Did you watch TV yesterday? Did you notice anything different on CNBC, CNN (Larry King, Glenbeck)? CNBC combined the Larry Kudlow with Fast Money, invited lots of experts, from econmist to fund managers, all trying to give us an overview of what happened in the stock market? Glennbeck got John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard on the air; while Larry got Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki (the author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad) involved. This morning CNBC got Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, arguablly the best manger in the world, to give us a sense of the economy and the market.
So are we in better position after listening to all this? What should we do with 401k/IRA, amid this crisis? What about the mutual fund or stocks in brokage account? Can Mr. Buffett give us some guidance here, since the stimulus package from President Bush and Congress seems too late, if it ever works in the economy? I can think of the following things I am doing and will do.
1) I am not worring about the 401k. In the past I check 401k fairly often. But I am trying to stay away from that web page now. Since my time horizon of 401k is more than 5 or 10 years, I believe my portfolio and dollar average cost will work out the kink by itself. The other alternative, which I tried in 2004 market correction (try to time the market, sell it now and buy later), cost me $1,000 in 2004 and more than $3,000 in today’s dollar.
2) Stocks: I sold all speculative stocks by Jan 22, I mean the recent IPOs (2007). I will only buy secular growth stock, which is not cyclical and won’t affect by current financial crisis. That means I will stay away from energy (oil, solar), metals, and US financials, home builders, consumer spending (restaurant and retailers), etc.
I am not trying to bargain hunting or be a hero here.