The stock market feels like hell

[S5]

I try to be objectionable in posting

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Adjective:
Arousing distaste or opposition; unpleasant or offensive.
offending good taste, manners, etiquette, propriety, etc.; offensive: objectionable behavior.

[ACC-Major]

The stock market is a place for you to save your money for retirement not for getting rich quick. Heck, the stock market wont make you rich either over the long run.
The return from stock market beats any other investment types.

[Mark77]

The stock market is a place for you to save your money for retirement not for getting rich quick. Heck, the stock market wont make you rich either over the long run.
The return from stock market beats any other investment types.

Ummm, in Canada, there's been, over the past 30 years, barely, if any equity risk premium. And obviously the stocks have been more volatile than bonds.

However:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...rticle4462268/

In a recent research note, Mr. Madani said Canada’s non-financial-sector corporate cash balances stood at $526-billion at the beginning of 2012 – up 42 per cent since the recession ended in mid-2009. Since the Canadian economy is roughly one-tenth the size of our U.S. neighbour, this Canadian cash pile, in relative terms, dwarfs the roughly $1.3-trillion (U.S.) in cash held by U.S. corporations.

So if Canadian non-financial sector businesses (who have spent the past decade basically retaining most of their earnings) just reduced their cash balances to US levels, that's potentially $320B of cash that could be liberated and put into the hands of the shareholders.

Currently Canadian firms spend $80B on dividends, give or take, and the TSX yields around 3%. So theoretically, $320B of dividend would be around 12% of the TSX's market cap could come out as a dividend tomorrow.

This would do 2 things:

a) Give stockholders a heck of a lot of money to spend into what is probably a severe housing deflation;

b) Crash housing as well because $320B withdrawn from banks means the banks have to reduce their lending by $320B.

[brunes]

If the stock market "feels like hell", then you should not be in it, period. Seriously, if you feel the way you say you feel then you should not be managing your own investments, because you are going to end up panicking and losing a ton of money. Get a financial adviser/planner and pay them to manage your money for you.

For comparison - I have a pretty large portfolio, and it is nearly all equities - and I don't give it a second thought. I don't even check the markets or market news daily - I check maybe once or twice a week. A couple of times this year I have been down up to 10% at various points I think - It doesn't bother me at all because I know in the LONG TERM what I have are winners and I am going to come out way ahead.

If you can't go through a day without checking on your investments - you should not be doing your own investing.