do you think we will have another down turn in stocks?

[kork13]

I think what will be interesting is to see how stocks do over the winter holidays. Normally, the increase in consumer spending buoy's the market. However, my gut says we're heading toward another moderate dip... But when and how far, obviously, are unknown. We'll have to wait and see....

[feh]

First question you need to answer - what is your time frame for needing this money.

If it's at least a couple years, I'd suggest keeping it invested in stocks.

[EEinNJ]

Goldy, you're question suggests that you're considering making trading decisions based on emotion (Feeling "kinda down"). If you do, you will lose every time.

It hurts to watch your portfolio in a bear market, and the last couple of times I've gone through it, I thought "This is rigged, this is for suckers" but I held on and things came back. The question I ask myself, and maybe you should, is, "Is the risk I'm taking comfortable, and do the returns justify it?"

The other question is, how much do you need, and how soon do you need it? If you need it soon, and can't risk another 20% drop, then you shouldn't be in stocks.

[Broken Arrow]

Well, the usual caveat here is that you can't time the market.

However, I think it's perfectly fine to "rebalance" your portfolio to match your true risk tolerance. In which case, feel free to convert more stocks into bonds, but once that's figured out, I would recommend to stick to it.

In my own asset allocation, I've mostly stuck to a passive, diversified mutual funds. I know I've spent a lot of time talking about trying to time the market, but I only attempt to trade with a small portion of my money.

[disneysteve]

Of course there will be another downturn. I guarantee it. Depending on your time horizon, there will several downturns. I hope to retire in about 18 years. I'm sure I'll see at least a couple of significant drops during that time.

[Like2Plan]

Yes, I think we will have a downturn in the market. It is a normal part of the cyclic nature of the market. I would be willing to bet there will be profit takers and folks who are doing some general housekeeping in their portfolios before the end of the year. How deep will the valley be--no idea.

The key is timing. You can not predict or time the market. With that in mind, take a look at when you need to use your money and your long term strategies.

[Goldy1]

I was kinda down about my portfolio going south around oct 08 and the following months.
I stayed the course. I think I might have traded about 10% of my stocks into bond type investments only but before it really bad. I wanted to wait it out and I saw some returns, yes, but I am not where I was.

I have about (who knows exactly) 1 or 2 years EF in the bank. However, the job situation for me and dh is very unstable. (Go Michigan)

I was thinking of trading more of my portfolio out of stocks.
(401K and ira is all I have)