Dow 20k

[disneysteve]

20k...made it!

Hurray! Let me go celebrate by doing absolutely nothing different with my investments.

[StormRichards]

Hurray! Let me go celebrate by doing absolutely nothing different with my investments.

No cake for you Steve!!!

[StormRichards]

One quote regarding the significance of this milestone

"Traders have been waiting for more details on infrastructure spending and now they have it in a very clear format," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets. "There is nothing bigger than this. A break of 20,000 for the Dow stimulates fresh capital which has been waiting for this moment to join this party."

Of course there is also a story out there that says this milestone doesn't mean a thing to long term investors.

Another quote about the milestone:

The milestone, as Senior Index Analyst Howard Silverblatt of S&P Dow Jones Indices wrote Tuesday, “is a physiological and emotional point, which investors should use to review their holdings and performance. It is not, in and of itself, a trading point (except for a few momentum short-term traders).”

Personally I think there will be some pull back before the weekend. If I had money to "play with" I would gamble on a pull back.

[~bs]

Exactly what Nutria said. Yes, there is risk in investing but equating that with gambling makes no sense.

For that matter, even the term "gambling" is overly vague. If you walk into a casino, there is a huge difference between playing a penny slot machine and playing a full pay, jacks or better, progressive video poker game. The difference in odds is tremendous.

investing is more comparable to being partial casino owner than one of the individual gamblers.

[StormRichards]

"Individual investors have started buying again, really since the election," said Jeff Kleintop, global investment strategist at Charles Schwab. "A psychological number like 20,000 helps to continue that trend, helps to bring in investors that have been sitting in cash, and it really helps to keep the money flow coming in. We see this as a positive year, largely because of the individual investor and not just corporations buying back stock any more."

[~bs]

if you're trying to time the market, investing when the market is crossing new highs is probably the opposite of what you want to be doing...

[disneysteve]

"A psychological number like 20,000 helps to continue that trend, helps to bring in investors that have been sitting in cash"

Yes because we all know that the best time to start investing is when the market is at an all-time record high because that must mean it can only continue to go up.

It is mind boggling that people can never learn anything.

[Nutria]

Yes because we all know that the best time to start investing is when the market is at an all-time record high because that must mean it can only continue to go up.

That's exactly what I thought...

It is mind boggling that people can never learn anything.

Embrace the cynicism, Steve. Let it wash over you like cool water and infuse within you like some silly New Age tea, and you'll never again be surprised by human stupidity nor credulity again...

[clatoden99]

The most fascinating thing about the market is not DOW20k. It's that the vix is roughly almost a dollar above its 20y low.

[Jluke]

Yes because we all know that the best time to start investing is when the market is at an all-time record high because that must mean it can only continue to go up.

It is mind boggling that people can never learn anything.

Over the past few years the market has been at all time highs more often than it has been down. The bogleheads are dead set on not being able to time the market so invest when you have cash. Today's high most likely will be a low a few years from now - or so we hope.

So for the folks who think they can really time the market and thought 20k might bring a pull back, they missed their chance for the time being.

Disclosure. Snuck another BRKB purchase on Tuesday before the latest $5 run up. Luck.

[disneysteve]

invest when you have cash

Bingo! That's it exactly. Ignore the DJIA. Ignore the NASDAQ. Ignore the S&P 500. Invest regularly when you can.

[Nutria]

The most fascinating thing about the market is not DOW20k. It's that the vix is roughly almost a dollar above its 20y low.

And yet the S&P 500 P/E ratio is at 25.80, which is (purely coincidentlly) 25% higher than it was just two years ago. (Still not as high as the 1999 bubble, but getting close.)

http://www.multpl.com/table

[rennigade]

8 months and the dow has gone up 2,000. Now over 22,000.

For those who have sat on the sidelines the past 2 years...ill pray for you.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

We started investing heavily in 2006. I know for a fact our first few years our balances were very negative. We had less than we contributed. Then things turned around and we are doing very well.

[colby99]

The world keeps progressing. There are new and better things. Technology keeps advancing. Incomes are rising. Living standards are improving. Per capita income keeps rising. Every day we read about GDP having increased.

Inflation further contributes to the feeling of prosperity. Govt employees get dearness allowance installment periodically. They feel happy. I feel very happy that my pension has jumped to double since I retired. This increase has come as a compensation for increase in prices.

Businesses keep growing. There sales and profits keep increasing. A large part of this is due to increase in prices. Companies report increased sales by certain percentage over last year. A large part of this increase is due to inflation - increase in prices of raw material, labour cost, transportation cost compelling increase in sale price resulting in volume growth.