Advice from a loser

[Buckrub]

I've lost 2.5% of my "paper wealth" in last two days. So take this advice with a grain of salt.

But here is a Mutual Fund that if you can possibly get it, you need to........but wait till the bottom hits. FBIOX.

I sold it 11/2012 for $90 cause I was afraid of the government shutdown deal. Sigh. It was at $206 just the other day. With the downturn, it's below $200. It has skyrocketed for years, and I bet it does again. I failed to buy it then...........I failed to buy it at $155 because I thought that was too high....... I failed to buy it at $190........and now I don't own any. But if things go south, and the price goes considerably lower, BUY IT. Remember, you heard it here first... And if you can't get that Fund, get RYOIX. I bought in on that at $43.88 and it's still at $69.82 even with last two days losses.

For 'verification'...........I bought Wendy's stock at $7.89..................and sold it the other day when it was skyrocketing, at $9.185......it hit $9.22 but I couldn't catch it at that. It's back down to $8.88.

That is all. Warren Buffett signing off.

[Thumper]

I used to contribute to Lynn's IRA every year, but when our finances went into the toilet, I had to quit contributing. Problem is, everything that we'd built up in the IRA, also went down the toilet with the economy collapse. Due to last year's eBay sales, I was able to contribute this year (the first time in 9 years!). Just last week, we deposited $6500 (the max) ... and now this crap hits ONE week later. Story of my life. :(

[BarryBobPosthole]

What crap hit? Y'all need to calm the eff down.

BKB

[Chicken Dinner]

What crap hit? What did I miss? FWIW, the overall market is at an all time record high. If you'd just let it ride back in 2009, you'd be ahead of where you were before the downturn.

[LJ3]

Yeah, what they asked. What crap? where did it hit? was a fan involved?

[Buckrub]

Pete Seeger died, man! Geeze.

[Thumper]

The market has been tanking for about 4-5 days now.

We're in for the long term ... it's just the timing that was ironic and kinda sucks. I could have contributed up until April 15th for this year, but made the deposit to try for an extra few months of gain. The market started a downward spiral two days after the deposit.

[Buckrub]

Dude.

I converted my 401K to IRA in June 2008, when I was 60. I put 1/2 of my money in OIL FUNDS. They tanked. But I moved them around and in April of 2009, it all started back up. If I had put that other half in FBIOX at that time, I'd have made over $200,000 just on that alone.

You can learn what is hot and sells on Ebay and what is not? Then you can learn what to invest in.

You want a SAFE investment? Go put every nickel you got, today, RIGHT NOW, in FASIX. I am not kidding here, Jimbo. Go do it right now. The fund is as down as it's gonna get (It lost about 4 cents a unit in this big 'downturn'), and as cheap as you'll ever buy it. It returns a dividend every month except January, and it returns a big capital gain every December. It won't tank, and it won't skyrocket. It will protect your money.

Go do it now. Today. Market is back up so it's going to cost more tomorrow.

[Thumper]

We're invested in mostly conservative funds and I don't play the shuffle funds game. Most of our investments have been pretty stable through all the mess, but the fact you lose 65% of an investment instead of 100% still sucks either way you look at it. I pretty much let it ride and let it settle where it settles (as long as they're safe, stable, investments). Chasing the market is a gamble and can be a disaster ... OR it can make you rich ... IF you're a gambler. I'm too conservative to be a gambler and stay with the safe and stable investments. They may not show the best gains, but they're pretty consistent.

BTW ... I have a broker who handles all of that and he's pretty good at what he does.

[Buckrub]

I lost 2/3 of ONE percent on FASIX in the last week. And it is going up right now as we speak. If you lost 65%, you are NOT IN CONSERVATIVE FUNDS, and you have the wrong broker, trust me.

[Big Muddy]

MY humble opinion....I wil NEVER again invest in anything, where the prices are directly controlled by other investors, the govt., or anyone else.

Last 10 acres of sorry-azzed land that I bought 4 years ago for $1,000 per acre, I can now sell for $2,700....cheap land is out there, you just gotta find it....and, don't over-look land property-tax-sales at the courthouse.

It's sad to see family land go into a delinquent tax sale, but the way I look at it, you are actually helping out the owner....he may just be, temporarily down on his luck, and can't pay the property taxes....in MS, if you purchase the tax debt on the land, the delinquent owner has 3 years to pay back the taxes(plus interest) to the buyer, and redeem his property.

[BarryBobPosthole]

I'm trying to understand what mess you are talking about. the stock market and investment funds have been somewhat stable and on a record tear the past few years in fact. there's no way you should have lost money in this market. If you have, you need to talk to a financial advisor NOW. and I'm not talking about these little bumps up and down like we're seeing this past week either.

BKB

[Thumper]

Bucky ... I simply pulled that figure out of the air. We have a very good broker and I trust him. Our account did very well through the crash ... much better than most. I'm very conservative with investments. I don't want to worry about what's hot today, tanking tomorrow. I won't get rich, but I should survive.

P-hole, the present market doesn't bother me. Daily ups and downs are to be expected and we're in for the long term. I was just joining Bucky's thread. It was just ironic that two days after I threw a wad of cash into the market, the market hit a (temporary I'm sure) downward spiral. The subject is getting a bit exaggerated as the thread progresses I think. I'm not concerned.

Edward, with the housing crash, real estate hasn't been the best investment lately either ... at least not here. Everything has it's ups and downs.

[Big Muddy]

Thump, I'm not talking about your type real estate....I'd never buy anything with a house on it, with the intention of the house being the big asset or selling feature ....I'm talking about raw dirt outside the city limits.

[BarryBobPosthole]

I wish like hell I'd have invested in land when I was younger. Now I don't have the cash flow to do it. As Eddie says, its one of the best investments you can make.

BKB

[Thumper]

I agree ... I've bought land before but really couldn't afford to play that game. Just paying the taxes and liability insurance every year kinda turned me off to it. I couldn't afford to hang onto it long enough to turn a profit, and I'm no farmer, so I didn't get to the agriculture write-off game.

[Big Muddy]

Hahaha....I don't need "write-offs", Thump....I need "write-ons"!!!....just trying to survive the times like everyone else. ;)

[Thumper]

What tickles me about this whole thread is Bucky trying to give investment advice, but I can't help going back to look at the title he gave this thread, "Advice from a loser!!" Ha ha ha ha! :D

[Buckrub]

Like every word I say here......"tongue in cheek".

I'm glad I can make y'all laugh.

[LJ3]

I appreciate the info, Bucky!

FWIW, my company's stock is doing just fine, thanks. NVR, Inc.

[Niner]

Ya wanna stock with SLOW, iceberg like growth?

General Electric (GE).

[Buckrub]

Too late. I told ya.

Stock market is up only a little, and FBIOX went up $5.16 a share!!!! RYOIX went up about same percentage. I wish I had some of one, and more of the other.

Geez.

[hotshot]

BAck to Land..... My dad just setled on 3/4 of our family farm down in Southern Indiana. There are two parcels still for sale: the woods, and section that allows access to the woods. Sad for me in many aspects, but the 5 hour drive to get there left it unreasonable for me to try to keep a piece. My grandparents passed away several years ago, and it has been rented out ever since for crops. My dad and my cousins cleared some serious cash. (my aunt passed away a year ago).
My retirement is in mutual funds.... have been doing okay. Would be doing better in Indiana repsected its teachers and unfroze our salaries. Since freesing my salary 4 years ago, I am out 25,000.00 that I would have made on top of my frozen pay.