Dow 15,000

[bjl584]

For the first time ever the DOW hit 15,000 today in intra-day trading.

It might be a good idea to lock in some gains and wait for the correction.

[bUU]

Or it might be the right time to hold onto what you got, as the S&P 500 just broke 1,600 and Sam Eisenstadt is forecasting that the S&P 500 on Halloween will be trading at 1,700.

[bjl584]

Or it might be the right time to hold onto what you got, as the S&P 500 just broke 1,600 and Sam Eisenstadt is forecasting that the S&P 500 on Halloween will be trading at 1,700.

Maybe. It depends what you own and how far ahead you are on it.

[disneysteve]

Or it might be time to do exactly what I've done for years: invest regularly and systematically, month after month, through automatic deposits, with periodic rebalancing to keep to my desired allocation. Retirement is still more than a dozen years away for me.

Now if you are close to retirement, I might give different advice.

[bjl584]

Or it might be time to do exactly what I've done for years: invest regularly and systematically, month after month, through automatic deposits, with periodic rebalancing to keep to my desired allocation. Retirement is still more than a dozen years away for me.

Now if you are close to retirement, I might give different advice.

Mutual Funds yes.

But, if you enjoy purchasing and selling individual stocks and you happen to be really far ahead on a few of them, then it might be a good time to sell and take some gains.

My various mutual funds I don't touch. I periodically buy into them just like always.

But, the for the individual stocks that I own, I will be taking a look at them to see if selling some of my positions makes sense.

[disneysteve]

if you enjoy purchasing and selling individual stocks and you happen to be really far ahead on a few of them, then it might be a good time to sell and take some gains.

My various mutual funds I don't touch. I periodically buy into them just like always.

But, the for the individual stocks that I own, I will be taking a look at them to see if selling some of my positions makes sense.

Whether or not I will buy or sell an individual stock has nothing to do with what the Dow or S&P happens to be doing. That decision will be based solely on the merits of that individual company.

[dunnrobert700]

Mutual Funds yes.

But, if you enjoy purchasing and selling individual stocks and you happen to be really far ahead on a few of them, then it might be a good time to sell and take some gains.

My various mutual funds I don't touch. I periodically buy into them just like always.

But, the for the individual stocks that I own, I will be taking a look at them to see if selling some of my positions makes sense.

I respectfully disagree. I am convinced that timing the market is impossible unless you have inside information, even if you can sometimes get the illusion of success. The reasons to sell include re-balancing to keep your portfolio mix of asset classes where you want it as your risk tolerance changes or it drifts from varying returns, getting out of a company that doesn't fit your portfolio any more (e.g. it stops being a large cap, dividend yields change, goes from being a growth stock to a value stock) or if you want to spend the money.

OK one other reason, you're a gambling man and you choose to play the game...but don't call it investing.

[rennigade]

Hasnt the Dow been going up/down/up for years? Is it that shocking to see it hit 15k? Im guessing in another decade we will see it much higher than 15k.

Its getting old seeing on media sites everyday that the Dow is reaching/reached new highs. I guess we will continue to see this each day it hits a new high, which if it continues to go up will be a couple times a week. Sigh.

HEY NEWS...WE GET IT. THE DOW IS UP. PLEASE GO AWAY!

[disneysteve]

Hasnt the Dow been going up/down/up for years? Is it that shocking to see it hit 15k? Im guessing in another decade we will see it much higher than 15k.

Plus the numbers don't mean nearly as much as the percentages. For the Dow to go from 10,000 to 11,000 was a 10% gain but to go from 14,000 to 15,000 was only a 7% gain. And from 15,000 to 16,000 will only be a 6.6% gain and so on.

[KTP]

I did lighten up on my Apple stock when it crossed my previous purchase point, and I shorted microsoft at $33.70 (but closed that short today when it dropped below $33).

I think we may see a bit of volatility as we undergo a general upward trend in the market over the next year or two. When the fed cuts off the allowance though, watch out below! This shouldn't happen for 2 years or so.

I plan to play the volatility a bit with about 10% of our money, and leave the other 90% invested in Vanguard index fund to capture the general uptrend. My main account is up with the market year to date (like 10% or something?), but my trading account is up over 30% (which actually only raises my total gains to 12% instead of 10% across all accounts, so the case can be made that I am wasting my time).