There are 4 stages in a stock market.
Stage 1 is when they are hovering at the bottom, after a major down trend. Case in point is Nov 08 - Mar 09. We should not buy during this period but to prepare to enter.
Stage 2: Break out from side ways trend. Often you either buy some on the first break out and then buy some more when it retraces back and stays above the previous resistance line. E.g. Apr 09.
Stage 3: Uptrend broken into a sideways trend. I would take 50% of my capital then. E.g. Apr 10.
Stage 4: Sideways trend is broken down. I would take the remaining 50% of my capital. E.g. Jun 10.
Guess where are most stock markets at now? Most of them are in Stage 3. Some have even entered Stage 4. Yet there is one market that is still at 2: Indonesia.
So don't itch to go into the market now. What goes down can go down lower. I don't think the correction will be deep. But it's better to be safe than sorry, isn't it?
