“Bulls, Bears and H O G S!! ” by Bill Bresnan

Maybe we can get someone to listen to some sense instead of all that non-sense coming from here there and everywhere????

Exactly one year ago, January 05th, 2017 the Dow Jones Industrial Averages stood at 19,963 and today, January 05th, 2018 those averages stand at 25,121, That’s a 5,153 point INCREASE or a rise of….25.8% (TWENTY-FIVE POINT EIGHT PER CENT)

Having spent 60 years involved in the world of money, I’m familiar with those three animals,namely the BULLS who make money when the market goes up; the BEARS who lose money when the market goes down and the HOGS who get SLAUGHTERED.

It’s time for all to PROTECT (at least) OR BETTER YET LOCK IN  SOME OF THOSE GAINS.

Many investors  remember the 2007-2009 sell off when the Dow Jones Industrial Averages DROPPED 7,467 POINTS or 52.9%. Most investors saw their 401K’s literally become “201K’s” having dropped over 50% in value. Those who listened to me and had an “EXIT STRATEGY” in place got out after that market dropped 8%-10% and had the bulk of their funds available to re-invest as the market stabilized at a Dow of around 6,666+/-

It’s an old Wall Street axiom……..”one is NEVER wrong in taking profits..”and “one only gets in at the bottom and out at the top by accident, not by design” Certainly a 25%+ gain in one year alone is more than just respectable and your readers should preserve those gains. If taking a 25%+ profit isn’t enough for those “HOGS” my suggestion is to call your securities professionals and put an “EXIT STRATEGY”, “TRAILING PRICE FLOOR” or other mechanism in place that will lock in the bulk of those gains just under the present market value of their portfolios……

My fear is that those “HOGS” just might get themselves “‘SLAUGHTERED” if they do nothing and just watch those gains evaporate!!! For heaven’s sake at least  take some profits. DOESN’T A BULL MARKET OFFER INVESTORS THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE PROFITS? 

But I should add that  at the same time I can find investments that now offer opportunites for extraordinary capital gains. I would consider a diversified portfolio which would include gold bullion, bullion coins, Exchange traded gold funds and shares of gold mining stocks with proven reserves that can be extracted at reasonable cost.  Do not expect Wall Street’s so called experts  to advise you into the precious metals in a timely manner, they have never been able to do that. You should already know that they are totally incapable of  offering timely advice in any investment.

In case you think I’m just “Whistling Dixie”, I spent 22+ years on the “Street” functioning in every capacity from “Runner” on the stock exchange floor to the Director of Corporate Finance and Investment Banking for a NYSE Member Firm;  I trained over 20,000+ candidates to be licensed inthe securities industry; was active on both the floor of the NYSE as well as the AMEX;have written a number of books on the world of finance and broadcast 5,493 call-in radio programs focused on money and still counting…just in case you thought I was just some reader out there “Whistling Dixie”!!!!!!!

 

*EDITOR’S NOTE…Bill is a native of New York and is a graduate of Columbia University in New York City.