You would need a wooden cross, at the crossroads at midnight..

[dryheat]

to stop this (stock)market.
I guess, since we all live longer, markets should too. But it's like flying a kite; one minute it's up there and the next it takes a dive.

[Allen]

The least little thing affects it too.

Often it is just a comment by a finacial group like Dean Witter claiming a stock is overpriced. Your portfolio can take a nose dive for basically no reason.

Because of all the munipulation investing in stocks has become more of a gamble rather than an investment.

[dryheat]

Yup, it's gamestop (whatever that is) or sportsbook, ect. A little more sophisticated than those but still gaming to some extent. Some folks are better at it than others.

[Major Tom]

If you cannot afford to lose, don't invest in stocks. Most people are not like 'Papa' Pelosi.

[Allen]

If you cannot afford to lose, don't invest in stocks. Most people are not like 'Papa' Pelosi.

True, but some people have to. Sometimes your company 401K plan is based upon stock of the company you work for. In this case a person doesn't have to contribute but if they don't they know exactly how much they will end up with. Also, as an incentive some company's match fund up to a certain %. Part of the rat race.

[Vern Humphrey]

Here's what you do:

Open an IRA.

Research the top mutual funds for last year. You can get the research free from Morning Star -- they will tell you how long the present management team has been in place, how they do in Bear and Bull Markets and so on.

Choose the three best.

Put in the max -- every month.

At the end of each year, reevaluate -- go through the selection process again. If one of your selected funds doesn't make the cut, sell it and buy the fund that replaced it.

One of the beauties of IRA is you can trade WITHIN the IRA and incur no taxes.

[dryheat]

You never day trade. Put your money in an aggressive fund when your young dial it back to conservative when older. But "riding" it out gets to be a bad strategy at about 65 yrs. There is a time table.
Then there comes a time when you don't even need money and you have to start figuring out who you're going to leave it to. I know people who agonize about that.
I remember reading about colonel Sanders. He got rich on chicken at about 65. As a kid I thought that was just so depressing. Like old guys driving corvettes; what a waste of a good car. Foolish kid thinking.

[Vern Humphrey]

You never day trade. Put your money in an aggressive fund when your young dial it back to conservative when older. But "riding" it out gets to be a bad strategy at about 65 yrs. There is a time table.
Then there comes a time when you don't even need money and you have to start figuring out who you're going to leave it to. I know people who agonize about that.
I remember reading about colonel Sanders. He got rich on chicken at about 65. As a kid I thought that was just so depressing. Like old guys driving corvettes; what a waste of a good car. Foolish kid thinking.

And when your grandchildren are born, open Universal Transfer to Minors Accounts (UTMAs) for them. You can put in a certain amount each year (currently $30,000) and by the time they turn 18, they'll have a very nice nest egg.

[dryheat]

When good news is bad news.

-U.S. stocks trimmed sharp losses seen early Friday after a much stronger than expected reading on July employment reinforced expectations for the Federal Reserve to keep aggressively raising interest rates in its bid to rein in inflation.-

This is normal.