[fred boswell]

Woo Hoo..... Well we just cleared 1400. Hopefully its onward and upward. Sure has been a long steady climb. Your thoughts please.

[mgm4444]

As the saying goes: Bulls make money, Bears make money and Pigs get slaughtered -

My advice... take a little cream off the top right about now.

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by fred boswell

Woo Hoo..... Well we just cleared 1400. Hopefully its onward and upward. Sure has been a long steady climb. Your thoughts please.

Well, I'm very pleased. It's been very tough staying fully invested over the last few years but it's paid off. And I believe this is not the end of the bull market. After all, the economy is not up to speed yet. Although, there will be more bumps in the road. The market never goes straight up.

The next big move upward might come when interest rates begin to go up. That will force a lot of investors out of the government bond-market-bubble and into the stock market. The stock market will be the only game in town.

[eremite06]

14000??? That's good until the next crisis. When will inflation kick in? Too many skittish to jump in the market, even being flush with cash. Most that's invested is the money busting at the seems.

[l2ridehd]

Well lets see. If you had gone fully invested in March of 2008 you would almost be back to even. If you had done that in March of 2009 you would be up 90% now. Timing makes a big difference. There are basically only two ways to invest. Buy a few index funds that map to the total world market, determine your AA and stick with it through all ups and downs. Or try to buy and sell based on market conditions. Market timing does not work for 99% of investors. I am not smarter then all the other people working the market full time. So I assume the market is efficient and buy very low cost index funds that cover the globe, set my AA and stick with it. That forces you to sell bonds and buy stocks back in 2008 and right now has me selling stocks to buy bonds. Although I am not following my own plan 100% because I am only doing very short term bonds. Create your IPS, determine your AA and stay the course. Your returns will beat the market every time.

[BarryRX]

I have been fully invested for many years now, mostly in dividend paying stocks. I have watched my net worth go up and down, but that no longer matters to me since I am retired. My only concern is income. During the past 5 years, no matter how my net worth fluctuated (and I am at an all time high right now), my income either stayed the same or grew. The advantages of the dividend stocks is that I have never had to touch a penny of my principal in retirement. But to (finally) answer your question.....I hope that this great bull market of the last 3 months, combined with a lot of positive economic data, will encourage a lot of money sitting on the sidelines to jump back into equities and build momentum higher. But if not, I'm not concerned.....as long as those dividends don't get cut. By the way, through the crises of 2008, none of my dividends got cut and in fact, some were increased.