Talk of The Villages Florida - How has the stock market been treating you?

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Quote:

Originally Posted by manaboutown (Post 2147470)

Just checked. My Schwab account trade platform shows one year T-bills at 4.58%.

After getting a huge capital gain in May I put 30% of it in stocks a little at a time. When 9 month T-bills topped 3% I put the rest there. That is the best I could do at the time. Stocks scare me right now.

Plus, T-Bills are exempt from state income taxes if you pay taxes in another state.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boomer (Post 2147839)

The last time the market truly tanked like this, 5% CDs were still around in bricks and mortar banks for backup.

Not only were they there, but if you owned a CD in an IRA but had reached 59 and 1/2, you could get money out, early, penalty free, under certain circumstances — like with some community banks.

But (sigh) it looks like those days are gone forever. The money is there for you, but that’s pretty much it. Banks are holding all the cards while depositors get zero, zilch, nada.

Banks doing nothing for depositors — not even giving so much as a toaster (said Boomer showing her age) — has been another driver of that old bull market we have seen running like crazy since about 2008 — with a stumble here and there — but nothing of any real consequence until now. (YIKES!)

As a boring, buy and hold, dividend investor, I shopped too soon, a couple+ months ago, and added a few companies that have been getting pounded along with the overall market, but I chose companies with (I hope) sustainable dividends, paid and increased annually for decades. Had I waited, the yields would have been even better.

Oh well, I’ll hold……and planning to maybe shop again soon.

I think this is going to be a looooong one, but what do I know…. zero, zilch, nada.

Covid and the War in Ukraine have been Black Swan events, unlike the 2007 mess which even I, bumpkin though I may be, could see coming.

I have long thought — that for this entire century — the Fed rate has been stupidly low — and now we are paying the piper. Too much. Too late.

If the dependable, boring, long time dividend payers go belly up, we are all #%*@&$ anyway, so what the heck — I am thinking about taking another chance soon by shopping again. But I have never, and will not, bet the farm — just the butter and egg money.

Meanwhile. it’s times like these, when I am especially glad that there is no advisor between me and the money. I am a seasoned woman, perfectly capable of taking responsibility for my own mistakes. Advisors I have interviewed still get 1% of the total portfolio value — whether the investor is winning or losing. That just does not work for me.

My two rules:

Know what you buy.

Know yourself.

(Btw, I don’t think the fat lady is even warming up to sing yet, but I will just cling to my decades old “Dividends pay you to wait” philosophy of investing……….I think I like that little thrill of the possibility of share price increases in the future, too. Well…. I don’t just “think” that, I know that’s just how I am.)

Boomer

As I provided earlier, brick and mortar bank CDs are only one piece of the pie. Online, FDIC insured CDs can be found for a much better rate but they won’t throw in a toaster either.

My Intel stock is still doing fine. From August 2003 through 2018, it's wavered between $25-35 per share. It's currently at $29.07. It had a huge drop recently but it also had a huge spike. Back in the late 1990's it had a huge spike as well, and then it split and I ended up with twice as many shares as I started with. Each share is now worth around thirty times what I paid for them, with twice as many of them. So I'm doing just fine.

And here we go again……

I assume today will be another huge hike………

Too much. Too late.

I cannot comprehend why the Fed let things run amok for so long, so now, we are being slammed as the Fed tries to catch what they let go.

OK…..I’m not an econ major, I’ll give you that……but would somebody who gets this, please explain how this entire stupid century of basically giving away money at insanely low interest rates was not supposed to backfire.

Boomer

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boomer (Post 2153725)

They were dealing in the short term and for whatever reason did not change their approach when economy started opening back up.

Now they are playing catchup. Why in the world is govt running huge deficit at same time?

Econ 101,
Run deficits during time of recession and surplus when economy is at full employment.

This economics major has been seeing what was going to happen a while ago.

Well, as we likely all know by now The Fed increased its rate another 3/4%.

It is still T-Bill time for me whether at tee time or tea time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by manaboutown (Post 2153846)

Well, as we likely all know by now The Fed increased its rate another 3/4%.

It is still T-Bill time for me whether at tee time or tea time.

Well, manaboutown, looks like it’s time for me to buy some T-Bills, too, but I have never done that before.

There are some limitations aren’t there, like amount that can be bought and time they must be held?

How do I buy T-Bills? I want to put some cash to work in a safe way. Are T-Bills it?

(Cliff’s Notes instructions or a link would be appreciated if someone would not mind doing a tutorial.)

Boomer

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boomer (Post 2153862)

I used Schwab.

All of the T-bills I bought mature early next year so owning them will not increase my income this year. As I previously mentioned I received a huge LTCG earlier this year and am trying to avoid any unnecessary additional income through the remainder of the year.

What Are Treasury Bills (T-Bills) and How Do They Work?

Fixed Income Pricing - Fixed Income | Charles Schwab

Hammer time. Sso the way to go

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boomer (Post 2153862)

You can buy T-bills from Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, or directly from the U.S. Treasury. I would recommend one of the first three. There is no limit on the amount you can purchase.

I prefer to use the Vanguard Short Term Bond Index fund for that type of investment, not individual notes, bills, or bonds. The current yield is 4.65 percent. Very safe, but your principal can go up or down.

Through Vanguard you can purchase but not sell treasury instruments which is why I used Schwab.

"Vanguard Brokerage doesn't make a market in Treasury securities. If you wish to sell your Treasury securities prior to maturity, Vanguard Brokerage can provide access to a secondary over-the-counter market. In general, the secondary market for outstanding Treasuries provides liquidity, and the spread between bid and offer is usually narrower than for other fixed income securities. Nevertheless, liquidity will vary depending on a specific bond's features, lot size, and other market conditions. Treasuries sold prior to maturity may be subject to substantial gain or loss."

From: Vanguard - Treasury Securities

From Schwab: Fixed Income Pricing - Fixed Income | Charles Schwab

Treasuries - new issues and secondary trades $0. Broker assisted trades $25

Treasury bills, notes, bonds
Treasury inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS)
Treasuries Floating Rate notes

I followed some of the mentions in a thread back in February, right here on totv. The discussion was about etf in the market. I took some dough and bought some. Lost nearly 30% since then.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keepsake (Post 2153916)

I followed some of the mentions in a thread back in February, right here on totv. The discussion was about etf in the market. I took some dough and bought some. Lost nearly 30% since then.

When the market goes down the etf will do the same. If you think the market will recover hold on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keepsake (Post 2153916)

I followed some of the mentions in a thread back in February, right here on totv. The discussion was about etf in the market. I took some dough and bought some. Lost nearly 30% since then.

Don't know what ETF you bought but 2/1/22 the S&P 500 was almost 4500 and is today about 3760. That is a drop of only 16.44%.