Just In Case You Were Thinkin' Things Are Okay...

Over the past six years, the TSX is off 16.45%. The DOW fared better. It's only down 4.52%. The broader US market, the S&P 500 is down 8.27% in the past sixty months. Yup, all three major North American markets are down for the past five years. And you're wondering why finance guy says you're not ready to retire.

Don't like to be a pessimist but I just don't see things improving with the conditions around the world.  Maybe I should change the blog title to "The Pessimistic Canadian Investor".

To end with something on a positive note, since doing this chart I checked out the NASDAQ exchange. For the same period it's up 6.2%...so, if you're into tech (Apple) you might be celebrating.

Gotta mention. I sold my Apple shares last week at $610.00. Nice gain from the $535.00 purchase price. They're down to $574.00 today.

Bouncin' Along The Top

We've all heard the expression "Bouncing along the bottom" with regard to individual stocks and even portfolio values. In this flat, volatile market I'm sure anyone who's down a bit feels like they've been bouncing along the bottom for many months now.

Me, I'm a little different. My stuff hit a multi-year, in fact, an all time high on April 1 of this year. Since then, it's been down a bit, up a bit, back and forth etc. etc. If I was a TA guy, which I'm not, I might say my portfolio value has been range bound for some time. For my thoughts about about TA guys see my post of March 17, 2010. TA Guys Make Me Crazy!

Like I said, April 1 was the all time high...then, today my stuff reached up once again, surpassed the April 1 mark and hit a new all time high.  What I find interesting is that the low point since April 1 was a mere 2.2% off the April 1 high. Now, that's been recovered and then some. All-in-all I can't complain. This tight range, touching a new high now and then is why I refer to my portfolio value as Bouncin' Along The Top!

Good luck and Happy Investing!