“Greg, should I be in or out of the market?” This is a question I get asked often and many investors base their portfolio decisions on this question. If you were to ask me this question, my answer would depend on your financial blueprint, your economic situation, and how much risk you are willing to take in the markets.
Potential hot sectors in the market
You can find opportunities in the markets by tracking sectors. Hot sectors in the markets go in rotations. For example, in early 2014, the hot sector was the energy sector. Then it moved to the international sector. As the school year approached, the hot sector became retail. What investors need to understand is that money is moving in and out of the market all the time. Does that mean people are pulling their money out of the market for a certain amount of time? Not necessarily. They could be just moving from one hot sector to another.
Moving to cash or the next hot sector
When you have political tension in Middle East, the military equipment manufacturing sector may benefit. So as you look at the markets, the question is not whether you need to move out of the market and into cash, it’s how to move to where the trends are. There will be times when you need to be proactive and move a portion of your portfolio to cash. As you watch and understand the trends according to what is going on in the US and international economies, you will be able to make better decisions about your portfolio.
How to find opportunities in the market
We are constantly researching the next hot sector and trend but we are not day traders. At times we will go into certain sectors and hold those positions for 5 to 10 years. There will be other positions in a portfolio that we realize have gone as far as they can in this economic cycle. For those positions it is time to take the profits and place them in another sector that is potentially undervalued. If you keep this kind of portfolio strategy, you will always find opportunities in the market, even among the chaos.
Do you need to be in or out of the market?
If you would like to talk with me about your current investments and portfolio, please email me here or call me at (205) 989-3498. I would be delighted to talk with you.
Greg Powell, CIMA
President/CEO
Wealth Consultant
Email Greg Powell here
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Greg Powell is President and CEO of Fi Plan Partners, an independent investment firm in Birmingham, AL, serving clients across the nation through financial planning, wealth management and business consulting. Fi Plan Partners creates strategies in the best interest of their clients using both fee based investing and transactional investing.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly.
Stock investing involves risk including potential loss of principal.
Investing in a specific sector involves additional risk and will be subject to greater volatility than investing more broadly.
No strategy ensures success or protects against a loss
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