When a market is as overvalued as the S&P 500, it’s best to be defensive, rather than being 100% invested, trying to eek out every last drop of potential gain.

I don’t care if the market moves another 10% or even 15% higher based on momentum.  When you compare the potential for another 5% to 15% upside against the risk of a 50% or greater crash, it seems like a foolish move to me.

At the top of a business cycle (we are there now), the most successful investors will typically hold much larger than normal cash balances and only commit new money to sectors which are truly undervalued – and trading at a point of maximum pessimism with a nice margin of safety. More →