Great quote about market conditions

[disneysteve]

"Some people say they want to wait for a clearer view of the future. But when the future is again clear, the present bargains will have vanished. In fact, does anyone think that today's prices will prevail once full confidence has been restored?"

I thought that was a perfect quote for today's market. How many people have posted here about stopping contributions to their retirement plans or shifting out of stocks or giving up on investing all together? I hope they read this and rethink their plans.

By the way, that quote was made by Dean Witter in May of 1932.

[Broken Arrow]

That's a wonderful quote!

For me, I've got about three more decades before I retire, so when it comes to my retirement money, I don't hesitate at all buying into this market. Many good funds and good companies are amazingly dirt cheap right now. And I truly believe that buying into it right now is going to get me much further in the end.

For money that is in the short-term to mid-term, I do things a bit differently there. Mid-term, I'm looking more into bond funds and short-term, I just stick it in my bank. So, no real exposure to the stock market risks there.

[Greg Bell]

How interesting, the same rules apply today as they did in 1932. The big question though "is there more pain to come?"

[Broken Arrow]

How interesting, the same rules apply today as they did in 1932. The big question though "is there more pain to come?"

Well, unfortunately, I have yet to meet someone who really can predict the future (though many of us, including myself do try).

But in the end, we can only work with what we do know right now, and what I do know right now is that the valuations for much of the market is ridiculously cheap. I also know that there is a huge amount of institutional and retail money sitting on the sidelines (trying to time the market in their own ways), which is poised to cause a monstrous rally that I don't intend to miss!

So, I end up doing what most passive investors are suppose to do to begin with, and it's just to keep buying into this market. Keep up my dollar-cost averaging into it.

Another way to look at this is that, if we WERE able to divine how the market will perform into the near future-- with certainty-- then the market would truly become efficient. Enough so that we would never be able to catch a break like this. Prices most likely would not be as low as it is right now, for example.

The global economy is in a tough spot right now, no doubt about it. However, the way I see it is that we can either fear it, or we can find a way to gain from it.

[jIM_Ohio]

How interesting, the same rules apply today as they did in 1932. The big question though "is there more pain to come?"

Pain in that market is going down, pain in that watching it go down hurts, or pain in that you get a headache thinking about all this?

Just invest and forget about it. My pain comes from my kids making my back sore, not anything to do with investing.

[zetta]

The bottom was in March 1933. NO ONE, not even a giant like Dean Whitter or Warren Buffet, can predict when the bottom will occur, so dollar cost averaging is a smart strategy.

[Snodog]

Im telling my wife tonight to increase her 401k contributions from 8% to 25%. Valuations are cheap all around the world.

[GREENBACK]

The media and the, soon to be, political machine want to make this sound like the great depression because it advances their cause. Obama will look great if he pulls us out of this....won't he? I really hope he does, regardless of his agenda.


Dean Witter's statement was true then and was true through every recession. The future isn't clear now but was it clear in any other recession? People are panicking because of the fear of the unknown. I think we can rely on the past to predict our future.