Morgan Stanley Layoffs, VTI keeps climbing

Yesterday Morgan Stanley announced a 2% reduction in workforce across the entire organization. It’s citing an “uncertain global environment.” That’s a code word for “recession” if you ask me.

The job cuts at the investment bank, the world’s biggest equities trading firm and a leading mergers advisor, will hit technology and operations roles hardest, said the people, who declined to be named. New York-based Morgan Stanley had 60,532 employees as of Sept. 30. via CNBC

Or it could just be they don’t want to pay all those bonuses. Either way, you don’t lay off in good times. You usually hire to keep the party going. It’s when the party is winding down that you start kicking people out.

That said, Vanguard’s Total Market Index (VTI) is still charging higher. There’s a bit of a top forming in the daily chart but I suspect the party will continue.

“As long as there is still room for pushing the market interest rate down further, the chances are reasonably good that the boom continues, and that the bust will be adjourned into the future… via MarketWatch

Of course, the market is still going up so it will continue to go up. Until it doesn’t. Usually I’d be scared of all this “market going higher” and “bust will be adjourned into the future” talk, but I’m not. The market’s going to do what it’s going to do and not a moment sooner! I tried market timing and all that jazz, only to realize that doing less = more gains for me. Strange how that works, but it appears to work just fine.

Granted, I don’t have any holdings in VTI (maybe one day when I consolidate all my retirement accounts) but it is an impressive ETF. Especially if you look at the expense ratio. It’s only 0.03%!

If I were to invest in this ETF I would split up my money into equal parts and dollar cost average in. Keep your transactions costs and expenses low. If you can’t, then ditch the ETF for the VTSMX mutual fund where it probably won’t cost you anything to cost average in or reinvest dividends. Passive Investing remains King in my book.

Learn Stock Trading, Investing, and Risk Management

There are a handful of financial and trading books that have made a HUGE impact on my investments. If you want to trade and learn about money and risk management then I suggest you get the Van Tharp book. If you want just focus on long term investing, get the Random Walk Down Wall Street book.

Hell, get them both. I owe my wealth to what I learned in those books.