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Can you time the stock market?

Over the years, many systems and many experts have tried to do just that. Some have succeeded, but mostly only for a short period of success. The stock market is freewheeling and designed to move the way investors feel it should move. Of course, the problem is that millions of investors all think they have the correct answer.

With the insanity of the current volatility, it becomes clear that no one can move the market, and no one can have any specific influence on the ups and downs of the market. There are too many outside influences that can contribute to the overall income. These are based on many factors, such as unemployment, interest rates, military conflicts, a presidential remark, and a global fear of a pandemic. All these factors build into investors’ decisions and how the market moves.

How do you decide to keep your money exposed to market risk or when to begin to move to safety? Here is a secret that you may not know.

“Everyone runs to safety at some time in their life!”

Unfortunately, fear and greed raise their ugly head, and emotions begin to enter the decision process. Should I sell and take my profits? Should I wait another week and then decide? How will I know what to do?
If the market comes back, I will sell!

These and other excuses have caused countless people to miss a golden opportunity by breaking the Golden Rule of the stock market. “You can’t go broke making a profit.”

Here is a suggestion, look at your current situation, consider your goals, and if you have profit in your market account, remove some or all of it and lock in the profits.

Does that seem too simple? Why don’t more people make the logical decision to grab profit? The economy is shaky and is likely to be that way for some time. Consider liquidating and locking in the gain.

Guess what? Your stress will go down, and you may be even closer to your goals than you think.

Brad Rhodes lives in Lexington and is a member of Syndicated Columnists.