As a contrarian when it comes to most things, I ignore the First Commandment of investing- don't jump in and out of the market. I don't claim to hit the very top and very bottom of every time, or any time. But I do start re-allocating my funds in 401k/ Roth IRA from stock funds to bond fund when I see signs we may be reaching a bubble or peak. (Now is one of those times, for example.) That doesn't mean I go 0% in the market. It just means I start backing off in steps. Then, in times where it couldn't look more bleak, I begin buying again in steps. Have I missed out at the very top at times not having 100% or close to that in equities? Sure. But I've figured I have at least broken even doing it this way, and a couple times came out well ahead. Not saying it's right or wrong, just what I've been doing for about 20 years now. Finally, I only have a handful of individual stocks left. I have learned through the years I can't compete with market makers. I can do all the research in the world, but I don't know what the institutions know. So I'll trade a few stocks here and there, but when I buy stock now it's almost all S&P 500 ETF. Great discussion here though, always curious what others really do.