It looks like August will be a down month for both stocks and bonds. We haven’t had too many of those lately. Don’t fret, historically they aren’t that rare of an occurrence.
The last couple of weeks there have been outflows of both stock and bond funds. It happens every time. If the market goes up for a while, people start to invest. When it heads south, those same people rush for the exits.
If you are someone that does that, stop. Don’t invest in stocks or bonds, because they can and will go down. They always have and they always will. Jumping in after the market has run up and then bailing once the market pulls back virtually assures you of having a painful investing experience. If I’m describing what you do, avoid the stock and bond markets. Use a savings account and buy CDs instead.
If that isn’t you, then don’t worry. Like I wrote, stocks and bonds go up and down all of the time. It’s just the way it works. Sometimes there are good months and sometimes there are bad months. We haven’t had a bad month in a while so you might have forgotten. It still most likely won’t be a terrible month, but just a reminder that stocks and bonds go up and down all of the time.
