Whiplash Investing

Have you ever been struck from behind while you were in your car? It usually happens at a stoplight or stopsign. Everything is nice and peaceful and BANG you get a terrible whack. Totally unexpected. Some damage to the car and maybe to you.

It might be a day or so later as headaches start, dizzy spells and vomiting. Yuk! Best thing is to be off to your chiropractor to have bones reset.

This is somewhat like the stock market and your portfolio. You are going along comfortably relaxed and suddenly the market hits you from behind. Totally unexpected. There is damage to your portfolio and maybe to your peace of mind. Could be headaches and vomiting depending on how serious is the crash.

It's off to your broker or financial planner to get things fixed. After you get there you are shocked to find out he has no idea how to get your money back. Yuk! He is supposed to be an expert and this should not have happened in the first place. You are about find out that brokers and financial planners have been taught their trade by the big Wall Street brokerage houses. Their goal is not to make you rich but to get rich off you. Can this be true? You betcha. You will learn that advice from a broker is a eulogy for your money.

It is not that your broker or financial planner is dishonest. It is that he doesn’t know that he doesn’t know. The methodology of Wall Street is to get your money and keep it. Buy and never sell. Brokers are not taught that cash is a position. Think back. How much more money would you have today if you had been in cash from 2000 to 2003? There are times when Buy And Hold is a good idea, but there are also times when you should be in a money market.

Your chiropractor will make an adjustment to your neck and back and you will get off the table feeling better. Your broker will suggest adjusting your portfolio by selling certain equities and buying others. The chiropractor may ask that you have additional adjustments. Unfortunately, unless you have a very large account brokers forget their clients until you are faced with another headache and call him to make further “adjustment”. It doesn’t help unless he is aware of the general direction of the market – up or down. Down he doesn’t understand and has not been schooled how to protect your money.

The standard Wall Street medications of Buy and Hold, Diversification, Do Research, Dollar Cost Average and You Can’t Afford to be Out of the Market are a few of the poison pills prescribed to investors every day. There are more standard WS tablets and they will all make your portfolio smaller over a period of time.

If you have either of these types of whiplash you will need to find someone who knows the cure.