Should I dump my stocks ?

PixelPound

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81906574#Comment_81906574

Most likely not yet invested. Questions like "should I sell now" are often by newish investors at the first minor wobble.

artyboy

is that the sky I hear falling?

Nah, just a couple of F-15s. As you were…

Gary1984

Sounds like you've invested beyond your risk appetite? You should perhaps consider switching to something with a more balanced risk profile so you don't make knee-jerk reactions every time there's something bad happening in the news.

Cus

I think that there was some analysis that suggested that timing the market was successful only a third of the time versus staying in the market. If you accept that your knowledge and research is likely to be average at best then don't sell. Or if you believe that it's a random thing and no amount of study of the markets will give you any edge, then don't sell. If you believe that past performance over many years is to be relied upon without assessment, then don't sell.

Cryptix

Unless you need access to the money within the next few weeks or months, the best thing is to leave it where it is and don’t keep checking it. Investing is a long-term commitment. Red days and weeks happen but it’s psychologically challenging when you’re checking on it frequently. Easy to fall into that trap when you’re new to it.

threads76

Sort of analogous to 'should I dump my stocks' - say a week ago I'd been planning to soon invest more, do I now hesitate and either do nothing or try and 'pick' a good time to invest, or does the mantra of not timing the market apply in this scenario and I should continue to buy at the same rate/frequency that I did prior?

Aylesbury_Duck

I'm drip-feeding money in to my pension. I need to add a few thousand more into my SIPP before 5th April, so dripping in a few hundred quid every few days while the markets are dropping seems sensible.

Otherwise, I'm sitting tight on my S&S ISAs and current pension allocations.

michael1234

I'm glad I followed my own advice and partially withdrew so to speak.

If nobody tried to "time the market", the market would be totally disconnected from reality. P/Es close to zero and more than a 100 because everyone just sits there zombie like.

Where there is money, there are ulterior motives and having a rump of drones not reacting to world events is probably convenient for some.

Edit: Forgot to add that in my specific case, I picked the s&p not because I'm overweight (actually a little underweight) but because it had barely moved yesterday. Seemed extremely unlikely we were going to get a sudden jolt to the upside at the break out of war in the middle east, oil/gas rising etc. So couldn't see much risk in selling. Today we're already down 2%+ so its a bit different.

MeteredOut

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81907859#Comment_81907859

Can you share what percentage you withdrew? And please do let us know when you decide to re-invest.

But, timing the market, and rebalancing a portfolio to align with a risk appetite are not the same thing, so I think the premise of that statement is fundamentally wrong.

aroominyork

We're about to put some money into our granddaughter's Junior ISA. I'll not touching my own investments but investing new money in equities this week feels like a different proposition.