Lost $20K in after tax brokerage account, should I invested?

[Ling Lin]

Hello! Currently I am at a lost of $20k in my after tax brokerage account with remaining of $40k in the account all invested in tech stocks like Tesla, CLNE, SPCE etc. I purchased majority of them last year Feb-March time so they are currently sitting at 60-88% lost. 
I am active duty military deployed so I entire yr income are tax free so I basically “don’t have any income to report”. 
Should I take the lost and reinvest in total stock market? Or should I hold? 

[Frank Chin]

@Ling Lin

I have invested in tech stocks for nearly 40 years. We have several accounts, including IRA's, and tech stocks can go down 60% one year, and bounced back even more the following years. The key is if the company is good, just sit on the downturn, sit tight and you'll be OK. But make sure you have a portfolio of conservative investments to balance things out.

I have seen downturns in the real estate market and tech markets. Those unfortunate enough to start right before downturns usually pull out, never go back in again. I bought a triplex for $150K in 1983, skyrocketed to $350K in 1986. The downturn started in 1986, someone who bought the triplex next to me, watch the value drop to $300K in 1990, got nervous, sold it, and the guy who bought it for $300K got even more nervous, sold it for under $275K in 1992. The values bounced back, I sat on mine, and by 2006, similar properties sold for $800K. Currently, they are worth $1.4 million.

Same story with tech stocks. I bought some Microsoft stock in the early 90's, 2 stock splits bought it to 1,000 shares, sitting in one portfolio all these years. I decided to just sit on it. Back then, I only put down around $7,000 total. MSFT was up to $349/share a few months ago, and is currently down to $271/share. That's a fluctuation between $271K and $349K in the portfolio. Should I go crazy because of the recent drop. I sit tight as MSFT is forecasted to hit $375 to $411 a share in the coming year.

So if you invest in real estate or tech stocks, be ready for these gyrations. Unfortunately, I saw too many investors get nervous, and just sell. BTW, I thought of taking profits from MSFT when it reached $120/share, after it jumped from $59/share to $80/share to $120/share over a 3 year period, but stopped myself, and I'm glad I did.