Gyroscopic Investing

With the way my PP percentages are right now, if I were to rebalance the biggest chunk goes to small cap value, then bonds, then silver. Gold actually is one that is closest to its original percentage, so I should not complain.

And you never hear me complain on SCV -- goes to show how much stupid emphasis I continue to put on gold.

But each time this happens I care less and less.

Cortopassi wrote:With the way my PP percentages are right now, if I were to rebalance the biggest chunk goes to small cap value, then bonds, then silver. Gold actually is one that is closest to its original percentage, so I should not complain.

And you never hear me complain on SCV -- goes to show how much stupid emphasis I continue to put on gold.

But each time this happens I care less and less.

Rebalance to SCV and watch that for a while.
I tend to focus on my most recent purchase and it was nice to ignore gold for a bit.

So am I the only one who doesn't get excited or depressed by gold price changes?

And it's not because I'm so wealthy that it has no effect whatsoever on my potential future spending, unlike the impression that I get about some of the other posters here.

Libertarian666 wrote:So am I the only one who doesn't get excited or depressed by gold price changes?

And it's not because I'm so wealthy that it has no effect whatsoever on my potential future spending, unlike the impression that I get about some of the other posters here.

I feel like I am a recovering gold addict. Seriously. It is difficult, but is getting better.

Cortopassi wrote:

Libertarian666 wrote:So am I the only one who doesn't get excited or depressed by gold price changes?

And it's not because I'm so wealthy that it has no effect whatsoever on my potential future spending, unlike the impression that I get about some of the other posters here.

I feel like I am a recovering gold addict. Seriously. It is difficult, but is getting better.

Well, I'm sure that most people here would call me a current, not recovering, gold addict, given my very high allocation to gold.
But I still don't get too excited or depressed about the price.
Maybe I'm just getting too old to get excited about anything?
Other than finding a new way to speed up the library I'm developing, anyway.

Libertarian666 wrote: Maybe I'm just getting too old to get excited about anything?

Learned helplessness. You know, the reaction of the laboratory rat that gets shocked regardless of whether he presses the bar. I'm feeling that way about damned near everything these days.

Maddy wrote:

Libertarian666 wrote: Maybe I'm just getting too old to get excited about anything?

Learned helplessness. You know, the reaction of the laboratory rat that gets shocked regardless of whether he presses the bar. I'm feeling that way about damned near everything these days.

I believe that is more like depression. It doesn't describe the way I feel about gold (or much of anything else). More like "I doubt any of this will affect me too severely, so why worry about it"?

It's kinda fun to guesstimate the gold price by the terminology used in this thread. "Depressing" for example means the price has dropped by around 30 points. And sure enough!

I guess I'm not bothered by it because I'm not paying much attention. Not close to any rebalance bands so there's no reason to at the moment. I'm buying assets on an auto monthly investment setup, so roller coaster prices work out nicely for me actually.

It does help that when I check the PP, I also check my non-PP retirement plan assets. It's nice to be reminded that stock/bond portfolios can drop in value too, and I really like having the PP during months when they score big drops.

sophie wrote:It's kinda fun to guesstimate the gold price by the terminology used in this thread. "Depressing" for example means the price has dropped by around 30 points. And sure enough!

I guess I'm not bothered by it because I'm not paying much attention. Not close to any rebalance bands so there's no reason to at the moment. I'm buying assets on an auto monthly investment setup, so roller coaster prices work out nicely for me actually.

It does help that when I check the PP, I also check my non-PP retirement plan assets. It's nice to be reminded that stock/bond portfolios can drop in value too, and I really like having the PP during months when they score big drops.

You're no fun! Why, if everyone were like you, there wouldn't even be a gold scream thread!

Libertarian666 wrote:So am I the only one who doesn't get excited or depressed by gold price changes?

And it's not because I'm so wealthy that it has no effect whatsoever on my potential future spending, unlike the impression that I get about some of the other posters here.

I'm right there with ya. Yea, I'd be pumped if gold and bonds and stocks all jumped up together, or that I could go back in time and not buy any gold and load up on stocks to take advantage of the last handful of years' / glidepath. But I'm pretty smart, so I knew those all assets rising together and time travel don't usually happen. So overall, I'm willing to cut gold some slack since my overall portfolio is earning me a modest real return, which is what I wanted in the first place.

For me, what I should really do (but it won't happen) is simply not look at my accounts except when something triggers a rebalance.

For example, I have a little angst about how gold is reacting lately. But if you told me on Jan 1, 2017 that my PP would be up 9.84% (current) at the end of the year, just don't look at it, care about it, or bother with it, I would have said "That's great!"

Instead, the daily looking causes the 9.84% to look bad to me, because a couple weeks ago it was at 11.3%.

Stupid useless concern and worry.

Cortopassi wrote:For me, what I should really do (but it won't happen) is simply not look at my accounts except when something triggers a rebalance.

For example, I have a little angst about how gold is reacting lately. But if you told me on Jan 1, 2017 that my PP would be up 9.84% (current) at the end of the year, just don't look at it, care about it, or bother with it, I would have said "That's great!"

Instead, the daily looking causes the 9.84% to look bad to me, because a couple weeks ago it was at 11.3%.

Stupid useless concern and worry.

Corto, I do the same thing...anchoring on the high point of the portfolio. It's a common behavioral finance trap. At least you are aware that it is "stupid useless concern and worry."

Cortopassi wrote:For me, what I should really do (but it won't happen) is simply not look at my accounts except when something triggers a rebalance.

For example, I have a little angst about how gold is reacting lately. But if you told me on Jan 1, 2017 that my PP would be up 9.84% (current) at the end of the year, just don't look at it, care about it, or bother with it, I would have said "That's great!"

Instead, the daily looking causes the 9.84% to look bad to me, because a couple weeks ago it was at 11.3%.

Stupid useless concern and worry.

10.86% YTD here, and it was better last week and even better the week before that for me too.
But so what?

Libertarian666 wrote:

Cortopassi wrote:For me, what I should really do (but it won't happen) is simply not look at my accounts except when something triggers a rebalance.

For example, I have a little angst about how gold is reacting lately. But if you told me on Jan 1, 2017 that my PP would be up 9.84% (current) at the end of the year, just don't look at it, care about it, or bother with it, I would have said "That's great!"

Instead, the daily looking causes the 9.84% to look bad to me, because a couple weeks ago it was at 11.3%.

Stupid useless concern and worry.

10.86% YTD here, and it was better last week and even better the week before that for me too.
But so what?

"But so what" is where I am trying to get to!

Psychologically I prefer to see progress over regression.
That's why the steady grind higher is comforting to me.
Pullbacks introduce anxiety as progress has ceased.

buddtholomew wrote:Psychologically I prefer to see progress over regression.
That's why the steady grind higher is comforting to me.
Pullbacks introduce anxiety as progress has ceased.

The first rule of investing is that the markets don't care what you want.
The second rule of investing is that the markets will give you exactly what you don't want.
(Yes, I know those rules are logically inconsistent. )

They also say nothing of how often you can talk about the rules.

I don't really wring my hands, but I do look pretty much every day.

Kriegsspiel wrote:They also say nothing of how often you can talk about the rules.

Yes, I forgot the first rule, which is that you don't talk about the rules.
Thanks for the correction!

Since most look every day, any theoretical reason for the pop?

Cortopassi wrote:Since most look every day, any theoretical reason for the pop?

Maybe this?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-2 ... conference

I seldom look at my PP or its components.

I guess because my buy in of gold was below 800, I see it differently. If the current prices are waffling back and forth between a paper loss and gain, I can see how that would keep you worked up. I am in gold for the long, long run.

I Shrugged wrote:I seldom look at my PP or its components.

I guess because my buy in of gold was below 800, I see it differently. If the current prices are waffling back and forth between a paper loss and gain, I can see how that would keep you worked up. I am in gold for the long, long run.

My average basis is about $400. Maybe that makes a difference.

My average basis on SPY is 92.
Of course it makes a difference.

Libertarian666 wrote:

I Shrugged wrote:I seldom look at my PP or its components.

I guess because my buy in of gold was below 800, I see it differently. If the current prices are waffling back and forth between a paper loss and gain, I can see how that would keep you worked up. I am in gold for the long, long run.

My average basis is about $400. Maybe that makes a difference.

Aarghh...