Would like to share financial pain - anybody else?

[shoot]

Man, the stock market is killing me. I'm sure that anybody who invests is feeling this pain now a days.

 

Google - I don't even look at it any more.

Apple - Great company, great products, itunes is kicking butt

Tupperware - Don't laugh at this one.. It's a good one.

RIMM - Blackberry still doing good.

 

These are some of the stuff in my portfolio and leans heavily on tech stocks. I've been doing well for the past 2 years and lost pretty much everything in the past 2 months. Just in the last 1 month I lost $30k.

 

Still undecided to sell stuff at a loss as the market is not looking too good.

 

Just wanted to share my pain and see if you guys have any advise/ridicule.

Edited March 13, 2008 by shoot

[Unclean]

It's been tough for me too... my 401k balance has been lowering just slightly over the last few months, even though I'm still making contributions. The rate of return is negative, and it's scary.

 

But I'm also hoping to leverage dollar cost averaging here... so I'm afraid to reallocate my portfolio right now.

 

And $30k for you... that's rough. I hear tech stocks can be pretty volatile, so did you know about the risks before investing?

[shoot]

Oh yea...

 

I've been through the the tech crash in early 2k... So, yes I know it's volatile. All the stocks that suffered then have come back winners, so I know these stocks will come back. They are quality stocks. It's just the stress of looking at the screen and seeing my money shrink.

 

And yes, I also have an IRA account that's dwindling like your 401k.

[lousiest]

I hear you buddy. I have a couple of small caps, and boy have they become micro-caps

 

But like you said, they should eventually bounce back. Though not knowing how long a time it would take just kills me.

[shoot]

I got a suggestion to make things better.

 

Everybody go buy something! That will help the stocks bounce back.

 

btw... walk to buy whatever you're going to buy and drive less if you can.

[VooDooPC]

I got a suggestion to make things better.

 

Everybody go buy something! That will help the stocks bounce back.

 

btw... walk to buy whatever you're going to buy and drive less if you can.

Does buying stocks count as buying something?

 

I keep my money in my mattress.

[NOFX]

I'm 50% down in my stock account, which I look at as my playing the game money.... Now that doesn't mean I just have peanuts in there though...

 

I was 40% up in early january, but since then I have just been bending over for the man. This little game has taught me how to sit on the sidelines. Luckily today, i was up about 12% of one position that I decided to hold. If it recovers fully, I will still be down around 35%-40% on the year.

 

My 401k hasn't been to bad, Im somewhere around 10-12% loss, I have most of my money invested in international stocks, the dollar keeps falling, I keep gaining

[lousiest]

Yea, same here, my whole portfolio is down 45%. But oh well, what can I do (except play CS and channel my frustrations there )

 

Dollar issue really has me in a bind. Great that it helps international companies, but sucks as I have to pay for investment overseas, and a shrinking dollar means I now have to fork out more

[stutters]

These are some of the stuff in my portfolio and leans heavily on tech stocks. I've been doing well for the past 2 years and lost pretty much everything in the past 2 months. Just in the last 1 month I lost $30k.

 

if you invest $30,000 with me, i promise to only lose $10,000 of it. pm me for paypal info, thanks.

[shoot]

These are some of the stuff in my portfolio and leans heavily on tech stocks. I've been doing well for the past 2 years and lost pretty much everything in the past 2 months. Just in the last 1 month I lost $30k.

 

if you invest $30,000 with me, i promise to only lose $10,000 of it. pm me for paypal info, thanks.

 

 

Really!!?

 

I just sent you a PM... NOT!!

[Xterminator]

Sorry to hear about your losses shoot. 30k isn't easy to part with. As crazy as it sounds, now's the best time to invest into the market...the market will always recover. I can't speak for the other companies you listed but I live just outside of Waterloo where Research In Motion (RIM) is based. They're doing awesome right now and the only way for them to go is up.

 

Have you ever considered putting in stops for your stocks? I know a friend of mine has stops in place so that if a stock falls to a certain level, it will automatically be sold. Dont know if it's a smart/dumb move since the only stocks I have are with my current employer. Speaking of which, My company stocks are cheap (bout $5 and change right now) we're slowly recovering from the whole Nortel crash back in the day. The stock will slowly go up so if you're looking to invest look into COM DEV.

[YoMamma]

Still undecided to sell stuff at a loss as the market is not looking too good.

 

DON'T DO IT!!!! The market WILL recover. It may take a couple years, but you will make your money back. The worst thing an investor can do is to sell in a down market.

 

I understand your frustration. I also lost about 2 years earnings in a matter of 2 months.

[farmerisme]

It all depends on if you want to play the role of a trader or an investor. At this point if you have money in a stock that has solid fundamentals and future... and you are INVESTING for a long term, stick with em. Selling now when the stock is down would be a huge waste. If your intent is to make money by trading stocks, you counsider selling some or all of your positions in some stocks, to buy something with a more short term chance of success. Only do this if you want to be a TRADER.

 

Personally, I have taken most of the money that I have had in TRADING stocks out placed in conservative investments over the past 6 months. I think the market has quite a bit to go down before it starts going up broadly again. But again, that is just my opinion. If you want to TRADE there is always something that you can invest in (even in a bear market) and make money. The $ you have in long term investments in solid companies should not be moved now, the general market downturn drags those down unfairly and when people see them making solid profits again, the stock will go up.

 

My 2c

[stutters]

hey, can anyone sell me some bear sterns stock?

 

[Lunk]

I believe you are young enough that you can ride this out and it will recover for you. I know you guys think I'm old, but even I have time to recover from the current state of things.

[nut]

stock market kills! its gambeling.. i mean its really really risky.. my dad has this client that was up as much as 800K in a half yr... doing amazing! but... he lost all the 800k and had to end up selling 5 of his propertys to pay off his debt.. the thing is you say your going to stop when you get up there... the problem is you want more.. and it gets hard to stop.

 

 

i think i could.. i mean 800k would make me explode with happiness.

 

 

gluck man.. the market aint doin so hot.. but id stick with the strong stocks

[Magruter]

My current stocks. Fortune brands, walgreens, GE, and BP.

Fortune brands isn't going anywhere.... People play golf, people drink, people needs home products.

Walgreens, people need their drugs...

GE medical supplies, appliances, and whatelse they do...

BP people need gas.

 

Think about what people are going to NEED and invest. Most of us are young enough we'll rebound back. The dumbest thing you can do right now is pull it all. If you're that worried take a little bit out and toss it in a 3 yr bond.

[NOFX]

holy crap.. The stock market has been in full recovery mode for a few weeks now... Now would be the time to make some dough.. well, putting more money in a few weeks ago would have even been better.

 

I'm a trader not a long term investor... I have recovered from a 52% loss to a 35% loss.. I made a horrible move last week, instead of getting a 30% gain for the week on a huge position, I moved positions a day to early around and only got about a 15%.

 

Was down at one point 52%, Now Im around the 38% mark.. If I have learned anything from ordeal is that when the market is heading south, don't play the bull market. Start selling short.

 

Stay with the sectors that are hot. Right now, solar, energy, and coal are bling blingin. Selling short? look to the financial sectors.

 

EDIT* Also 401k has been recovering full stream. Was sitting around 11% loss, now around 2.5-3% and gaining ground every day.. I'm sort of glad we hit this rough spot, it has definitely taught me a lesson. I got a feeling the next few years will be more like a roller coaster than all ups.

Edited April 7, 2008 by NOFX

[lousiest]

Stay with the sectors that are hot. Right now, solar, energy, and coal are bling blingin. Selling short? look to the financial sectors.

 

How bout agriculture. I like POT. Despite the recent downturn, its chart still shows a definite uptrend.

 

* edit: usual disclaimers apply *

Edited April 7, 2008 by lousiest

[nut]

Stay with the sectors that are hot. Right now, solar, energy, and coal are bling blingin. Selling short? look to the financial sectors.

 

How bout agriculture. I like POT. Despite the recent downturn, its chart still shows a definite uptrend.

 

* edit: usual disclaimers apply *

 

lol!

[YoMamma]

my dad has this client that was up as much as 800K in a half yr... doing amazing! but... he lost all the 800k and had to end up selling 5 of his propertys to pay off his debt..

 

That doesn't make sense. You can only lose the money you invested. Nothing more. You can't get "into debt."

 

 

But yeah, NOFX is right. The market has been very kind to me these past 3 weeks. It appears as though investor confidence is starting to return.

[Unclean]

That doesn't make sense. You can only lose the money you invested. Nothing more. You can't get "into debt."

Sounds like he had investment properties... losses on those can incur debt.

[YoMamma]

That doesn't make sense. You can only lose the money you invested. Nothing more. You can't get "into debt."

Sounds like he had investment properties... losses on those can incur debt.

 

right, but if you read his post above he talks about investing in the stock market, losing money, thus selling properties.

 

I should have just quoted his entire post

[Preacher]

Did NOFX actually say that stocks are "bling blingin" ? Wow I need some Ibuprofen.

[NOFX]

well.. i take what I said back about the finacials, If you want to invest in a good long term stock. You will not get a better buying opportunity than now to buy Citi. C

 

Yea POT is a good one, so is MOS and X. I just made some on ACI. I'm gonna see if it pulls back to around 45 again then I'll buy more.

 

 

If your shorting the market there is no limit to how much you can lose... Usually your broker will execute your buy to cover if you start owing them to much money..

Edited April 8, 2008 by NOFX