DOW 20k!!! - the investing thread

I also have a high risk potion of my portfolio that I broker at the packy and scratch with quarter on the way home from work.
M2theB

Nothing wrong with a high risk gamble once in a while

 

We always called that a West Virginia IRA.

 

Bump...what's the good news around here these days? Anybody make money in the market last year? I didn't. My investment guy laid a big fat stinkin rotten loser egg last year...thinking about making some big changes...

 

Ride the wave, ride the storm. Equities didn't make much money for anyone last year.

 

I thought that was the plan, but what were just theoretical losses are now locked in since my boy sold off in November...and now things are almost right back where they started...so within 2.5 months I could have been almost even, instead of 40% down...just not sure what the ole boy was thinking since they know I'm in this for the long haul. When I talked to him he acted spooked, like a beat dog...didn't instill a lot of confidence in me...I think he made the same buy/sell for a lot of people...I'm sure I wasn't the first PO'd client to call.
Just to be clear...I didn't have issue with the fund buy...liked it actually...it was the sale/timing that frosted me...guess I'm just ranting mainly.

 

In the mid to late 80s my soon to be father-in-law told me to buy gold when it was under 300 an ounce. He had been buying PMs since the 1971 decoupling from Bretton Woods. As an inflation hedge he was right. I use my date of birth as a reference. In 1964 a 90% silver quarter bought a gallon of gas. Now the melt value of that same coin will be over a gallon of gas where I live today. The price of an ounce of gold in 1964 was 35.35 an ounce, now I believe we in the 1300 range.

I didn't buy gold at the time because I didn't understand what he was getting at, but later adopted the theory that our future is one of inflation due to actions of central banks to keep the credit/debt bubble itself from deflating. Now we certainly have inflation in financial assets, land, housing, college tuition, medical costs...in short everything people need or want that is limited in supply. Unfortunately for anyone in an unskilled labor, service or manufacturing position there has been stagnation and deflation of wages due to the fact that we have exported a large amount of wage inflation through offshore manufacturing. Technology in AI and automation will ensure that downward pressure on wages in may job sectors will continue.

Nowadays I hardly pay attention to the price of assets I buy, but hedge all around with stocks, real estate, bonds, CDs, cash, and PMs. An no matter what economic or investing philosophy we believe in, we should automate the conversion of the currency we earn through labor to some combination of assets on a monthly basis. The best investment tool we have is dollar cost averaging over time.

 

Interesting opinions. Peter sells precious metals. Interesting to listen to nonetheless

Watch: Peter Schiff Warns "This Is The Beginning Of The End"

 

Sounds like it's time to take him out back and put him down.

 

In one sense, your advisor is not to blame. It is well established that market timing is a losing game. He tried anyway, and you went along with it, and it didn't work out.

On the other hand, if he didn't know that it was a losing game, he is not worthy of your business. Perhaps it is time for you to learn to manage your own investments. With basic intelligence you can do it, better than the majority of advisors if you learn a little and stay the course.

 

Long haul investing is one of the simpler things you can do yourself. All you have to do is pick and asset mix that matches your risk tolerance (stocks, bonds, commodities, real-estate) and plow money into them every month. Rebalance once per year. Rinse and repeat.

 

Money markets, CDs, and real estate for me. I rode the roller coaster twice, no desire to do it again.

 

It has been determined that plumbers are smarter than the Fed/Bernanke (at 2:48)...
You got this Dave.

 

That's kinda what I'm thinking...he lost sight of the fact that I'm running the long game here...even to someone as inexperience (naive?) as me, it was obvious that the short downturn on this fund was just temporary...why sell and lock in the losses?!
I already have the papers at the house now for changing managers.
I do agree that I need to get more hands on with the whole deal though...

 

The thing is, it is never obvious beforehand. You have to make a good plan and stick to it through thick and thin.

 

Agreed.
Ok, just for a second opinion...would you have bought this on November 9 and sold on the 30th? I personally don't see a good reason to have bailed...maybe I'm missing something.
KOLD : Summary for ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg - Yahoo Finance

 

Ok used to be advisor, the real question is how is (s)he paid? Some get paid by a portion of transactions.. this is not great because long-term Solutions are usually better.
I totally disagree with advisor gets a percentage of total assets for investing. If they don't beat the rate of inflation you're actually losing principal not just returns..
95% will not share their bonus and income schedules with their clients. Meaning just because they suggest a product does not mean that is a good product for you. But they get bonuses to sell x amount of it.

Never forget, they put Martha Stewart in jail for 3 years for insider trading. If a congressman or their aid had done it, it would not even be illegal!!!

This might explain why people pay 5 million dollars to get a job that pays 150k a year with great benefits. HINT

 

This is the best plan.

Do your due diligence, diversify, and buy in regularly as long as you have the capital to do so during all your earning years, and hold on tight. When things are down, don't look at the balances.

The last time my garden got flattened by a hailstorm, one of my gardening mentors said, "don't even look at it for 5 days and you will be pleasantly surprised."

 

No, because I wouldn't have bought that. It is highly specialized and speculative in nature.

I rarely buy and sell that fast. I have on occasion when there is a far quicker than anticipated gain, but certainly don't plan for it. Normally I hold for several years, at least.

 

Agree. Shorting is too risky for me.