The stock market drops are hurting me. So why am I feeling this strange schadenfreude?

[Cousin Dupree]

Sorry everyone. I just can’t help it.

[SWBTATTReg]

1. I can't believe that you would think that the markets would keep going up and up? Why are you...

still exposed? The last economic up cycle is over 10 years old.

[leftieNanner]

2. I'm interested

Where do you have your$$. I've been nervous about the market for a while now.

[dumbcat]

4. I'm also interested

Where else to invest funds for a decent return as the stock market goes south?

[cbdo2007]

12. You have already received a decent return, now it's time to give some back.

That's the nature of the stock market which you don't seem to understand. It averages out.

[leftieNanner]

20. Too late now!

I understand what you are saying. But we are retired and we don't have new income to invest. By "give some back" you mean losses?

[cbdo2007]

22. Yes, you should have been expecting losses all along to get to the average.

I realize psychologically this isn't how people think...but you should have been expecting 8% return annually via the stock market all along, so those years when you achieved 25% or 40% or whatever for the past decade, isn't a bonus. That means big losses are coming at some point to get you back down to the 8%.

[leftieNanner]

23. I bugged my husband to get out of the market for so long

I gave up trying. He kept saying that they were all good companies. He has been managing about half of our retirement money. It's terrible to say "I told you so."

[cbdo2007]

24. Well that's not fair...I'm guessing the gains you made over the past decade are well over these

little hiccups occurring now. So be sure to thank him for those too.

My comments aren't at all intended to get people to get out of the market, just to manage their expectations. Yes, it is awesome when you make 40% some year and it sucks when you lose 12% some year but overall it's probably the safest and most reliable place to be for the 8% you should be reasonably expecting

[Joe941]

25. My retirement account is in shambles...

I sell and market goes up.
I buy and the market goes down.
I can't win and will never be able to retire.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

29. Don't buy and sell all the time.

Buy a handful of good funds and leave them alone.

It simply isn't possible to time the market, and it's truly foolish to try to do so. I recently read something pointing out that some huge amount of all market gains are made on a handful of days. Same with losses.

Here's another reason to buy and hold: the market periodically sets new highs, but it never sets new lows. Although if you recently bought everything on a high, then yeah, for you this is a new low.

So do some research or find a financial advisor but stop buying and selling.

[cbdo2007]

35. I mean this in the best way possible - but buying and selling stocks is not one of your skills.

You should just buy and leave it. Always, just buy and leave it until you need it, then take out the minimum amount you need to take out at that time. The average is what you are looking for, it isn't a get rich quick scheme.

[dumbcat]

37. The question was asked, "Why are you still exposed ,,,"

implying we (I) should not be in the stock market and should be invested somewhere else. Where?

And no, I don't see any reason to "give some back". Give it back to who?

[cbdo2007]

40. Nowhere else.

The best long term investing plan is to just put your money in the stock market and leave it there as long as possible. Shifting it around and pulling it in and out and trying to time it will mostly lead to lower returns. Don't let fear control your investing...it will cost you.

[dumbcat]

41. That's true for most unsophisticated investors

But in the interest of full disclosure, my second MBA had a concentration in Financial Planning. I opened my first brokerage account at Merrill Lynch in Honolulu in 1972 when I was 24 years old. I've invested in various markets and used market timing techniques over the decades. Some worked better than others, but I have done fairly well.

So, I also feel like lessening my current exposure to the stock market, and I was interested in what other knowledgeable investors thought were good alternatives.

[Wednesdays]

18. Typically, when the stock market goes down

Metals such as gold and silver generally go up.

[dumbcat]

42. True.

And depending on other market conditions, bonds and other fixed income instruments. But even they sometimes don't follow the logic of the market. I already have a substantial interest in gold coins. I suppose it might be worth looking into the possibilities for other precious metals and rare earths, especially as used in the battery and other energy storage industries. Thanks for the idea.

[BannonsLiver]

8. Whatever you do, don't listen to the armchair geniuses and Warren Buffetts on DU

[SWBTATTReg]

15. Really. Good advice. Too many out there besides DU too. Too many if you ask me. NT

[SWBTATTReg]

11. Cash on the sidelines...that's it. I'm out of real estate, markets, etc. ...

[leftieNanner]

21. Cash on the sidelines?

So zero growth and zero income?

[SWBTATTReg]

33. It's in a CD...duh...and I'm not losing anything

[roamer65]

38. Just wait until the dollar crisis starts.

It’s coming.

That’s when the remaining wealth gets vaporized.

[Cousin Dupree]

9. Very small part of our investments are in stocks. We are pretty conservative with our investments.

But when the market is down this much you feel it.

[USALiberal]

10. You can predict the future? Please post the Dow and S&P numbers for December! Nt

[SWBTATTReg]

14. Yeah, really. Quit throwing the drama around. A lot of folks have been calling for a down ...

cycle too, not just me. What goes up must come down.

[USALiberal]

17. Genius! Nt

[Hoyt]

3. trump will cave at some point, even if GOPers have to threaten joining Impeachment effort.

[elleng]

5. Likely will hurt me,

and feeling similarly.

[Hortensis]

6. We've been taking our losses all along with some

grim satisfaction because the trickle-down stimulus from the tax heist has the right imagining Trump's good for the economy. All's right with their economic world, instead of seriously wrong, and that could reelect him.

Losing retirement investment dollars we really can't afford seems a lot less dangerous than a second term and Republican-controlled congress, so we feel flutters of fear when the economy's reported to be booming and glimmers of hope when our accounts are crashing.

[Cousin Dupree]

7. Well said

[treestar]

13. Because it can be attributed to

The Orange Dotard and his deplorable cult members. Buy low!

[TDale313]

16. Had someone recently tell me

They couldn’t see how he could not get re-elected when the economy is so great. It’s petty, and I’ll take a small hit, but yeah... resisting the urge to mention the fantastic Trump economy this morning. And unlike many stock market fluctuations, this can be directly attributed to him being a dumbass in handling trade with China.

[zackymilly]

19. You know it's bad when even the military defense companies' stocks have dropped. n/t

[drray23]

26. Unless you are about to retire

The crash in the stock market will not be a big problem. If you dont panic and sell now when its low, it will come back up. As a matter of fact, I see it as an opportunity to buy low.

[leftyladyfrommo]

27. I like to see it fall at first. But then I think about

all the ordinary people with 401Ks and feel bad for them. They can't afford this.

[AJT]

28. The stock market isn't the economy. We've seen drops because of 45's trade war before, if the deep

continues and other aspects of the economy are affected then I will start to worry.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

30. I am completely unconcerned about these recent losses.

I have more money than I did a few years ago, and that's counting that I'm now taking money out of my investments because I'm now retired.

The people who freak out and sell everything because of an election or a brief downturn invariably wind up worse off.

[former9thward]

31. Do rises in the market hurt you?

Or do you only count the drops? After today the Dow is up 2400 points this year. Were you hurt by that?

[jimmy the one]

32. Stock Market is legalized GAMBLING

cousin dupree: stock market drops are hurting me. So why am I feeling this strange schadenfreude?

Ha! not sure that would qualify as schadenfreude, cousin, unless it's masochistic!
Schadenfreude is glee at other's suffering (german = grief (causing) happiness, usually someone else's grief)

schadenfreude (shah den froyda): the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schadenfreude

def: .. pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune

Besser schadenfreude als jammerschade: (better schadenfreude than jammerschade)

es ist jammerschade; {it is painful grief, pr'd yammer shada)
it would be a pity if he lost or were to lose this job

Just giving you a hard time for a moment cuz, your schadenfreude is directed at other people's suffering in the dow nasdaq s&p, ja?
I actually root for the stock market to go down, today I was in heaven dow -760 yay. I own no stocks, no vested interest, people trying to make money off other people's labors & misfortunes. Aww sniff, dow down.
Jack London (call of the wild) was a socialist. I'm not really, but admire it often.
Sell your stock, invest in certificates of deposit 2 - 3% now, or T bills. You know what you're gonna get, the stock market is just legalized GAMBLING.

[Cousin Dupree]

34. Yes, it is schadenfreude. Because it's hurting His Nibs. And he and his supporters can't say

everything is just wonderful with the economy. Thanks for the dictionary lesson, but I know the definition of schadenfreude. And I’m a good speller too!

[cbdo2007]

36. Stock trading is gambling. Investing in the stock market is not.

[Duppers]

39. The top 10% own 84% of U.S. stock. nt

[Marengo]

43. Because you lack empathy?