FREE NEWSLETTER
I searched and searched the forum for a post about what HD readers are doing in response to the effect of the uncertainty of tariffs on the stock market but I found nothing. It’s as if the markets did nothing today. So, please tell me what you are doing regarding your investments in the face of this unprecedented economic assault on the world economy by someone who just discovered the quaint notion of “groceries”.
when the mkt is up 5% in May historically since 1950 the yearly return every yr since is around 20%. read it at Barons
Recent heavy rain stopped and the sun is out here in the Sonoran Desert (which is reputedly the greenest desert in the world).
One of the challenges of a desert is the soil composition, which is generally not good for load bearing (aka ‘sinking sands’). The previous owner of this house added a carpet in an attempt to obscure a sinking room. LOL. They tended to use a lot of paint too! “If you won’t fix it, then attempt to hide it” must have been their motto. We hired a specialist firm to install four steel piers. They went down 20 ft and 35 ft before hitting anything solid. Work was completed before yesterday’s heavy rain (monsoon season begins in 12 days). After installing the piers and a lift, poly-foam was injected to stabilize a 12×16 ft slab.
I keep busy with other things so as to avoid the daily market noise and so I have done nothing, although my automatic stock purchases continue using DRIP.
Perhaps I’m a contrarian. I posted today elsewhere in the HD:
“The S&P 500 closed May with a monthly gain of 6.2%, the largest since November 2023. However, Morningstar published an article today ‘Has the Stock Market Reached Peak Optimism on Tariffs? – Strategists say equities have already priced in the good news on tariffs as the trade war grinds on….’
As of today (June 3, 2025), SPX index 200-day simple moving average is 5787.75, with the most recent change of +2.51 (+0.04%) on June 2, 2025.Over the past year, SPX index 200-day SMA has increased by +1009.50 (+21.13%).SPX index 200-day SMA is now at all-time high.”
Staying the course and not making any changes. I know it’s boring, but it’s worked for us for forty years
Well, I finally looked at my balances. Nothing to do (still well within my rebalance trigger %).
If I’d been glued to the finanial media, I’d probably have panicked done something dumb. But I’ve been imbibing the wise words here for a couple years, so with plans and asset allocations in place, it is time to just sit tight. Thanks, all.
“I’m just sittin’ here watching the wheels go round and ’round…”
I just did something. I was thinking of doing it anyway, but the tariffs were an additional incentive. I bought a new iPad. I replaced my basic, wi-fi only, 128 gig 6th gen with the same basic 11th gen. The 6th gen was old enough and looked used enough I didn’t get a trade in allowance. The old one cost me $331 six years ago, the new one cost $349. Pretty cheap on an annual basis.
Now I need a new desktop, as mine is too old (2015) to run Windows11.