With the markets at all time highs it seems like a bad time to invest. However, does anyone know of other ways to pick individual securities during times like these?

I was told to look at P/E ratios for individual stocks that are undervalued. Any suggestions?

Also, it looks like everyone is waiting to see what the Fed says this week. If they increase rates then that could send markets down down down.

They wont increase rates. to much political pressure from current oligarchy

I cringe when I hear people say "playing in the stock market" like it's a form of gambling. Investing via the market not like going to a casino for the weekend and sitting at the craps table where you'll likely lose. Be prudent and do your due diligence and equity investing will generate positive returns over time.

My Pot Stocks did well today, Lets go Brandon

In TLRY as well....Waiting on the miners to pick up steam again also....

I sold a bunch of Broadcom & Microsoft last Friday after already dumping some earlier this year or late last year, it surprised me how quickly it was taking up too much of my portfolio again after dumping some.

I hope y’all dumped Zillow last week, they took a hit today.

This! Nobody knows what the market will do going forward - if you are young then invest and leave it alone - over time the market has produced great returns.

Once you get within 5 years of retirement and having to use your money then scale back some on the market -

But trying to time the market is fools gold

Winner

When I talk about these things with clients, I don't recommend particular company stocks. For most average investors I tell them to look at Scott Burns "Couch Potato" investing strategy, or, if they want to buy individual stocks, I discuss the merits of dividend reinvesting in an ordinary brokerage account - will cover 'dividend aristocrats' and 'dividend kings'.

So in addition to things like P/E ratios, look at a companies dividend payout. Is it consistent over time, with steady increases over the years? Is the dividend payout ratio low enough to be sustainable? A low dividend yield can often be more sustainable (and more profitable to the long term investor) than a high % yield.

My comments:

* First and foremost, I would recommend “buy and hold strategy”, long term. Warren Buffet and other smart investors will tell you this, google it. It’s not complicated and not even something to debate.

* Buy mutual funds, such that you are diversified, holding a “market portfolio”. Small cap, large cap, S&P 500 index funds…, buy different ones. Your broker can help you achieve a market portfolio, and how to use their online tools to compare funds to indexes such as the S&P 500, Dow Jones, etc.. it’s really not that complicated.

* Companies that have dividends, mentioned above, you can buy mutual funds that hold these companies. For 30 years I have held Vanguard and Fidelity dividend growth funds, they have done great. These funds focus on companies that pay dividends AND try and grow, normally companies that pay dividends are mature/established, vs growth companies that reinvest their profits to grow. I like companies that pay dividends, it forces discipline.

* If you want to “play” and pick your owns stocks in addition to doing what I suggest above, that is fine, just make this portion of your portfolio a small percent of the total, say 5%. Keep it separate, maybe a different brokerage house.

* When picking your own stocks, I suggest you put on your business hat, think less about the stock price (your price is a “market price”), and more about the company you are buying. You think this company is well positioned for success? Is it a leader in its market? I have always focused on companies that are leaders in their industry (Amazon online retailing, Cisco in networking, Oracle in database, Microsoft in software…). What companies you think are small in their industry, but you think they will grow, steel market share from their bigger competitors that have red tape and not as nimble. You pick successful companies that make money long term, and you will make money too.

* P/E is a great thing to look at and understand. Just know if your company has a high or low P/E, it’s for a reason. High P/E, the market expects this company to have earnings that will grow in the future. Low P/E the market expects this company to have little growth. The S&P 500 average is 28. If you look at a company, and it has a P/E of 30 as an example, you buy it, and earnings grow say 40%, and it holds say same P/E of 30, what does that mean the stock price did? It increased 40%, simple math there. If a company holds same P/E over time, and grows earning 20% a year as an example, that stock price will increase 20% a year, simple math…


* I will also say you should be putting a fixed amount of your pay check in the market every pay check, automatically. I been doing this for 35 years, when do this, the concept of buying when the market is high or low, all that type of thinking goes away.

I like solid dividend stocks. However, it’s pretty tough finding a company that is paying more
than the current rate of inflation.

Build Back and Build Back Better scams have, through inflation, devalued the US dollar.

I don't invest in individual stocks much at all, maybe 4-5 plays over the years. A few rent houses that I held and sold at a good times, my company match, letting Edward Jones handle the rest has been my plan that I'll stick to. But of those plays I did make, they all worked out. The best was ENTG in 2009. Sometimes you just know. Have some cash on hand and be ready to buy at any time is the only advice I'd be comfortable giving.

The Bogleheads Guide to Investing would be a good book to start your reading list.

Set up an an account with one of the brokers that offer paper trading. It would be better to make mistakes and bad decisions with fake money before you start moving real money around.

That is a good idea as long as they are acting as a “fiduciary”. You need to ask them, they get this question a lot. Normally fixed fee of some sort.


You should hold cash (risk free investments) as a means to reduce risk in your portfolio, not as a reason to time the market waiting for a dip. Why? Because the market goes up more than it goes down, so there is opportunity cost you are missing out on when the market goes up waiting on a dip. It’s simple math.

If you are sitting on 30% risk free (cash) and 70% market portfolio (about where I am right now), because you feel comfortable with this level of risk, and the market takes a dip, snd you feel good about increasing your risk at the time and go 20% risk free/80% market portfolio or even high, that is different.

I bought it for .90. I did alright.

If you think a stock is undervalued, by all means, buy it. It does not mean you have to change your risk free (cash)/market portfolio mix. Changing your risk free/market portfolio mix is a completely separate decision (mutually exclusive) that is personal. You should absolutely evaluate your stock mix periodically, and rebalance it. If you see a stock you think is under valued and you want to buy more of it, probably a good time to rebalance your stock portfolio, sell some other stocks that perhaps have made run up and represents a higher % of your portfolio than it should.

I’m just saying sitting on cash waiting on a market dip does not make sense statistically, because the market goes up more than it dips.

I never said to sit on a significant amount, relative to your total investments. My plan for Entg worked. So well that I don't really think about this stuff much anymore.

Boom! +400

I like this line of thinking, at least for me. Especially the first couple bullet points. After that it sounds like what I let my financial guy do for me but I dont quite understand it all. Guys other comments sound good as well.
Basically, I play it safe so I wont be sorry. YMMV