The Federal Reserve is set to meet this week to decide whether or not to lower interest rates. While markets have grown confident about the prospect of a rate cut this month, bearish sentiment among individual investors is on the rise. Nearly half of all investors said that they're bearish about the market over the next six months, according to the American Association of Individual Investors' latest weekly sentiment survey. That sentiment has spread in recent weeks, reaching its highest point in over fou ...

Market Performance - The stock market has recently reached new heights, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite surging approximately 26% and 35% respectively since early April [1][2] Investment Risks - Investing at record highs can be risky due to high stock prices and potential downturns that could lead to immediate portfolio value drops [2][10] - Historical data suggests that investing in ETFs at peak prices can still yield positive outcomes for long-term investors [2][4] Long-term Investment Strategy - Historical trends indicate that there is no bad time to invest if a long-term perspective is maintained [4][11] - For instance, investing in an S&P 500 ETF before the Great Recession would have resulted in a 75% total return over 10 years despite initial losses [5][6] - The S&P 500 has never experienced negative total returns over any 10-year period in the last 82 years, although it has seen negative returns in 33% of one-year periods [8][9] Portfolio Preparation - To navigate market uncertainty, investors are advised to ignore short-term fluctuations, build an emergency fund, and invest in fundamentally strong companies [10][12] - Investing in robust companies or S&P 500 ETFs is recommended as they are more likely to withstand market volatility [12]