Nobody say stock is not a risky business. Looking past at 2000-2002, if you hold the big caps (KO, GE, MMM, PG etc), the drop is really not that bad. It return and pass the bottom eventually.
I think of the market this way… if you hold cash, you get killed by inflation (rip off by government by default); if you invest in quality companies with the long term horizon (10 years+), you are looking for growth, price appreciation, not speculation. That’s what I’m trying to do. I, as well as many, am not day trader, stock speculator, I just want to invest in great companies that can grow in value over a long period of time. Cash in USD definitely do not fit the requirement.
If there’s one thing I believe, I believe in the long term trend of the stock/bond market. It can drop BIG, real BIG, but at the end, it returns 10% annually. Unless you chicken out after 25,30% drop (buy high, sell low), if one is persistent, value oriented, I believe stock market is where people should invest. Basically, hunt for quality companies and ONLY buy at reasonable price.
