Now is not the time to panic. Now is not the time to pull money out of the market. Now is not the time to stop investing. Like real estate, it is a buyer’s market for stock investors. I am buying and so should you. I have been looking for any extra money to invest. I have been selling extra stuff on eBay and pinching my pennies in order to find extra money to invest in the markets.
This is the best time for beginning investors to start investing money in the stock market and in mutual funds. Good stocks and mutual funds are still fundamentally valuable, but the bear market that we are currently in and the nervousness of recent losses have driving their prices down considerably without merit in many cases. This is great news if you are just beginning starting to invest.
If you have been investing for a while now, the best thing that you can do for your future and retirement is to continue investing. Capturing dollar cost averaging or averaging down on great stocks and mutual funds is an effective and profitable strategy in the long run to lower your cost basis and capture gains when the markets rebound. And, they will rebound. There has never been a rolling 10 year period of the stock market that did not produce a positive return. In other words, the stock market is volatile and over the short term has lost money like this year. But, over a ten year period, any ten year period, the stock market as a whole has never lost money. The key is to be disciplined. Investors must be in the market for the long haul. Investing every month will ensure that you do not miss the next rebound whenever it will be. You will have perfect timing if you are constantly investing.
It has been years since stocks have been this cheap. Check out these high quality blue chip stocks that have been beat up by the market despite continuing to be leaders in their industries:
• American Express (Stock Symbol: APX) – Financial services giant is down 39% in the past 18 months.
• Google (GOOG) – Google is 42% off of its 52 week high.
• Wendy’s International (WEN) – Hamburger leader who was recently taken over by Triarc is down over $12 since its 52 week high or 34% of its value.
• 3M (MMM) – The diverse conglomerate that brought us such innovative products such as Post-It Notes is down $28 or 30% over the past year.
Disclaimer: I own shares in Wendy’s International through a DRIP.
If you enjoyed this posting, you might also like these:
1. USAA Reassures Investors and Banking Customers of Safety, Strength, and Liquidity
2. How to Pick a Good Individual Stock to Buy? – Part 1
3. Lump Sum or Dollar Cost Averaging?
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