EdJ0307 Loc: out west someplace

In August, 2010, I purchased some Caterpillar stock for $69.42 per share. At one point it had reached a value of over $162 per share. At this point it is at $90.24. Although I'm still in the black with it I predict that by the end of this month its value will be in single digits - if that much.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

At which point, I'd purchase more of the stock.
--Bob

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

As soon as it hits rock bottom, buy a ton of it. It will come back. Don't you worry. They will all come back.

ken_stern Loc: Yorba Linda, Ca

I purchase stocks for the Long Run ---- Not for short term gains ---
Caterpillar is a damn good well run Company !! --
A world leader in their field

Those are the only reasons I would trust it & continue to own it

Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

If you don't sell it you won't lose a penny! You have a good stock. You could be like me, I had a bundle of GM stock I purchased in the 1985 area. Got a nice little return each year until they went bankrupt. The Government bailed them out and they classified my stock dead. If I had just a little more, I could have used it to paper my home office! That is why I drive Toyota today!

Ollieboy

👍👍👍👍👍

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

The trick is knowing when rock bottom is, and that is just pure luck if you get it right - no one can time the market. Anyone care to guess where the bottom of this market is? Sometimes they come back - not always. I speak as someone who lost a ton in the tech crash where $155 stocks (NetAPP for example) dropped to $3.54 and 20 years later has made in back to $37 today. When they say stocks are a long term investment, they mean really LONG. The NASDAQ was ~5,000 at the peak of the dot com bubble - it took over 15 years to get back to that level. Today, it’s at 7,400 after 20 years. Remember when GE was the blue chip, well managed stock to own?

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Once upon a time...

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

I know all too well about the tech crash. I was working for a tech company. It went BK in 2001. It was the best job I ever had too. I was so sorry to see it go.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

It was brutal. We had one employee at my company commit suicide. He lost everything in the market, but owed the IRS $200,000 AMT. I’d be embarrassed to say how much I lost, but I was lying in the ER with a heart attack within a week. Learned my lesson - I don’t own one share any more and I sleep a lot better at night. Too many days sitting in front of the computer with my finger over the button to execute a sell watching it move. I made a lot of mistakes. Putting $ into a 401K is one thing, but actively buying/selling individual stocks is a different story. Some of the lessons I learned the hard way:

1) diversification doesn’t mean IBM, Apple, EMC, NetAPP, Veritas, CMGi...
2) by the time the average investor realizes the market is on a Bull run, the money has already been made by the pros - and you’re getting in just in time for the downturn
3) never invest with borrowed $ - can you say margin call?
4) no one can successfully “time” the market. The market often acts in a contrarian way - good news causes a drop, and obviously bad news causes a rise.
5) the market is all about fear and greed. An acquaintance who is a broker told me that many years ago. I didn’t believe him at the time - thought that was very pessimistic. I do now.
6) don’t expect your broker to advise what is best for you - instead it will often be what is best for him. Apologies in advance to those responsible professional brokers who read this. I am sure there are some of you, but I (unfortunately) didn’t encounter them. The majority of brokers are paid on commission, and they have every incentive to maximize that. Want to find out? Just suggest a no-load fund (which pays no commission) instead of the fund that he recommends, even though it has outperformed his recommended fund for the last ten years, and see what his response is.

EdJ0307 Loc: out west someplace

That's what I plan on doing when it gets to less than a dollar a share. The way the stock market is dropping like a rock it shouldn't take too long.

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

All "losses" are on paper, unless you make them real by selling. I don't believe in timing the market. The steepest recoveries have been after the biggest market drops.

cdayton

Well said. I use a discount investment firm (no broker), only buy dividend-paying stocks and almost never sell except to meet mandatory withdrawals from our IRA.

wds0410 Loc: Nunya

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia