Monday, June 19, 2017

Resisting My Normal Investment Strategy

I normally prefer to buy stocks of good companies that have been beaten down from their high and hold them until the stock price recovers.  However, this strategy has done very poorly for the past two years.  During this time, stocks I have purchased continued to go lower, and then didn't rebound.

So I have broadened my strategies for now.  While I continue to hold my beaten down stocks, I am now buying the stocks that have been going up, i.e. the momentum stocks.  This goes against my nature since I am buying these stocks near their highs, and expecting (hoping) them to go higher.  

For now, this additional strategy is working well.  In a little over a month, some of my buys are up
as much as 20%.   I plan to use this strategy short term and ride the rally in the momentum stocks.  I will consciously take profits on the way up, since I expect the market may correct sooner than later.

Hopefully, this strategy will yield a net gain when (not if) the market experiences a correction.

For more on Strategies and Plans, check back every Monday  for a new segment.

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

Copyright © 2017 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Monday, June 05, 2017

A Stock Market Nightmare

"Markets can stay irrational longer than you can be solvent." ~ Wall Street adage attributed to John Maynard Keynes

This market should be lower, much lower.   Why?   Trump won.   Trump has not and cannot delivered on his campaign promises. Trump will soon make several big mistakes that will crash the market.

This should have been easiest short in stock market history.   Except it wasn't.

Those that have sold out and shorted the market have not only missed out on a great rally, but have lost money in addition.

Of course, they will be right eventually.  There will be a bear market in the future.  However, if the bull market last a few more years, it will be a hollow victory since they may not be solvent by then.

For now, I remain cautious, with an optimistic bias.  I continue to look for purchasing opportunities for stocks in my buy list and sell tradable position when profitable.  I will also continue to keep a significant level of cash in case there is a major decline.

For more on Strategy and Plans, check back every Monday for a new segment.

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

Copyright © 2017 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Sunday, June 04, 2017

The New "Retirement"

For me, retirement was working enough years to get certain benefits from my company, e.g. company  retiree health insurance, and  company provided retirement funds.

However, when I hear about current bloggers retiring early, it is one of the following situations:
  • One spouse quits working, while the other spouse keeps working.  The spouse that quit has "retired" in their 30s and 40s,  Often the spouse who quit working earns supplemental income from blogging.
  • An individual or both spouses quit working in the corporate world because the income from gig jobs and blogging is sufficient to cover expenses.  In some cases, the income exceeds their previous corporate job.
To me, these options did not seem to be "retirement."    I grew up in a single income family, because my mom stayed home to care for the kids.   We didn't call that retirement since she didn't receive any retiree benefits from her last place of employment.   Similarly, finding a better way to earn income, e.g. blogging, was "getting a better job by being self employed."

Here's What Millennials Are Prioritizing Instead of Retirement provide me some insight as to what is the new retirement.    It seems young adults goals are to have the financial freedom and flexibility to have their desired lifestyle.   As a colleague once said, "work to live instead of live to work."

So maybe the "new retirement" is achieving work life balance and continuing to work well into their 70s and longer.   We'll see how that works 30 to 40 years from now.

For me, I still prefer the "old retirement" model, but maybe that's no longer achievable and therefore not relevant to the current generation.


For more on New Beginnings, check back every Sunday for a new segment. 

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

Copyright © 2017 Achievement Catalyst, LLC