# Are you Buying in This Market?



## FrugalTrader (Oct 13, 2008)

With the markets as low as they are, are you buying in this market environment? Or are you waiting for the volatility to settle down a bit?


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## CanadianCapitalist (Mar 31, 2009)

I've been buying periodically through the market turmoil. I wish I can tell when is the best time to buy but I can't. So, the contributions to the Group RRSPs happen automatically and I invest savings regularly. Wish I had waited for the lows of November 2008 and March 2009, though


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## bingfot (Apr 3, 2009)

I buy the same amount every month, regardless of the markets. I gave up trying to time them; you'll time right just as much as you'll time wrong, so I prefer to just buy on a set periodic basis and let the markets work their (eventual.. I hope..) magic


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## Canadian Finance (Apr 3, 2009)

I've kept making my regular contributions into eFunds in my RRSP.

Really looking forward to starting a SM in a couple months with my new house, lots of buying opportunities out there!


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## wx_junkie (Apr 3, 2009)

Well, I'm about to start the Smith Manoeuvre, and I'm pumped, but pissed at the latest market rally.

I, by nature, try to time the market. I try to fight it, but I'm always fixated on making things the *best they can be*, so I need to go in low. 

Once my SM is fully up and running, I'll be satisfied, because each month I'll have $700-$800 to invest like clock work - I'm not going to sit on it and wait. I'll just invest it on that day into what company I want.

That being said, I've got an initial lump sum to invest on the order or $22k, and yes, I'm in it for the long haul, so I shouldn't care about where my entry point is, but the "buy on weakness" in me wants to wait for a large correction. But what if a large correction comes in 2 weeks, and the trough of the correction is actually higher than were we stand right now? Arrrggghhh! But on the flip side, once invested, I could care less if this is a dead-cat bounce, and we see lower lows in the months ahead. I can handle volatility, and I certainly won't be loosing sleep (25 year window). Shoot.. I'll be thankful once this is past me and I'm into my monthly SM investments choices.  Timing is less critical on $800 bucks than it is on $22k. Ahhhh... the human brain....

Anyhow, in respect to the topic subject, yes, I am definitely a buyer in this market. Quality stocks are definitely on sale. Buy when others panic. I'm just struggling with how / when to stage in my lump sum.

Cheers.


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## lakota (Apr 3, 2009)

yes, i am buying .


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## Canadian Finance (Apr 3, 2009)

wx_junkie,

Sounds like we're in the same place... just about to start a SM and bitter about the current rally!

Of course, it's hard to complain, we could have started last September!


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## FrugalTrader (Oct 13, 2008)

Canadian Finance said:


> wx_junkie,
> 
> Sounds like we're in the same place... just about to start a SM and bitter about the current rally!
> 
> Of course, it's hard to complain, we could have started last September!


At least you guys are better off than me, I started the SM in early 2008.


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## Canadian Finance (Apr 3, 2009)

FrugalTrader said:


> At least you guys are better off than me, I started the SM in early 2008.


Yeah, that's a little rough, but as long as your holding them for a long time AND the dividends are holding up, the temporary lower price only hurts on paper.


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## wx_junkie (Apr 3, 2009)

FrugalTrader said:


> At least you guys are better off than me, I started the SM in early 2008.


EEK.

While it looks bad, and it probably would bother me to be in your shoes, it wouldn't make me loose sleep. I'd be more pissed of the *what could have been*, if I had have waited until now, rather than *my darn portfolio looks like a stupid quarter-pipe".


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## CanadianCapitalist (Mar 31, 2009)

wx_junkie said:


> I, by nature, try to time the market. I try to fight it, but I'm always fixated on making things the *best they can be*, so I need to go in low.


It is close to impossible to successfully time short term moves. All you can do is buy when you think prices are "reasonable". You might get lower prices but then you might keep waiting for a long time. Warren Buffet puts it best: "If you wait for the robins to sing, spring might be over" (or something to that effect).


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

*still buying - sort of*

My wife's RRSP plan through work is still on auto pilot - aside from that, we've only made a few small new contributions here and there - hoarding, hoarding hoarding mentality.

I'm itching though. We did sell out of some mutual funds at various smaller rallies and bought back into ETFs so although not a lot of new money is going in, some of it is working much better for us.


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## Northern Engineer (Apr 3, 2009)

Great idea on creating the forum, guys.

I am also buying right now. I just started my "career" three months ago and have a 40 year timeline, so volatility doesn't scare me at all. I've been giving as hard as possible to the DCPP at work to maximize my employer contribution, and I just opened a TD TFSA Mutual Funds account, which I'll switch to an eSeries account this week and start investing my savings automatically.

It's good to see I'm not the only one looking to use this dip (or recession or whatever you want to call it) to maximize gains.


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## Alexandra (Apr 3, 2009)

Yes, I am definitely still buying. I keep making contributions regularly through my work (which has a percentage match) and separately through my financial advisor as well. I am stoked at the number of shares my dollars buy compared to last year. I wish I wasn't so unsure about my job future, or I would buy a larger amount instead of small steady deposits, but I figure it's better to have a larger emergency fund right now. 


There are very few people who can accurately predict "the bottom". And by the time people figure out where the bottom is, prices have already risen.


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## Boozer (Apr 3, 2009)

I still have 3 investment plans on autopilot. Haven't been making many stock plays on the side though.


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## GeanOliveira (Apr 3, 2009)

Northern Engineer said:


> Great idea on creating the forum, guys.
> 
> I am also buying right now. I just started my "career" three months ago and have a 40 year timeline, so volatility doesn't scare me at all. I've been giving as hard as possible to the DCPP at work to maximize my employer contribution, and I just opened a TD TFSA Mutual Funds account, which I'll switch to an eSeries account this week and start investing my savings automatically.
> 
> It's good to see I'm not the only one looking to use this dip (or recession or whatever you want to call it) to maximize gains.


I'm like you. Just opened a TFSA and I'm going to convert to e-Series soon. In addition, I am buying stocks from my company (they match 50% at the end of the year) and also making regular contributions to my spouse's RRSP.


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## fifi (Apr 3, 2009)

Buying as well right now--I was waiting for a little dip, which happened a week ago, then jumped in to the market...


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## lb71 (Apr 3, 2009)

I have not stopped my semi-monthly contributions to my RRSP. 

Once my wife returns from mat leave, I plan to do some leveraged investing, similar to the smith manoeuvre but not as aggressive.


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## captainjamie (Apr 3, 2009)

I'm investing a bit more than I did. Before I just invested whenever I had enough money to throw into my RRSP. A few months ago I set up an automatic contribution that pulls money into my RRSP twice/month when I get paid. Fire & forget, that's enough for me.


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## sleepingbeauty (Apr 3, 2009)

I think you all should just watch what I do and do the exact opposite. I have never made money on the market, although I tried lots of times. I once invested in a good mutual fund and came back in ten years (not last October) and it was down. Now I am sticking to real estate. I have made some real money there.

Blessings
Connie


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## daveking (Apr 3, 2009)

I'm definitely buying. 

Luckily I was aggressive beginning of March and made about 15% overall.


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## moneygardener (Apr 3, 2009)

I did a lot of tax efficient leveraged buying of dividend paying stocks between October of 2008 and January of 2009. Since March 9 when the market hit it's latest bottom I have been less interested. I will do some more buying if we get back down to test those March 9 lows.


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## Kinny (Apr 3, 2009)

I am buying.

But I've been buying on "bull" rallies =\

Question: In a bull market, how do people invest? The dollar-cost averaging wouldn't work that well....


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## DAvid (Apr 3, 2009)

Waiting for the bottom.....

DAvid


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## ethos1 (Apr 4, 2009)

DAvid said:


> Waiting for the bottom.....
> 
> DAvid


I would have thought given the turn of the past week the markets are on a rebound.

The US banks seem to be pulling up and I would think that they go first would be the indicator

Do you think the current trend will reverse, if so how and why and do you think the TSX and Dow will go back below their lows earlier this year


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## CanadianMoneyBlogger (Apr 4, 2009)

*Buying*

If you have a decent investment horizon, then I think now is a great time to buy. Maybe this market has not hit bottom yet, but thinking as a long term investor (20 to 30 years), it seems much less risky to buy now (contrary to popular emotion) than it is to buy when everything looks rosy and riding high. I think in terms of broad index funds, though. Maybe the risk is high for certain individual stocks.


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## The Financial Blogger (Apr 4, 2009)

FrugalTrader said:


> With the markets as low as they are, are you buying in this market environment? Or are you waiting for the volatility to settle down a bit?


I was already buying periodically before the crash. I now increased my amount to $500 per month and seriously thinking of borrowing more money to put in the market. My life is a leverage!!!!!!!

It's no brainer that the market will soar within the next 3 years... it always did while everybody pretended that "this time" it's different... It is always different and it always comes down to the same thing...it's part of the human history!


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## Financial Highway (Apr 3, 2009)

I wish I had extra cash available to buy, but unfortunately all our money is tied up right now


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## The_Number (Apr 3, 2009)

I'm also buying. I put down additional 4k or so in the last two months (I wish I had more.)


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## seven3 (Apr 4, 2009)

I've been buying bits along the way in my couch potato themed RSP.

I figure that trying to time the market in this roller coaster is not possible; not for my skills/knowledge at least. Anyways, with 25 to 30 years to retirement I'm hoping that buying this week or in 5 months won't make a different too much.


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## Canadian Money Review (Apr 4, 2009)

I've been buying small amounts of stocks on every big dip since the market crash. So far so good ...


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## moneygardener (Apr 3, 2009)

Wow, everyone is buying? No fear out there? No waiting for the big toilet flush?


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## bigpoppa (Apr 4, 2009)

*Buying in this market?*

I'm glad I purchased a decent amount of stock back in February.

Do you guys think the gains made in march will be sustained in April? Or do you expect another dip to lows again?

I'm getting nervous as one of my stocks hit 40% so I sold to pocket some profits.


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

I also can't believe it.

I'm buying at a much lower rate (probably only 20%) than what I used to do. Only some pieces here and there. If my strategy did not include minimizing fees, I'd love to put $500-$1000 in every month.


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## rusty (Apr 5, 2009)

I am doing regular RSP eFund index contributions and have also started a leveraged non registered account. Made one purchase so far but I am waiting for the current rally to end as I don't believe it is based on enough solid economic news.


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## Preet (Apr 3, 2009)

Trying to pick a bottom is purely gambling. I've stepped up my monthly contributions because prices are much better for accumulating than they were, but I would not be surprised to see the market capitulate for many more months and March could just be a bear market rally.


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## SimpleCanuck (Apr 4, 2009)

*Sort of ...*

I almost bought in the lows in March, but didn't because it wasn't part of my investment plan. S'ok though ... I think we'll have more low days in the near future when the Q1 results start to come in.

But to answer the theme of your question, yes, my wallet is open for business.


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## mfd (Apr 3, 2009)

In my leveraged account I tried to catch the falling knife all the way down. I don't have any fingers left to continue catching. However If the market doesn't test their lows again then I'm happy about where I'm at. 

I still have plenty of cash in my RSP account and continue to buy every month. Robotic dollar cost averaging for two years (I'm already 11 months into this strategy). Then its contributing and re-balancing every 6 months until retirement.

Either way I'm down about 18% in both accounts and if the US banks don't blow up in April I'll be doing a happy dance.


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## MoneyEnergy (Apr 5, 2009)

I'm happy that I managed to buy *TD at its 52-week low*. That's one reason it's great to have extra cash on hand just for the investing. So far TD has given a really nice, more than 25% return (if I sold it now, which I'm not going to do). I also invested throughout the October, November and February turmoil. But at this point I'm working on other parts of my portfolio and waiting to see what happens post-G20. I have to say I've been taking some of the observations of analysts like Celente seriously and I want a bit more information before making new changes to my portfolio. I think it's a good time to build more cash reserves, especially if what we just went through was "the beginning." At the same time I'm still wondering about the real severity of the economic situation.


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## Financial Highway (Apr 3, 2009)

moneygardener said:


> Wow, everyone is buying? No fear out there? No waiting for the big toilet flush?


HAHA makes you wonder if the market rally is for real now since everyone seems to be buying.


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## DrStan (Apr 5, 2009)

I am buying on weakness (on days when there is a significant pullback in the shares I follow). I have actually leveraged $20K in March to buy the iShares Dividend fund (XDV), with a 5.5% dividend yield and a now-2.5% borrowing cost on my HELOC. Seemed like a no-brainer at the time, since I plan on holding this fund for the very long run (20+ years, if it's still around then). I have also liquidated all of my bond holdings to purchase stock ETFs with higher yields than the bonds, and potential dividend increases in future years.


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## CJB (Apr 4, 2009)

What the Dr. said, minus the HELOC leverage.

Recently bought some REI.UN yielding over 11% and picked up BMO in Feb. when it was yielding 10%. Nothing like holding a Canadian bank that pays out like a trust fund!


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## Shawn Allen (Apr 5, 2009)

*Yes, I am Buying in this market*

With the Market still at nearly decade long lows (for the U.S. market certainly) of course I am buying.

********* 
My largest position, I will reveal is Aeroplan, it's minting cash at this moment as it did in 2008 although under GAAP it had a large loss due to a write-down of mostly fake assets that were earlier created from thin air (not purchased) That's good 'ol GAAP for you. (some of the write-down was for purchased goodwill which is a true write-down although non-cash)

My site also contians tons of free investment education and a free newsletter

It appears it is okay to post links to one's own Site on this forum. In return I have palced a link to this forum on my homepage.


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## mfd (Apr 3, 2009)

Shawn Allen said:


> With the Market still at nearly decade long lows (for the U.S. market certainly) of course I am buying.
> 
> My Buys are available for a small fee at my Site
> **********************
> ...


As per the forum rules:


```
2. If you wish to promote your company, please contact us.
```
You might want to contact canadiancapitalist or FrugalTrader since you are promoting a paid service.


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## Germack (Apr 4, 2009)

Yes I am. Never stopped buying my index ETFs every two weeks.


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## PMREdmonton (Apr 6, 2009)

I continue to use Dollar Cost Averaging through TD index funds on a monthly basis.


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## Rickson9 (Apr 9, 2009)

FrugalTrader said:


> With the markets as low as they are, are you buying in this market environment? Or are you waiting for the volatility to settle down a bit?


My wife and I have invested more in the last half year than we have in the years prior. This is a great time for buyers!


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## anju (Apr 8, 2009)

i would be buying too, but after a pull back, i think the market is too optimistic right now given today Wells Fargo announced better than expected numbers, but don't forget unemployment and S&P profits are way down compared to last year.

what do you all think about wells announcing 13 days before earnings release?


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## takingprofits (Apr 13, 2009)

I did a lot of selling today - and am waiting for a pull back which I expect over the next week or so. At that point I will start buying again.


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## Rickson9 (Apr 9, 2009)

My wife and I don't sell. We bought at the beginning of the year and went to sleep.

I would agree that prices have gotten very optimistic recently.


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## takingprofits (Apr 13, 2009)

Rickson9 said:


> My wife and I don't sell.


I have bought into the idea that we are in the middle of a secular bear market and under that assumption all future gains will be lost again and again. If we are indeed in a secular bear market buying and not selling will not be profitable for another 7 to 10 years - so I now am more careful when buying and have an exit strategy when I do. 

Right now everything looks overbought so I am waiting for a week or so before buying more.


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## confusion (Apr 17, 2009)

The only thing I might buy in the current market are Precious Metals miners, and even then I'll only stick to the blue chips.

I believe most of the other sectors are overbought - especially the financials. I am looking forward to a correction similar to late February of this year so I can get back in.


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## Bullseye (Apr 5, 2009)

I've been buying utilities, which are still at or near 52 week lows, and which are paying nice solid dividends around 4-5%. 

My feeling is that these have been oversold as the rally has many pouring money from safety back into risky. In that sense, I'm hoping these holdings will act as a bit of a hedge against my long term index holdings if/when the market plunges again. If the market has indeed bottomed, I'll also be happy to keep holding these for the dividend.


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## FrugalTrader (Oct 13, 2008)

Bullseye said:


> I've been buying utilities, which are still at or near 52 week lows, and which are paying nice solid dividends around 4-5%.
> 
> My feeling is that these have been oversold as the rally has many pouring money from safety back into risky. In that sense, I'm hoping these holdings will act as a bit of a hedge against my long term index holdings if/when the market plunges again. If the market has indeed bottomed, I'll also be happy to keep holding these for the dividend.


Utilities have been sold off because of the speculation of higher inflation. High interest environments are bad news for utilities as they are highly leveraged. With that said, the high interest speculation is probably already priced into the utils, and they are popping up on my radar as well.


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## msimms (Apr 17, 2009)

I've been buying once a quarter since end of Oct to keep the trading costs down, I buy only certain high quality blue chip US stocks whose sec filings and valueline reports look solid.

buy/hold timeline is for 5-10 years+, or if their balance sheet deteriorates and management goes dumb. 
I'll buy until prices rise to around 16-18 times 1 year trailing eps.


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## Bullseye (Apr 5, 2009)

FrugalTrader said:


> Utilities have been sold off because of the speculation of higher inflation. High interest environments are bad news for utilities as they are highly leveraged. With that said, the high interest speculation is probably already priced into the utils, and they are popping up on my radar as well.


Don't know if I agree with that completely...the utilities have much of their debt at fixed rates, so inflation would reduce their real debt, wouldn't it? They would get to pay down debt with increased revenues from the inflationary environment.


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## Brad911 (Apr 19, 2009)

I've certainly slowed my purchases in recent weeks with the rise in the markets but I'll still be adding to positions when they're attractive or when I need to rebalance.

My exposure to leverage is minimal (under 15%) so if markets slide again I'm very well positioned to continue picking up shares at depressed prices.


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## Retired at 31 (Apr 20, 2009)

Haven't bought anything in over a month, but here's hoping today starts the rally in the right direction!


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## takingprofits (Apr 13, 2009)

I bought 3 stocks today that were selling off with very low volume. That tells me they will probably be higher by the end of the week. This looks like a buying opportunity not the beginning of a down trend.


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## moneygardener (Apr 3, 2009)

Aside from some Rogers Communications for my wife's RRSP, my last purchase was adding to my Procter & Gamble (PG) position on February 26. I did a lot of buying between October 6 and December 30, 2008. Right now I am sitting on my hands but I have some investment ideas if we get some more weakness in the market, especially if we test the March lows.


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## FinancialJungle (Apr 22, 2009)

I'm still buying even today. The market may appear lofty when compared to Mar 9th, but many stocks/sectors didn't participate in the recent surge. For examples, telecom and REITs.


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