Revisiting My Only 2015 Prediction

I rarely make stock-market predictions — it's a fools game. But, I made an exception and on September 30, 2015, I wrote an articled titled “Buy the Dip!” This was during the second sell off in the August-September correction and investors were scared. As usual, the media fanned the flames and several went a step further and declared dip buying is dead. 

Below are five of their dip-buying eulogies:

1) CNBC Why this might not be the best strategy for stock investors now

2) Wall Street Journal: The VIX Market Suggests It’s Not Yet Time to Buy the Dips    

3) MarketWatch: Bearish divergence’ is warning investors not to buy the dip in the stock market

4) Seeking Alpha: Be Careful ‘Buying The Dip’   

5) MSN Money: Don’t buy the dip, sell the rally: Partner

I suspected sentiment was far too negative and the fundamentals did not justify the panic and extrapolations. I concluded the post by saying:

“I promise to update this post in December. Maybe, it’s different this time, and I’ll eat holiday humble pie, but I doubt it.”

My prediction has been accurate. Since my post on September 30, the S&P 500 is up 8.64%. Below is a graph showing the S&P 500 over this period.

I'm glad to have gotten my one prediction in 2015 correct, but will continue to practice and advocate a strategic approach to investing.