Is is too risky to enter the market?

It\'s fear on overdrive...must admit that it has kept me awake more than a few nights especially this past two weeks wondering what happen. For all the years in investing it never prepares you for this downturn. Although you are actually having the best time in 2 decades to buy on the cheap the problem is how low can it go and honestly no one knows. Now the economic news is getting worse and we may really only see an upturn by the middle of 2010. Well, if that is the case then stock will still have another 8 months to find a bottom. How far...god knows and as for S-Chips if the corporate governance issue is not resolved then it may not participate in any rally. It\'s really hard to keep level headed...and the self fulfilling prophecy of cheap gets cheaper comes ever so true.

isn\'t this then the time to really do DCA. it might drop more but a systematic approach into investment now shld prove rewarding in years to come..

absolutely...it also depends on your picks. A lot of money is vested in the so called undervalued S chips. yes they are indeed undervalued but the problem is not the valuation but the trust in the books and management.

some good news - a tiny piece but anything like this is welcomed news, hor? March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Sales at U.S. retailers in February fell less than forecast and January’s gain was almost double the previous estimate, indicating the biggest part of the economy may be starting to stabilize. Purchases decreased by 0.1 percent, led by the slump in demand for cars, following a revised 1.8 percent jump in January, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Excluding automobiles, sales unexpectedly climbed 0.7 percent. After tumbling at the fastest pace in three decades, consumer spending may stop hemorrhaging in coming months as a drop in fuel costs and tax cuts put more money in Americans’ pockets. Still, mounting unemployment and falling home and stock values make sustained gains in purchases unlikely until late 2009, economists said. “The downdraft in consumer spending has lessened,” Ellen Zentner, a senior U.S. economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York, said before the report. “The consumer will creep back into the market. There’s a lot of pent-up demand, and when that starts to come forward, it can help the economy find some traction.”

Hmm, to be truthful what I\'ve been practising is akin to dollar cost averaging I guess. I\'ve been sticking to investing in the same companies in which I had done extensive research and adding to my position as the share price has fallen, thereby practising \"averaging down\". So yes, a lump sum will buy you more units as the price goes down, but you have to be sure you are buying undervalued quality assets, and not just cheap garbage (sorry for the bluntness !). Of course, that said, some of my companies may also be highly vulnerable to the recession and credit crunch and may not survive. But I am hoping that I turn out to be right in the long run. As an investor, I am still learning and getting buffeted by Mr. Market and his tantrums every single day. Haha.

Buy when everybody is scared.. Yup, it takes balls to do that. But you also have to buy the right stocks... In a marco market prespective, it is always good to diversify risks across, blue chips and penny stocks. Like now, it is the Blue-chip that are having a field day. The penny stocks, except those with punters\' interests are still suffering from a lak of interests.