market mania

We've had 2 great days in a row on the market...  But thanks to current geo-political events I'm not convinced. I haven't yet had the chance to play the VIX...  (The requisite number of unemployed days in a row to sit at the computer and watch day by day... That's coming in July I think.)

Yes, I firmly believe that the panic got the best of the sellers and too much sold off too quickly.  That said, I have been painfully shown that it's best to never underestimate the market's ability to panic.

The reality of the situation?  I'm totally out of firepower.  I've shot all my bullets and now I can only do two things: disaster control (aka panic selling) or hold and hope.

My previous posts have told you that it's generally better to cut and run rather than hold and hope.  BUT it depends on what you're holding and hoping for.  With my REIT heavy portfolio holding isn't as bad as it could be say if your company was only a patent-exploiting-tort-lawsuit type company. 

My portfolio is very heavy on REITs so I get paid monthly whilst the market stagnates and crashes.  Yes, my net worth has taken a beating.  (A HUGE beating)  But I still collect just over $500 a month in dividends/distributions and pay out a whopping  $187 in interest.  So my net is $315.  (Yes I know...  my rounding is TERRIBLE)

What I'm trying to say is that I can easily pay the carrying costs on my borrowings for investment purposes.  The investments themselves cover the carrying costs and then some.  ($315/m)

The long and the short of this post?  I'm not really sure at this point as I'm too tired to figure that out.

I'm still long.

The markets still are sketchy.

Look for some bargains and you shall prosper.