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Dow Falls 2997 points worst drop since 1987 crash

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Re: Dow Falls 2997 points worst drop since 1987 crash

#131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great point, all the "big boy" traders who have been raking in profits on put options, VIX volatility, and leveraged inverse etf's eventually will switch their trades to bull. However, keep in mind, a market down 30% requires a 43% gain to break back even.

Sorry for a maybe dumb question but what is the logic for 43% gain needed?

Because gains or drops are a percentage of where they were at just before, not from a fixed value.

Re: Dow Falls 2997 points worst drop since 1987 crash

#132

Just my 2 cents - Take your assets out of the market. Until we (in the US) see a few senators, a justice or two and / or the VP/president/etc succumb to the disease we haven’t hit peak panic. ~50% of the workforce is about to be out of a job for a few weeks. A large portion of Restaurants are about to go bankrupt, daycares are about to go bankrupt. Houses are about to drop in price (no money, and elderly dying). The…

I'm pretty sure banks aren't going to start folding. The Fed is ahead of the curve this time (or at least not nearly as far behind it as in 2008). They seem to be pretty serious about doing whatever is needed to keep things from falling apart.

Serious question: what tools do they have left to try and shore things up? They've reduced interest rates to 0. They've injected 1.5T of liquidity. Mitt Romney today just announced they're giving $1000 of helicopter money to every American.

If all of this doesn't work, whats left?

Re: Dow Falls 2997 points worst drop since 1987 crash

#133
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think recession is guaranteed, why not sell?

That is opposite of what you should do. You would just be locking in losses (or greatly reduced profits). As long as you are reasonably sure you can hold your stocks for a few years then just hold on to them. Or better yet, go on buying spree and get cheap stocks.

I don't think anyone should go to the market trying to "buy the dip" in this situation. If you have cash, keep it. In a market that is dropping, 0% gain (cash) is a fantastic investment.

Re: Dow Falls 2997 points worst drop since 1987 crash

#134

Dumb question. Why can't they just turn off all stock markets for a month?

If you think people are worried when stock prices are falling, imagine what happens when they all go to zero. That's what happens when you close the markets: stocks can't be sold and thus have an effective value of zero.

Much of the fall so far is bringing prices back to reasonable levels after a record-setting bull market. Not that that's especially fun news; between that and a genuine recession coming up, a lot of people will lose a lot of money. But it means that, as scary as this is, it may also be necessary, and even beneficial. (In the "long run", that is, and in the "big picture". Still sucks for a whooooole lot of people for a very long time.)

Re: Dow Falls 2997 points worst drop since 1987 crash

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure banks aren't going to start folding. The Fed is ahead of the curve this time (or at least not nearly as far behind it as in 2008). They seem to be pretty serious about doing whatever is needed to keep things from falling apart.

Serious question: what tools do they have left to try and shore things up? They've reduced interest rates to 0. They've injected 1.5T of liquidity. Mitt Romney today just announced they're giving $1000 of helicopter money to every American. If all of this doesn't work, whats left?

Currency devaluation. That only goes so far though. You can't really print your way out of this easily.

Re: Dow Falls 2997 points worst drop since 1987 crash

#136

I'm a bit more optimistic about this crash - a significant portion is due to the (important) constraints on society - closing schools and restaurants. Meaning we can look forward to some pent up demand on the other side when those constraints are loosened. On the other hand, if the US goes into lockdown for a month or more, there's a significant chance that we could be returning to a world very unlike today. The mark…

I think there will be some pent up demand, but some parts of the economy don’t benefit from that —e.g. I’m not going to buy more lattes when things return to normal, I will just go back to my daily fix.

That's not all - some will forego, lose the habit then not re-uptake.

Also schools - how will additional schooling later on make up for the lost service & revenue (schools need students to get tax revenues)

Re: Dow Falls 2997 points worst drop since 1987 crash

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great point, all the "big boy" traders who have been raking in profits on put options, VIX volatility, and leveraged inverse etf's eventually will switch their trades to bull. However, keep in mind, a market down 30% requires a 43% gain to break back even.

Sorry for a maybe dumb question but what is the logic for 43% gain needed?

See this article on investopedia[1].

[1] https://www.investopedia.com/investing/selling-a-losing-stoc...

Re: Dow Falls 2997 points worst drop since 1987 crash

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great point, all the "big boy" traders who have been raking in profits on put options, VIX volatility, and leveraged inverse etf's eventually will switch their trades to bull. However, keep in mind, a market down 30% requires a 43% gain to break back even.

Sorry for a maybe dumb question but what is the logic for 43% gain needed?

100 -> 80 is a 20% decrease ((80-100)/100). 80 -> 100 is a 25% increase ((100-80)/80).

Re: Dow Falls 2997 points worst drop since 1987 crash

#139
post #52

I am not well versed in the economics of depressions, but almost all the ones I know of were preceded by some monetary imbalance or the explosion of a bubble based on falsely propped up ownings. 1929 was stock being leveraged off mortgaged homes and loans, that was clearly no sustainable. 2000 was the dot com burst. 2008 was mass defaults on home loans. Is there any reason why apart from slow business for 2 months du…

If we are very lucky the epidemic will not even be peaking yet in the US two months from now. If it has, we are looking at catastrophic losses of life. More likely the noose will not be loosened for 9-12 months. It’s gone too far to be contained and can only be slowed until a vaccine is widely deployed. The economic damage is incalculable.

Re: Dow Falls 2997 points worst drop since 1987 crash

#140

I'm a bit more optimistic about this crash - a significant portion is due to the (important) constraints on society - closing schools and restaurants. Meaning we can look forward to some pent up demand on the other side when those constraints are loosened. On the other hand, if the US goes into lockdown for a month or more, there's a significant chance that we could be returning to a world very unlike today. The mark…

I think it's showing all the cracks in the US system. A large part of the country scrapes by, have no savings, have no access to healthcare, etc.
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