Stock Talk

My investment manager and his army of analysts has been saying the market is getting close to bottoming out, but I'm not sure what "close" means.  And neither does he I don't think.  That being said, there are some great bargains on stocks out there.  Some stocks that I think are going to continue to do very well in the post-coronavirus economy are Nvidia, Shopify, Atlassian, Square, Microsoft, Netflix, and Salesforce.com.  

I think there are a lot of small cap stocks right now that have taken a pounding and can be picked up at a great price.  But you have to be careful that their balance sheets are not shaky and are saddled with a lot of debt.  

What's worked well for me is making sure to balance the growth stocks in my portfolio by having some big, stable company stocks that hold their value even in downturns.  An example is Kimberly Clark - maker of diapers, Kleenex, and toilet paper.  You probably wouldn't be surprised that their shares haven't dropped much at all in this meltdown.  And they pay a solid dividend.  

This is probably a great time also to invest in emerging market stocks that have also been battered pretty bad.  Buying index funds or ETF's is the best way to do that.  

I disagree with the view that you can't make a lot of money in buying individual stocks.  It's like anything - if you put in the extra effort to learn which companies are well led, in growth markets, have a competitive advantage of some sort, and are making money, buy them, and hold them for a number of years, you can do well.  Most people though just aren't interested in spending the time to do that, in which case getting some well-diversified index funds or ETF's is fine.  

I would highly suggest you just increase your 401k contribution as much as possible up to the $19,500 yearly limit if you have that option.  Putting in a decent chunk of tax free money spread out over the next several months is probably the best option for 90% of people out there.

I like to use chicken stock in many dishes, but beef stock really makes for a nice rich chili.

I have no idea if we've seen the bottom yet.  I think there are still some very unnerving economic and virus statistics to come that will spook a lot of people. Regardless, I'm pretty confident that one year from now the market will be higher than it is today -- which is ultimately all that matters to a long term investor like myself.

I'm a former market maker.  Bear markets get fast rips to the upside as we've seen.  The true bottom will take some time.

I like the collapsible folding stock I have on my Sig 556 SBR. It's Magpul and rock solid. 

Ask your broker or investment advisor how come he ain't stinkin' rich.

It's high-risk but I'm generally on the sidelines and have limited positions in domestic equities. We're a ways from the bottom. The economic data on consumer spending, GDP, and unemployment for March through June are going to be once in a century type numbers. Consider for example that by 4/4 we'll probably have destroyed more jobs in 3 weeks than were lost during 2 years of the Great Recession. If initial social distancing efforts don't work and the medical system gets overwhelmed then this will extend beyond the 8 to 10 weeks we were originally looking at. Until you see the marginal rates of unemployment claims and positive COVID tests flattening simultaneously the volatility and downside will remain. I still see 17K as a more likely bottom and while unlikely you may see 13K. 

I'm not going to pretend to know how this plays out from a political or public health scenario but the economic modeling of what happens if we remain shutdown for a prolonged period is nasty. We would have some really difficult political choices to make and the federal govt would need to conduct a much larger bailout than $2T to keep us out of a depression. Let's hope it doesn't come to that, and it probably won't but there is more downside than upside for now IMO. 

I created an account with M1 Finance, downloaded their app, made a pie (investment group) and created a $2000.00 account balance.  I invested in a pretty diversified number of stocks out of hundreds of choices.  It was easy to accomplish and feel when the market rebounds this “Pie” will do well.  The great thing about M1 Finance is you can buy percentages of a stock.  So you can get a piece of Amazon without spending $1600 for a share.  Just pick the stocks you want, dial in the percentage you want to buy and your all set.  There a many tutorials on M1.  I suggest you review them and see if this app is for you.  You can also keep deposits coming into your account on a weekly or monthly schedule with a designated amount.  I think if you have some disposable income it’s the time to buy.  Just my opinion.  Good luck.

General strategies?

I'm a total novice and just started investing recently.  Since I was so inexperienced and didn't feel confident buying and selling individual stocks I opened a Vanguard account and invested primarily in ETFs and bonds.  Stock ETFs are little less risky as they represent a number of different stocks bundled together.  Anyways, after watching my portfolio drop about 15% in three weeks I decided to sell all my stock ETFs through Vanguard (I kept the bonds).  I did that about two weeks ago and looking at the market I'm glad I did.  I'm still sitting on the money in my money market account until I feel more comfortable with the market volatility.

I find it hard to believe the market is going to turn around until the social distancing is over.  Once that starts happening I plan to reinvest in ETFs and hopefully catch it lower before it comes back up.  My hunch is we are still a few months away from that, but what do I know.  I'm pretty sure most qualified people will continue to tell you to invest regularly as usual because it's a long term strategy and fluctuations short term won't matter...just avoid large investments beyond your scheduled regular ones.

1. You can’t time the market, don’t even try. Dollar cost averaging is the way to go. If you are sitting on excess cash, inch your way into the market, unless you see a slam dunk. Good value is good value, regardless of where the market is at. 

2. Buy companies that consistently make money & companies whose products you can’t avoid, but only at the right price. All the companies I own are still making money right now. I will probably never sell these companies. 
 

 Not a long timer (beyond dumping 5-7% in a 401(k)) or expert, but here’s my guess...

the bottom is close, but it will be somewhat prolonged (at least 3-6 months, could be up to a yr or even more if there are any setbacks, flair ups, etc).

individual stocks I like and have bought: Delta, NCLH, and Slack.  Travel industry is likely to bounce back in a big way long term when restrictions are lifted, and anything telecom should also see a bump in the short term.

General strategy: buy something for the long haul, don’t try to time the market or get rich quick by picking one stock and trying to see it go up 5% and then dump it.  It takes money to make money, but don’t risk more than you can afford to lose.  
 

Best of luck!

my two cents.

i expect a gradual decline in the markets over the next month or so unless somehow a miracle treatment to this virus is proven.  but who knows how far down they will go.  so personally, i am not buying anything. in fact, i have been playing the 3x ETF market in both directions the past couple weeks and have done pretty well.  That said, they are risky over any length of time.

if one is not up to that kind of risk, i would recommend selling a portion of 401k positions into cash (no cap gains in a 401k).  then start buying in a few weeks.  there will be a lot of bargains out there (ie. airlines).  and if you are in it for the long-term, there is no need to time the bottom of the market.

The one thing I really don’t understand is the “we have already rebounded” group. People aren’t leaving their house, nobody is buying a car (for the most part), industry is grinding to a hault except a couple of sectors. This is probably the worst thing you can do to an economy. That’s looks like a 19% loss in the market then a move back up? Whew I’m not sure. I’m expecting a market downturn eventually of 40%+. When these numbers hit it’s going to get really ugly. TVIX held steady last week (tues-thurs) that never happens during a market upturn... never. The stress and volatility is still right there. 

I expect the market to bounce around for awhile.  Know body really knows. 

I nibbled on some V (visa) and KMI(Pipeline) since the drop.  I am mostly invested via work and a 401K.  I do manage some of my own money in an IRA & Roth.  I have some cash I have been holding and I am slowly moving it in the market.  

I am looking at more visa and maybe some comcast.  Good luck to all.        

To me, we aren’t even close to the worst yet.

I don't know crap about the markets, but I ended up almost all in cash on 3/9 as I was changing advisers/brokerage houses. Probably will dollar cost average back in about the time cases plateau, but until then I see a huge short term downside risk as we start to see numbers rise even though everyone should expect it at this point. Even if I am wrong, I'm willing to risk missing the much more limited upside potential in the near term.

nm

So, for me, I always default to Warren Buffets free advice: play the long game, and do as little as possible. Half this room is hyperactive and can't sit still, they feel the need to do things, things they convince themselves will make a difference, it wont, but there are plenty of "experts" who will stand in line to take your money and tell you what you want to hear. The other half of the room is lazy, will sit on their investments, ride out the fluctuations in the market, and come out on top, without having paid all those fees to "experts."

Buy Microsoft, Amazon, T- Mobile: rationale - quality growth stocks leveraging cloud computing, future of retail will be Amazon, Costco and Walmart and 5G

Buy Proctor and Gamble, Johnson & Johnson and Coca Cola: rationale, all three companies have paid a dividend and have raised their dividend each year for the last 50 years. Only 10 Elite Dividend paying companies have done this in the S&P 500. KO, yields about 4%.

Dead cat bounce

Dont believe a significant market bottom is going to happen in April, lows will be tested again, the but it is a great time for longer term investments, especially the monster tech companies FANMAA/ FANMAN.   Cash is king as more world wide broad based pain,emotional uncertainty/volatilitiy very likely to come though the summer, not as well defined as 2008's totally economic recession.

Buying relative dips and really maxing out early and often on taxed deferred instruments with boring Vanguard/Fidelity index 500 funds or EFTs  with Warren Bufffet loooong term net solid returns is tried and true.

For "shits and giggles" TESLA is pretty volatile stock that's entertaining to watch. Getting slammed last week which is usually a great time to contrarian buy, especially as oil prices likely going up at some point soon.

I

Tesla, bitches. Tesla.

Just sticking with regular investing in Vanguard index funds.

My wild ass guess is that the markets are going lower. I know that stocks are forward-looking, but I don't think people and the market fully appreciate how overwhelmed our healthcare system is going to be, how bad the economy is going to get, and how slowly consumers will return to spending when things do recover.

 Apple (AAPL) was at a great low last week of $225 when I bought and still is around $250. It will be back up to the $320 range. Also if Boeing (BA) drops below $100 again it would be a great buy. Also, doubled down on my Costco (COST) and Visa (V) holdings.

Asking for a friend.  Is Moderna's vaccine based on the spike proteins or on the viral capsule/membrane?