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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, January 28, 2016 | 16 D WINTER SPECIALS! Investing can be a roller coaster of emotions Dollars & Sense Guest Contributor uring periods of stock market decline the one haunting and fearful question in most people's minds is: how much can the value of my portfolio decline? Investing in stocks, or mutual funds that own stocks, assumes investment risk. That risk has no speci c boundaries. Last week's column talked about the importance of discipline and acknowledged that the track record of individual investors at maintaining discipline in the past has been poor. There is a popular saying that "markets do well, unfortunately, investors do not." Many investors buy high and sell low. While the future is uncertain, we can gain perspective from studying the past. That is the intent of this week's article and we will use U.S. data. Since 1926 until the end of last year, the S&P 500 annual return had a negative return 27 per cent of the time. In other words, investors lost money approximately one out of every four years over 90 years. We all know from our own personal experience that losing money can cause emo- Peter Watson tional wear-and-tear. Add in the fear of losing money during years that we actually gain and we can easily see how dif cult investing can be. Sometimes, losing years have come back to back. From January 1929 until December 1932, the S&P 500 Index lost 64 per cent. From January 1973 until September 1974, the S&P lost 43 per cent. And more recently, from April 2000 until September 2002, the S&P was down 44 per cent. To ask a rhetorical question, who in the heck would be silly enough to invest in the American stock market or, in fact, any stock market? see Stock on p.20 905.338.5721 ce Auto Servi Auto Body ruS A uSed 0c d 0 An p From $2,0 www.jnbautocenter.com · Scheduled Maintenance · Fuel Injection · Computer Diagnostics · Transmission & Clutches Accredited Test · Front & Rear End Work & Repair Facility · Electrical · Windshield Repair/Replacement · Shocks & Struts QEW · Air-Conditioning · Brakes Wyecroft · Tune-Ups JNB · Engines · Tires · Wheel Alignments · Oil & Fluid Changes Weller Ct. Insurance Claims Collision Repair Auto Body & Paint Only 1 Only 2 weweek eks left! left Dorval Dr. 294 Wyecroft Rd., Oakville Monday-Friday 8-5 Saturday 8-1