cannot be paid....a bird in the hand thing with me.

As I recall about 24% in October of 2008. Again almost all of my holdings are mutual funds. My pure stocks have always been oil.

That type of loss would virtually wipe out the gains of the OP.

Well I disagree. You must be the guy on here that took his parents money and bought gold at $1970 and now it's struggling to stay at $1200. You can disagree with me all you like but I'm laffin all the way to the bank.

this^


my favorite axiom of the market is "it's hard to go broke taking profits"


yep you may leave some $$ on the table


but picking tops and bottoms or market timing is a fool's errand ime&o


bulls make money, bears make money, pigs get slaughtered

Ed, I too am in mostly MF.
Just wondering what would be wrong with (inside your 401k, IRA) converting to cash, short term, to "lock" in the great gains of the last few years, then go back in again when the market is cycled around through the coming low?
I realize it is very tough to "guess" the market, but I don't know too many people that don't think the Fed has this country so messed up that the piper is coming calling soon.
Also, when hyper-inflation hits 12% or more on your cash seems like a pretty good play.
One other note. I agree with some that feel like the market is rigged. Back in your hayday of investing you could simply buy a blue chip, buy more with the dividends and grow right along with the company.
Day traders and computer trading changed all that.
Thanks in advance.
slave

Sounds good. I can sell half the stock and have a great xmas. Maybe get something for myself
like a new 2014 F150. The other half I can let ride and see if the bull market continues thru next year.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions.

When the shoe shine boy tells you which stock to buy, then sell. Forgot, he's in the WH. Oh he'll.

So does anyone believe the 85 Billion gravytrain can go on forever and what when it ends? Also our every growing national debt that will probably be at or over 20T when he leaves office. I've asked several financial advisors and they can't address this question with anything better then "I'm optimistic about the future" with nothing to base it on. Is it just me or is anyone else concerned that this party may be near an end? In 08' there were fear of bank runs. I can't see a positive end to this for our country. Someone show me a positive side that shows the light at the end of the tunnel isn't the train.

270