# Kicking my stock-market checking habit

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicking-my-stock-market-checking-habit/585576>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [June 15, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicking-my-stock-market-checking-habit/585576 "2011-06-15T16:29:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicking-my-stock-market-checking-habit/585576/1 "2011-06-15T16:29:48Z")

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Well, as of right now, I have no idea how the stock markets are doing. And I don’t know how they’ve been doing at all this week. See, I’m kicking my addiction to checking the S&P/TMX and S&P 500 indices, like, every half hour. That was in addition to checking the overnight futures several times a night too.

Hasn’t gone bad. I really don’t feel the need to know. Now and then I reflexively think about looking it up, but then stop myself.

So there it is. Mindless, pointless stuff I must share.

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**Author:** ![geneb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e4f/32.png) [@geneb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geneb)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicking-my-stock-market-checking-habit/585576/2 "2011-06-15T18:12:51Z")

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I had the same addiction for a few years… It came and went. Eventually I sold all of my stock. Partly for the money, partly so I’d stop being obsessed with it.

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**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicking-my-stock-market-checking-habit/585576/3 "2011-06-15T18:47:57Z")

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I check it every day - often several times a day. Not out of stress or addiction, just amusement. Big drops are interesting. This is despite the fact that my wife and I have a lot of money invested in mutual funds. They daily meanderings of the stock market don’t cause me the least bit of worry; I’m in it for the long haul, and counting on long-term historical trends (i.e. good outcomes for long-term investors) to continue.

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**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicking-my-stock-market-checking-habit/585576/4 "2011-06-15T23:06:39Z")

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I check mine once every month or so, usually when the statement comes in the mail. No need to check it more often because my husband, the stock broker, does a good job of obsessing over it for the both of us.