“Don’t Just Stand There… Do Nothing!”

Long-term investing can definitely seem tedious when nothing happens for an entire week. Despite virtually the entire of month throwing us deep into Buying Season, the market’s bounce over the course of the past week left me sitting on my hands.

However, on a boring week, I find it worthwhile to reminds myself of one of my favorite investing adages: “Don’t just stand there, do nothing!”

Many investors – particularly new/young investors – will feel compelled to take action when a stock is rallying or selling off, whether that’s chasing up a gain or trying to limit losses. However, after having been involved in the stock market for nearly 25 years, I’ve learned to appreciate that inaction, in itself, is actually an action.

In other words, when the market is raging with volatility like it has the past few weeks, if you don’t know what to do, most of the time the best action is to do nothing at all. Many new investors don’t realize that taking no action is still doing something; there is actually one more move than buying or selling that traders and investors can take – holding.

Right now, the market’s trading above my next sell targets for my positions and below where I can take profits, so, accordingly, my action is to sit pat and hold. If you can’t take the volatile price swings, stop checking your portfolio and do something else. Or, at the very least, don’t just stand there, do nothing.

Have a great week, everyone!