Liquidate entire portfolio until virus is over?

DiggerUK

BananaRepublic said:

port_of_spain said:

DiggerUK said:

But this time I believe it really is different..._ 

The point about the saying "This time it's different" is that the people who say that are wrong

Not always, the crash over 90 years ago was different. I profited from the GFC but this time I am concerned, it is different and could go either way. 

I have got a little jaded by crashes over the years, what  concerns me about GFC2 is the speed.
In 2007/8 it took the best part of two years for interest rates to be floored, and a little longer than that for QE to be introduced. The equity crash itself was on a similar time frame.

Now we have had that scenario sugar rushed in less than two months, with half of UK companies suspending dividends which itself is a new development. How long for the rest to follow suit?
Those not gainfully employed has risen faster than any time in my life and is likely to get worse.

Then right out of the left field we have Coronavirus pouring petrol on a bush fire. It really is different this time..._ 

bargainhunter888

PlantMan said:

bargainhunter888 said:

PlantMan said:

I sold about 40% of my portfolio and am slowly buying back on a weekly basis

when did you sell off? are you buying back the same shares? 

Most of it is Index Trackers and I'll just buy buy the same ones, I'm also buying individual US stocks at the moment as well. 
I'm buying a little bit each week to spread my risk

I dunno what to do, but in now or just wait for another dip... feel like I’ve lost the opportunity really, assume you’re buying funds in a weekly basis rather than etf due to transaction costs?

masonic

bargainhunter888 said:

PlantMan said:

bargainhunter888 said:

PlantMan said:

I sold about 40% of my portfolio and am slowly buying back on a weekly basis

when did you sell off? are you buying back the same shares? 

Most of it is Index Trackers and I'll just buy buy the same ones, I'm also buying individual US stocks at the moment as well. 
I'm buying a little bit each week to spread my risk

I dunno what to do, but in now or just wait for another dip... feel like I’ve lost the opportunity really, assume you’re buying funds in a weekly basis rather than etf due to transaction costs?

You could wait for the next dip, then when it comes along, hold off as markets will surely go lower and you shouldn't try to catch a falling knife, and then when markets start to turn around you could hold off as it is probably a dead cat bounce and there will be better buying opportunities in the future. Repeat until markets are at an all-time high, which of course is the worst possible time to buy, and so wait for the next downturn and work your way through the same steps.

Bravepants

masonic said:

You could wait for the next dip, then when it comes along, hold off as markets will surely go lower and you shouldn't try to catch a falling knife, and then when markets start to turn around you could hold off as it is probably a dead cat bounce and there will be better buying opportunities in the future. Repeat until markets are at an all-time high, which of course is the worst possible time to buy, and so wait for the next downturn and work your way through the same steps.

Hehe! Spot on! This paragraph should be a sticky at the top of the Savings and Investments forum, perhaps it could form a warning for the unsuspecting souls who are tempted to step into the forum and be subjected to such banal and contrary discussion!

Or perhaps there should be a separate forum for traders.

bartelbe

Bravepants said:

masonic said:

You could wait for the next dip, then when it comes along, hold off as markets will surely go lower and you shouldn't try to catch a falling knife, and then when markets start to turn around you could hold off as it is probably a dead cat bounce and there will be better buying opportunities in the future. Repeat until markets are at an all-time high, which of course is the worst possible time to buy, and so wait for the next downturn and work your way through the same steps.

Hehe! Spot on! This paragraph should be a sticky at the top of the Savings and Investments forum, perhaps it could form a warning for the unsuspecting souls who are tempted to step into the forum and be subjected to such banal and contrary discussion!

Or perhaps there should be a separate forum for traders.

I have to admit I ignore the advice about drip feeding and time the market. The moment there is a dip, I invest, instead of putting money in steadily. I am investing long term and tend to pick tracker funds and safe stocks. But if I can buy them for less when the market is in decline, why not?

eskbanker

bartelbe said:
I am investing long term and tend to pick tracker funds and safe stocks.

What do you believe to be 'safe stocks'?

Bravepants

bartelbe said:

Bravepants said:

Hehe! Spot on! This paragraph should be a sticky at the top of the Savings and Investments forum, perhaps it could form a warning for the unsuspecting souls who are tempted to step into the forum and be subjected to such banal and contrary discussion!

Or perhaps there should be a separate forum for traders.

I have to admit I ignore the advice about drip feeding and time the market. The moment there is a dip, I invest, instead of putting money in steadily. I am investing long term and tend to pick tracker funds and safe stocks. But if I can buy them for less when the market is in decline, why not?

Indeed. We all have our preferred investment strategy. Mine is to drip feed, but that is my choice and is very much based on the state of my other finances.

bowlhead99

bartelbe said:
I have to admit I ignore the advice about drip feeding and time the market. The moment there is a dip, I invest, instead of putting money in steadily. I am investing long term and tend to pick tracker funds and safe stocks. But if I can buy them for less when the market is in decline, why not?

Investing 'the moment' there is a dip seems a bit impractical because over the course of the year, the market will dip on tens or hundreds of days. And presumably you won't invest on all of those moments, so will need to wait for a bigger dip to make it worthwhile.

The markets spend a huge proportion of their time at, or within 10 or 20% of, their all time highs. If you're going to wait for a decent dip of over 10 or 20%, you sometimes have to wait a very long time for one to come along, and have missed out on the gains or dividend income in the meantime. If you're investing "when the market is in decline" you would expect the asset value to decline and to be worth less than you just paid, shortly after you have done so, which must be a bit depressing, especially when if you'd been investing 'little and often' over the last few years your money would be in profit instead.

So investing the money as it becomes available to you is a pretty good system for evening things out when you're investing for the long term, which is why so many do it. I do agree that if money becomes available to you when the market is in decline, it shouldn't stop you investing. But it can be fun to try to invest more, or invest differently, on dips vs on peaks, in the hope you'll bag something that ends up being a bargain. It's just the tedious waiting around for a dip, while everyone else makes gains and dividends without you, which can take a while and be frustrating.

masonic

Regarding dripfeeding, I'll just leave this here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5827619/just-used-my-full-isa-allowance

Alexland

masonic said:

Regarding dripfeeding, I'll just leave this here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5827619/just-used-my-full-isa-allowance

Hard to believe that was 2 years ago probably my favourite thread so far but haven't heard much from the High Lord of Biscuit Accounting recently.