US stocks plunged on Monday morning as Friday’s dismal July jobs report continued stoking fears that the US economy is on shaky legs.
The Dow plunged 1,072 points, or 2.7%. The S&P 500 fell 4.1% and the Nasdaq Composite sank by a whopping 6.3%.
The Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, which measures bets on expected stock market volatility, surged to 55. The last time the fear gauge hit that level outside of the pandemic was the Great Financial Crisis, in 2008.
I think they mean that they auto bought right before the plunge and are now frustrated because if they had procrastinated a few more days they would now be in a position to buy low with the same money.
That being said, trying to time the market tends to be a losing game for retail investors, as statistically the market is more likely to rise than fall, so earlier is better unless you have better information than the people paid full time to study the market have.
Yes, that’s exactly what I meant.
To your second point, I’m not trying to time the market too much and am kind of against it myself.
My point was just that it’s frustrating that things tank right after buying, but I’m not so impatient as to try to “fix” it by selling now and losing funds.