Investing Now

At a recent investment club meeting I go to, one of the members said that he advised a family member who wanted to start investing in stocks, to instead put his money into GICs at present. He felt that now was not a good time to be buying stock. I could agree with his attitude. Personally, I am not investing any money at the present.

On the other hand, I am not selling anything. I do not sell because I am worried about a bear market coming. The only way I raise cash is by not buying anything. I do not sell stocks to raise cash for buying purposes in the next bear market. I do know people who do that and are now raising their cash levels.

We are due for a bear market and a recession. However, no one know when this will come. It could still be a few years off. Or, maybe not. One thing is sure is that this expansion is long in the tooth and currently investment will probably not provide a good return over the longer term. The thing is no one can guess when the next bear will hit and all analysts will put it off to the future, but then it is suddenly here.

We may be due for a bear market, but the current situation can play out for longer than you might ever think. Yes, you can get really good deals in a bear market and make some terrific returns, but you might also have to sit on money for years waiting for the next bear market.

In the meantime, I will wait and not buy and collect dividends on my investments. Last year was not a great year for the Canadian market. I am almost 100% in the Canadian market. I lost 7% on my portfolio, but my dividend income is up 12%.

Even though I do not think our market is overvalued as the American one is, our markets tend to fall at the same time as the American ones do. Sometimes we do the same as the American ones do (2008), sometimes we do have the same bear and recession as the US does (2000) and sometimes we do much worse (1990). We tend to have a bear market just after the US has one.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Choice Properties REIT (TSX-CHP.UN, OTC-PPRQF) ... learn more. Next, I will write about Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp (TSX-AI, OTC-AMIVF) ... learn more on Friday, February 22, 2019 around 5 pm.

This blog is meant for educational purposes only and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. I do research for my own edification and I am willing to share. I write what I think and I may or may not be correct.

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