Indylady
Ideal_Rock
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Diamond prices going down?
- Thread starter Indylady
- Start date
Prices for most luxury goods are coming down -- which we all knew would happen when the stock market finally nose-dived (I mean corrected). The pandemic was such a kooky bubble-type anomaly -- with the market soaring (apart from the initial short-lived dip) and rich people stuck at home with nothing to spend money on except tangible goods bought online! Actually, most companies did not fare super-well but big tech did so phenomenally well and comprises such an outsized fraction of the S&P500 that it effectively "dragged up" returns for everybody.
I am not hoping for recession -- but if I want my kids to buy some cheap shares for their (far-off) retirement, it is the way to go.
I am not hoping for recession -- but if I want my kids to buy some cheap shares for their (far-off) retirement, it is the way to go.
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To your last point: I’ve been reading that this recession won’t be like anything that’s occurred previously. As in, one used to be able to buy up cheap stocks and take advantage of bottoming out. But this time that’s unlikely to happen? I’m not sure I fully understand that opinion…what are your thoughts?
It's always "It's different this time!" But it (virtually) never is. I am not saying this to you; I'm saying it to the pundits.
I had not even heard that -- what you write above. I am guessing it was said by some of the geniuses who similarly failed to predict the current situation -- otherwise they'd be rich.
We bought plenty of "cheap" shares when we did not even know they were cheap. Only in retrospect were they cheap. Oh, like the sapphire I bought a decade ago! It seemed awfully expensive then. (Unlike the equities market, of course, there is no similarly (almost) level playing field for gems.
)The only thing I know for certain is that every bubble will burst. A close second -- but not a certainty -- is that every bear market will end.
I try not to react to any financial media or market noise. (I initially wrote "I do not" but changed it to "I try not to" after a little soul-searching -- I still make a few mistakes around this stuff.) Almost every time I have -- or when I had a "good feeling" that something was going to happen -- I have gotten burned. And I don't even mean like 50:50 it works or it doesn't -- I mean like 80% of the time I regret my "brilliant idea" that pulls me away from my boring written investment plan of only using broad, cheap index funds and only in our pre-determined ratio of stocks:bonds. It takes a huge amount of discipline to tune out the noise. The only "reactive" thing I do is to make sure that my asset allocation stays where I want (~ 65:35). I rebalance about every six months. This ensures that I am buying stocks on (relative) sale and buying bonds on sale.
Real world example: Last month I looked at our asset allocation expecting that I would need to buy more stocks (exciting!). To my surprise, I saw I needed to buy more bonds. Ew. Bonds have been stinking up the place. So I sat on my hands and did not follow my decades-old plan. Bonds have since bounced back 5% and I once again outsmarted myself.
There were a few threads here about investing when the market was at an all-time high. Now -- when it actually is a buying opportunity -- crickets! This is why programmed investing in retirement plans is so valuable -- it happens invisibly in the background so it's almost impossible to screw up.
Back to your question/point: I have not given much thought to the depth or length or certainty of an impending recession vis-a-vis my investing. I do think about it a bit in the context of keeping my job, when/whether to replace a car, how it will impact any upcoming election, etc.
Indylady
Ideal_Rock
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Resurrecting this thread - I still continues to see a ton of crazy deals on diamonds, and just got this newsletter from Gem Concepts https://gemconcepts.net/an-epitome-on-colorless-diamond-rarity-values-present-and-future/ It does sound like prices are going down?
Mreader
Ideal_Rock
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There’s a very animated discussion going on rn on this topic in this thread:
Falling White Diamond Prices
Hi, In the past Pricescope has shown the Rappaport graph showing the changes in diamond prices for each month. It has always been posted in Rocky talky as well as other places on PS.+ The last Rap graph on here was April 2023. I have searched and found May & July 2023 graphs in other...
www.pricescope.com
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Thank you for mentioning the Rockytalk thread here @Mreader. It’s was really interesting reading everyone’s opinions in that thread.
Past, Present, Future: The Meaning of Three-Stone Engagement Rings
Past, Present, Future: The Meaning of Three-Stone Engagement Rings - 04/14
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