I think the key right now is if the 'dumb' money continues to flow into stocks and mutual funds. Here is what I mean - when I was a stockbroker/adviser, right about now is when my phone would start ringing with unsolicited orders. People don't like buying when things are down, they want to see it come up and then read about it in the paper. Keep in mind that this 'dumb' money typically only goes long and comes into the market in a variety of ways - regular accounts, 401ks, IRA's, pensions, etc. I believe that 'dumb' money is the reason why over time the indexes simply continue to rise when you look at longer timeframes. Without this 'dumb' money the market would be much more rocky, volatile, etc. I'm not arguing that this is a good thing, but if you have a portion of your investable assets into ETF's currently (and are long), you are seeing nice gains for a 'simple' investment.
As somone else pointed out, the Dow is up approx 15% on the year, which is a little better than the 'average' that brokers use to sell to their clients. We were taught to show 8-12% a year is our target return. Well, 15% is great!! If you have money available, now is a great time to invest!! ... just like the old days ...
As somone else pointed out, the Dow is up approx 15% on the year, which is a little better than the 'average' that brokers use to sell to their clients. We were taught to show 8-12% a year is our target return. Well, 15% is great!! If you have money available, now is a great time to invest!! ... just like the old days ...
