Boy, that Dow

[Geila]

Wow, what a ride!

Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow. It's like watching a movie.

[sweetana3]

I can sit here and imagine those that dump due to extreme fear and the positive attitude of those who are buying on the down values. We missed some of the down but hubby wanted to buy more so we got in today. It is such a gamble. We have been thru so many of these ups and downs since the mid 80s. Hard to get too excited due to all the ups and downs we have survived and it truly helps that I have a 30% cash allocation.

[Molly]

I'm using the ostrich strategy as well.

[Tybee]

I'm using the ostrich strategy as well.

As long as you have carefully thought out your asset allocation according to your age and your level of risk aversion, then the ostrich strategy makes sense.

If not, then not so much.

[Molly]

There's a lot of panic selling now. The media is whipping people up into a frenzy. Photos of people with slumped shoulders and their faces in their hands. I've seen this so many times. The market will come back. It always does. How long, no one knows, but it always comes back.

My asset allocation is age appropriate and has been since I learned my lesson in the dot.com bust. Staying the course has served me well.

[Tybee]

You are so right, Molly, about being in an appropriate allocation for one's stage in life. I feel for those of us who have seen retirement savings vanish over the last two weeks, knowing I don't have the earning years to build them back, and I am in the depletion stage.

I also remember the dot.com bust, and it had an impact on how I invested over the years, so I think I learned from it.

I am glad you are fine. But many will not be fine.

[Gardnr]

It might be a good time to withdraw from an IRA for a Roth Conversion!

[jp1]

We've all been told to buy index funds and ride everything out. Most of the time that undoubtedly makes sense. Once in a while it might not. Trying to think beyond panic to opportunity I spent a few minutes this afternoon looking at specific stocks. My noteworthy findings: Despite the bad day Wall Street had Clorox was up today. Labcorp and Quest Diagnostics were down, but much less than the market as a whole. All three are probably a good investment. In my opinion the later two are especially good since those are the two companies that have the size and heft to step in and do all the coronavirus testing that is likely going to happen. I'll be surprised if multiple state health departments haven't already been in contact with them about their services. And shockingly they haven't exploded in value recently. Since I am pretty heavy in cash at this point I placed modest orders for both today with my non-tax-advantaged etrade account. If my guess about their future profitability is wrong then maybe I'll lose a few bucks. These are solid companies that are at worst likely to fall about as much as every other publicly traded company. On the other hand a couple of quarterly earnings statements with outsized growth and I will likely be quite pleased.

Undoubtedly there are other companies that will do well in the current crazy environment. Remote desktop providers, like Citrix*, for example, will surely do well if the "everyone needs to work from home" thing becomes reality.

*another company that was only down modestly today and is overall not exploding in value recently

[sweetana3]

I want to know what Warren Buffett is doing with the enormous cash that Berkshire Hathaway has on hand.

[Rogar]

We've all been told to buy index funds and ride everything out....

I haven't been inspired to dig into things much as it's pretty much a changing situation, but I have wondered if some of the broad market index funds have actually fared worse than average since they are probably heavily weighted in Apple, Exxon, Boeing, and other companies that may be taken a bigger hit. I did hear that both Labcorp and Quest were developing their own test kits for covid-19. My days of stock picking are over, but I sometimes think it would be fun to speculate with a smaller amount. There are probably a few bargains right now that could benefit from the health crisis.

I did a review with a Fidelity adviser late last year and they thought I was light in international funds and light in equities in general. Their thinking was that a 60/40 equity to fixed was age appropriate. I've always been conservative and fortunately stuck with a less risky mix. I don't think the young advisers I spoke with had a good memory of the financial meltdown. There may come a time when I would like to rebalance back into equities, but I think that time may be months out.