What to invest in during a recession?

[oprah.chopra]

Assuming the US economy does dive into a recession, then what
investments are good? For people who saved during the boom, I would
think a recession would be a good time to pick up things like
real-estate for pennies on the dollar ? On the other hand there is no
guarantee real-estate will rebound, so you could be stuck?

 

[Ron Peterson]

Assuming the US economy does dive into a recession, then what
investments are good? For people who saved during the boom, I would
think a recession would be a good time to pick up things like
real-estate for pennies on the dollar ? On the other hand there is no
guarantee real-estate will rebound, so you could be stuck?

If the US is going into a recession, convert all of your investments
to cash. Then when things really look bad, buy stocks, bonds, and real
estate.

 

[Pete]

Assuming the US economy does dive into a recession, then what
investments are good? For people who saved during the boom, I would
think a recession would be a good time to pick up things like
real-estate for pennies on the dollar ? On the other hand there is no
guarantee real-estate will rebound, so you could be stuck?

How about SH?

Pete

 

[rick++]

Financial service companies have very low prices now.
Buy low, sell high.

The oil bubble is just starting to pop.
If there is a world recession, demand will go down.
Oil is back inthe $80s again and could fall substantially lower.

 

[Andrew Koenig]

Assuming the US economy does dive into a recession, then what
investments are good? For people who saved during the boom, I would
think a recession would be a good time to pick up things like
real-estate for pennies on the dollar ?

I am personally skeptical about market timing, and trying to guess when a
recession is going to begin and end is one form of market timing.

Remember -- the S&P went up during five of the last nine recessions.

What I'm doing is sticking to my asset allocation: If the next time I
rebalance my portfolio, stocks have gone down since last time, I'll buy
more; if they've gone up, I'll sell some.

 

[Elle]

I am personally skeptical about market timing, and trying
to guess when a recession is going to begin and end is one
form of market timing.

Remember -- the S&P went up during five of the last nine
recessions.

Indeed. Send 'em to that great Vanguard article on
historical recessions you found. (Again, at the Vanguard
site, type in "recession" in the Vanguard search engine, and
it comes up.)

This is getting so much attention here it ought to be an
FAQ. Something like: "What to do when the economy looks
bad?"