Part of the first Passover Seder, which will be tomorrow, are the famous “Four Questions” which are supposed to be recited by the youngest person at the Seder.
Apparently this was on Jason Zweig’s mind.
Four Questions You Should Ask to Combat the Market Chaos
It isn’t the time to ‘buy the dip’ or dump your stocks. Instead, consider your reasons for investing.
By Jason Zweig, The Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2025
…
What do you own and why do you own it?
Meet with your financial advisers or, if you manage your own money, update your measure of how much of your portfolio is in each broad category of assets. You can’t make a reasoned decision about whether or what to sell if you don’t know exactly what and how much you own…rebalance…
Why do you own stocks?
Most likely, you’ve always owned stocks because you wanted to participate in the long-term growth of the U.S. (and global) economy. …
What has changed?
There’s no doubt that Trump’s trade moves have damaged much of the rest of the world’s trust in the U.S…
And markets might not recover on the timeline you need. Look inward: If you’re in or near retirement, you can’t wait years or possibly even decades, as full market recoveries have sometimes taken in the past. Moving equal monthly increments of your U.S. stock assets into inflation-protected bonds, which still should provide a stream of income that will stay constant despite any rises in the cost of living, can make sense…
If you didn’t already own this asset, would you buy it at this price?
If you can’t answer the four questions, you have no business taking drastic actions… [end quote]
The only two stock prices that are significant are the purchase and sale price. Don’t forget dividends.
Cash flow is king. Never invest money in stocks that will be needed to pay bills in a time frame less than a market recovery could take. Which could be at least 2 years and possibly up to 10 based on previous crashes and recoveries.
Wendy