The time investors spend on determining bull or bear can [be] better [spent by] capturing the moves in the right areas. A bear market in one sector, region – or even country – can have little to do with another sector, region or country. Smart investors go where the bargains are, rather than spending time on superfluous information like if the U.S. is in a bull or bear market. Another common irrelevant question is concerning what the market is going to do today or tomorrow. The other example illustrating the difficulties with trying to time the market is simply the cost of such an all or nothing approach. Once an investor decides to get out of the market at a particular level, if the market goes up these investors have great difficulty in getting back in. If the expert determined that 10,000 was an overpriced level and sells the market yet stocks rise to 11,000 and then 12,000, not only is the move missed – but how can he/she get in at 12,000 after determining it was overvalued at 10,000?
