Challenging to have stability in equities. Perhaps give fixed income a closer look. Of course, if interest rates rise the existing bond market will go down a bit as newer bonds have higher coupons.

Yea, kind of back and forth in the morning and then as the afternoon went on it got worse.

Yea, I understand how the bonds put pressure on stocks, but what I don’t understand is how inflation puts pressure on stocks. Seems like with higher than anticipated inflation equities would be the place to be since they actually can counter inflation by raising prices down stream to consumers. Obviously, I’m wrong on this but don’t understand why. Ice?

Holding tight I think is the best answer. Get ready for some tough weeks ahead though, but trying to time the market coming and going is too tough.

And hopefully you will have 20-30 years of dividends as well, assuming you focus on dividend generating stocks.

I agree with you, but sadly perception is reality when it comes to the markets and there is a lot of fear right now (be it justified or imaginary). I think the markets will hit their bottom before this week in concluded and start the climb back up next week.

I don’t disagree with you but the spreading of all this rampant fear is resulting in the cancelation of a lot of stuff. So many people are scared to travel or go to events now, revenue lost from things like the cancelation of a 30,000 person convention in New Orleans or Vegas will never be recovered by those communities. It’s sad, but it’s worse than the recession talk of last year because it has so many people afraid to leave their house...

That said, I’m glad to see so many people now practicing good hygiene, I’m hoping the fist bump will replace the handshake and people will keep up their hand washing once all the freaking out is done in a week or two.

Sadly this scare is combined with the oil prices going down. That is going to stimulate some things and depress others.

At this juncture, I don't think we are going to see a true "bottom" until there is medical news that shows things are under control or will be under control soon(ish): vaccine or treatment, either would be a stabilizing event. Till then everything is just a band-aid, and not a stitch, and there will keep being up and down volatility.

Yep, I think this is a very astute observation and totally agree. People are realizing how much money can be saved with no traveling. I think virtual really takes over moving forward. Same with business lunches and restaurant dinners, think how much money people are saving eating microwaveable lunches and home dinners...I don’t see dining recovering quickly.

People are getting accustomed to not spending money, getting that trend changed could be problematic.

So what is the feel here on converting an IRA to a Roth IRA vs. simply leaving it intact? I know people’s specific situation kind of dictates the decision, but man...there doesn’t seem to be a “clearly best” decision...

Ice:
What is your opinion on precious metals in the current investment environment (the metal stocks, mining stocks and direct metal holdings). Thanks.

Ha! I had not heard of this particular version of that scam but that makes absolute sense that that happens online frequently.

I for one am really enjoying your posts. You have a lot more skills than simply fixing EM machines. Please keep the data analysis flowing, it’s awesome.

Your posts in this thread are also awesome. I - like many - am happy you are posting in this thread again. I don’t view NV as being negative to you here, he’s just sharing his own views and they are also good to read.

And then where do you put the cashed in chips? Also a challenging decision… Gold, real estate, some other type of asset?

I’m a precious metals fan and usually bullish on them but this is somewhat far fetched with interest rates rising. It would take a huge surge from outside the US and the dollar weakening in comparison to other currencies which won’t happen this year (even with our high inflation rates we are still viewed as a more stable currency and when interest rates move up gold will go down).

This would be great for the country to see occur, I hope it is correct.

So, what does this week in front of us look like? It’s earnings season…

I’m somewhat worried About Reits moving forward with the higher interest rates. That said, they certainly look more attractive than the market right now.

Anyone have any experience with CrowdStreet? How about it’s competitors like RealtyMogul and YeildStreet? I see CrowdStreet has a lot of Reits open for investment now.

Cramer is both an entertainer and analyst. He certainly has some good talking points from time to time, but frequently the entertainer side of him overwhelms the financial analyst side of him and you get his inconsistent gibberish and really bad advice.