Do you think the market will go lower?

[rennigade]

Supply chain issues are substantially resolved

Not according to every contractor who uses that as an excuse to jack up prices for a job. We'll be hearing supply chain issues for another decade from them.

[QuarterMillionMan]

What I don't understand is why most everyone here saw all the writings on the wall but chose to stay the course and take the long ride down and eventually take the long ride back up again, if and when it happens. I got out when I saw the sky-high valuations, recession looming, helicopter money (stimulus 100, 101, 102, 103, etc), Feds printing money like it was nothing, I didn't see inflation coming, but I'm glad that I got out. I missed some gains up but my losses are not as bad as I imagine most people here are losing. Some people told me that I cannot time the market which is true but I didn't bury my head in the sand and leave my investments for the long term when it was clear as day that the losses were coming and is still coming. And it is only paper losses right now for those who stayed the course but I imagine that it still hurts to see those losses on paper. Also, I wanted to do some short selling but it can be very dangerous so I held back but looking back now I wish that I did, shoulda, coulda, woulda.

[rennigade]

I'm 40 so I have no reason to pull my money out and reinvest. When I near retirement that will be a different story. It makes no difference to me if the market goes up or down right now.

[disneysteve]

What I don't understand is why most everyone here saw all the writings on the wall but chose to stay the course

Some people told me that I cannot time the market which is true

You answered your own question.

You can't, with any accuracy or consistency, predict the top or the bottom of the market. Trying is a fool's errand. I have been buying on a regular basis since 1992, putting money in every month no matter what the market was doing. There have been a few cycles of ups and downs along the way but the net result is always up. And every study ever done shows that people who jump in and out of the market under-perform the people who stayed the course.

I'm all but retired and I still add money to the market every 2 weeks through my 401k contributions.

[james.hendrickson]

What I don't understand is why most everyone here saw all the writings on the wall but chose to stay the course and take the long ride down and eventually take the long ride back up again...Some people told me that I cannot time the market which is true but I didn't bury my head in the sand and leave my investments for the long term when it was clear as day that the losses were coming and is still coming.

QMM - I'm with Disneysteve on this one. Market timing is extremely difficult. For most poeple, their best bet is simply to hold on keep buying shares of quality companies or shares of good quality funds.

One thing you did say which makes a lot of sense is to try and short the market. If you see an opportunity and if you have enough savings, and you have time before retirement to recover from any losses, then why not take on a bit more risk?

[Jluke]

What I don't understand is why most everyone here saw all the writings on the wall but chose to stay the course and take the long ride down and eventually take the long ride back up again, if and when it happens. I got out when I saw the sky-high valuations, recession looming, helicopter money (stimulus 100, 101, 102, 103, etc), Feds printing money like it was nothing, I didn't see inflation coming, but I'm glad that I got out.

this is basically adjusting your asset allocation to 0% stocks / 100% fixed income. At least that is how some investors would describe this action.

you should probably think about 30:70 or 40:60, someday. (Stocks:”fixed income, bonds etc”). Gotta have some money in the game to combat inflation and whatever else.

[srblanco7]

What I don't understand is why most everyone here saw all the writings on the wall but chose to stay the course and take the long ride down and eventually take the long ride back up again, if and when it happens.

Didn't think I'd see a post advocating for market timing on this board .

Here's why I don't do it....

"Looking at data going back to 1930, the firm found that if an investor missed the S&P 500′s 10 best days each decade, the total return would stand at 28%. If, on the other hand, the investor held steady through the ups and downs, the return would have been 17,715%."

It's safe to say that if you could avoid the 10 worst days each decade, your returns would be astronomical. However, I'm quite certain that I can predict neither. Thus, even though we are nearing ER, we stay invested. Set it and forget it...