Selling everything when the market reaches a new all time high

Glen_Clark

The rally in share prices is little more than a fall in the value of the pound. I can't see the pound recovering any time soon because even if Brexit doesn't happen, the damage is done. Manufacturers won't invest if they might be on the wrong side of trade barriers in a few years time. Unskilled Immigrants will flood in now in case they are prevented in future. Obstructing Brexit would just give us the worst of both worlds. The disadvantages of Brexit without the advantages.

So I won't be selling assets to hold £pounds

AnotherJoe

Glen_Clark wrote: »

The rally in share prices is little more than a fall in the value of the pound. I can't see the pound recovering any time soon because even if Brexit doesn't happen, the damage is done. Manufacturers won't invest if they might be on the wrong side of trade barriers in a few years time. Unskilled Immigrants will flood in now in case they are prevented in future. Obstructing Brexit would just give us the worst of both worlds. The disadvantages of Brexit without the advantages.

So I won't be selling assets to hold £pounds

US Markets are at an all time high (nothing to do with Brexit) and the OPs question is about US markets, not UK,

JohnRo

AnotherJoe wrote: »

US Markets are at an all time high (nothing to do with Brexit) and the OPs question is about US markets, not UK,

It is about the UK currency though, which has been negatively impacted by Brexit. Selling US dollar denominated assets converts them into GBP unless you have USD accounts. The question then, as alluded to by several posters is what the heck do you buy with those liberated GBP and will whatever you do decide to buy provide any better return than having just left them where they were?

One thing to bear in mind is the cliche that when the US sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold.

george4064

I just buy and hold, I never sell anything (only recent exception was selling a large proportion of my BKG holding a few months before the EU referendum).

I buy in whenever I can afford to, usually buy in dips when I can, seems to be working pretty well so far.

bigfreddiel

you can never know when a new high is reached. So you will never know when to sell.

It's as simple as that.

Good luck, let us all know how it works out, fj

AnotherJoe

bigfreddiel wrote: »

you can never know when a new high is reached. So you will never know when to sell.

It's as simple as that.

Good luck, let us all know how it works out, fj

Eh? Of course you can.

jimjames

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Eh? Of course you can.

Without putting words in bigfrediel's mouth I'm assuming they meant that what's a new high today might not be tomorrow.

Thrugelmir

60% of return has been generated by reinvesting the income over the past 15 years. If you cash in where are you going to deposit the money? Interest rates are below inflation.

bigfreddiel

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Eh? Of course you can.

How exactly? So it drops by 1p from a peak, do you sell? The OPs logic says yes, the market has reached a new high and is now 1p down, so sell!

fj

Superscrooge

The below game generates a random 10 year history of the S & P index and invites you to choose when to sell and when to buy back into the index. Whilst you can on occasions 'time the market', it is surprisingly difficult.

http://qz.com/487013/this-game-will-show-you-just-how-foolish-it-is-to-sell-stocks-right-now/