So the Scouts had it right after all.  After all the craziness in the markets over the last few weeks, the importance of being prepared becomes all the more evident.  Whether this means having an appropriate asset allocation, cash to put towards investments, or just the guts to hold on and not sell while the chips are down, being prepared for events like those that unfolded over the last few weeks is important.

Was I prepared for this most recent market downturn?  I’d like to think so.  One of the things I do is maintain a watchlist of high quality stocks that I would consider owning should they become available at an attractive price.  Over the last two weeks, the number of stocks below my target ‘buy’ price more than doubled with most of the additions to the buy list being high quality mid- to large-cap companies and not the typical cheap micro-caps that are always available.  So, with some of the available capital I had lying around (due to the lack of enticing opportunities), I added to and initiated a number of new positions in the market.  In addition, I sold some positions and moved them into higher quality stocks.

Even though the markets have somewhat recovered from the worst of it, there are still a lot of stocks that are off significantly from their highs.  Hopefully they’ll stay there for just a bit longer to let me finish loading up.  Buy low, sell high.  The last two weeks have provided plenty of buying opportunities.  Hopefully you took advantage of some of them.

Until next time,

Nathan @ EngineeringIncome.com

Disclaimer:

The data and opinions presented above are for educational purposes only and should not be construed as individualized investment advice or as a recommendation to buy or sell the securities in question.  The investing methodology outlined on this site assumes that a stock will perform in the future as it has in the past.  This is generally not true.  It is the responsibility of individuals to perform their own due diligence and/or consult their investment adviser to determine the suitability of any given investment product for their specific situation.  For more information, please see my disclaimer.