The Stock Market

[AugustaREGroup]

The stock market just closed below 6800 on the DOW.

A few years ago I decided to have my "retirement account" in rental homes... (Acquire rental properties, pay them off in 15 years, have them generating income, when I am tired of land lording - sign them all off to a property management company and still have a retirement income).

What are the thoughts on the stock market?
What about people like my parents, etc. that have lost half their retirement accounts?

Seems that we are in a limbo right now. Either we begin to regain stability or it really gets ugly.

How do you think the current state of the stock market is continuing to affect real estate sales volume, prices, etc?

[satxproperty]

I worked over 30 years and had a nice retirement planned. But, now my plans no longer include retirement in the foreseable future.

We are in for a tough ride.

[Justin Havre]

Man it is crazy how the stock market has tanked in the last year. Who would have thought? Here in Canada we have been hit a couple of times over the past few years. Lots of people used to invest in "Income Trusts" that paid dividents and one could double their money in a little over 3 years if you had the right funds and if you kept re-investing your dividents. It was an awesome gig. Then the Canadian government made a stop to is and I think the trust funds lost something like $25billion in a short time. Some of them were starting to comeback to the levels that they were at last year and then we got this crap.
I would say put it in your mattress or get rental properties. At Least you will have a property and not some worthless paper at the end of the day.

[glenng]

It is funny, but I am seeing more prospective buyers than previously. The stock market is not a true gauge of the economy, it is more of a reaction to what people think will happen in the future.

[Justin Havre]

I think people are becoming more comfortable investing in real estate than the stock market. Who can stomach the daily roller coaster ride when it is their life savings?

[rvolk75]

Just in the past week, I started working with two separate guys who used to invest in the stock market. They lost a ton of money, so now they wish to put their money into real estate. Both are looking for $1M+ properties.

I hear this scenario all the time now. Maybe if the stock continues going down, more people will realize that real estate is a much safer bet.

[calzephyr]

There are two schools of thought here:

1) The fundamentals of the stock market have been damaged to the point where the problem is now psychological - everyone is scared and nobody wants to buy. Without buyers the market continues down.

2) You know the saying "Buy Low, Sell High"? Well, this is "LOW" so you should be stepping up and buying.

Is fear the correct course, or is having the courage to buy the correct course?

Only time will tell.

Tom W.

[Ryocheck]

I just bought a bit of GE and BP. Both I think are great companies and will come back strong when the market returns. Today GE hit an 18 year low and is trading at a PE under 4!!!