[driverdan]

Just because you don't know how to invest doesn't mean other people don't. In 1999/2000 I was telling everyone the market couldn't sustain itself and to get out, and I was just out of high school! I also called the dip in 2006. When the market tanked in 2009 I bought in & have made 50%+ on those investments.

The message is that there are plenty of people who can invest wisely.

[steve8918]

Everyone was calling for a crash, but it took years before the markets actually started crashing. Anyone can make a prediction when there's no money behind it. Obviously everyone thought the market was toppy in 1999/2000, but if you followed your advice and shorted it, you would have lost plenty of money from 1999 to 2000. It probably would have bankrupted you.

For the record, I also made money after the dotcom crash and after 2008, having avoided buying anything during the boom and buying blue chip in 2001. As well, I sold all my investments in Sept 2008 and picked up more blue chip in March 2009. Selling all my investments in Sept 2008 was more luck than anything else, I sold because I thought October was going to be the 80th anniversary of the Big Crash in the 1920s, but I was off by one year, it was 1929 not 1928. Better lucky than good.

My point is, anyone who made money on the way up, which it sounds like the author did, didn't believe that the markets would crash. The author didn't even show flat returns, it was always net positive before, during and after 2 crashes. It just doesn't sound right to me.

[krschultz]

Why do you have to short it and lose money for 2 years? You can exit somewhere on the way up, sit on the sidelines, wait for the crash, buy low, do it again. Not that hard to believe.

[16s]

Investing is easy. I follow two simple rules. They are all you need to follow:

1. Buy when people are desperately selling (Get in when people are getting out).

2. Sell when people are desperately buying (Get out when everyone is rushing to get in).

That has always made money for me.

[poundy]

What stock should I buy now?

[driverdan]

I'm not sure if you're serious, I really hope you're not. Don't ever directly take advice from a random discussion. Many people have no clue and many people have an agenda. Don't take advice from "gurus" like Jim Cramer the pumper.

Learn and understand how investing works so you can take advice with a grain of salt and research the recommendations yourself. You also have to have a strategy that works for you and fits your needs, risk tolerance, and bankroll.