Mickey
11-02-2016, 01:35 PM
I occasionally ask myself the question "why am I in the share market?". Have I got the cohones to hang in there during significant downturns?" My answer is "I'm in the share market to help create wealth for my wife and I for our retirement". I'm not all in by any means - I have about 20% of my investments in the Share Market but it is still a substantial amount. I'm probably best described as a Value Investor but I do have a little bit of Trader in me, which creates an interesting tension. However, I find the latter more of a 50/50 game, which has beaten me more times than I've won - so at times I do have to remind myself to pull my head in and focus on the long game.
Warrent Buffett wrote "unless you can watch your stock holding decline by 50% without becoming panic-stricken, you should not be in the stock market". Easy said for a man with such wealth but I'm pretty sure he's right. There's less riskier places to invest and so each person must do their own risk analysis and decide what's best for them. The Market has tested my fortitude many times - that's for sure!
There's a thread on the NZX Forum - "Black Monday", which has continued since August last year and is currently discussing current Market events. My wife and I were on holiday in the States during August last year, which is when this thread commenced. I remember watching some of the carnage unfold on CNBC at the time and the only thing I really thought about at the time was that I was missing out on a few good buy opportunities - not how much my portfolio had dropped. Perhaps it was my frame of mind at the time - I was on holiday, the weather was great, the beers were cold, comfortable with my portfolio at the time or that I was too relaxed but not once was I concerned about how much my portfolio was down.
The Market is mostly driven by human emotion - that I'm sure of. There are definitely head winds for the Markets right now and the potential for a number of bad things to happen. I'll admit - I'm a little nervous about what I've been reading and with most of my portfolio in a sea of red, I again challenged myself as to why I'm in the Share Market and whether it's the right place for this level of investment. After considering the risks, reading lots of news items, studying the companies I've invested in and scanning the comments in the Sharetrader Forums - I've decided that it is. My portfolio errs on the side of defensive but that feels about right for me for current conditions and where I'm at in my life. I'll probably continue to top these up and collect the dividends but would divest of any share that fails to meet my requirement for increasing dividends and cash flow. I suspect there might be 1 or 2 that might fit into that category following the upcoming round of company reporting - the next couple of weeks will tell.
I'd be interested in why others are in the Share Market and what type of investor they see themselves as and any key learnings from your experiences that you might like to share.
Good luck with your investing and/or trading :)
Discl. I've been in and out of the NZX Market since the 80's. I still make mistakes. Currently holding AIR, CEN, GNE, NZR, SKL & SPK with at least another 10 on my watchlist.
Warrent Buffett wrote "unless you can watch your stock holding decline by 50% without becoming panic-stricken, you should not be in the stock market". Easy said for a man with such wealth but I'm pretty sure he's right. There's less riskier places to invest and so each person must do their own risk analysis and decide what's best for them. The Market has tested my fortitude many times - that's for sure!
There's a thread on the NZX Forum - "Black Monday", which has continued since August last year and is currently discussing current Market events. My wife and I were on holiday in the States during August last year, which is when this thread commenced. I remember watching some of the carnage unfold on CNBC at the time and the only thing I really thought about at the time was that I was missing out on a few good buy opportunities - not how much my portfolio had dropped. Perhaps it was my frame of mind at the time - I was on holiday, the weather was great, the beers were cold, comfortable with my portfolio at the time or that I was too relaxed but not once was I concerned about how much my portfolio was down.
The Market is mostly driven by human emotion - that I'm sure of. There are definitely head winds for the Markets right now and the potential for a number of bad things to happen. I'll admit - I'm a little nervous about what I've been reading and with most of my portfolio in a sea of red, I again challenged myself as to why I'm in the Share Market and whether it's the right place for this level of investment. After considering the risks, reading lots of news items, studying the companies I've invested in and scanning the comments in the Sharetrader Forums - I've decided that it is. My portfolio errs on the side of defensive but that feels about right for me for current conditions and where I'm at in my life. I'll probably continue to top these up and collect the dividends but would divest of any share that fails to meet my requirement for increasing dividends and cash flow. I suspect there might be 1 or 2 that might fit into that category following the upcoming round of company reporting - the next couple of weeks will tell.
I'd be interested in why others are in the Share Market and what type of investor they see themselves as and any key learnings from your experiences that you might like to share.
Good luck with your investing and/or trading :)
Discl. I've been in and out of the NZX Market since the 80's. I still make mistakes. Currently holding AIR, CEN, GNE, NZR, SKL & SPK with at least another 10 on my watchlist.