Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Investing During Volatile Times

"... attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful." ~ Warren Buffett on investing.

While Warren Buffett's emotional investment strategy is good in theory, I find executing it consistently very difficult.   For example, I've been tricking funds into the market since May 22 when Ben Bernanke first discussed the possibility of tapering bond purchases.  However, this past Monday's volatility caused me to significantly taper my ETF purchases since I had already taken losses on many of my earlier purchases.  However,  the Dow has had two 100+ point days since then.  Earlier this year, I had been selling into the rally to take profits, but that resulted is a bit of seller's remorse as many of the sold stock advance another 10-25%.

Of course, I wish I could buy at the exact bottom and sell at the exact top. But that just isn't going to happen.  So I will continue to buy specific index ETFs on down days and sell profitable stock positions when a market advance begins again.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every Wednesday for a new segment.

This is not financial  or investing advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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