So the big conversation at the office is the American stock market falling. Seeing as computer savvy people tend to be people of logic rather than mass group hysteria, what seems to be your thoughts and feelings?
This is a great buying opportunity - for carefully chosen equities or sectors.
Anything that frightens customers is bad for our business. Consumers will prefer paying the rent, the phone bill, electricity and food before buying apps. Companies will try to extend the use of their software instead of starting new developments.
Personally, and after surviving several big financial crashes after another and the recession in 2008, I am prepared to see yet another one of these “crisis” becoming day after day worse and worse, until our politicians quit anesthesia mode, and come clear with a grim picture.
Back in 2000, I thought I had done what Doug described, investing in non tech sectors. They were hit as well. Took me three years to get back to the pre-bubble valuation.
Sure, China has ample reserves of cash to inject in their stock exchange. But fact remains their economy is landing. Their economy is big enough to shake the whole financial planet, especially as they are the major lander for the US.
Strange times are ahead of us…
Great time to buy some really great companies at deflated prices
Many consumer traders panic at times like this & have bought high & sell low
I am in an industry that is set back 50 or so years and the computer age is finally starting to effect us. Some big time people are saying that this is when other companies will begin amping up technology rather than production of their standard products.
[quote=209549:@Norman Palardy]Great time to buy some really great companies at deflated prices
Many consumer traders panic at times like this & have bought high & sell low[/quote]
Color me crazy, but I purchased some Twitter as I see them coming back in some form.
I wouldn’t call that crazy at all, I’d call it a gamble. (That’s not meant as a bad thing.)
I agree that corrections such as these sometimes provide great buying opportunities.
For interest sake, here are some screenshots of the daily, weekly and monthly charts of the Dow Jones to illustrate the difference between short term, medium term and long term trends respectively…
There is a wise saying in investment, “the trend is your friend”…
Screenshots are from a product developed in pure Xojo of course…
I bought apple & a few other energy firms
yes oil prices are down which has driven their stocks way down BUT oil wont remain at 40 - 42 forever
I’m buying for 5-10 years out at least
@Alwyn Bester - nice looking stock/chart program, is it yours?
Thanks Doug.
Yes, this is new product I’m working on for my startup.
[quote=209561:@Alwyn Bester]Thanks Doug.
Yes, this is new product I’m working on for my startup.[/quote]
Very nice - let us know if/when we can take a look at it.
Will do… we’re almost ready with a MVP (minimum viable product) as a first release.
If I may ask Doug, do you currently have a preferred data source for your security data?
Alwyn - I use an online broker if I need real-time. (I am no professional).
On the other hand, I wrote a little (desktop) app for personal use where I access YahooFinance for data using their API; that’s just for monitoring the portfolio.
Ok, no problem. Will see what I can do to implement access to a free EOD (end of day) data source.
Will announce here on the forums when the first release is available.
Up all day, Dow turns sharply negative at the close. Please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times…
The market is so overdue for a correction that I don’t think we’re quite done yet. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the DOW at the mid to low 14,000s, or even the high 13,000s, before it’s done. I really don’t expect a total crash since the US fundamentals, while not great, are not so bad as to be unable to support the market drop. Still, the volatility for the rest of the year should make for a wild ride. Watch for bargains but otherwise stay the course and don’t panic.
Xojo Inc? 
Not a publicly traded company.
[quote=209556:@Norman Palardy]I bought apple & a few other energy firms
yes oil prices are down which has driven their stocks way down BUT oil wont remain at 40 - 42 forever
I’m buying for 5-10 years out at least[/quote]
Wouldn’t be too sure about oil coming back. Absolute glut, and it is getting worse. Some countries can’t afford reducing production (Venezuela, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Irak) while others join the market again (Iran). When IS is history the affected countries too will need oil revenue for rebuilding.
On the other hand alternative energies are already big in some European countries while China and the US are waking up to it, further reducing oil consumption.
Electric cars are still small but among the fastest growing sectors (Tesla leads) with Apple possibly chipping in (they just got a patent on a fuel cell which would allow using the current infrastructure, fast refills, long reach). More and more shopping centers here in Germany have free refills for electric cars due to solar panels on their roofs. Admin, business and public transport are potential early adopters.
Increasing urbanisation as well as high costs of living mean more people will live in rented accommodation and use public transport instead of buying houses and driving cars (extreme examples are Auckland and London).