When it comes to investing in the financial markets, panic selling often leads to missed opportunities – and waiting for the dip could rob you of the most lucrative days to hold a particular asset. Those are the general takeaways of a comprehensive study of the S&P 500 Index conducted by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC).
Using data going back to 1930, Bank of America strategists found that a basic hold strategy would have yielded total returns of 17,715%. If, on the other hand, investors tried to time the market, they could have missed out on the best trading days. Missing just ten of the S&P 500’s best trading days each decade would have diluted the total returns to just 28%.