Cure Money Madness : Time to Invest

Posted on October 28th, 2008 in Community, General, Investing, Money Madness, Retirement | Leave A Comment

With Central Bank’s all over the world making the decision to buy stakes in privately held banks along with statistics showing that most investors have capitulated by the end of last week (more money was liquidated from equity mutual funds last week than any other week in the last few months, which just goes to show that left to our own devices, human beings as a group prefer to sell low than to sell high), this is an excellent time to let go of your own money madness and invest.

In other words, if we examine the investing world objectively without our emotions (which hardly ever guide us wisely in crisis situations), we find that everyone who bought in past situations like this made a fortune in the subsequent 10 years.  So instead of thinking about what might happen, think about the common sense wisdom of buying low, which has always, always worked, and buy a diversified portfolio today.

Some other blogs I found about investing now  :


TheRecord.com – Business – Manufacturer says it’s ‘the best time … – “We think this is the best time to invest,” Morszeck said. It means the company will be in a good position to take a bigger part of the market as the economy improves, he added. “We’d like to be closer to the American market where we …

Is Now a Good Time to Invest? | Cash Money Life – The world economy is a volatile place right now. Even with last week’s recent gains, the stock market is down substantially over the last few weeks and it is.

The best time to invest – your lifetime – Right timing will tell you when to get into a certain time of investment and when to get out. The question of timing also answers when it is best time to invest in a certain type of investment vehicle. Simply put, proper timing will …

Cure Money Madness : We all love a bargain.

Posted on October 22nd, 2008 in Investing, Tips | Leave A Comment

Each day we read about what our economic leaders are doing to repair the economy.  We read about the candidates’ economic plans and how they differ.   But as investors these are not the people to watch.  Sure, Bernanke and Paulson have  made their share of right moves and wrong moves over the last few weeks.  There are reasons as citizens we should be informed about what the candidates are saying about the economy.  But as investors, we must not wait for the economy to rebound before buying low right now.  The economy will likely take time to recover, but markets always rebound before the economy does.

It always puzzles me that most people can appreciate a good bargain—except when it comes to stocks.  When ladders and light bulbs go on sale at Home Depot, people buy.  When stocks are on deep discount, people run for the hills.

Be consistent.  We all love a bargain.  So take that wad of cash out from under your mattress and invest in your future.

Some other bloggers thoughts on the buy low / sell high concept :

“Buy low, sell high” (Wall Street proverb) – “Buy low and sell high” is a sure way to make money. The exact origin of the saying is unknown, but the concept is simple enough. The “buy low” (or, “buy at a low price”) and “sell high” (or, “sell at a high price”) phrases are both …

Buy Low, Renovate, Then Sell High Later | Spilt Soda – These days, with the market being in recession, are the perfect buying days for the potential investor. Whether it is homes or stocks and bonds, they …

Buy Low, Sell High: How Low Can The Dow Go? – The adage is to buy low and sell high. Americans, and world denizens, have been buying high from the stock market for more than a decade. The stock market was driven up to historic highs, and generally peaked at a Dow Jones 14903 on …

Money Madness : Why is the Dollar going up and gold and silver down now?

Posted on October 20th, 2008 in General, Q & A | 2 Comments

How will this bottom out and will it sit at the bottom for days, hours, weeks , or months?

Despite our financial problems in the US, Europe and Asia are experiencing as bad, if not worse, a crisis.

Traditionally the US has been seen as a safe haven.  This is still true and that’s why people are buying US treasuries; they are still considered the proverbial safe–money under your mattress as it were.

Gold and silver have come down because the dollar is getting stronger and people are buying dollars instead of gold and silver.  A stronger dollar diminishes the value of gold and silver as a safe haven.

Brian, it’s hard to say how long this will last.  This recovery will be quicker than that of the Great Depression. But it still may last a few years.

~Spencer

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Some lins you may like relating to Gold, The Dollar, and precious metals :

Gold and Silver News & Headlines for November 26 | Gold and Silver … – The gold price over Thanksgiving. Will the bullish bent for gold hold true this Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday? Gold vs. Oil: Gold is Winning. If you haven’t seen a chart of the gold/oil ratio lately, check out this article. …

Gold vs. the Dollar – Some of the price declines which occurred in the 19th century were caused by the retirement of the greenback and the demonetization of silver. Always it was caused by government. Never was it caused by ordinary people. …

Gold Vs. Silver Vs. Platinum – What’s interesting is the percentage of gold that goes to investment. While a much larger percentage of gold is used for investment purposes than silver, it is still less than 20%. By far, gold’s most common use is in jewelry. …

Money Madness in a financial blizzard : Weathering The Storm

Posted on October 13th, 2008 in Investing, Retirement | 5 Comments

I wanted to offer you all a little good news about this economic turmoil we are all going through, and that good news is, that you can relax and turn this into a positive experience! Let me explain how.

I know that my house fluctuates in value.  But I don’t stand in front of my house  month-by-month or day-by-day, let alone minute to minute watching a ticker-tape of my home’s value going up and down.  We all know that house values fluctuate, especially during a natural disaster like a hurricane or an earthquake.  But because I have no knowledge of the actual decrease, I don’t think about selling my house as it decreases in value.   I think, instead, that I’ll be in my house for a long time and the house value will recover over time.  Thankfully, there is no one to tell me how much my house is worth on a daily basis!  Knowing that information would, at best, ruin my sleep and at worst, provoke me to react in a financially self-destructive way.

Unfortunately, the information on the daily movements of my investment portfolio IS available to me.  Most of my money invested in the stock market is there to cover my expenses in the next 15-50 years; therefore, for some reason I think it’s critical for me to know how my portfolio is doing minute to minute.  When I log on to  financial websites or listen to the news with up-to-the-minute information on the market, the news has the illusion of being useful.  And the media is being paid by advertisers to convince us that the information IS relevant.

The stock market is doing its best to provide a daily appraisal of the value of thousands of public companies.  But we’re currently in the middle of a financial hurricane.  We all know it’s unwise to sell a house in the middle of an actual hurricane, like Katrina.  So why would we sell our stocks in the middle of a financial hurricane? History has always shown us that we must wait for financial storms to subside before the markets will fairly appraise our homes and portfolios.  Once  the storms subside and  the skies clear, the public, acting as an appraiser, is able to restore normal valuations.

It’s simple :  keep your money diversified and take advantage of opportunities as they arise. Some of the richest people in the world made their money by staying centered and awake during the darkest days of a storm.

 

A few ways this ‘financial storm’ is being felt around the world :

 

Education: The Perfect Financial Storm | Capital Gains and Games – Education: The Perfect Financial Storm. Nov. 13. Stan Collender. Andrew spends his days (and I suspect many nights) at Dartmouth where, as he has reminded us before, he is on the front lines of some of the biggest education battles …

Horizon of Stars: How Can Australia Weather the Financial Storm? – How Can Australia Weather the Financial Storm? Solar water heater on a rooftop in Jerusalem, … Image via WikipediaAustralia, like the rest of the world, is coming under some battering from the financial crisis. …

Officials: Lehigh equipped to weather financial storm – News – Officials: Lehigh equipped to weather financial storm,