Decade of negative returns in US

While the media is now proclaiming 2010 to be a bull run for the S&P, it is wothwhile to consider how buy-and-hold worked out for investors in US:

The Dow ended 9% in the red, the S&P 500 - 24%, and the NASDAQ Composite - 44%.

If you were to learn just one thing from this blog remember these golden word:

" When everybody arond you is bullish exit all longs and prepare to go short.
When everybody is bearish, exit all shorts and build up long positions"

Investors in India are very bullish and I think the long term bull picture is intact in India for the next 5-6 years. But when things turn down it won't take long to erase the gains made over the last many years. If one follows the above golden rule one can save oneself from a lot of financial carnage.