T1B

Jsut got my 401k quarterly statement from The Hartford.

Fuck!

Last quarter I decided to get out of stocks halfway and diversify with what I considered lower risk and surefire (albeit meager) return Bond Funds and guess what?

They both fucking lost me money, while the stocks I got out of both made small gains. :brad:

Fuck me, but this chasing last quarters returns is worrisome and tiring. My retirement account has lost 16% of it's value over the past 12 months. I'd have been better off stuffing the money taken directly from my paycheck to fund this clustefuck and stuffed it under the mattress.

There are 35 different funds I can invest in, and I typically pick out 4 based on the last quarters best returns and divide that up equally. This quarters stabs in the dark, which I'll no doubt be cursing myself over 3 months from now.

MFS Utilities up 8.16%
Legg Mason Small Cap Growth up 7.30%
American Century Vista Mid Cap up 9.49%
Hartford Capital Appreciation Large Cap up 2.87%

siiigh... it's only numbers on paper right now, and I'll probably drop over dead before I ever see a dime of it, but just in case, let's hope for some better returns this quarter.

Wagon, buy good mutual funds and just sit on 'em.
Up, up, up, down, up, up, up, down, up up ...

Trying to outfox the market is a recipe for frustration and disappointment, IMO ... unless you're as red hot brilliant as KC Scott. yep


That said, I think it's a good time to buy back into the market.
It's very close to it's bottom.

November and December will kick ass this year. JMO

Wags that is not a good strategy.

Mutual funds blow for the most part anyway - the management fees usually don't even beat the indexes - hence my love for ETFs

But if that's all they offer you're better off just buying the SP500 index fund - that usually has the lowest management fees.

If it's any consolation - I'm buying S&P 500 (albeit in a slightly different form) right now.
I'm also getting ready to buy Nasdaq 100 as well

Remember the big market crash I was like 1 year too early on?

This is it

Tart calling a market bottom scares me though - he should never ever agree with me.

Except about my white hot brilliance.

On a serious note sentiment is a good indicator though. When you have capitulation from joe Six-wagon then you know a bottom is close at hand.

^^^ we hit bottom yet? Damn near once around the ol' Gregorian since that post. I'm skeered!

If we did hit bottom last week, we won't know for another 6 mo.

Anytime a new low is made the market will 'test' that low again.
If it holds, then it's a good time to buy - on the way up -
If it doen't then a new low is only a matter of time.

There are a lot of broke 'bottom pickers" -

If your already fully invested - regardless of what it's in : Stocks, bonds, Real Estate, etc.
Then your already buried - this strategy is only for those sitting on cash waiting to buy back in.

Nice reset, I had forgotten all about this posted on July 15 last year.

War Wagon wrote:My retirement account has lost 16% of it's value over the past 12 months.

I'd be doing somersaults right now (figuratively speaking) had my 401k only lost 16% in the last 8 months. It's at about 40% now, and that's not counting my ongoing weekly contributions of 5% of my income. That's what really burns me up. It's like that money has all just gone poof and disappeared. Like throwing it into a black hole. I don't know how to figure those losses in, but even if I did, it would just piss me off even more.

Strangely enough, it has appeared to hit bottom in the last two months or so, almost like it can't go down any further.

I gave up chasing last quarters (or last years) results, nothing but frustration with that strategy. I've just left it in those funds listed above since then. Fuck it. Whatever happens, happens. We all gotta' die someday, and this is about the only way for me to save in the meantime.

Btw, 'tart.

That said, I think it's a good time to buy back into the market.
It's very close to it's bottom.

November and December will kick ass this year. JMO

:doh:

You meant 2009, right?

That's exactly why I'm buy-and-hold, Wagon.

I don't trust what I think is going to happen.