Suggestions and Opinion for the retail investor

Okay. So the bull has been pushed into the ring. But, can you bear it? I could not help myself against that pun!

Some of the basic questions that you should ask yourself, if you have not really asked this to yourself before:

"When am I going to need that money that i invested in the markets?"

If your answer is "soon", then, fellow, you can disinvest. Yes, sell your holdings- as you are getting definite returns right now. The stock prices are not attractive enough to buy right now- which means, they should be attractive enough to sell. And if you have a reason to sell, that is, you are going to need that money for whatever purpose- it's better to get out and put it into the bank/make an FD.

"But my portfolio is still in the red/I have not recovered my losses."

Now, you are in a precarious situation. If you really need that money, go ahead and sell. It may be possible that the stocks that you hold- and given the recent bull run where most of the folks are back in the green, and you haven't, the stocks that you hold aren't really worth the wait if they're penny stocks. If they are index stocks or good fundamental companies, you may wait, but if it's the pennies- one cannot be sure to say when they'll bounce. It's odd, but penny stocks and long term investments don't go together. If you didn't know this, now you do- and you're a lot wiser, trust me. Coming back to the money, if you do not require that money for a few quarters, you can stay invested, and earn a bit more- do not freak out when the markets correct in the next month- it's October, baby!

"Okay, I don't need that money for now, not even for the year."

You should re-analyse your situation before you come to this answer. As a rule, you should invest only that portion of your savings which you are sure you're never going to need- ever.

"Yes, I'm sure."

Then you should ask yourself.

"What is my risk appetite?"

Basically, this question asks you whether you want to make a killing at the stock markets- risking your investment to the edge, or you want to play safe, and still get better returns than that normal bank fixed deposit, the post office scheme or that mutual fund manager. In order to facilitate a better answer, I'll name the two fellows. The first case would be Jack Sparrow. And the second would be Vito Corleone. Okay, you may not agree with the analogies, but anyways, that's the names i would employ.