On Our Minds: I'm Not Sure What My Next Investing Move Is — And That's OK

American indexes tumbled into bear-market territory earlier this year, some shedding more than 20 per cent of their value. Meanwhile, rising inflation has been putting the squeeze on my budget, and the Bank of Canada just recently raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points – its largest single increase since 1998.

In the face of all that, and the fact that I'm a relatively new self-directed investor, I've been a little (OK, a lot!) unsure about my next buy and sell decisions. That uncertainty started to make me feel like I wasn't doing enough to manage my investments. It turns out, I've been doing more than I thought. Here's what I mean.

When I first started investing, I read that “doing nothing" can, at times, be an investor's best course of action. The argument made sense: unexpected situations can lead us to make all sorts of snap decisions with the potential to jeopardize our investing plans. (It's called action bias, and it's real!) So, with a mind to keep my cool in the face of uncertainty, I determined that I would avoid the temptation to preen my portfolio and wait until volatility eases. But what was I to do in the meantime?

I recently listened to an interview with Stu Kedwell, Senior Vice President of North American Equities at RBC Global Asset Management. In it, Kedwell tells my colleagues: "Successful investors spend a lot of time watching. And there's a big difference between monitoring and doing nothing – monitoring is doing something."

He's right. If there's anything the past few months have taught me, it's that there's more to being an active direct investor than buying and selling. Much “investing" can take place when we're researching, monitoring and finding new ideas.

If you've slowed down your pace of investing, too, or simply want some ideas for being an engaged investor during this bear market – and possibly an upcoming recession – here are some ways I've been staying on top of my investing plan.

Taking a closer look at my holdings

I thought that my hiatus would keep me offline, but I haven't stopped logging into my dashboard and checking my portfolio. Rather than skimming, I've been taking a long, hard look at my holdings – something I hadn't done in a while. I click through to each of the securities' detailed quote pages and dive in. Though many of my holdings are in the red (ugh!), a closer look reveals that many of the companies I hold appear to have solid plans for mitigating the uncertainty ahead. It's helped me feel more confident that my investment plan seems to be working as intended.

Being an engaged shareholder

With many companies scrutinizing and reorganizing their top brass, I had the opportunity to try something new recently: vote as a shareholder. A letter arrived in the mail with details and a QR code to a voting website, immediately prompting me to Google various directors and their plans. The experience reminded me that being a dutiful shareholder is another path to being engaged as an investor. Some other ways include participating in stock buybacks and catching earnings calls.

Learning more

When I was in the media industry, I spent time every morning catching up on the news – journalists call it “reading in." I've found this a handy habit to hold onto as an investor. Though I already tend to follow many business and investing news sources, I've been branching out. I've found some investing sources that challenge my viewpoints, have subscribed to new newsletters and even joined a Discord server devoted to investing.

Planning my next move

I don't expect to feel this paralyzed indefinitely (at least I hope not!), so I'm already planning what I might do next. While news of market downturns and recessions is disheartening, I've also realized market volatility can present opportunities for prepared investors. Research tends to show that investors who've stuck to their investing plan through turbulent times have historically been rewarded. So, right now I'm building up some dry powder to make a move when I'm ready.