ZT How to survive a stock market crash

The cure for crashitis

Rather than succumb to your fears, prepare for the worst. Eventually, there will be a bear market. Create a diversified portfolio, understand the stocks and mutual funds you own, and develop portfolios for both long-term and short-term goals.

The cure for crashitis is a healthy dose of knowledge. This will help you to control your emotions and focus on the facts (such as market indicators) rather than your fears.

What the indicators say

Although a major market crash is a relatively rare event, a pullback (3% to 9%) or even a large correction (10% to 20%) is more probable. The odds of a pullback or correction have recently increased.

In fact, the indicators are flashing caution signs:

MACD dropped below the signal line, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index /quotes/zigman/3870025 SPX -1.38% fell below its 20-day moving average (a short-term signal), and the put-call ratio is below .75 (option buyers are too bullish, a contrarian signal). It is too early to know if these signals are significant, so we look at outside events for additional clues.

1. Japan’s Nikkei stock index fell by 7 % in a day, rallied somewhat, but was off its peak by 15% at one point.

2. There was an uptick in yields in the U.S. bond market, a signal that bond investors could get hurt, especially as the Fed slows down its bond buying program. Bill Gross, the bond guru at Pimco, warned that the bond rally is over.

3. Emerging market currencies got crushed (South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, Peru) and bond yields spiked (Turkey, South Africa, Mexico, Hungary, Poland). The governments in these countries could react by raising interest rates.

4. A distressing development for the bulls was institutional selling at the end of four days last week (i.e. distribution). This was not a good sign.

Prepare for the worst

When storm clouds appear, you should take defensive actions. This doesn’t mean to panic and sell everything. Here are a few steps you can take to prepare for a correction:

1. Cut back on individual stocks, especially if you have losing positions. If there is a correction, those small losers turn into big losers.

2. Hedge with non-leveraged inverse ETFs. (Avoid leveraged ETFs, which contain questionable securities and have a tendency of doing reverse-splits.)

3. Buy protective put options. Start small with a few contracts. Although you can make money during a correction, it’s not easy; you have to be right about the timing and direction.

4. Have cash set aside for emergencies and to buy into future bull markets.

5. If you know what you own and are comfortable holding, you can survive a correction. It will not be the end of the markets as we know it, but if you believe that, you have crashitis.

The biggest danger is that fear causes you to do something irrational like selling at the bottom or keeping all of your money in cash for years and years.

If there is a correction or crash, the market will survive. No matter how many times the market has been hit, it always comes back eventually.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-survive-a-stock-market-crash-2013-06-05?pagenumber=2

还有cycle理论
https://www.mptrader.com/charts/charts5813.php
S&P 500 Weekly Chart with Long-term Cycle Overlay - Jun 5, 2013 (updated from May 8 initial post)

http://bbs.wenxuecity.com/finance/3215277.html
盘点世界历史上最严重的几次股灾（ZT 财经网）

http://bbs.wenxuecity.com/finance/3220790.html
中期回调的幅度和时间

http://bbs.wenxuecity.com/finance/3111342.html
MarketWatch, 七个迹象显示股市将下调 ZT

http://bbs.wenxuecity.com/finance/3232353.html
10大征兆表明2014年美国股市必将崩盘