Why sell stocks now?

Why sell stocks now? November 13, 2008

The stock market keeps dropping. I am far from an expert and no investor beyond my retirement accounts, but why sell stocks now? On paper, everyone’s holdings look bad, but that is only if you cash them out. You don’t lose money until you take the loss.

Hadn’t people might as well hold onto them, rather than sell them so cheaply? Then if and when the market recovers, the value will go up and they might be worth something. If people who are dumping stocks now try to get back into the stock market later, they will only spend more to do so. I realize that some people and institutions have to sell, needing the cash, but isn’t this a time to hunker down? Or, as Warren Buffet is doing, buy more stocks, seeing as how nearly all of America’s businesses are now on sale?

HT: The stock market

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