Comments on: Remember This Earlier Post? Finishing Up A Wall Street Lesson From Ben Stein http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/ Simple, applicable personal finance advice for the modern world Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:12:12 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: plonkee http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/comment-page-1/#comment-19510 plonkee Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:23:50 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/#comment-19510 Hmmm. My principle is buy when you have the money, sell when you need to. I don't really pay attention to when I think the market is about to drop, and I don't often have money available when stocks are on sale. Hmmm. My principle is buy when you have the money, sell when you need to. I don’t really pay attention to when I think the market is about to drop, and I don’t often have money available when stocks are on sale.

]]> By: lorax http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/comment-page-1/#comment-19444 lorax Fri, 20 Apr 2007 01:06:36 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/#comment-19444 http://www.econ.yale.edu/~shiller/data.htm Shiller's Feb PE10 data is 29.87. Historical bubble territory, although not near the 2000 bubble. Of course, these valuations are just estimates, but I'd encourage everyone to borrow Shiller's _Irrational Exuberance_ from the library and see what this is about. http://www.econ.yale.edu/~shiller/data.htm

Shiller’s Feb PE10 data is 29.87. Historical bubble territory, although not near the 2000 bubble.

Of course, these valuations are just estimates, but I’d encourage everyone to borrow Shiller’s _Irrational Exuberance_ from the library and see what this is about.

]]> By: lorax http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/comment-page-1/#comment-19437 lorax Thu, 19 Apr 2007 23:56:42 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/#comment-19437 I'm happy people made money. Of course, we all know that Volatility is the name of the game in publicly traded equities. That 5% boost could disappear in a few hours. I'm not sure about "There really is no sector that is truly overvalued right now (except possibly housing)". PE ratios are a smidge high at around 17. PB is on the overvalued end of the scale at 2.9. PE10 is still very high (check Shiller's website for details, I think it's in the 20s). Yields are, of course, historically low - which is another pointer to overvaluation. I’m happy people made money.

Of course, we all know that Volatility is the name of the game in publicly traded equities. That 5% boost could disappear in a few hours.

I’m not sure about “There really is no sector that is truly overvalued right now (except possibly housing)”. PE ratios are a smidge high at around 17. PB is on the overvalued end of the scale at 2.9. PE10 is still very high (check Shiller’s website for details, I think it’s in the 20s). Yields are, of course, historically low – which is another pointer to overvaluation.

]]> By: MossySF http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/comment-page-1/#comment-19413 MossySF Thu, 19 Apr 2007 22:06:34 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/#comment-19413 After China dropped 9% that day -- and then had a bunch of drops, I bought 2 China ETFs and now they're up about 13% since then (about a month ago). After China dropped 9% that day — and then had a bunch of drops, I bought 2 China ETFs and now they’re up about 13% since then (about a month ago).

]]> By: Mitch http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/comment-page-1/#comment-19406 Mitch Thu, 19 Apr 2007 21:54:58 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/#comment-19406 I opened my Roth IRA on March 6th: $5000 into Vanguard Target 2045. Now it's valued at $5280.70. Haven't looked up what made that all happen, but thirty-five or forty percent wouldn't be bad for the year, not to mention six weeks. I opened my Roth IRA on March 6th: $5000 into Vanguard Target 2045. Now it’s valued at $5280.70. Haven’t looked up what made that all happen, but thirty-five or forty percent wouldn’t be bad for the year, not to mention six weeks.

]]> By: Brock http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/comment-page-1/#comment-19398 Brock Thu, 19 Apr 2007 21:11:35 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/#comment-19398 Almost entirely by luck, I ended up doing the same thing, Trent. I bought into a couple of broad Vanguard funds on 3/1 and 3/6, essentially because that's about when the check cleared on a windfall I had been figuring out what to do with. Blind luck isn't a bad way to start out investing, though it doesn't exactly hold up as a sustainable strategy. I've seen gains almost identical to yours since then. It actually makes me nervous to see that kind of gain in so short of a period, but I'm new to this and have a lot to learn still. This experience has at least taught me that low periods in the market, short or long, CAN be opportunities. I appreciate the pieces of advice that you give, as well, especially the part about not sweating a mistake. I'm investing money I don't need to survive, and I'm slowly learning to be comfortable with the fact that I'm still learning. (Your blog is a big help in that area, by the way.) Also, to previous commenter Bettsi: Welcome to the club! (The Club for People Who Are Just Starting to Pay Attention to These Things, or TCPWAJSPATT.) I just invest in index funds (and one lifecycle fund) through Vanguard: they have low costs, they get good customer satisfaction ratings, and I like their website. If I were investing in individual stocks, I probably would have used Zecco or something like that, but I'm not and may never be doing that, so I didn't do a lot of research with that in mind. Almost entirely by luck, I ended up doing the same thing, Trent. I bought into a couple of broad Vanguard funds on 3/1 and 3/6, essentially because that’s about when the check cleared on a windfall I had been figuring out what to do with. Blind luck isn’t a bad way to start out investing, though it doesn’t exactly hold up as a sustainable strategy.

I’ve seen gains almost identical to yours since then. It actually makes me nervous to see that kind of gain in so short of a period, but I’m new to this and have a lot to learn still. This experience has at least taught me that low periods in the market, short or long, CAN be opportunities.

I appreciate the pieces of advice that you give, as well, especially the part about not sweating a mistake. I’m investing money I don’t need to survive, and I’m slowly learning to be comfortable with the fact that I’m still learning. (Your blog is a big help in that area, by the way.)

Also, to previous commenter Bettsi: Welcome to the club! (The Club for People Who Are Just Starting to Pay Attention to These Things, or TCPWAJSPATT.) I just invest in index funds (and one lifecycle fund) through Vanguard: they have low costs, they get good customer satisfaction ratings, and I like their website. If I were investing in individual stocks, I probably would have used Zecco or something like that, but I’m not and may never be doing that, so I didn’t do a lot of research with that in mind.

]]> By: Bettsi http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/comment-page-1/#comment-19385 Bettsi Thu, 19 Apr 2007 20:17:00 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/#comment-19385 What service (brokerage) do you use? For the first time in my life I'm beginning to pay attention to these things! What service (brokerage) do you use? For the first time in my life I’m beginning to pay attention to these things!

]]> By: Accidental Alpha http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/comment-page-1/#comment-19383 Accidental Alpha Thu, 19 Apr 2007 19:59:08 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/04/19/remember-this-earlier-post-finishing-up-a-wall-street-lesson-from-ben-stein/#comment-19383 This is actually one reason why I like investing in individual stocks. Since each is hand-picked and tracked, I'm very familiar with them and had a pretty good idea that the drop-off wouldn't affect them in the long-term. Still, glad to hear that this worked out for you with an index fund--way to keep your cool. This is actually one reason why I like investing in individual stocks. Since each is hand-picked and tracked, I’m very familiar with them and had a pretty good idea that the drop-off wouldn’t affect them in the long-term. Still, glad to hear that this worked out for you with an index fund–way to keep your cool.

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