by putting it into a cd.
For real? With interest rates lower than inflation this is almost as irresponsible as spending it on drugs. (and alot less fun)
Either that or invest it in international markets/gold.
Chasing recent performance? Look up the Callan Chart. This will show you why I think that\'s such a bad idea.
For anyone carrying credit card debt-throw the $ at your highest interest payment card. If you just make minimum payments you can wind up paying for gas you bought one day for years. It\'s so wasteful.
If you\'re debt free- open a Roth IRA. The $$$ grows tax free. If you are 30 years old a well balanced stock mutual can turn that into $20K by the time you turn 65.
Even to get a juicier yield on a cd, you\'d likely need to plunk down a minimum investment in the range $5-10,000.
Zappa, I\'d definitely take the advice of the Coyote here. To make an investment, you really need to feel comfortable with its fundamentals and cyclical behavior patterns. For gold, you\'d need to know what environments it thrives (it\'s a crisis hedge) and whether there may be support beyond the current rally.
Flirting with a bear market is actually a good time to make contrarian bets by digging for beaten down stocks/industries that are likely to perform well in the longer term. Concerned about the longer term health of the economy, you could scope out industres with essential products that consumers will buy in any economic environment (or companies who are not reliant on the U.S. market for most of their earnings).
My advice: find Bill and Ted\'s time machine phone booth (or a Delorean DMC), go back to October, and make an allocation to an inverse S&P500 fund.
