That's why the phrase "don't try and catch a falling knife" exists. We have no idea if prices will rebound shortly, or continue to take a nose-dive. Trying to time the market is a gambling strategy, not an investment strategy.
Buying the market at all is a gambling strategy. You cannot be in the market without timing it.
For example, just last week, I realized I had a bunch of money sitting in my crypto exchange that I thought was in Bitcoin, so I traded it for Bitcoin. Now it's worth 80% as much.
> Buying the market at all is a gambling strategy. You cannot be in the market without timing it.
If you buy a little every pay cheque automatically, without looking whether things are up or down, how much are you really "timing" versus simply investing? (Especially if you buy a globally diversified fund like VT.)
But that can't possibly be the case -- since such a simple strategy is already priced into the red.
Anything accessible to any person without days/weeks of research or insider knowledge is already priced-in. All the people rationally "buying the dip" are doing so as the price dips.
Any time you buy, you are betting on a future price against everyone else making bets. Most of those other people, who can move markets, are spending their entire lives in R&D to eek out a slightly better bet.
You're a mark if you think you can price better than them -- and they are the ones presently setting the price.
"After the 25% YoY of the last 2 years, the bubble has to burst this year", I thought to myself in Jan. It looks like keeping some cash in the wings waiting was the right move. I think we'll see a nastier crash still though
* https://ofdollarsanddata.com/even-god-couldnt-beat-dollar-co...
I'm not generally 100% equities, often 80/20, so things will be rebalancing on their own at least at least:
* https://canadiancouchpotato.com/model-portfolios/
* https://www.finiki.org/wiki/Asset_allocation_ETF
* https://www.moneysense.ca/save/investing/etfs/one-etf-portfo...
I have a few more decades until retirement, so buying low now would be nice.