i have a lot of at&t stock from when my grandmother worked with them and it's dropped a ton lately.

what do you guys recommend doing with it? cashing out now or waiting it out?

10/16/2008 10:23:52 AM

^ it's only 10% off its 52 week high...
edit: whoops looked up ATT not T ... hmm... haven't been watching the stock no idea. don't sell now though i'd imagine.


GOOG at $310!

[Edited on October 16, 2008 at 10:48 AM. Reason : ]

10/16/2008 10:25:30 AM

Quote :

"GOOG at $310"

^^ I'd just hold on to it if you don't need it. It would be cool to have a one letter stock symbol.

10/16/2008 10:27:24 AM

looks like MSFT may be readying a new offer for YHOO... YHOO jumped up to $13 from $11 earlier this morning

10/16/2008 11:58:00 AM

Sweet. That means that YHOO is almost back to the $40 that I paid for it!

10/16/2008 12:01:34 PM

what an afternoon

10/16/2008 6:40:23 PM

If you're a visual learner like I am, this chart offers great historical perspective on the American economy:

http://www.good.is/?p=12658

10/17/2008 12:51:11 AM

so Warren Buffett wrote an op-ed in the New York Times today entitled "Buy American. I am."

Quote :

"Today people who hold cash equivalents feel comfortable. They shouldn’t. They have opted for a terrible long-term asset, one that pays virtually nothing and is certain to depreciate in value. Indeed, the policies that government will follow in its efforts to alleviate the current crisis will probably prove inflationary and therefore accelerate declines in the real value of cash accounts. Equities will almost certainly outperform cash over the next decade, probably by a substantial degree. Those investors who cling now to cash are betting they can efficiently time their move away from it later. In waiting for the comfort of good news, they are ignoring Wayne Gretzky’s advice: “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.”"

and he also reiterates his famous #1 rule when buying:

Quote :

"A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. "

He says that in his personal portfolio, he will soon be 100% invested in U.S. equities for the first time EVER. Is there a better vote of confidence about where you should be putting your money right now? American blue chips, ones that generate tons of cash, are at outstanding values and if you are sitting on the sidelines, you're gonna miss the boat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/opinion/17buffett.html?scp=3&sq=buffett&st=cse

10/17/2008 12:35:09 PM

Good article. Sounds like I need to do some buying...

10/17/2008 1:00:48 PM

^ right on - just saw that meself

10/17/2008 1:02:07 PM

Alright, a few stocks that are at their lowest points in awhile...


For starters -- GM. At the lowest point ever that I can tell from Yahoo and Google Finance. Not sure how I'd feel investing in their corporation, but...just saying, they're pretty low.

GE is at it's lowest since 1997.

Duke Energy (DUK) is at it's lowest since ~2003.

Morgan Stanley (MS) is at it's lowest since 1997.

Allstate (ALL) -- lowest since ~2000.

etc etc etc.


Buy Buy Buy?

10/17/2008 1:13:54 PM

in a related story - i don't know how many of you can get to a tv for 'power lunch', but Michelle Caruso Carrera is showing a ginormous amount of cleavage - the camera man/producer is being very careful...

10/17/2008 1:23:37 PM

this is a pretty funny letter i found on google finance
might be complete bs, but a good read none the less

Quote :

" A poignant soliloquy from a truly rich man: Today I write not to gloat. Given the pain that nearly everyone is experiencing, that would be entirely inappropriate. Nor am I writing to make further predictions, as most of my forecasts in previous letters have unfolded or are in the process of unfolding. Instead, I am writing to say goodbye. Recently, on the front page of Section C of the Wall Street Journal, a hedge fund manager who was also closing up shop (a $300 million fund), was quoted as saying, "What I have learned about the hedge fund business is that I hate it." I could not agree more with that statement. I was in this game for the money. The low hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale, and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking. These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government. All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy, only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other side of my trades. God bless America. There are far too many people for me to sincerely thank for my success. However, I do not want to sound like a Hollywood actor accepting an award. The money was reward enough. Furthermore, the endless list those deserving thanks know who they are. I will no longer manage money for other people or institutions. I have enough of my own wealth to manage. Some people, who think they have arrived at a reasonable estimate of my net worth, might be surprised that I would call it quits with such a small war chest. That is fine; I am content with my rewards. Moreover, I will let others try to amass nine, ten or eleven figure net worths. Meanwhile, their lives suck. Appointments back to back, booked solid for the next three months, they look forward to their two week vacation in January during which they will likely be glued to their Blackberries or other such devices. What is the point? They will all be forgotten in fifty years anyway. Steve Balmer, Steven Cohen, and Larry Ellison will all be forgotten. I do not understand the legacy thing. Nearly everyone will be forgotten. Give up on leaving your mark. Throw the Blackberry away and enjoy life. So this is it. With all due respect, I am dropping out. Please do not expect any type of reply to emails or voicemails within normal time frames or at all. Andy Springer and his company will be handling the dissolution of the fund. And don't worry about my employees, they were always employed by Mr. Springer's company and only one (who has been well-rewarded) will lose his job. I have no interest in any deals in which anyone would like me to participate. I truly do not have a strong opinion about any market right now, other than to say that things will continue to get worse for some time, probably years. I am content sitting on the sidelines and waiting. After all, sitting and waiting is how we made money from the subprime debacle. I now have time to repair my health, which was destroyed by the stress I layered onto myself over the past two years, as well as my entire life -- where I had to compete for spaces in universities and graduate schools, jobs and assets under management -- with those who had all the advantages (rich parents) that I did not. May meritocracy be part of a new form of government, which needs to be established. On the issue of the U.S. Government, I would like to make a modest proposal. First, I point out the obvious flaws, whereby legislation was repeatedly brought forth to Congress over the past eight years, which would have reigned in the predatory lending practices of now mostly defunct institutions. These institutions regularly filled the coffers of both parties in return for voting down all of this legislation designed to protect the common citizen. This is an outrage, yet no one seems to know or care about it. Since Thomas Jefferson and Adam Smith passed, I would argue that there has been a dearth of worthy philosophers in this country, at least ones focused on improving government. Capitalism worked for two hundred years, but times change, and systems become corrupt. George Soros, a man of staggering wealth, has stated that he would like to be remembered as a philosopher. My suggestion is that this great man start and sponsor a forum for great minds to come together to create a new system of government that truly represents the common man's interest, while at the same time creating rewards great enough to attract the best and brightest minds to serve in government roles without having to rely on corruption to further their interests or lifestyles. This forum could be similar to the one used to create the operating system, Linux, which competes with Microsoft's near monopoly. I believe there is an answer, but for now the system is clearly broken. Lastly, while I still have an audience, I would like to bring attention to an alternative food and energy source. You won't see it included in BP's, "Feel good. We are working on sustainable solutions," television commercials, nor is it mentioned in ADM's similar commercials. But hemp has been used for at least 5,000 years for cloth and food, as well as just about everything that is produced from petroleum products. Hemp is not marijuana and vice versa. Hemp is the male plant and it grows like a weed, hence the slang term. The original American flag was made of hemp fiber and our Constitution was printed on paper made of hemp. It was used as recently as World War II by the U.S. Government, and then promptly made illegal after the war was won. At a time when rhetoric is flying about becoming more self- sufficient in terms of energy, why is it illegal to grow this plant in this country? Ah, the female. The evil female plant -- marijuana. It gets you high, it makes you laugh, it does not produce a hangover. Unlike alcohol, it does not result in bar fights or wife beating. So, why is this innocuous plant illegal? Is it a gateway drug? No, that would be alcohol, which is so heavily advertised in this country. My only conclusion as to why it is illegal, is that Corporate America, which owns Congress, would rather sell you Paxil, Zoloft, Xanax and other additive drugs, than allow you to grow a plant in your home without some of the profits going into their coffers. This policy is ludicrous. It has surely contributed to our dependency on foreign energy sources. Our policies have other countries literally laughing at our stupidity, most notably Canada, as well as several European nations (both Eastern and Western). You would not know this by paying attention to U.S. media sources though, as they tend not to elaborate on who is laughing at the United States this week. Please people, let's stop the rhetoric and start thinking about how we can truly become self-sufficient. With that I say good-bye and good luck. All the best, Andrew Lahde "

10/17/2008 7:12:12 PM

Quote :

"so Warren Buffett wrote an op-ed in the New York Times today entitled "Buy American. I am.""

Keep in mind, Buffet could lose 90% of his assets and still be worth billions. Telling people who've lost a good deal of their retirement nest egg to cut it loose in this market is fine, just don't expect it to happen, at least not anytime soon. Although the hedge funds forced sell off is subsiding, it will be months before we see any substantial positive movement, probably consolidation in that same span of time until we recover. I wouldn't mind getting in at the 8k level, I certainly don't think you'd lose too much of your investments there (save the financials). If you look at any S&P, Dow chart over the last ten years, it seems like the bear markets always take out 3-5x the amount of gains. In other words, 3-5 years of gains in a bull market get wiped out in one year of a bear market, if not worse. I gotta believe some of the high ups in these banks new that their business was fading, and it would sink the market, banks don't go broke overnight

[Edited on October 19, 2008 at 6:31 PM. Reason : .]

10/19/2008 6:30:02 PM

Here's an idea I'm going to throw out to you guys. WFMI - whole foods. As the economy gets worse and people rein in spending, they're going to stop buying expensive organic foods and just get their shit at food lion. Sure you'll have the hard core people who won't but there are a lot of people who go there for a few items because they like the idea/thought of eating organic instead of a lifestyle.

As people can afford less their eps will drop like a rock(further). Looking at their balance sheet, last quarter's sales were up from last year's but net income went down from 49 to 33 million. These numbers were reported on July 6th before all this mess with the stock market went down and before a lot of people saw their portfolio's get cut in half.

I'm not a pro at reading balance sheets but I'm hearing a lot more reporting of how shitty the economy has gotten than I did in july. they report again nov 5th. They've fallen a lot but I think we have farther to go as far as the economy getting worse and that'll be a direct effect on Whole foods.

Anyone have comments or opinions?

[Edited on October 21, 2008 at 9:55 AM. Reason : one idea]

10/21/2008 9:54:38 AM

bought CHK yesterday at 22.59

10/21/2008 9:57:04 AM

i'm really not trying to talk shit to you guys... i just want to understand something that bothers me about the market. there's only one company i will invest in on my own, but i see tons of people playing e-trade poker every day and i don't get it.

im pretty sure both of those companies (and associated markets) have been heavily discussed in the media over the past couple business days.

i just heard the SAME THING mentioned above about whole foods on the radio

also i could have sworn that i heard yesterday that based on performance and trends, that chesapeake specifically was likely worth well more than face value at the time of the report.

i just don't understand going off stock tips that come across 5 million e-trade tickers every day.

can anyone explain to me how it's safe to put your money into / take your money out of a media driven hype stock?

10/21/2008 10:21:23 AM

Short term investing is very similar to gambling IMO.

10/21/2008 10:34:45 AM

I got word of WFMI about two weeks ago but didn't do anything about it or think about it till now. I was looking at it this morning and started thinking about it. Hadn't heard anything about it on the radio and I listen to plenty of NPR and try to keep up with business news.

Quote :

"can anyone explain to me how it's safe to put your money into / take your money out of a media driven hype stock?"

Buy the rumor, sell the news. It's a cliche because it's true.

You could also translate the effect of the economy on whole foods into any luxury good. Luxury liquor (DEO), cars, house furnishings, etc.

[Edited on October 21, 2008 at 10:46 AM. Reason : .]

10/21/2008 10:36:05 AM

Quote :

"bought CHK yesterday at 22.59"

got in last week at $13.50

10/21/2008 10:45:46 AM

thats gangsta

10/21/2008 12:21:42 PM

Somebody didn't set an appropriate limit price.

[Edited on October 21, 2008 at 12:59 PM. Reason : fixed image]

10/21/2008 12:56:15 PM

Quote :

"Here's an idea I'm going to throw out to you guys. WFMI - whole foods. As the economy gets worse and people rein in spending, they're going to stop buying expensive organic foods and just get their shit at food lion. Sure you'll have the hard core people who won't but there are a lot of people who go there for a few items because they like the idea/thought of eating organic instead of a lifestyle. As people can afford less their eps will drop like a rock(further). Looking at their balance sheet, last quarter's sales were up from last year's but net income went down from 49 to 33 million. These numbers were reported on July 6th before all this mess with the stock market went down and before a lot of people saw their portfolio's get cut in half. I'm not a pro at reading balance sheets but I'm hearing a lot more reporting of how shitty the economy has gotten than I did in july. they report again nov 5th. They've fallen a lot but I think we have farther to go as far as the economy getting worse and that'll be a direct effect on Whole foods. Anyone have comments or opinions?"

WFMI is still a good long term buy. Yes people are tighter these days and are moving to generic brands over the high dollar shit. I wouldn't by short on Whole Foods, but this whole Organic and Green bullshit isnt going away. The sun will come up again and the people that like to waste money on the organic front will return to Whole Foods.

[Edited on October 21, 2008 at 6:36 PM. Reason : 1]

10/21/2008 6:36:16 PM

Quote :

"i just don't understand going off stock tips that come across 5 million e-trade tickers every day."

welcome to the thread. that's all there is in here, most people don't seem at all concerned with real long term, value investing. i'm gonna start a true investing thread one of these days

10/21/2008 6:43:55 PM

How about Andrew Lahde going out on top and finishing it with a Fuck you and a pro-marijuana stance...pretty cool way to go out:

Quote :

"By Andrew Lahde Published: October 17 2008 19:09 | Last updated: October 17 2008 19:09 October 17, 2008 Today I write not to gloat. Given the pain that nearly everyone is experiencing, that would be entirely inappropriate. Nor am I writing to make further predictions, as most of my forecasts in previous letters have unfolded or are in the process of unfolding. Instead, I am writing to say goodbye. Recently, on the front page of Section C of the Wall Street Journal, a hedge fund manager who was also closing up shop (a $300 million fund), was quoted as saying, “What I have learned about the hedge fund business is that I hate it.” I could not agree more with that statement. I was in this game for the money. The low hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale, and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking. These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government. All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other side of my trades. God bless America. There are far too many people for me to sincerely thank for my success. However, I do not want to sound like a Hollywood actor accepting an award. The money was reward enough. Furthermore, the endless list of those deserving thanks know who they are. I will no longer manage money for other people or institutions. I have enough of my own wealth to manage. Some people, who think they have arrived at a reasonable estimate of my net worth, might be surprised that I would call it quits with such a small war chest. That is fine; I am content with my rewards. Moreover, I will let others try to amass nine, ten or eleven figure net worths. Meanwhile, their lives suck. Appointments back to back, booked solid for the next three months, they lookforward to their two week vacation in January during which they will likely be glued to their Blackberries or other such devices. What is the point? They will all be forgotten in fifty years anyway. Steve Balmer, Steven Cohen, and Larry Ellison will all be forgotten. I do not understand the legacy thing. Nearly everyone will be forgotten. Give up on leaving your mark. Throw the Blackberry away and enjoy life. So this is it. With all due respect, I am dropping out. Please do not expect any type of reply to emails or voicemails within normal time frames or at all. Andy Springer and his company will be handling the dissolution of the fund. And don’t worry about my employees, they were always employed by Mr. Springer’s company and only one (who has been well-rewarded) will lose his job. I have no interest in any deals in which anyone would like me to participate. I truly do not have a strong opinion about any market right now, other than to say that things will continue to get worse for some time, probably years. I am content sitting on the sidelines and waiting. After all, sitting and waiting is how we made money from the subprime debacle. I now have time to repair my health, which was destroyed by the stress I layered onto myself over the past two years, as well as my entire life – where I had to compete for spaces in universities and graduate schools, jobs and assets under management – with those who had all the advantages (rich parents) that I did not. May meritocracy be part of a new form of government, which needs to be established. On the issue of the U.S. Government, I would like to make a modest proposal. First, I point out the obvious flaws, whereby legislation was repeatedly brought forth to Congress over the past eight years, which would have reigned in the predatory lending practices of now mostly defunct institutions. These institutions regularly filled the coffers of both parties in return for voting down all of this legislation designed to protect the common citizen. This is an outrage, yet no one seems to know or care about it. Since Thomas Jefferson and Adam Smith passed, I would argue that there has been a dearth of worthy philosophers in this country, at least ones focused on improving government. Capitalism worked for two hundred years, but times change, and systems become corrupt. George Soros, a man of staggering wealth, has stated that he would like to be remembered as a philosopher. My suggestion is that this great man start and sponsor a forum for great minds to come together to create a new system of government that truly represents the common man’s interest, while at the same time creating rewards great enough to attract the best and brightest minds to serve in government roles without having to rely on corruption to further their interests or lifestyles. This forum could be similar to the one used to create the operating system, Linux, which competes with Microsoft’s near monopoly. I believe there is an answer, but for now the system is clearly broken. Lastly, while I still have an audience, I would like to bring attention to an alternative food and energy source. You won’t see it included in BP’s, “Feel good. We are working on sustainable solutions,” television commercials, nor is it mentioned in ADM’s similar commercials. But hemp has been used for at least 5,000 years for cloth and food, as well as just about everything that is produced from petroleum products. Hemp is not marijuana and vice versa. Hemp is the male plant and it grows like a weed, hence the slang term. The original American flag was made of hemp fiber and our Constitution was printed on paper made of hemp. It was used as recently as World War II by the U.S. Government, and then promptly made illegal after the war was won. At a time when rhetoric is flying about becoming more self-sufficient in terms of energy, why is it illegal to grow this plant in this country? Ah, the female. The evil female plant – marijuana. It gets you high, it makes you laugh, it does not produce a hangover. Unlike alcohol, it does not result in bar fights or wife beating. So, why is this innocuous plant illegal? Is it a gateway drug? No, that would be alcohol, which is so heavily advertised in this country. My only conclusion as to why it is illegal, is that Corporate America, which owns Congress, would rather sell you Paxil, Zoloft, Xanax and other addictive drugs, than allow you to grow a plant in your home without some of the profits going into their coffers. This policy is ludicrous. It has surely contributed to our dependency on foreign energy sources. Our policies have other countries literally laughing at our stupidity, most notably Canada, as well as several European nations (both Eastern and Western). You would not know this by paying attention to U.S. media sources though, as they tend not to elaborate on who is laughing at the United States this week. Please people, let’s stop the rhetoric and start thinking about how we can truly become self-sufficient. With that I say goodbye and good luck. All the best, Andrew Lahde "

10/21/2008 7:13:07 PM

Quote :

"How about Andrew Lahde going out on top and finishing it with a Fuck you and a pro-marijuana stance...pretty cool way to go out:"

How about scrolling up the page to see the same thing posted there?

10/21/2008 11:50:48 PM

my bad...only 4 days too late!

10/22/2008 7:01:03 AM

Wachovia...

10/22/2008 9:05:45 AM

Psh all my stocks are long term value investments, mainly because its gonna be a long term before they have the same value again

10/22/2008 9:18:08 AM

Sigh... welcome back sub 9k

10/22/2008 10:07:36 AM

picture a small canoe with 20 people on it. This represents the stock market and people respectively.

Picture everyone standing on one side of the boat, and it starts to tip. Everyone knows that it's going to sink, so everybody runs to the other end. Then it starts to tip the other way. And again everybody runs to the other end, and so on and so forth.

This is what's happening right now.

If you're the first guy to run to the other end each time, you're going to make the most money.

Buy ultrashorts on up days, and buy ultra indexes (such as SSO) on down days.

i haven't had the balls do do it with significant amounts of money, but i've made a few bucks doing this.

10/22/2008 10:13:20 AM

DAL up 100% in the last 2 weeks

10/22/2008 10:15:30 AM

anyone else considering RBS ?

10/22/2008 12:12:05 PM

buy buy buy

10/22/2008 3:19:20 PM

ill be the first to admit that im now officially getting raped this year, up until over the summer things were good

i need to start being smart and not trading the long side of things for a bounce when the trend is down

10/22/2008 6:54:08 PM

I'm down 30% over the last 3 days

awesome.

10/22/2008 8:29:04 PM

Personally I think anyone who's buying long for an investment right now is on crack. We're heading into a recession at the least. Why in the world would you do that now?

I might buy long in 6 months or so.

[Edited on October 22, 2008 at 9:57 PM. Reason : .]

10/22/2008 9:56:26 PM

you could be right, but i think were close to bottom, have you not read what warren buffets been saying, if you wait that long, itll be too late. the market is usually ahead of the economy by 6-12 months.

10/22/2008 10:35:26 PM

I'm reading what Nouriel Roubini is saying (http://www.rgemonitor.com/blog/roubini/), http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/ , and anything else I can get my hands on. Buffet is a good investor no doubt, but he's got the money to dollar cost average himself into a very very comfortable position if we keep going down. I don't know for sure but I bet you have less cash than he does so you(read that:We) need to time it better.

I got bit in the ass once buying on the way down back in 2001-2003. This looks a lot like that to me. Do whatever you wish but I'll be doing intraday trades until I feel like this has passed. I'm not worried too much about missing the bottom. Trading opportunities are too numerous to count.

good luck, we all need it.

[Edited on October 22, 2008 at 11:11 PM. Reason : .]

10/22/2008 11:11:14 PM

Quote :

"Personally I think anyone who's buying long for an investment right now is on crack. We're heading into a recession at the least. Why in the world would you do that now?"

Because I'm looking at a 20 year horizon. If I can buy a fund 40% below where it was a year ago do you think I'm going to be kicking myself 20 years from now when it has doubled up multiple times? Sure, maybe I could get in 50% below where it was a year ago, but why risk it rebounding before I get the chance to buy?

10/22/2008 11:32:58 PM

I don't think Buffett smokes crack, though it would be funny to see...

10/23/2008 7:41:28 AM

Quote :

"you could be right, but i think were close to bottom, have you not read what warren buffets been saying, if you wait that long, itll be too late. the market is usually ahead of the economy by 6-12 months."

The thing about Buffett is, he gets better terms than you and I. I don't remember the exact details of his Goldman deal, but he gets something like 10% yield increasing from there depending on how well they do. He isn't a market timer, so similar to David just said, if he can get in now a lot cheaper than it was, even if the market tanks another 20% from here, he still got a great value and great terms for his money. You also have to realize he stuck a lot of skin in the game with his investment, so naturally he is going to cash in the immense capital that is his name by going out on a limb and endorsing the entire stock market.

10/23/2008 8:28:02 AM

Yeah of the stocks that I own the ones that I feel best about I have been rebuying here and there on the way down to average down. None of us knows when the bottom will be so you buy some here and there, so long as you think the stock will make it back to its original price in the next few years then you are gonna make money. Yes looking back I think to myself damn I should have waited longer as the price dropped more but I have been picking some up at different support levels that I thought the stock might hold at. Typically I was right for a few days until we had another 700 point drop day and the bottom fell out of everything. Sure it sucks because I never planned on holding this much stuff long term but have kinda had my hand forced by being stupid and holding when I should have sold. Ive tried to pickup stocks to trade short term that I also believe long term will be ok though as a kind of hedge in case something like this happened. Lets just hope Im right because otherwise my head may explode lol.

10/23/2008 9:43:05 AM

picked up some more RIMM

also bought some gold - that's it, i don't have any more cash other than to pay my mortgage and bills.


also this,

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/dollar_bill_on_floor_sends_wall



[Edited on October 23, 2008 at 10:31 AM. Reason : link]

10/23/2008 10:25:46 AM

Ive been diggin on some JOYG this week.

Looks to be a solid company that is simply falling victim to Mr. Market's ongoing antics.

Picked up a fairly large position over the past 5 trading days. Same thing with CHK.

In the tech sector, I think INTC is also a good buy right now.

if ever you wanted to be long on a fundamentally sound company, now is the time in my opinion.

and yes im aware my opinion means nothing

10/23/2008 4:24:27 PM

Bought some PG in the $57 range for my IRA today. Think permanent holdings with prices this low people...

10/23/2008 5:37:36 PM

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/why-are-hedge-funds-not-blowing-up-all-over-the-place/

10/23/2008 7:27:44 PM

I have a pretty basic 401k question

right now I'm set up with an aggressive set of allocations, all of which have a YTD average around -30% and a past year average close to the same. I know that you are supposed to stick with your plan and not duck and run if/when you lose money, but my 401k is like a sieve for money right now.

Should I stick to what I have now, or move all of my allocations to a stable guaranteed income fund and switch back to my aggressive plan when the market picks back up?

10/23/2008 9:48:56 PM

Move it if you think the market is going to go down quite a bit more (scary thought, I've seen some places calling for Dow 5k and shit), leave it otherwise as you don't want to be sitting out when it swings back up.

10/23/2008 10:12:03 PM

^^if you are in your 20's then you should not be doing anything differently right now. it is too late to sell out now, all you are going to do is lock in your losses. it's going to rebound at some point in the next 30 years - guaranteed, and you want to be present when it does.

the only thing i would suggest looking forward is for people to really educate themselves on how to invest. there is good reason to think that stocks are not going to perform particularly well the next 10 years or so, so you really need to think more about where you are putting your money instead of just blindly dumping in a mutual fund. if you must though, the low fees of index funds are definitely the way to go.

10/23/2008 11:01:29 PM