Kay, I admit it. You were dead nuts on target last August. I recall thinking one dark day in January that you must be on cloud 9.

These precipitous drops in stock values do make me itch to buy more. I’m incorrigible.

Great bottom fishing.

The glass is not half empty, it is half full.

Is this the land of opportunity……………………………………….or what?

Cheers

If you were an individual stock OR a mutual fund, I would short you.

xok

I remember quite well our chat at Kiva and was amazed and very impressed by what you did. Your actions took the courage of your convictions….and you made the right move (especially with respect to real estate).

Where we disagree is on your attempt to time the market (waiting until the bottom). The point of lowest value will differ from stock to stock, and real estate market to market. I don’t care if I buy a stock and it goes down before rising in value. I would be concerned if I was a daytrader or in a position where I could not afford to lose any money. My feeling is that if the stock is solid and obviously undervalued, why not add it to the portfolio if it looks like a good value? I don’t need to time the low…..and have already learned from MANY attempts that I cannot time the low.

Re the real estate market, sad but true, there are a lot of great deals available. Taking into consideration the particulars (why the person is selling the house, how much they paid for the house, foreclosure, etc.), it’s possible to all but steal a property. If I did not already have 3 houses (and probably soon a fourth), I’d definitely be investing in real estate. However, I’d only buy after a lowball and have no absolutely no doubt I could find an absolutely amazing bargain.

The key thing is to remember (as if I need to tell you this) is the cyclical nature of the stock and real estate markets. One needs to factor in valuation (obviously the trickiest part, especially after a bubble) and now is a good time to invest if you think there is a bargain (bottom fishing anyone?). Yes, in a bear market people base their choices on emotions (and often behave irrationally). Their pain can be your gain.

Am I jumping in 100% on individual stocks right now? No. I have maxed my month-to-month investment into mutuals….but am very wary about individual stock picks and am playing it quite conservative. But……there is some serious irrational shit going on (cattle calls) and I cannot ignore the temptation to partake of the festivities.

We’re human, Kay. We never want to learn anything. We had busts and booms throughout the free-wheeling Nineteenth Century. For some reason we had to try it again and - shock! - same thing happened. Our present crazy tail-wagging-dog process of letting arbitrary stock values guide corporate decisions is finally producing fruit. The sad thing is, at some point after we get this mess cleaned up we’ll collectively want to do it all over again.

History can make one cynical.

Do I detect some condescension in your tone, btw? I stand by every word. As you know, I started dumping my positions in Aug ‘07 and now my retirement and savings portfolios are %90 cashed out.

Rule #2- don’t post until after your first cup of coffee

The investing landscape is better than after the 2000 tech bubble blowout or 911. Show me the money!