Top is in

[wienerdog]

Dead virus C2019 bounce at 10:40.  VIX is falling.  Fear is disappearing.  Are you sure the Top is in?

[Wintergreen78]

(what is a VIX anyway? I’ve never figured that one out).

Roman numeral. Sooo...that's ten minus 6 I think, so 4.

Thanks! That had really been bothering me.

No, it's not a Roman numeral.   4 would be IV, 1 less than 5.

VIX appears to be some sort of stock volatility index.

It is definitely a Roman numeral. Like in movies. MCMXCVII

That is 1,100 minus 990 plus 105 minus 2, so 213. They use it to show you how many people worked on the movie.

You are either kidding with us or don't understand Roman numerals and how they work.   MCMXCVII is

M = 1000
CM = 1000 - 100 = 900
XC = 100 - 10 = 90
VII = 5 + 2 = 7

1997, which would have been when the movie was made.    There aren't any films from 213...

No, 1997 would be IXXIIIC

[Buffaloski Boris]

This thread is getting not as funny as we continue to drop.   It will be interesting to see how chipper we are when we are dusting off the DOW 20,000 hats again.

Sorry about the butt kicking.

I doubt that this thread will be as happy as it has been should the DOW drop to 20K. With one possible exception*. It’s hard to laugh when your butt is puckering.

*(Yours truly. Being the skeptic usually doesn’t pay off. But sometimes it does.)

[Optimiser]

When is the bottom going to be in? I got my federal refund Monday and was so excited to buy the dip. Now my state refund is in and dip is even bigger, but does it have room to dip even more? I know timing the market is frowned upon, but I just want to time it a little.

[solon]

How do you spell COVID 19 in Roman numerals?

[G-String]

When is the bottom going to be in? I got my federal refund Monday and was so excited to buy the dip. Now my state refund is in and dip is even bigger, but does it have room to dip even more? I know timing the market is frowned upon, but I just want to time it a little.

No one knows. I plan on buying the dip in increments.

[Tyson]

Dips only matter if you sell during the dip.  Otherwise just keep investing if you're not FIRE yet. 

They ARE good times to buy if you have some extra cash like a bonus or a tax refund. 

[Optimiser]

When is the bottom going to be in? I got my federal refund Monday and was so excited to buy the dip. Now my state refund is in and dip is even bigger, but does it have room to dip even more? I know timing the market is frowned upon, but I just want to time it a little.

No one knows. I plan on buying the dip in increments.

I was led to believe that thorstach knows

[erutio]

How do you spell COVID 19 in Roman numerals?

I think it's spelled TOPISIN.

[wienerdog]

When is the bottom going to be in? I got my federal refund Monday and was so excited to buy the dip. Now my state refund is in and dip is even bigger, but does it have room to dip even more? I know timing the market is frowned upon, but I just want to time it a little.

No one knows. I plan on buying the dip in increments.

I was led to believe that thorstach knows

Yes our fearless leader of the Top called it back in April of 2017 (maybe off by almost 3 years but they were close).   We now are just waiting patiently for them to call the bottom so we can all get back in.  Where are you dear Thorstach market timing God?

[dougules]

Yes our fearless leader of the Top called it back in April of 2017 (maybe off by almost 3 years but they were close).   We now are just waiting patiently for them to call the bottom so we can all get back in.  Where are you dear Thorstach market timing God?

There is no bottom and will never be. Amen. 

[G-String]

Dips only matter if you sell during the dip.  Otherwise just keep investing if you're not FIRE yet. 

They ARE good times to buy if you have some extra cash like a bonus or a tax refund.

Or selling bonds to buy stocks. 

[SwordGuy]

(what is a VIX anyway? I’ve never figured that one out).

Roman numeral. Sooo...that's ten minus 6 I think, so 4.

Thanks! That had really been bothering me.

No, it's not a Roman numeral.   4 would be IV, 1 less than 5.

VIX appears to be some sort of stock volatility index.

It is definitely a Roman numeral. Like in movies. MCMXCVII

That is 1,100 minus 990 plus 105 minus 2, so 213. They use it to show you how many people worked on the movie.

You are either kidding with us or don't understand Roman numerals and how they work.   MCMXCVII is

M = 1000
CM = 1000 - 100 = 900
XC = 100 - 10 = 90
VII = 5 + 2 = 7

1997, which would have been when the movie was made.    There aren't any films from 213...

No, 1997 would be IXXIIIC

https://www.calculateme.com/roman-numerals/to-roman  gives MCMXCVII when given 1997.

https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/number/roman-numerals-converter.html?x1=IXXIIIC&x2= says IXXIIIC is not valid.

[Wintergreen78]

(what is a VIX anyway? I’ve never figured that one out).

Roman numeral. Sooo...that's ten minus 6 I think, so 4.

Thanks! That had really been bothering me.

No, it's not a Roman numeral.   4 would be IV, 1 less than 5.

VIX appears to be some sort of stock volatility index.

It is definitely a Roman numeral. Like in movies. MCMXCVII

That is 1,100 minus 990 plus 105 minus 2, so 213. They use it to show you how many people worked on the movie.

You are either kidding with us or don't understand Roman numerals and how they work.   MCMXCVII is

M = 1000
CM = 1000 - 100 = 900
XC = 100 - 10 = 90
VII = 5 + 2 = 7

1997, which would have been when the movie was made.    There aren't any films from 213...

No, 1997 would be IXXIIIC

https://www.calculateme.com/roman-numerals/to-roman  gives MCMXCVII when given 1997.

https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/number/roman-numerals-converter.html?x1=IXXIIIC&x2= says IXXIIIC is not valid.

I’m sorry. I’m being juvenile and this has gotten out of hand. Can we get back to a serious discussion of how the top is in?

[SwordGuy]

S&P 500 is down almost another point so far today.

I'm guessing that putting Mike (Thoughts and Prayers) Pence in charge of the Corona virus response didn't calm the market.
That and the new CDC guy put in charge that can't even figure out what a paywall is.

[Telecaster]

Hey!  Maybe the top really was in? 

[BigMoneyJim]

Hey!  Maybe the top really was in?

Phew! That's the sign I've been looking for. Acceptance.

Now the recovery can begin! New top in a week.

[HPstache]

S&P 500 is down almost another point so far today.

Make that two

[TomTX]

S&P 500 is down almost another point so far today.

Make that two

I scrounged up another ~$100 sitting in cash and put it in stocks.

[Buffaloski Boris]

Hey!  Maybe the top really was in?

Phew! That's the sign I've been looking for. Acceptance.

Now the recovery can begin! New top in a week.

I thought the sign we were looking for was capitulation? Has anyone capitulated yet?

[BDWW]

My (small) tax refund came in, and I got to buy some on sale stocks! Woohoo!

[Lady Stash]

Bottom is in!  Calling it.

I am buying stock!! 

[DadJokes]

My (small) tax refund came in, and I got to buy some on sale stocks! Woohoo!

Because the Top is in, I'm keeping my $3 refund in cash.

[bacchi]

Hey!  Maybe the top really was in?

Phew! That's the sign I've been looking for. Acceptance.

Now the recovery can begin! New top in a week.

I thought the sign we were looking for was capitulation? Has anyone capitulated yet?

In-laws have. Well, they never actually got up the nerve to invest and this drove them away until the next time CNBC crows about a market peak.

[TomTX]

Hey!  Maybe the top really was in?

Phew! That's the sign I've been looking for. Acceptance.

Now the recovery can begin! New top in a week.

I thought the sign we were looking for was capitulation? Has anyone capitulated yet?

In-laws have. Well, they never actually got up the nerve to invest and this drove them away until the next time CNBC crows about a market peak.

Had to do some phone stuff with investment accounts, there seem to be a LOT of automated messages warning callers not to panic sell (in more calming words, of course)

[PathtoFIRE]

Because the Top is in, I'm keeping my $3 refund in cash.

$3 refund belongs in the Share Your Badassity section.

We're going to owe, a lot it sounds like from the CPA, so I've been holding a ballpark amount in my business account to cover the bill. However, I've accumulated more like double what I'm told we'll likely pay, and when the drop started this week, I began to ponder whether I really need double. Then! my business accidentally got a double distribution this month, with the expected on 2/25 and the duplicate on 2/26, and they told me to just keep it and I won't get a March one. So now I'm looking at $30k in my business account that I _most likely_ won't need for anything else, and while the original plan called for that to all come to me as a profit distribution after taxes are settled, now I'm thinking "in for 10k on this 10% drop, another 10k if it goes to 15%, and another 10k if it goes to 20%".

[dragoncar]

Is the options guy kicking himself in the butt yet since Top was in?

You talking about me with the March $325 puts I was holding?  My butt is sore from all the kicking.

This thread is getting not as funny as we continue to drop.   It will be interesting to see how chipper we are when we are dusting off the DOW 20,000 hats again.

Drops are fun.  It lets you know if you investment policy is correct.  ;>) I still couldn't figure out how those options worked.  If you sold today how much was it worth?

This is only week one folks.  If this is a real recession (and I'm beginning to think it will be), this is going to drag on for months...

Those options are beginning to look like a winning lottery ticket that got destroyed in the wash machine...  bought for $3.30 and now worth $22.50+.  Multiply that gain by 100(shares per contract) x 100 (contracts)...  $190,000+

Not destroyed in the wash though.  SOMEONE bought those options off him and they are feeling pretty smug

[dragoncar]

Hey!  Maybe the top really was in?

Phew! That's the sign I've been looking for. Acceptance.

Now the recovery can begin! New top in a week.

I thought the sign we were looking for was capitulation? Has anyone capitulated yet?

I’ve capitulated insofar as I actually think the local top is in.  I’m not changing my investment strategy but I’m bracing for bad times.  Wife still works so there’s some solace in the fact that we are still net investors

[magnet18]

Just in case anyone needs some help coping with the fact that the top is most definitely 100% for certainly in this time, here is a 10 minute guided meditation by none other than Jim Collins to help back you away from the cliff and take your finger off the sell button.

https://youtu.be/OOGU94eL07E

https://jlcollinsnh.com/2019/08/17/a-guided-meditation-for-when-the-stock-market-is-dropping/

(Not a rick roll, he actually made a guided meditation.  It's pretty great.)

[frugalnacho]

S&P 500 is down almost another point so far today.

Make that two

[solon]

S&P 500 is down almost another point so far today.

Make that two

Make that four

[HPstache]

S&P 500 is down almost another point so far today.

Make that two

Make it two x two

[PathtoFIRE]

<snip> now I'm thinking "in for 10k on this 10% drop, another 10k if it goes to 15%, and another 10k if it goes to 20%".

Sorry guys, I execute the trade at 3pm EST, and thought for sure this would be the impetus the market would need to bottom out and erase the losses, but I guess I market timed and now we're definitely in correction territory for the SP500. Though now I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't have put in more...

[Buffaloski Boris]

S+P closed under 3000.

The top (for today) was in.

[achvfi]

S&P 500 is down almost another point so far today.

Make that two

Make that 4.5

[nereo]

Where is the Great Thorstache??!!

Oh mighty one, who predicted the top just four weeks ago (close enough for horse shoes, hand granades and the stock market)!

Oh seer of the markets!  Your 23rd prediction has been vindicated!

The previous 22 false tops have all been forgotten!

What wisdom have ye to share now??!!

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Is the options guy kicking himself in the butt yet since Top was in?

You talking about me with the March $325 puts I was holding?  My butt is sore from all the kicking.

This thread is getting not as funny as we continue to drop.   It will be interesting to see how chipper we are when we are dusting off the DOW 20,000 hats again.

Drops are fun.  It lets you know if you investment policy is correct.  ;>) I still couldn't figure out how those options worked.  If you sold today how much was it worth?

This is only week one folks.  If this is a real recession (and I'm beginning to think it will be), this is going to drag on for months...

Those options are beginning to look like a winning lottery ticket that got destroyed in the wash machine...  bought for $3.30 and now worth $22.50+.  Multiply that gain by 100(shares per contract) x 100 (contracts)...  $190,000+

Not destroyed in the wash though.  SOMEONE bought those options off him and they are feeling pretty smug

[HPstache]

Is the options guy kicking himself in the butt yet since Top was in?

You talking about me with the March $325 puts I was holding?  My butt is sore from all the kicking.

This thread is getting not as funny as we continue to drop.   It will be interesting to see how chipper we are when we are dusting off the DOW 20,000 hats again.

Drops are fun.  It lets you know if you investment policy is correct.  ;>) I still couldn't figure out how those options worked.  If you sold today how much was it worth?

This is only week one folks.  If this is a real recession (and I'm beginning to think it will be), this is going to drag on for months...

Those options are beginning to look like a winning lottery ticket that got destroyed in the wash machine...  bought for $3.30 and now worth $22.50+.  Multiply that gain by 100(shares per contract) x 100 (contracts)...  $190,000+

Sorry Roland.... but where are we at now ?

Edit: Approaching $275K?

[Alternatepriorities]

Thank you all!

This thread is easily the TOP thing about the sell off. Although, Listening to JL Collins soothing voice is close...

Fortunately we learned several pages ago that the thing to do during a bear market attack is to play dead... Unless it starts to eat you... Then make like a cat, and bounce because clearly the top is in.

[Monerexia]

Have to say it is tempting to try and time the bottom though. I fell for it this week--$5k in on Monday, 3K in on Tues, $1.5K in on Wed and $1K in today haha. In retrospect should have been the exact opposite.

[Monocle Money Mouth]

Have to say it is tempting to try and time the bottom though. I fell for it this week--$5k in on Monday, 3K in on Tues, $1.5K in on Wed and $1K in today haha. In retrospect should have been the exact opposite.

You'll cut yourself trying to catch that falling knife.

Are we officially in a correction now? I haven't had time to do the math.

[Maenad]

We're all doomed. DOOMED I tell you.

Homo Sapiens Top is In.

[HPstache]

Have to say it is tempting to try and time the bottom though. I fell for it this week--$5k in on Monday, 3K in on Tues, $1.5K in on Wed and $1K in today haha. In retrospect should have been the exact opposite.

You'll cut yourself trying to catch that falling knife.

Are we officially in a correction now? I haven't had time to do the math.

Yes, way past 10% down from the TOP

[Rural]

Looks like I'll be timing the market as I get paid at the end of the month and contributions go in automatically.

[maizefolk]

Wait but how do we know the difference between a brown bear market and a grizzly bear market?

[Alternatepriorities]

On the bright side, no need to re balance my stock-bond portfolio, the market is doing that for me :)

Nice of the market to take care of that for you. I was thinking I should rebalance US to International last week but was too busy/lazy to do so.

[BigMoneyJim]

I'll be "market timing" by not topping off my was-2-year-cash-cushion for two years or until a new top is in, whichever comes first.

(Market crash within my first few months of retirement was one of my bigger fears. Fear is up. LXXXIV-CXI-CXII is CV-CX.)

I may also consider stopping dividend reinvestment. With some math and then a cojones check.

[BigMoneyJim]

Wait but how do we know the difference between a brown bear market and a grizzly bear market?

Well, no, only 0.4% - 2% of us. Each year. (In addition to the annual flu deaths and other customary annual deaths.)

[maizefolk]

Wait but how do we know the difference between a brown bear market and a grizzly bear market?

Well, no, only 0.4% - 2% of us. Each year. (In addition to the annual flu deaths and other customary annual deaths.)

I see what you're saying, but you have to think long term, not just about this year or the next.

We're all going to die (eventually)! ;-)

[Alternatepriorities]

Wait but how do we know the difference between a brown bear market and a grizzly bear market?

In light of recent human/bear market conflicts, the SEC is advising investors and speculators to take extra precautions and keep alert for bear markets while in the field. We advise that investors wear noisy little bells on their clothing so as not to startle the bear markets that aren't expecting them.  We also advise investors to carry pepper spray with them in case of an encounter with a bear market.

It is also a good idea to watch out for fresh signs of bear market activity.  Investors should recognize the difference between black and grizzly bear market droppings.  Black bear market droppings are smaller and contains a lot of berry seeds and squirrel fur. Grizzly bear market droppings are full of little bells and smell like pepper spray.