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Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:02 pm
by bill8902
After hearing "Buy when there's blood in the streets!" talk among investors over the years my question is for a index fund investor that's already fully invested without tons of cash laying around how could one actually "buy" any decent quantity of stocks upon a crash?

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:03 pm
by supersecretname
make more money (work more)
borrow at low rates
sell things
cut expenses further

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:04 pm
by livesoft
I simply exchange from my bond index funds into my equity index funds. My bond funds don't really bleed.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:11 pm
by arcticpineapplecorp.
I know it wasn't intended this way, but coming so soon after the Las Vegas Shooting and the all-to-often gun violence that seems to occur on a daily basis...perhaps we can start using a different metaphor?

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:29 pm
by Stormbringer
bill8902 wrote: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:02 pm After hearing "Buy when there's blood in the streets!" talk among investors over the years my question is for a index fund investor that's already fully invested without tons of cash laying around how could one actually "buy" any decent quantity of stocks upon a crash?
If there is "blood in the streets", your stocks are way down and your asset allocation is out of whack. Re-balance from bonds into stocks until your AA is back in line with your plan.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:30 pm
by Daryl
Like livesoft, bonds are an important part of my investment philosophy. They are there so I can sell them and maintain my desired equity allocation by buying more VTI (Vanguard Total Market Index) on really bad days, weeks, months, or years!

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:39 pm
by MotoTrojan
I am 100% stock other than emergency-fund (6-months, two tiers) but I would be encouraged to be extra frugal in a deep bear-market, to get as much "on sale" as possible. Depending on job security and likelihood of a further decline, I may also transfer my tier-2 (40/60 fund) emergency fund to an equity fund.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:47 pm
by bayview
If your portfolio isn't that big yet, and you're still accumulating, you can go to 100% stocks for new money.

Our IPS says not to sell bonds to rebalance (Bernstein's liability matching portfolio approach), so that's still our tactic, even though we're no longer newer investors.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 10:54 am
by Valuethinker
arcticpineapplecorp. wrote: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:11 pm I know it wasn't intended this way, but coming so soon after the Las Vegas Shooting and the all-to-often gun violence that seems to occur on a daily basis...perhaps we can start using a different metaphor?
I once had to explain to a client why "digital tsunami" was inappropriate in a power point to Japanese and Swedish customers. Imagine if 32000 Americans have lost their lives in the 2006 tsunami and you have the Swedish position.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 9:55 pm
by venkman
bill8902 wrote: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:02 pm After hearing "Buy when there's blood in the streets!" talk among investors over the years my question is for a index fund investor that's already fully invested without tons of cash laying around how could one actually "buy" any decent quantity of stocks upon a crash?
If your investment philosophy is to be fully invested before the crash, you'll probably do better in the long run than the people who are holding back and waiting for the crash.... :happy

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 10:30 pm
by tibbitts
bill8902 wrote: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:02 pm After hearing "Buy when there's blood in the streets!" talk among investors over the years my question is for a index fund investor that's already fully invested without tons of cash laying around how could one actually "buy" any decent quantity of stocks upon a crash?
Fully invested would imply both stocks and bonds for most people. But the issue has almost nothing to do with index vs. active funds, except to the extent that active funds could in theory be holding cash to purchase more equities. In practice the funds would likely need the cash for redemptions and so wouldn't be buying funds. And in practice very few of us would be buying equities even if we had cash - it's tough to do when there is no bottom in sight.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:11 pm
by FIREchief
During accumulation, I bought all the time and never even checked the streets. 8-)

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 6:59 am
by J295
I perceive that as a market timing statement; thus it's not for me. (You might read the OP statement in conjunction with the also well known statement about "catching a falling knife").

Sounds nifty now, but wait until you are in a real life real dollar situation (I've experienced a few) and your portfolio is dropping some days as much as your first year annual salary, and it's pretty tough to hang in there, and even tougher to pull the trigger on new purchases. I find real value in a solid IPS to implement portfolio re-allocations.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 7:23 am
by midareff
bill8902 wrote: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:02 pm After hearing "Buy when there's blood in the streets!" talk among investors over the years my question is for a index fund investor that's already fully invested without tons of cash laying around how could one actually "buy" any decent quantity of stocks upon a crash?
From your bond allocation.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 8:53 am
by nisiprius
"Buy when there's blood in the streets" is one of a family of sayings, mutually contradictory, that mean nothing. People trot out whichever one matches the situation either to convince you to do something, or to feed their own confirmation bias by finding a rationalization for whatever they already wanted to do.

1) The stock market is down and you want to buy.
"Buy when there's blood in the streets!"
"Buy low, sell high."

2) The stock market is down and you want to sell.
"Cut your losses and let your profits run."

3) The stock market is up and you want to buy.
"The trend is your friend."
"You're playing with house money now."

4) The stock market is up and you want to sell.
"Nobody ever went broke taking a profit."

None of these sayings is specific enough to test. They all are appeals to act on your instincts and emotions. Two investors in identical situations may apply different slogans and take different actions--one of them holding because of "cut your losses and let your profits run" and the other selling because "nobody ever went broke taking a profit."

Even when a saying is traceable to some guru, it is usually a distorted and oversimplified view of a more nuanced, qualified statement. For example, Warren Buffett never said "Volatility is not risk." He said "Volatility is far from synonymous with risk," which is something very different.

Finally, the "blood in the streets" thing always gets me because a) there's no good evidence that it was ever said, but, more important, even if it was, it was not meant figuratively. According to Barry Popik, the statement is attributed to Baron Rothschild in 1871, but was not recorded until 1894. The earliest version of the story is:
It is related that in the old days of the Commune in Paris a panic-stricken investor turned up in the office of M. de Rothschild and exclaimed:

“You advise me to buy securities now. You are my enemy. The streets of Paris run with blood.”

And Rothschild’s answer was this: “My dear friend, if the streets of Paris were not running with blood do you think you would be able to buy at the present prices?”
The situation was not figurative. The gutters literally ran with literal blood. The government of France was collapsing. It was not 2008, it was not 1929, it was certainly not a question of buying during stock market corrections. Rothschild was not saying casually "Oh, sure, I always tell people to buy when there's blood in the streets, it's my favorite time."

Plus, of course, it might well just have been made up. The timing of the first appearance of the story is suspicious. 1894 was just after the Panic of 1893, it is likely that people were reluctant to buy stocks, and the story might well be a pure fabrication by some broker trying to convince customers to see it as a great buying opportunity.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:03 am
by CULater
The complete quote from Baron Rothschild is believed to be:

"Buy when there's blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own."

And therein lies the rub...

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:24 am
by White Coat Investor
supersecretname wrote: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:03 pm make more money (work more)
borrow at low rates
sell things
cut expenses further
That's exactly it, plus rebalancing from fixed income. Instead of doing that kitchen remodel, you buy more shares. Instead of new money going toward stocks and bonds, it all goes toward stocks.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:58 am
by alpine_boglehead
bill8902 wrote: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:02 pm how could one actually "buy" any decent quantity of stocks upon a crash?
Not selling during a crash is already pretty much equal to buying during the crash. If you can just do that, you'll already be better off than many others.

Unfortunately, for the aggregate of investors, that's an oxymoron. There has to be a surplus of investors willing to sell, otherwise prices wouldn't crash in the first place.

Imaging yourself, after you have set aside cash for the sole purpose of waiting for a crash: Will you have the determination to buy when everything around you (maybe even your job) is going down the drain? Stock market crashes are no isolated events (mostly, but e.g. 1987 and the flash crash were different) - in 2008 it took the impending collapse of the entire financial system to depress prices by 50%. And when do you buy? -20%, -30%, -40%. Will you do more buying when what you bought a few weeks ago is now already -20%?

You might read some threads from 9 years ago from now - these are really enlightening.

Therefore, here comes the standard bogleheads advice: Set your AA to a suitable level, make an IPS, and stay the course :)

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 12:35 pm
by james22
If you invert and don't buy when there's dancing in the streets, you'll have cash to buy a decent quantity of stocks after a crash.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 12:46 pm
by Pajamas
I agree that it is very rare that there is actually blood in the streets when people say that there is. Most often it is in reference to one stock or sector and a few months later, whatever it was that was drenched in blood has gotten even cheaper.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 3:23 pm
by Phineas J. Whoopee
alpine_boglehead wrote: Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:58 am ...
Unfortunately, for the aggregate of investors, that's an oxymoron. There has to be a surplus of investors willing to sell, otherwise prices wouldn't crash in the first place.
...
Every transaction must have a buyer, otherwise no trade would occur.
PJW

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 3:32 pm
by czeckers
Assuming you have a balanced portfolio of stock and bond funds, the stock portion of your portfolio will lose value during a market crash. If you own high quality bonds (i.e. US treasuries), their value usually goes up. (Lesser quality bonds such as corporates and junk tend to go down with the stocks.)

When the headlines are screaming and you can feel the panic of people seeing their portfolio values drop, is a good time to rebalance back to your desired stock/bond allocation. It is actually a very difficult thing to do emotionally -- selling the bonds that have gone up in value to buy the stocks which just took a beating and the headlines and news pundits are all telling you why the market may not recover.

The best investment moves I have made were the ones that made me want to physically vomit when putting in the order.

If you want to get a sense of how people feel during a market crash, look up some of the "Plan B" threads on this site from 2008-9. Plan B is what you do when you realize you've exceeded your risk tolerance.

-K

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:42 pm
by heyyou
You can also just continue to buy at the usual stock/bond proportions, knowing that in a recession, you are buying extra equities due to their reduced prices. There will always be someone on the internet telling you what would be more optimal than whatever you are doing. Your savings rate probably has a greater affect on your portfolio than what you buy during recessions that are a decade apart, so if you want your portfolio to grow faster, just save more every pay period.

We need to save and invest, but that does not have to be the focal point of our daily lives in order to get good results. Time in the markets, not striving for optimal timing of purchases.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 12:29 am
by Fundhunter
Not me. but if it is rebalance time when stocks are low, then I am probably selling fixed income and buying stocks on sale!

Figuring out when there is sufficient blood in the streets to buy is a little too much like market timing for me.

I absolutely strongly disagree with the post that says in rebalancing you don't sell any of your fixed income position to buy equities. That is like almost guaranteeing that you will never buy stocks on sale.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 2:17 am
by CurlyDave
bill8902 wrote: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:02 pm After hearing "Buy when there's blood in the streets!" talk among investors over the years my question is for a index fund investor that's already fully invested without tons of cash laying around how could one actually "buy" any decent quantity of stocks upon a crash?
A person who is 100% invested in index funds could sell those funds and buy 2x, or even in some cases 3x leveraged ETFs.

This is a very bold move -- I don't think I would be able to do it, but it is a valid option for increasing one's exposure to stocks even without cash on hand.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 2:41 am
by poundwise
I've been waiting for "blood in the streets" since I missed buying during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Moral of the story: don't wait that long.*

*I did buy in 2008/9, but not enough, as I was waiting for more blood.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 5:44 am
by H-Town
bill8902 wrote: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:02 pm After hearing "Buy when there's blood in the streets!" talk among investors over the years my question is for a index fund investor that's already fully invested without tons of cash laying around how could one actually "buy" any decent quantity of stocks upon a crash?
If you're still working and making money, that's the cash to buy there. If you have bond fund, sell it and buy stock.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 7:12 am
by rkhusky
Fundhunter wrote: Thu Oct 12, 2017 12:29 am I absolutely strongly disagree with the post that says in rebalancing you don't sell any of your fixed income position to buy equities. That is like almost guaranteeing that you will never buy stocks on sale.
Only rebalancing from stocks to bonds is a perfectly reasonable strategy, depending on one's situation. If one is close to retirement, or in retirement, with enough money in bonds to live a comfortable life, why risk it? Keep enough in stocks to ward off inflation or to support some luxuries if they do particularly well. However, the strategy should be considered and decided before a market correction, not in blind panic in reaction to market events.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 7:17 am
by goblue100
poundwise wrote: Thu Oct 12, 2017 2:41 am *I did buy in 2008/9, but not enough, as I was waiting for more blood.
The S&p 500 was down over 50% at its low. You were waiting for 60%?

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 7:25 am
by MrNewEngland
The majority of my money goes into my 401k & 457. That is consistent from paycheck to paycheck and I just buy index funds with those (both have really good choices).

I "scratch my itch" for buying with my IRA by using dividends and contributions to buy when I feel the market is down. I don't sell there either though. That strategy probably doesn't move the needle much either way but I enjoy doing it and it keeps me from doing anything more drastic.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 7:36 am
by B4Xt3r
Isn't this just market timing? What quantitative measures can we use to measure "the financial blood" in the streets? What quantitative measures can we use to measure when "the financial blood" will stop hemorrhaging.

I buy whenever I get paid regardless of whatever color the streets are.

We need an emoji of bogle looking skeptical. I'd post that for this thread.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 7:50 am
by livesoft
kehyler wrote: Thu Oct 12, 2017 7:36 am Isn't this just market timing? What quantitative measures can we use to measure "the financial blood" in the streets? What quantitative measures can we use to measure when "the financial blood" will stop hemorrhaging.

I buy whenever I get paid regardless of whatever color the streets are.

We need an emoji of bogle looking skeptical. I'd post that for this thread.
Your first question is answered simply: A quantitative measure is your asset allocation: Has your current portfolio hit a pre-set rebalancing band, so that it would be prudent to rebalance within the portfolio? This is simply looking at the past even as recently as one minute ago.

Your second question cannot be answered because one cannot predict the future.

Of course, one should buy whenever they have cash for purchasing investments in their portfolio. But that has almost nothing to do with this thread. :dollar :moneybag :greedy

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 10:29 am
by lazydavid
Fundhunter wrote: Thu Oct 12, 2017 12:29 am Not me. but if it is rebalance time when stocks are low, then I am probably selling fixed income and buying stocks on sale!

Figuring out when there is sufficient blood in the streets to buy is a little too much like market timing for me.
This is true on a full population basis, but it's incredibly easy on an individual basis. When your equity has dropped below a rebalancing band, there is a sufficient amount to trigger the sale of bonds and the purchase of equities. Not market timing, just maintaining a target AA.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 12:46 pm
by Phineas J. Whoopee
CurlyDave wrote: Thu Oct 12, 2017 2:17 am A person who is 100% invested in index funds could sell those funds and buy 2x, or even in some cases 3x leveraged ETFs.

This is a very bold move -- I don't think I would be able to do it, but it is a valid option for increasing one's exposure to stocks even without cash on hand.
Inverse and leveraged ETFs do not work the way many individual investors think they do.
PJW

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 4:46 pm
by Fundhunter
lazydavid wrote: Thu Oct 12, 2017 10:29 am
Fundhunter wrote: Thu Oct 12, 2017 12:29 am Not me. but if it is rebalance time when stocks are low, then I am probably selling fixed income and buying stocks on sale!

Figuring out when there is sufficient blood in the streets to buy is a little too much like market timing for me.
This is true on a full population basis, but it's incredibly easy on an individual basis. When your equity has dropped below a rebalancing band, there is a sufficient amount to trigger the sale of bonds and the purchase of equities. Not market timing, just maintaining a target AA.
I don't think you understood what I was saying. Whether you rebalance by "bands" or periodically (as I do), if it is done without regard to whether "there is blood on the streets" then it is not market timing. So I think we agree on that. It smells like market timing to me to decide that there is some kind of "special" buying opportunity because the markets have dipped significantly. I will start my retirement withdrawal phase next month and will be using the same rebalancing percentages no matter how low equities may go. I will sell fixed income and buy equities if that what it takes to get the plan percentages back in line.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 7:16 pm
by nedsaid
arcticpineapplecorp. wrote: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:11 pm I know it wasn't intended this way, but coming so soon after the Las Vegas Shooting and the all-to-often gun violence that seems to occur on a daily basis...perhaps we can start using a different metaphor?
The point is that buying on really bad news is often profitable. The unfortunate metaphor relates more to domestic unrest rather than a Las Vegas incident. Probably not the best phrase to use while people are still morning over an awful tragedy but the point holds. There is a similar phrase about buying when the cannons roar.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 9:39 am
by bmelikia
Also sometimes referred to as *gasp*. . ."market timing"

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 10:02 am
by Blueskies123
If you really believe this then Puerto Rico and Venezuela are a buy but This is extreme speculation.

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 10:06 am
by Toons
supersecretname wrote: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:03 pm make more money (work more)
borrow at low rates
sell things
cut expenses further
Ditto (other than borrowing) :happy

Re: Buy when there's blood in the streets!

Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 10:41 am
by Valuethinker
Blueskies123 wrote: Fri Oct 13, 2017 10:02 am If you really believe this then Puerto Rico and Venezuela are a buy but This is extreme speculation.
PR you can buy the bonds. Actually Venezuela you can too. AFAIK Venezuela has not actually defaulted-- yet. The danger would come if a new government disavowed the debts of the old one. But so far, Maduro's government continues to pay (perhaps to maintain imported supplies of tear gas, rubber bullets & truncheons?).

Hedge funds have. However there is real concern that the Hurricane significantly complicates the picture for the bankruptcy proceedings and for creditors. There will be a lot of political risk going forward- -political event risk that is.