Should we be buying stocks right now?

[samsingh]

[mudesi]

1. NO

There is going to be a rally, but it will be short term.

Unless you're a very nimble and disciplined trader, stay away.

[MercutioATC]

2. Feel free. I'm still sitting on the bench.

There may be some short-term cash to be made, but I don't think this bailout is going to stop the downward trend until the Dow gets below 9500 or so.

[CountAllVotes]

11. try 5,000

and not above that IMO.

Good fucking luck to the loser idiots that buy into this sh*t!

:kick:

[krkaufman]

14. 9500. chuckle. Like that's gonna be the bottom.

I'm not remotely knowledgeable on this stuff, but 9500 seems to be only one or two bad days away. I could see it dropping much lower than that.

But then, as said, I don't know nuttin'.

[samsingh]

18. i'm not selling my equities or mutual funds

[MercutioATC]

20. I'm 100% in U.S. Treasuries and have been for a while.

They're not quite keeping up with inflation, but it's a decent place to park money while this shakes out.

[UndertheOcean]

3. Please don't

[Demobrat]

4. Directors at Wachovia are buying like crazy

in the $14-16 range.

[Cirque du So-What]

5. I believe there's a real possibility of a 'sucker run' in the near future

where an attempt is made to wring the last few drops out of the stock market before it proceeds into freefall. Caveat emptor.

[Big Blue Marble]

6. No and No and No.

This market is not likely to be done going down. There
is far too much uncertainty in economy. Kevin Phillips said
on Bill Moyers show Friday night that many think the market
will see the at least the 9000's before we are done with this
crisis.

[AlCzervik]

7. you can do what you want, i already have stock that i'm going long on.

that's how i choose to roll.

[fascisthunter]

8. YES... as a Patriotic Duty, Every American Should Have to...

oh wait.... you already are in a way bailing out Wall Street without any real return.

[gravity]

9. Yes

the best time to buy stocks is when blood is on the streets

[wtmusic]

12. Exactly - everyone saying no on this thread is a near-perfect

sign to buy in. Tomorrow morning.

[A HERETIC I AM]

27. DU has become an almost perfect contrarian indicator.

Someone else pointed this out in a thread the other day. When the level of handwringing threads on DU gets very high, it is an almost sure sign of an up day or short-term trend is about to start.

When every thread on DU is about how the Dow will crash tomorrow and everything is hopeless, it is an almost 100% sure bet it will not happen. Last Sunday there were plenty of threads saying that the market would end the week down considerably. While it was one of the wildest swings over a 5-day span in history, the DOW closed Friday just 30 or so points below where it opened Monday morning.

Gravity is correct re: "blood in the streets". When everyone else is running for the exits in a mad panic, the smart money turns around and heads the other way.

If your time horizon is short (meaning you might need this money sooner rather than later), you have no business investing in stocks anyway.

If your time horizon is longer than 5 years, a volatile market like this offers the best opportunity to buy issues at bargain prices. For those of you who think everything will plummet in value and stay there, then this suggestion is obviously not for you. But an investor is not a trader and keeping an open mind as well as open eyes can and historically has made money for the individual with enough courage to not follow that screaming horde headed for the doors.

This is NOT a suggestion for everyone to go out and immediately buy stocks or stock funds. Everyone is different and each person needs to assess their individual tolerance for risk and volatility. If you hate and will not tolerate the idea that your account balance might go down before it goes up, you have absolutely no business investing in equities.

[wtmusic]

28. Actually a "stocking up on food/ammo" thread is my green light

but sometimes IMO those posters are too busy stocking to post :D

I'm amazed at how many on this thread are trying to time a market bottom. If only it were that easy.

[A HERETIC I AM]

29. No doubt.

The other day another poster, in a funny and tongue-in-cheek way indicated he/she was still working through all the bottled water, fuel and canned goods bought before December 31st, 1999, suggesting there still was no room for new purchases of cartridge boxes in the pantry!

You're right regarding market timing. Those that try to do it are more often than not wrong. Time in the market has historically been more profitable than timing the market.

[MercutioATC]

15. Very true, but the massacre is likely not over.

Venture into the streets now, and some of that blood might be your own.

[abumbyanyothername]

10. No. Buy farmland and orchards.

That can be worked without petroleum powered tractors.

[Midlodemocrat]

13. Yes.

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. You might consider this very sobering piece of news

"The market was 500 trades away from Armageddon on Thursday, traders inside two large custodial banks tell The Post.
Had the Treasury and Fed not quickly stepped into the fray that morning with a quick $105 billion injection of liquidity, the Dow could have collapsed to the 8,300-level - a 22 percent decline! - while the clang of the opening bell was still echoing around the cavernous exchange floor.

According to traders, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, money market funds were inundated with $500 billion in sell orders prior to the opening. The total money-market capitalization was roughly $4 trillion that morning. "

more...much more at link.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09212008/business/almost_armageddon_130110.htm

[samsingh]

17. wow

i guess we're powerless.

it's just a gamble.

[flamingdem]

24. Yes. Ultimately that money has to go somewhere. I'd admit that there might

be some good reasoning behind the bail out because one it unravels that far that FAST damage can happen world wide.

Now that the bleeding is stopped however we should have the time to do the bailing properly, but then of course
the bankers make less $$ since there would be oversight..

[asjr]

19. The only stock I can think of at this time

that wouldn't bankrupt me is toilet paper.

[MercutioATC]

22. Sounds risky. I'd hedge by buying into the commodities market. Buy corncobs.

[LeftyMom]

21. Depends on the stock.

Does the company appear to be stable in the long term, and sell products that will continue to move in a protracted downturn? Is it currently a good value? If so, go for it.

If you're just generally waiting for the bottom, this isn't it.

[flamingdem]

23. Some traders are saying that Friday was naturally an up day, triple witching

and the up was not due to the bail out talks.

So who knows.

[Greyhound]

25. Only if you believe that the Quadrillion dollar boondoggle will somehow

be saved for another generation. Housing and the attendant bad paper is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

It certainly feels like this is a "guns and grain" investment situation.

[RB TexLa]

26. There are plenty of Pacific rim and Chinese stocks that are doing well