{"id":1185,"date":"2008-12-08T14:05:22","date_gmt":"2008-12-08T19:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedisciplinedinvestor.com\/blog\/?p=1185"},"modified":"2008-12-08T14:05:22","modified_gmt":"2008-12-08T19:05:22","slug":"3-reasons-to-stay-in-this-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedisciplinedinvestor.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/08\/3-reasons-to-stay-in-this-market\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Reasons to Stay in this Market ???"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is as good as any headline looking to catch the attention of anyone who is grasping for reasons to stick to a plan that caused major financial (and psychological) pain over the past 12-months. The concept of Buy-and-Hold, the brainchild of Warren Buffett, has been bastardized by the asset gatherers who believe that it really means: buy-and-hold-no-matter-how-much-money-you-lose. (Also see Don’t buy and hold a bad Strategy<\/a>)<\/p>\n

When is it the right time to sell anyway? 10% down? 20%, 30%, 40%, or 50% ? While Warren Buffett has amassed a fortune by sticking to what he knows and believes in, he has also lost an amazing amount of money over the past 12-months. Of course I will not start to second guess his success, but should he be blindly followed by Joe Investor?<\/p>\n

This week, MSN Strategy Lab<\/a> brings the debate front and center as I reflect on the past few month’s market devastation and the process that was used to keep our Strategy Lab portfolio out of danger. Now up over 13%, I \u00a0 ask the question as to how anyone can just sit idle and watch profits and<\/em> principal disappear.<\/p>\n

On the heels of that commentary, Guru investor John Reese<\/strong><\/a> came to the defense of his unique computer driven methodology which combines the best ideas of famous investors. In his words:<\/p>\n

They are those who have the best track records of outperforming the market over the long term — people like Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, David Dreman, John Neff, Ben Graham and Martin Zweig. And what a lot of investors either don\u2018t realize (or simply ignore) is that several such Wall Street greats have either written or been the subject of books that detail their stock-picking methodologies.<\/p>\n

Many relied on quantitative, stick-to-the-numbers approaches, and I have used these proven and published techniques to develop my “Guru Strategies.” Each of these computer models mimics the method of a different investing great. During Strategy Lab, I\u2018ll use these models exclusively to decide when to buy and sell stocks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I like John and think he is an excellent money manager and a really smart guy. This is in no way directed at him, but his article got me thinking. It is odd that the defense of a buy-and-hold strategy always targets the fears of an investor missing the biggest days in the market and has at its root the idea that it is all-or-nothing? In other words, it appears that the assumption is that if you do not buy-and-hold, you are going to be a market timer who is looking to tactically move in and out on technical signals.<\/p>\n

I have questions:<\/p>\n