Since I last wrote in March when it was nearing a 10% correction, the stock market today is clearly in a correction. By some measures, it has been a bear market (with NASDAQ down more than 20% in early April, for instance). So what would an investor do today? As in previous … [Read more...] about Dry powder investing helps me stay productive
DryPowder
How can it be a bull market?
As I work on putting together my portfolio’s end-of-year performance review, I thought I’d drop a brief note on the state of the markets today. As of January 24th, the stock market has fully recovered from its 2022-23 drawdown (if we go by the S&P 500 price index). … [Read more...] about How can it be a bull market?
In anticipation of economic recovery
I have been hearing concerns about the state of the economy, inflation trend, looming recession, etc. since the beginning of 2022. Some blog readers have sent me comments on this. I hear this from other individual investors who I regularly interact with. All these macroeconomic … [Read more...] about In anticipation of economic recovery
Better to be too early than too late
Stocks went down again in September, this time dropping below the June lows. Year to date, the S&P 500 index is down by about -24%. It is a veritable bear market indeed. In response to the S&P 500 touching new lows, I invested more of my dry powder cash at bargain … [Read more...] about Better to be too early than too late
More stock buys in June
Ken Fisher (founder/CEO of Fisher Investments) recently asked this on Twitter: Is the amount of ink and time spent on [this] “Bear Market” relative to the total time down below -20%—bullish or bearish? He was referring to that short period of time in June-July (about a … [Read more...] about More stock buys in June
Mid-year dry powder update
As the S&P 500 swooned to a new low in late May, down 20% from its peak, I bought more shares. I have now nearly one-third of my dry powder cash invested in stocks. What did I buy? Here’s a list of all my stock purchases since this drawdown began late last year: In my … [Read more...] about Mid-year dry powder update
Ready for a 50% drop?
In May 2020 annual shareholder meeting, Warren Buffett said this: “You’ve got to be prepared when you buy a stock to have it go down 50% or more and be comfortable with it, as long as you’re comfortable with the holding.” He went on by pointing out that Berkshire Hathaway’s … [Read more...] about Ready for a 50% drop?
Keeping it simple, unlike Mr. Ackman
Bill Ackman is a well-known and widely followed hedge fund manager. During the Covid market selloff in early 2020, he made several billion dollars by timely moving in and out of the markets. First, he bought credit default swaps to hedge against panic in the bond market. That … [Read more...] about Keeping it simple, unlike Mr. Ackman
Did you double your money since the recession?
I didn’t! If you have been following the financial media, you must have seen recent headlines like this one: “If you’d bought stocks in March 2020, you would have doubled your money by now”. This one was from Yahoo! Money. There were similar mentions in CNBC, Financial Times, and … [Read more...] about Did you double your money since the recession?
Three years of dry powder deployments
Last month, the S&P 500 Price index reached its previous high, making up for all the losses incurred in this bear market. That was my automatic trigger to sell some stocks and recoup dry powder cash. It turned out to be an unusually quick turn-around for a decline as steep as … [Read more...] about Three years of dry powder deployments