your post. It just doesn't take much to trigger one of my market rants nowadays because of the confident complacency I see, especially in 20 and 30 somethings re stocks and home prices. Investing is a zero sum game, and so I always preach caution because the system is so rigged against the hard working middle class family man, and it's the big events, like bubbles, where so much wealth is made or lost.

Often quite quickly. Ha, many assume I'm sporting a tinfoil hat, but I'm surprised just how much 2008 has been forgotten when it comes to gettin overextended w/ homes, debt, and overconfidence in the stock market. Saw too many little guys panic sell for a big loss or near bottom in both crashes since 2000, and have their shares scooped by big $, then not add money into the market until it was already 100% off the bottom.

People forget, the Dow tanked bottoming at 6,500 in Mar 09'. Whether panic selling after a big drop and missing out on the bounce, or having a dead $ portfolio for many years, both are avoidable. And the recovery, despite it being a weak 2% GDP growth, was, is, and continues to be debt fueled. Central bank, corporate, and consumer, sacrificing future growth and consumption, pulling it forward to now, guaranteeing a long dead $ w/ equities and home prices. Don't get trapped waiting "for it come back" it's not that it doesn't come back, it's that the number o years and there's plenty of investments available to retail investors that will make big profits during such times. ETF's have changed everything, you can go long, short, everything from large indices, to precious metals, commosidites and rare earth elements. Have your portfolio rise during a market downturn , not get trapped. "Hold and hope" is good for the firms, not retail investors. People trapped and hoping for rebound never switch firms. People sitting in cash or liquid investments, jump firms all the time. I've worked within the machine successfully for over a decade., and know a lot of the dirty secrets.