So...Recession?

[antipelican]

So what do we think are the chances of a long-term decline in the US stock market? 
Line always go up eventually, except what if it doesn't? If the rest of the world moves on without us due to the tariffs, trade wars, and general destabilization of the US, is it possible we just see a long term decline into oblivion?
Fuck this whole artificial system, except I'm finally able to start socking money in a retirement fund so now I'm wondering, what is the potential future of this line go up nonsense?

[gorzek]

So far it looks like the rest of world is expecting the US to be a useless trading partner and is moving on without us.
The US is completely screwed if any of this tariff crap sticks. We can't even grow our own food without imported potash, much less do anything else.
Once the ball gets rolling on economic collapse it's kinda hard to stop. We aren't there yet, but we're teetering on the edge day by day.
I think it's a better than 50% chance Trump pushes us over into a very bad recession. A completely avoidable one, too. He inherited what was, on paper, the best economic streak the US has ever had.
In less than 2 months he has all but obliterated it. LINE GO UP!!!!

[ScottyMcGee]

bumping this because uhhh reasons. lol.

I guess, let's talk about some good tips now?

[antipelican]

What kind of tips would be helpful?

[gorzek]

I see we were saying last month Trump is likely to cause a bad recession... and one seems to be coming now!
Here are my most straightforward investing tips:

• Don't invest more than you can afford to lose. I really mean that. Think very hard. "Am I going to be distraught if all this money evaporates?" If so, shove it somewhere it can't do that, like into bonds or something.
  
• Remember that most things don't go to zero. Panic selling a falling asset will almost always leave you worse off. In the long run, most things go up.
  
• So, if in the long run most things go up, you should be fine. The alternative is everything is bad forever, meaning our society is basically collapsing, in which case you will have far greater worries than your stock portfolio so, honestly, don't sweat it.
  
• Use dollar cost averaging.
  
• Don't underestimate the power of stocks that pay regular dividends. Put those dividends back into those stocks. Eventually every time they pay a dividend, you end up with multiple additional shares of that stock! At some point, you are pulling in a pretty good quantity of cash just from those.
  
• Riding daily fluctuations is hard. Making money that way is challenging. People who are able to do it are usually very lucky.
  
• Be careful with penny stocks. They can have fees involved that you don't see coming, like administrative fees for reverse splits, which will eat anything you might otherwise make off of them. (Penny stocks are also very likely to go to zero.)