Buying an ETF or mutal fund

I'm thinking about putting my money in either a mutual fund or an ETF for 1 year or 2. I'm totally get crap now, now that interest rates are on avg 1.5%

seeing how the market has picked up a little bit, I'm thinking about putting some dough in either VTI or VFINX, both Vanguard. I'm just cautious that this might be a suckers rally but need another place that's going to give me more return.

What do you guys think about funds/ETFs in the short term?...short being less than 2 years....

 

I doubt anyone not taking a commission would think this is a safe thing to do.

 

Agreed. A two year window is too risky even in a 'normal' market.

 

The market is always going to lead the economy out of recession so now is the time to invest but only if it is long term or you are trading. If you wait for the economy to turn you will have missed the boat. What looked like a bear rally at first is now stabilizing and it is not too late to buy at near rock bottom prices. Invest long term in several of the big financials.

 

What he said. This latest rally is based on "hope" and a bad accounting change that just occured. The market liked it, but now no one will know exactly what is on the bank's books because the banks will not have to mark to market. It's like putting your head in the sand and ignoring the problem. Also, credit card defaults just reach the highest levels in two decades. I'm not sure we've seen the bottom of this market quite yet.

 

Short term is always a crapshoot. The fact that you will not flip it in two years, and most likely will lose, means you might as well kiss it goodbye emotionally before you even get started. I don't sense that from you.

But if you insist on buying short term, you need to buy something undervalued. for cheap. Nothing cheaper or more undervalued than bnks right now. The crapshoot is really the state of the individual bank, rather than the market itself. Unlike other fluid markets, the structural solid need for banking and lending has not diminished, unlike fading markets like heavy cars, newspapers, CD-based music distribution, and WilliamJ's hairline.

 

I agree. Short term is almost like going to a casino. To much crap happens that no one can predict what the market will do. Fortunately, over the long term all that crap gets played out. I've never purchased a single stock as all my holdings are long term/retirement. I just don't have the time to research individual companies and would never take someone elses research as gospel.

 

I think I"m going to buy into some high yielding dividend stocks in the mean time.

I'm looking at putting some monies into KMB, T, DUK, ABT, PG, GIS, MSFT, JNJ and XOM. I'll probably narrow it down to about 4 but it's better than the 1.5% interest in my savings right now.