- Interesting article in the NY Times on resisting the urge to sell low. $$
“When a lot of people reach their threshold of pain, they sell their stocks and try to move to more secure holdings — cash, bonds, Treasuries,” said Louis S. Harvey, president of Dalbar, a fund research firm in Boston. “These decisions don’t work out very well for most people.”
Over the long haul, the average investor has badly underperformed the overall stock market: through December, over the last 20 years, the average stock fund investor has had annualized returns of only 3.2 percent, compared with 8.2 percent for the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, according to Dalbar. Shortsighted moves in down periods account for much of the deficit, Mr. Harvey said.
After having sold some stuff a few weeks ago, I’ve been starting to eye some stocks and ETFs again. I think being patient is the right course of action, but tempting to start nibbling. Maybe ahead of the month-end 401k adds. Assuming people are still doing that, of course.
- I ended up with this picture of Ming-Na for today. I was searching for Stargate Universe pictures, and Elyse Levesque, but this pic will do for today. Agreed?
- Bret Michaels recovering and taking precaution after the stroke and brain hemorrhage. Yikes.
- Happy birthday, Pac-Man! Man, the game seems lame compared to what we have now. But back in the day…
- I have the Brewers-Twins game on, and Leo Laport’s The Tech Guy.
- BP chief executive says no guarantees on efforts to cap the oil leak, as the oil mess hits Louisiana. The top kill strategy seems like it would be hard to implement. Think of trying to cover up a fire hydrant spewing water. Or placing your hand over a leaking faucet. I wish them luck.
- I like the 100-calorie packages of microwave popcorn. Seems like just the right amount for a salty snack.
- Even though I have an iPad 3G, I haven’t used it outside of a wi-fi hotspot yet. Thus, I haven’t enabled the 3G. I’m not sure I want to spend $30 a month for access when I don’t think I’ll use it that much. Maybe if I go on a long vacation or something.
