STREET DOGS:
There's no market timing trick
The possibility of stocks getting cut in half is real and never goes away, writes Micheal Pireu
The costliest mistake 2% investors (that is their annual return) make is timing the market. They sell after losses and buy back only when the coast is clear. The problem is not just the money you leave on the table, these mistakes leave scar tissue that compounds in our brains. Why was the Russell 2000 worth 43% more in November than it was in February [2015]? Nobody knows, but the person who did not sell in February, when small cap stocks were in a nearly 30% drawdown, does not have to worry about this now. They can say to themselves, "I have absolutely no idea where stocks are going and I do not feel the need to either. "I would rather be doing literally anything than having my retirement hinge on being able to see the future."[But] if you have decided that you are not interested in timing the market and you are going to go the buy/hold route, you must be willing to see the stocks you own fall 40% or more. Here is a good way to think about this: if you hold a 60/40 portfolio with ...
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