My shopping list is growing by the day

You know, as someone who is a full time job seeker these days I really thought I would have more time to conduct as much day trading and research as my heart desired. Alas, life always gets in the way and I seem to have just as much time spent on my Scottrade portfolio while I was working full time as I do now.

So yeah, now I have a super long "shopping list" of single name stocks and mutual funds. I've done research on a handful of them but still have a long way to go. The most amusing part is that I definitely want to buy at least 4-5 securities but I am holding off until there is a dip in the market.

Am I insane for trying to time the market? Maybe, maybe not. You see, I don't believe in buying in, especially for a long term hold like a mutual fund, when the market is at 18-month highs. Yes, the data is getting better slowly but surely but I just don't think we have seen the worst just yet. I might miss out on a lot of upside, but I am not quite ready for dumping some cash in the market right now. I am beginning to think the dollar cost averaging is a much better method of purchasing securities vs once a year habits that I tend to have.

With all that said, where is my March dip that I have been waiting on? I could have sworn we were going to see the second dip in the "W" scenario I have been predicting for over a year now. I guess this means I need to readjust my very fixed income brain to figure out what the next 12-16 months will look like.

Anyone care to share thoughts?