More Investors Say Bye-Bye to Buy-and-Hold

After I read this WSJ article I realized that we are in the buying opportunity of a lifetime. That is if you are a contrarian, emphasis mine. =)

The ups and downs of the market are prompting more retail investors to abandon buy-and-hold strategies in favor of opportunistic trading. Some want more control over their money, so they are fleeing funds and advisers — not to mention the feelings of helplessness raised by recent months’ losses. Some are attempting to recoup their losses, while others are stepping back into the markets after a recent string of stock gains and better-than-expected economic news.

and,

But others say things are different this time.“The problem I have with the buy-and-hold strategy is that it’s a bull-market strategy,” say Matthew Tuttle, a financial adviser in Stamford, Conn.“ In the bust, you give all of your profits back.” Mr. Tuttle has recently taken a more active approach to trading. While short-term investors are likely to face higher tax bills — since short-term gains are taxed at higher rates than long-term gains — he notes that some people who incurred big losses last year will be able to carry those losses forward to offset taxes in future years. By JANE J. KIM

Things are different this time? I can think of two times when “things were different” and then collapsed.  Dot-coms and Real Estate.

Update

We just can’t help ourselves. The cycles of greed and fear play out over short and longer time frames. Some are just days or minutes long, other’s are decades long. It’s September 2020 and I suspect the bull market run started that started under the Obama years is coming to an end. I think it will be a spectacular sell off as the air comes out of the market. This is why you’re seeing big movement in Bitcoin and [Gold and Silver](https://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=as_li_qf_sp_sr_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=frothedesofth-20&keywords=silver and gold american eagles&index=aps&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=xm2&linkId=ab878951facd5fcba0fdffaccb8b6573).

Even the [Rich Dad Poor Dad](https://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=as_li_qf_sp_sr_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=frothedesofth-20&keywords=Rich Dad&index=aps&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=xm2&linkId=7f8af4fccf7dd17aff8689dc44b69e0e) guy is hawking those two instruments.

There’s a time to be active and a time to be passive. I happen to believe that the passive time is all the time if AND ONLY IF you are diversified.

I recently put in trailing stops on a few of my individual stock positions. With the voltility we started seeing last week, a bunch got hit and I was taken out. Was this Active Investing, yes. Will I move the winning proceeds to ETF’s or mutual funds in the future, yes you bet!