Investing Portfolio Updates

Meme Stock Mania and Market All-Time Highs – Time to Chase or Cut Back?

Calvin Lo

The meme stock WallStreetBets reddit crowd is back in action. This time, OpenDoor Tech $OPEN has caught their attention.

Recall that meme stock mania first started back in Jan 2021 during COVID when the same peeps were squeezing the shorts in GameStop $GME.

This time around, markets are again pushing all-time highs including S&P 500, Nasdaq, DJIA, Singapore’s STI, Japan’s Nikkei 225, and probably many other markets.

The Fear & Greed index is close to Extreme Greed.

So the question I always have when markets are euphoric and breaking all-time highs is: Should I pump more money in to ride the momentum or pull money out in anticipation of a pullback?

Keeping in mind the last time I wrote about markets hitting all-time highs back in Sep 2024 here, markets continued to power on higher. That was when S&P 500 was at 5,626 points compared to 6,388 points now, a 14% increase in less than a year.

This time around, I’m shall remain somewhat neutral. I will try not to cut back prematurely, to let my stocks run up. My usual lever for portfolio management is cash position. At all-time highs, I maintain 15% (see table below) + SSB rate in cash. In this case, Aug 2025 SSB rate is 2.29% so my cash position is set at 17.3%.

Currently, actual cash is at 16.9% so I’m supposed to trim some holdings to raise 0.4% cash. Since it’s a small percentage, I won’t be doing anything just yet. Over the past few months, I’ve already been trimming quite a bit (see pink line below for 2025) since stocks have been running up, in order to bring my cash position back to target.

So to strike a balance between keeping enough cash to deploy in case the market pulls back (like back in Apr 2025 which was a great opportunity to buy) vs letting the portfolio grow organically, I shall try to sit on my hands a bit more. Typically from what I observed, when markets break ATH, there’s still some scope for further run up. I’ve sold too early so many times so I’m trying to be less early.

However, if things go up too fast, that’s when the drop might be just as hard and fast which is what I would like to avoid. Especially as our portfolio grows in value, the pain of subsequent market crashes feels more acute since the quantum is larger. As time goes by and we get closer to retirement, it would probably make sense to gradually transition to lower risk assets.

For more detail and updates on our portfolio, refer to the Portfolio page. It’s been a while since I’ve updated it but I’ll do so soon.

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Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. I am not professional financial advisor nor do I work in the finance industry. Anything I write here is purely my personal opinion. Please do your own research and due diligence before investing into anything. All investments come with associated risks. Best to consult a financial advisor if you’re still unsure.

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