This is one thing that William Bernstein (I recommend his books) points out. You need to be able to calmly watch your portfolio halve in value and sit it out i

This is one thing that William Bernstein (I recommend his books) points out. You need to be able to calmly watch your portfolio halve in value and sit it out if you're going to be a buy and hold investor (or any investor, really). I have several friends who took their money out near the bottom of the latest crash and put it it cash or cash equivalents. It's the absolute wrong choice investment-wise, but it's understandable. Selling before the bottom and buying before the climb is the right thing to do, but if you can do that, you're not spending time reading HN, you're either working hard as a trader or relaxing on your desert island.