All Investments Have Gone Down In This Economy
With the stock market going down so much over the last couple of years, many people have become gun-shy about buying stocks. This is understandable since most every stock had done nothing but go down for so long. However, there is signs of life and the market has moved back up somewhat.
Getting the confidence to put more money in the market after having it perform so poorly is something that does not come easily. After all, whos to say it wont just turn around and go back down again? Figuring out a good reentry point is something that seasoned investors would have a much better chance of figuring out than the beginner. However, we do know that at some point, it will be the correct time to start buying again.
Averaging down your better holdings is a good thing to do but it can be quite scary too. This is especially so in a market that is in an extended free fall. So, at this time we are really no closer to knowing whether right now is the right time to average down. It seemed a while ago that the stock market had taken a big fall and it might have been the right time to average down some of your better stocks. But then the market continued to fall even further so it would have not worked out if you had invested more.
Although you may want to average down some of the stocks you own, it is important to get some much needed stock diversification as well. Any stock market expert will stress the importance of spreading out your risk between stocks and not putting too much in one stock or a group of stocks. When you put most of your money in one stock or one sector, it is more like gambling in that you are betting everything on one area. Good stock market investing entails figuring out a good variety of stocks that all have an above average chance of going up.
In a down market like we have had now for over a year however, there is nothing that could have prevented you from losing as all stocks have gone down. Stock diversification is always a good idea but it does not mean that you are protected from losing money. Almost everyone is in the same boat and we are all down. Pretty soon it will be time to get back in and those that have the guts and the money will end up profiting.
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