Saturday, February 21, 2009

What a ride the stock market is on! Whew....

The last several weeks have been the wildest ride I've ever seen for financial markets. I decided that the market was nearing the bottom, so I thought it time to gamble a bit on catching the "turn" just right....WRONG!

My foray into buying some Bank America and CitiBank stock has been the topic of many a dinner conversation with my wife over the last several nights....."How's that bank stock doing honey?...I hear the Federal Government might take the bank over and convert the stock to toilet paper". Or last night..."Sweetie (notice the term of endearment right before the left hook), I hear the Chairman of Bank America has been asked to speak to Congress about all the 'toxic' (gad, I hate that term) loans they have made." She is listening to the financial news with more interest that I've ever seen - or wanted....lets face it, this is a disaster and it's only going to get worse before it gets better. It's not much money....but it's a chance for her to bring me down to earth and she is on it like a barracuda!

My retort...silence. The stock has dropped as much as 50% from the day I bought it and proclaimed the "recession" over.....not exactly, I'm afraid. Hang on to whatever you can for the next several months....I believe the ride is going to be bumpy for a while.

UPDATE!!!!.......3-10-2009....My bank stocks are on the mend!!! I'm back to EVEN today and have high hopes for further increases. At this pace I should qualify for " stock soothsayer of the year, 2009"! The wife isn't impressed....said, " it's only 1/2 day 'sweetie' (there she goes again...), don't get too excited about a half day rally". Clearly she's a BEAR.......me, I'm a full tilt BULL today!