[Kerry Azz]

Originally Posted by diane reynolds

You may if you choose, follow him. I choose to follow scientists and doctors.

feel free to follow him he has made to many mistakes regarding COVD 19, I agree it’s time to listen to the scientist and health professionals. Things are moving to fast in our country for the worse. I’m thinking it’ll be a horrible ride for those who believe the market is going to turn around any time soon.

[greenflash245]

I wouldn't doubt it. the way people seem to disobeying the rules

[prntxpresn]

Buy gold & silver commodities - they will skyrocket according to financial advisor. Also said it will be worse than 1929!

[skyking]

I'll take that bet. S&P futures up more than .5 % now. Nervous investors make others rich.

[Heyitsrick]

Originally Posted by biker1

Your portfolio is only down 30% if you are entirely in equities. At the typical ages of those in The Villages, being entirely in equities would not be a smart move unless you plan to leave it all to your heirs.

Using real numbers, a 30% hit on a $1,000,000 portfolio is a $300,000 loss from the highs. I don't know what "only" means in your dictionary, but that's very significant.

Subsequently, you'd need a 42.8572% gain from that hit to $700,000 to bring it back to $1,000,000.

Yes, obviously no one in retirement age should be all-in on equities to begin with.

[merrymini]

Market adjustment was bound to happen after riding so high. As to not opening things up til April 1, people will just start to ignore these severe guidelines. Restrictions should start easing up in the coming month, especially if the numbers start to look better to restart the economy. I think some of the medical people may be erring on the side of caution, not that it is not correct, but this is a new virus and it may start getting better sooner than expected.

[Bridget Staunton]

Originally Posted by Jayhawk

What data do you have that differs from the guidance from the President? How about we follow his direction and maybe you will be wrong.

Great idea we should always follow the directive of our president

[justjim]

Originally Posted by Chatbrat

All I know is tomorrow morning I'm totally selling all my equities--there is no way we can turn the mkts around by labor day- 4 months of total negativity, I'll be sitting pretty with cash when things turn around as long as I'm still alive--I'm 77 --we have way more than we can spend as it stands--take my advice when the Pres says stay put till Apr 30--its the beginning

Sorry to hear. I’m not an expert by any means but my opinion is that now is not a good time to sell and take such a loss. However, it’s up to each individual to do what they think is best in their particular situation. Best wishes, Jim

[Henryk]

Originally Posted by Jayhawk

What data do you have that differs from the guidance from the President? How about we follow his direction and maybe you will be wrong.

I wouldn't believe this "president" if he said the sun will rise tomorrow. I believe Fauci.

[LiverpoolWalrus]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Correct. You should have sold when the US senators with the insider info sold

I don't understand why some people are getting trashed for selling in *mid-February* as if they had “insider information.” They were already late. The first case was diagnosed on January 21. The second came a few days later. That's when many of us decided to sell. Nobody criticized us for listening to the news and acting based on previous knowledge of how the market tends to behave under these conditions.

[erojohn]

If any one here feels that strongly you should be shorting the market. Put your money where your mouth is. That’s what makes a market.

[collie1228]

Originally Posted by Chatbrat

All I know is tomorrow morning I'm totally selling all my equities--there is no way we can turn the mkts around by labor day- 4 months of total negativity, I'll be sitting pretty with cash when things turn around as long as I'm still alive--I'm 77 --we have way more than we can spend as it stands--take my advice when the Pres says stay put till Apr 30--its the beginning

I refuse to worry about the stock market. Timing a market bottom is a fool's errand for sure, but this morning I started moving back into the market by purchasing an ETF that should be a growth engine whenever the markets turn around. Do I expect to lose money in the short run? Absolutely. Do I expect to make money by buying a quality ETF when it's on sale? Absolutely.

[Heyitsrick]

Originally Posted by LiverpoolWalrus

I don't understand why some people are getting trashed for selling in *mid-February*!!! They were already late. The first case was diagnosed on January 21. The second came a few days later. That's when many of us decided to sell. Nobody criticized us for listening to the news and acting based on previous knowledge of how the market tends to behave under these conditions.

I couldn't care less about what other people's opinions are about when/if to sell investments. There are those that say "don't sell - buy low!". I look at things differently. I benefited greatly from market increases over many years. I sold this year when I was down a grand total of 4.5% from the market highs.

My mission is to preserve capital at this time, not worry about this buy low / sell high mantra. I can easily respond to those who repeat the buy low / sell high philosophy that I DID sell high. I sold after making a great deal of money in market gains over the years. Did I sell at the absolute high of this market? No, but trust me - I've preserved tremendous gains I've made over time. And I'm sleeping quite well, lol.

If you don't need your market investments for daily living plus for doing the things you want to do in life, then fine - let it all ride. Chances are it will reward you over time. But if your nest egg is at risk and your own standard of living could be threatened by losses, that's an entirely different matter. Time can be your enemy in that regard.

[bp243]

Dr Fauci convinced the president. At least the president is listening to the pandemic experts!

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by Chatbrat

The Pres. has just extended , all guidelines to Apr. 30--anyone wanna bet we're going to be in the same boat till Sept 1

Not just health, but the mkt down to 10000. if we're lucky

I think that it will go on longer than Sept 1. The spread will only slow when we start approaching 80% infected. Then we will still have the virus around.

The only thing that may stop this is if the drug combination of Hydroxy Chloraquine and Z-Pak is approved by FDA and US manufacturers begin making huge amounts of it.

There are two problems with that. It usually takes years to get that kind of approval and it's never done without thousands of tests. The second problem is much of the material that is used to make those drugs comes from China. I don't know if we have enough raw materials in this country to fulfill the demand.

I don't what kind of power the president has over the FDA and it might be that congress needs to get involved. But the president can invoke the DPA to force drug companies to make Hydroxy Chloraquine and Z Paks.

But until there is a cure we'll be stuck in our current position.

A vaccination is at least a year away.