How're y'alls retirement accounts doing?

[tlynn78]

As has been noted before, I was one of the few people regularly outside of my house during the pandemic. You are welcome for that, btw.

Anyway, you just proved my point. You’re unhappy that a lockdown decimated those classes - and I think that’s an over statement, but let’s take it for granted - and you want tariffs to come along and jack up prices 20-25%? We’re not talking about just cars and iPhones. Pretty much everything. Along with jobs being shed as businesses adjust, when they have their own short falls.

Aww, someone's little hero fantasy isn't being fed. Maybe if you go key a Tesla, you'll feel better.

We all contribute to society in different ways. I worholidays and overnights to save lives. You call the ICE hotline so the government can round up a few Guatemalans.

Wow - so much hero-ing and you still have time to build fantasies about what I do in my own spare time! When do you sleep?. (There's an ICE hotline?)

[Weyoun]

Aww, someone's little hero fantasy isn't being fed. Maybe if you go key a Tesla, you'll feel better.

We all contribute to society in different ways. I worholidays and overnights to save lives. You call the ICE hotline so the government can round up a few Guatemalans.

Wow - so much hero-ing and you still have time to build fantasies about what I do in my own spare time! When do you sleep?. (There's an ICE hotline?)

The only thing I find truly exhausting is trying to convince the folks here of anything. Did you know that the sun rises in east? I swear it does.

[tlynn78]

We all contribute to society in different ways. I worholidays and overnights to save lives. You call the ICE hotline so the government can round up a few Guatemalans.

Wow - so much hero-ing and you still have time to build fantasies about what I do in my own spare time! When do you sleep?. (There's an ICE hotline?)

The only thing I find truly exhausting is trying to convince the folks here of anything. Did you know that the sun rises in east? I swear it does.

I don't know where you got the audacity to think that it is your role here to convince anyone of anything, but you should use both hands to put it back.

[elwoodblues]

We all contribute to society in different ways. I worholidays and overnights to save lives. You call the ICE hotline so the government can round up a few Guatemalans.

Wow - so much hero-ing and you still have time to build fantasies about what I do in my own spare time! When do you sleep?. (There's an ICE hotline?)

The only thing I find truly exhausting is trying to convince the folks here of anything. Did you know that the sun rises in east? I swear it does.

This is their answer to everything.

[Bob Juch]

The S&P rose 7% after Trump announced he's pausing some of the tariffs.

I wonder how many people he told before he announced it.

[Spock]

This is really the only time of year (spring and early summer) that I have access to CNBC as I have Sirius XM in the tractor that I use at that time.

One consistent theme over the last few days on CNBC is that the institutional investors (Hedge Funds and such) panicked and headed for the exits as stocks were dropping. Meanwhile, contrary to all stereotypes, the individual investors held firm in the face of the drop.

Hence, a lot of institutional (the so-called "Smart Money") investors missed the recovery-but the individual investors who held firm have been there for the ride up.

Oh, and BTW-today's account balance is up about 1 1/2 percent since January 20th.

If anything, the drop worked to my advantage as, in another account, I purchased some stock in various companies at what appears to be the absolute bottom of the last months.

My "fun" tech stock that apparently makes no financial sense is Palantir. A prominent AI type company.

But since I have owned it since it was $16-$17 dollars and it is currently at about $130, I am just along for the ride at this point. I have made the decsion not to pull any money off the table.

[silverscreenselect]

I consolidated my two smaller401s into an IRA with my investment adviser shortly after Trump took office (after taking the MDRs), so I don't have an accurate way of determining exactly how they have fared. However, my largest 401 (bigger than the other two combined) has stayed in place. From January 22 to April 7, its value declined over 22%. Since then, it has risen 21%, so I am now down only about 6% from the high water mark.

[Spock]

The S&P rose 7% after Trump announced he's pausing some of the tariffs.

I wonder how many people he told before he announced it.

Well, in answer to your question, per CNBC-at the very bottom-April 9th or whatever-Trump was saying very publicly that it was time to buy stock. but I doubt you listened to him and you prefer to sit with a tin foil hat on.

[Bob Juch]

This is really the only time of year (spring and early summer) that I have access to CNBC as I have Sirius XM in the tractor that I use at that time.

One consistent theme over the last few days on CNBC is that the institutional investors (Hedge Funds and such) panicked and headed for the exits as stocks were dropping. Meanwhile, contrary to all stereotypes, the individual investors held firm in the face of the drop.

Hence, a lot of institutional (the so-called "Smart Money") investors missed the recovery-but the individual investors who held firm have been there for the ride up.

Oh, and BTW-today's account balance is up about 1 1/2 percent since January 20th.

If anything, the drop worked to my advantage as, in another account, I purchased some stock in various companies at what appears to be the absolute bottom of the last months.

My "fun" tech stock that apparently makes no financial sense is Palantir. A prominent AI type company.

But since I have owned it since it was $16-$17 dollars and it is currently at about $130, I am just along for the ride at this point. I have made the decsion not to pull any money off the table.

You can get Sirius XM on your PC at home at no extra cost.

[BackInTex]

Mine is now up 4.3% since Jan 21.

Sucks, huh?

[flockofseagulls104]

The 'point' of starting this thread was a TDS swipe at Trump.
Basically pointing at a snapshot of the stock market to try and convince us the sky is falling. Since then the stock market has come roaring back.

Hasn't aged all that well, has it? Not one person besides me has pointed that out.

For those that think the stock market is an indicator of the state of the economy, that should be a teachable thing. But of course, it's not. Because it's not about reality, it's about getting Trump.



TDS is a real thing. You all that have it should see if Pfizer can come up with a vaccine for it.

[jarnon]

How to make a small fortune:

1. Start with a big fortune

2. Follow Spock’s investment strategy

[silverscreenselect]

How to make a small fortune:

1. Start with a big fortune

2. Follow Spock’s investment strategy

This reminds me of the joke about Huntington Hartford, heir to the A&P grocery fortune (I hope the people on this Bored remember A&P). One person says Hartford was worth $20 million when he died. Another say, Wow, he must have been a great businessman. The first say, Yeah, but he inherited $200 million.

Note 1: When Hartford died in 2008, $20 million didn't go as far as it once did.

Note 2: To be fair, he did donate a lot of money to charitable and philanthropic causes.

[Beebs52]

If you have a decent portfolio manager they will tell you not to base shit on politics. I even asked ours isn't a lot of variation arbitrary. Yes. Have it balanced based on age etc. Don't be stupid. It's basic. There's a reason things are viewed historically.

[BackInTex]

Just thought I'd bring this back up as the S&P 500 is hitting all time highs today, as is my company's stock. My retirement accounts are up over 8% since Trump took office. I can only assume y'alls are doing pretty well, too.

[tlynn78]

Just thought I'd bring this back up as the S&P 500 is hitting all time highs today, as is my company's stock. My retirement accounts are up over 8% since Trump took office. I can only assume y'alls are doing pretty well, too.

Mine too!

[Beebs52]

Well, yeah. Duh

[silverscreenselect]

Our net worth increased 20% during the Biden administration. I was retired that entire time (although I've done some minor consulting). Before Mrs. SSS went into the memory care home (about 2 1/4 years), our cash flow was positive each month. Since then our cash flow has been negative due to the cost of her care, but our net worth generally continued to grow. Since Trump took office, our cash flow remains the same negative as it was before, but our net worth is virtually the same now as it was then. I'll be very happy to be worth the same when we both die as we are now.

[Weyoun]

I've done fine. I reallocated some to international companies, ETFs, mutal funds, etc. As matters have it, quite a few international stocks have outpaced American ones. I wonder why?

[Spock]

I was locked out of my main investment account for several weeks starting a few weeks before we went to Scotland and ending yesterday.
My OCD handled it pretty good as I knew the cash from dividends was building up and I was able to invest it yesterday.

I lost track of what it was on Jan 20th-but if I remember correctly, it was very close to what the first quarter closed at.

From the statement for second quarter-saw a 3% gain in the second quarter-which given that the world was ending in early April seems pretty good-actually quite a percentage gain from the April lows.

Since June 30th-the account has gone up another 3.2%.

Along the way, it has gone above the account's all-time high that happened sometime in 2023 or 2024-I forget when.

FWIW-Mrs. Spock's account-which I don't touch (in mutual funds) went up about 8% in the second quarter and I have no idea what that was on Jan 20th.

I don't have time right now-but I get to enter all the dividends I got during the no access period into my spreadsheets.

Actually, I wish I could only look at it at the end of every quarter and do my dividend accounting and investment then and make any trades I want to once a quarter. That won't be possible-but I think I can do once a week maybe.

[flockofseagulls104]

Well, we all know why this thread was started. It hasn't aged well, has it?

The experts that the legacy media always relies on have been wrong about everything, so far.

All the stock markets are at record highs.

We actually had a federal surplus in June due to tariff revenue, and I haven't noticed a big inflation jump in anything. Have you?

Gas prices, a volatile indicator of the economic weathervane, are very much down. Am I wrong?

Consumer confidence is high.

The middle east is calming down due to Trump's actions.

We still have Russia and Ukraine going at it, but, gosh darn it, Trump has adjusted as the situation calls for it. So much for your bullshit that Putin controls him.

We haven't yet lost our 'democracy' as far as I can see. The only possibility is losing NYC to an out-of-the-closet communist.

And the main thing that should make you question your sources of information: We were told for years that the border couldn't be shut down. Trump did it within weeks. Zero (nada, not one) illegal border crossings in the past two months. Along with Hunter's laptop, Joe's mental deterioration and Kamala's IQ, this should convince you, if you have any non-TDS affected brain cells, that you have been fed lies, lies and more lies by the legacy media. When are you going to admit it to yourself?

When will any of you admit that maybe you are wrong? Will your TDS allow it?

[silverscreenselect]

Consumer confidence is high.

Consumer sentiment on the economy reached its highest value in five months, but still fell behind December 2024 levels as consumers struggle to shake off long-term inflation concerns, a survey released Friday found. Sentiment rose 1.8% in July to an index of 61.8 from June’s 60.7, marking its highest value since February, according to preliminary data from the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers for July. But, compared to the same month's data in 2024, the survey found that consumer sentiment has dropped 6.9%.

Translation: Consumer sentiment is higher than it's been the past few months under Trump but still lower than it was in the last months of the Biden administration.

That's like saying that the Colorado Rockies' record in June was better than in May

https://qz.com/consumer-sentiment-improved-july-umich

[tlynn78]

Well, we all know why this thread was started. It hasn't aged well, has it?

The experts that the legacy media always relies on have been wrong about everything, so far.

All the stock markets are at record highs.

We actually had a federal surplus in June due to tariff revenue, and I haven't noticed a big inflation jump in anything. Have you?

Gas prices, a volatile indicator of the economic weathervane, are very much down. Am I wrong?

Consumer confidence is high.

The middle east is calming down due to Trump's actions.

We still have Russia and Ukraine going at it, but, gosh darn it, Trump has adjusted as the situation calls for it. So much for your bullshit that Putin controls him.

We haven't yet lost our 'democracy' as far as I can see. The only possibility is losing NYC to an out-of-the-closet communist.

And the main thing that should make you question your sources of information: We were told for years that the border couldn't be shut down. Trump did it within weeks. Zero (nada, not one) illegal border crossings in the past two months. Along with Hunter's laptop, Joe's mental deterioration and Kamala's IQ, this should convince you, if you have any non-TDS affected brain cells, that you have been fed lies, lies and more lies by the legacy media. When are you going to admit it to yourself?

When will any of you admit that maybe you are wrong? Will your TDS allow it?

Nope - they are too far gone.

[Spock]

Flock>>>"Well, we all know why this thread was started. It hasn't aged well, has it?"<<<<

Truer words have never been written here.

I suspect that we have a fair number of people here that are a little (maybe a lot) disappointed that their accounts didn't continue to go down and have since more than recovered from the April flash crash.

[Weyoun]

Flock>>>"Well, we all know why this thread was started. It hasn't aged well, has it?"<<<<

Truer words have never been written here.

I suspect that we have a fair number of people here that are a little (maybe a lot) disappointed that their accounts didn't continue to go down and have since more than recovered from the April flash crash.

Of course, the reason the market is up is that TACO backed off many of his tariffs. It’s actually down a bit today because now they’re worried he may hit the EU again. There’s that movie called Charlie Wilson’s War. In it there is a story about presumptively assuming that nothing else can happen which gets repeated in the film. I’ll let you look it up yourself, so you can pass it off as your own suspender-poppin’ folk wisdom down the road.