A couple of nights ago I was shooting the breeze with a guy on the 19th hole and he mentioned to me that he owned Intel (INTC). The memories from 2000 are finally starting to fade, so I don’t twitch as much when people mention technology stocks. He said that he had purchased Intel at $36. I knew that it was selling around $24, but had no idea that it hadn’t seen $36 since January 2001. Has buy and hold worked for anyone other than Warren Buffett? I abandoned it after almost being wiped out during the internet implosion.
On the August 9th show, the CNBC Fast Money traders discussed strategies on how to manage in such volatile markets (video here). Eric Bolling doesn’t like selling in down markets, but prefers to put hedges in place. Jeff Macke suggests selling until you can sleep. No one said not to worry because the market averages 10% annually over time. Matter of fact, the next time you hear that spiel put your hand on your wallet and run.
If this correction is like the one in February/March we still have another shoe to drop. During that downturn, all three of the major indices tested their 200 DMAs. The DOW is being stubborn this time around. That’s concerning since the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 won’t be treading water while the DOW catches up.
One of the most expensive lessons that I have ever learned is that it is much better to sell a stock and buy it back higher than to suffer through a draw down. Sounds odd, but it works. Just think about your last 10% loss that became worse, while praying to break-even. I will leave the concept of opportunity cost for another discussion.
Michael D.
Royal Arse