The Long Term Investor

This may be a good sign for business in general and for third quarter earnings.

Target CEO: We're seeing 'healthy' spending despite 'unusual' economic times

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/targ...despite-unusual-economic-times-190822738.html

(BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content)

Target CEO Brian Cornell says the retailer's data predicts shoppers will spend solidly during the all-important holiday season despite "unusual" economic times in the U.S.

"We continue to see a healthy guest shopping in our stores and shopping online," Cornell said at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit on Monday. "We'll see how they react throughout the holiday season, but when we talk to them they continue to say they want to celebrate the holidays."

Shares of the discount retailer rose 3% after Cornell's upbeat commentary. Despite Cornell's optimism, the U.S. consumer continues to be in a precarious spot headed into 2023.

First, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), S&P 500 (^GSPC), and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) are still mired in double-digit percentage declines for the year as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates to beat back inflation. The bear market — coupled with pressured home prices as a result of the Fed's actions — is weighing on household net worth and spending plans.

Not helping matters is consumer price inflation hovering near 40-year highs, causing shoppers to trade down. Cornell acknowledged sky-high inflation but pointed out that the 3.5% unemployment rate remains relatively low.

"On one side, we have got inflation that is at a 40-year high, but unemployment is incredibly low — and I think those two things are balancing out right now," Cornell said.

Still, the labor market is showing its first signs of cracks.

Reports of Intel laying off thousands of workers amid a slowdown in PC sales surfaced a week ago. Beyond Meat is cutting 19% of its workforce. Facebook parent Meta is also reportedly culling workers, and other tech companies began cuts or hiring freezes earlier this year.

U.S.-based employers announced 29,989 job cuts in September, a 46.4% increase from August, according to data from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The figure is a stunning 67.6% higher from the same month last year.

September marked the fifth time this year that job cuts were higher in 2022 than in the same month a year ago, the data showed.

Cornell says he is closely monitoring actions the Fed takes to rein in inflation.

"We have got to watch it carefully. We have got to be agile, we have got to prepare for any environment," Cornell added."

MY COMMENT

Assuming that this is accurate....it is probably a good indicator for the future of the economy and stocks.

 

Here is another....."lets hope this is true"......little article......since I was talking about a market bottom having been achieved on last Friday.

Wall Street surges as market seeks bottoming signs

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/instant-view-wall-street-rallies-141650278.html

(BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content)

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street's main stock indexes rallied as much as 3% on Monday, catalyzed by better-than-expected Bank of America earnings, while traders debated whether recent wild swings signaled some sort of bottom was forming after new-bear market lows were reached last week.

On Thursday the benchmark S&P initially nosedived to its lowest since November 2020 after hotter-than-expected consumer Prices data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hike path would trigger a recession. But stocks staged an epic turnaround that day with traders guessing that a range of technical and positioning factors kicked in.

The S&P fell 2.4% on Friday, marking a 1.5% weekly decline.

MARKET REACTION: STOCKS: The Dow was up 1.68%, the S&P 500 was up 2.54% and the Nasdaq up 3.17%


COMMENTS:

JASON PALTROWITZ, DIRECTOR AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF CORPORATE SERVICES, OTC MARKETS GROUP, NEW YORK

"It’s a combination of factors. Obviously, the positive BofA earnings as well as and others have caused positive movement – while EPS growth is lower than previous quarters, it’s better than expected. Additionally, Friday’s sell off was about uncertainty and not wanting to hold positions over the weekend. The start of the week has that money back in the market."

PETER TUZ, PRESIDENT, CHASE INVESTMENT COUNSEL, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA

“I was thinking that the bank earnings, especially Bank of America was really pretty optimistic, and that coupled with the abandonment of restrictive policies in England just seemed to be the fuel that got the market going this morning.”

“There were some pretty rough days last week... The choppiness and volatility that we are seeing is part of the bottoming process. The fourth quarter generally is pretty good for markets historically.”

“We have a lot of earnings to go. This week and next week are just crucial and full of earnings, but we will see what guidance is for the fourth quarter and as far as people can tell into next year.”

CHRIS MURPHY, CO-HEAD OF DERIVATIVES STRATEGY, SUSQUEHANNA INTERNATIONAL GROUP, BALA CYNWYD, PA

“I think this is more a sign of more volatility to come. I don’t think this is a sign of a bottom because we are not seeing real sustained long-term buyers come in.”

“Positioning is getting very much one-sided. The risk now is that if everyone is so bearish and if positioning is so light you get one of those bear market rallies.”

“Most of the flow that we are seeing just today is people reengaging hedges and shorts.”

“People are really trying to time these moves. When we get toward the bottom of a range or we sell off significantly, you can monetize your protection or puts and then re-engage them when we bounce like this."

“If this trend continues you are going to have to say when we get a pretty decent selloff, ‘hey I better sell some of my puts’ and when you do that it creates some buying power into the stock market. And if we rally you put them back on and it can introduce some downside pressure.”

PAUL NOLTE, PORTFOLIO MANAGER, KINGSVIEW INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, CHICAGO:

"A lot it is revolving around Britain taking a complete walk-back in the policies they wanted to enact. We're seeing growth outperforming value today because of the drop in interest rates. That seems to be the daily MO for the market."

PHIL BLANCATO CEO OF CEO OF LADENBURG THALMANN ASSET MANAGEMENT

"This is the turnaround week every single year. If you look for the single best turnaround week for the year, it's always the second week of October. If you really want to be specific its around about October 14. We forget that seasonality matters to the market. The fourth quarter is on average the best quarter every single year and on average the turnaround week happens the second week of October. It's because of the post summer, post September malaise you look at when the markets see the greatest amount of income coming in post rebalancing at mutual fund at quarter end, it's money coming back into the market. Seasonality right now is playing into this."

"Secondly the information coming out of the banks are much better than anticipated. Even though there was a drop in earnings they're making significant income on their cash. So this recession is not a consumer-based recession. It's not a bank-based recession if you can even call it one. It's simply a cyclical slowdown. Those are the best because they generally take around 10 months to recover which is right where we are. Inflation is not slowing the economy down. If we get any kind of recession it's mild. For that reason, when you look at stocks trading now below their P/E averages, stocks are fairly valued again an offer a good opportunity."

"If you look at current P/Es and forward P/Es they're both trading below the last 10-year average. So stocks are now they're offering a good price. You're seeing earnings hold on so far. You have seasonality on your side, plus just seeing the data so far suggests the economy's doing just fine."

"Its a jagged edge because of the Fed and oil are still mysteries. Ultimately we end the year up higher, much closer to 4,000 than people realize, assuming we don't get an oil shock or a Fed shock."

SIDDHARTH SINGHAI, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, IRONHOLD CAPITAL, NEW YORK

"This seems to be a faux rally fueled by lower inflation expectations, I don't think the rally makes sense. Interest rate hikes are not getting discounted by the market."

THOMAS HAYES, MANAGING MEMBER, GREAT HILL CAPITAL, IN NEW YORK

"It is offsides positioning."

"Last week retail traders bought $19.9B of puts. 3:1 ratio to calls. Most extreme ever. Closest periods were all near major lows 2020, 2016, 2009, 2003. Everyone bought insurance after the house burned down. Those type of policies never pay out. There are no sellers left.""

MY COMMENT

The "experts" above are all over the place. I tend to agree with the view that recent wild swings are signaling some sort of bottom was forming after new-bear market lows were reached last week.

If I am wrong......no harm done since I am NOT a trader.

I am starting to get a good "feeling" that once again earnings will BEAT the low expectations and all the predictions by the NEGATIVE EXPERTS.

 

If I had cash....NOW....is when I would be investing it. I see a VERY STRONG likelihood that we are at a bottom......yes....still a soft bottom.

Unfortunately......I went through my cash flow needs last night for the first few months of 2023. My wife needs an $8500 cataract surgery in that time span and I need to pay off the painting that I just bought.....along with HOA dues, property taxes, IRS 4th quarter payment (the only one that do), final IRS payment in April, horse expenses, etc, etc, etc.

I can see that the money will be there......but it is a matter of managing CASH FLOW for the first months of the year.

SO.....my anticipated month to put about $20,000 into the markets is now.....MAY of 2023. I am afraid that the markets will have made some big gains by than. BUT.....that is the way it is. Regardless if it is April or May or whenever....I will dump that cash in and fully invest it at the earliest possible date.

LETS HAVE A GOOD WEEK THIS WEEK.

 

I will take any gain I can get. It all helps to keep me bouncing off my YTD low.....over and over.....without going lower. We certainly have a ways to come back....but every little bit helps.

In a bear market I will take any chance to celebrate that I am given. Although, I am not celebrating much today......one day is not enough....even if it is a beautiful day in the markets. I would like to see at least a week. I would really like to see a month or two.....even if it is a bear market rally.

 

Emmett.....you will find out some day.......that Medicare only covers the basic cataract surgery and a basic lens. It does NOT cover any of the premium lenses that correct vision. So in order to get the lenses that will correct my wife's vision back to 20/20 and do away with reading glasses, etc, etc, the cost will be about $8500....for both eyes.

"The conventional intraocular lens (IOL) covered by Medicare is typically a monofocal lens. Other advanced lens types, such as a toric lens for astigmatism, Lifestyle Lens (multifocal or accommodating lens, or enVista™ lens) may have out-of-pocket expenses. A monofocal lens has one point of focus. The one point of focus will usually give you clear distance vision, but the down side is that you will need glasses for near and intermediate vision."

I dont know...but I doubt that even traditional health insurance covers any of the premium lenses.

Same with hearing aids. Until recently hearing aids would cost about $5000 to $6000....out of your own pocket. Medicare does not pay for hearing aids. I doubt traditional medical insurance does either......for age related hearing loss. Now there are options....Costco is much cheaper....probably about $1600 to $3000. Since the law changed a few years ago you can now buy.....real hearing aids......over the internet as low as about $500 to $1000 for a pair.....not the best quality......but much better than the cheap amplifiers (fake hearing aids) that used to be sold in TV commercials and online to get around the prohibition of selling hearing aids that way.

"In 2017, Congress passed legislation requiring the FDA to permit the sale of OTC hearing aids without a prescription. In June 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order instructing the Health and Human Services Department to improve the availability of low-cost hearing aids."


The FUN of getting old.

 

A good little article.

U.S. tax competitiveness remains steady this year ahead of big changes for 2023

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-t...-ahead-of-big-changes-for-2023-220033550.html

(BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content)

"On Monday, the Washington-based Tax Foundation released its annual International Tax Competitiveness Index for 2022. They found the U.S. holding steady at 22nd among 38 of the world's top economies.

The annual report ranks the world’s tax codes and is closely watched by U.S. policymakers, especially Republicans, who are likely to regain some power in Washington after next month's midterm elections.

But the rankings could be set for a shakeup in 2023 as parts of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act come into force —and top world economies scramble to implement a landmark global minimum tax deal.

"While it's hard to say with full certainty, since other OECD countries may implement changes too, the U.S. rank will likely be slipping in coming years if the U.S. does not address some expiring provisions, or the complexity, that new policies from the Inflation Reduction Act bring to the U.S. tax code,” Daniel Bunn, the Tax Foundation’s Executive Vice President and author of the report told Yahoo Finance upon release of the report on Monday.

The report looks at 40 different variables from the worlds of corporate to individual to property to consumption taxes— and favors nations that collect revenues in a way that is sufficient for the government, but doesn't hamper the economic sector.

"The structure of a country’s tax code is a determining factor of its economic performance," the report begins, noting that "poorly structured tax systems can be costly, distort economic decision-making, and harm domestic economies."

This year, the U.S. again lagged behind some business friendly areas like New Zealand and Switzerland, but came in ahead of other world powers like the United Kingdom and Italy. U.S. adversaries like China and Russia are not tracked by the OECD and do not appear on the rankings.

Where the U.S. ended up

Atop the rankings, for the ninth year in a row, is Estonia. The small northern European nation is credited in the report for a tax code that, among other things, only taxes corporations on their distributed profits and doesn't tax personal dividends when looking at individual income taxes. In the eyes of the foundation's researchers, that structure is optimal to spur economic growth while allowing the government to raise enough to function.

The way the rankings are structured, the country ranked number 1 is seen as the one that is best designed to promote economic development while also raising enough for the government to operate.

At the bottom of the rankings, in 38th place, is France. The country was dinged in Monday’s report for many features of its tax code, but mostly for their wealth tax on real estate. Wealth taxes are seen by many economists as a drag on economic growth and - to boot - they are very hard to enforce evenly.

Roughly in the middle, once again, is the United States. This year's standing is identical to where the U.S. stood in both 2020 and 2021. Under the hood, the U.S. ranked at 22nd when it comes to its corporate tax policy, 21st on individual taxes, 3rd on consumption taxes, 29th on property taxes, and 35th on its cross-border tax rules.

The rankings are more than just a measure of the tax rates. The report also takes into consideration taxes that are levied in an economically disruptive way. Under consumption taxes, for example, nations are dinged if their sales tax systems only apply to some goods, but not others under the idea that an evenly applied sales tax wouldn't change consumer behavior.

Changes coming in 2023

The ranking released this week are for the 2022 tax landscape. But the Inflation Reduction Act and other changes from Washington D.C. will surely change things next year.

The new law, signed by President Biden in August will institute a new minimum corporate tax of 15% on corporations that have made over $1 billion in book profits. The new law also adds a new 1% excise tax on stock buybacks.

Both provisions will take effect on Jan. 1, 2023.

Bunn is concerned that the new minimum corporate tax could make the U.S. less competitive and also that a key provision of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will expire and hurt U.S. competitiveness.

That provision offers businesses full expensing for equipment and begins to phase out in 2023. The foundation has previously called it "the most important temporary tax provision." But the Biden administration and Democratic lawmakers have shown little interest in renewing it.

In addition, the U.S. and other nations recently agreed to a new global minimum tax deal that aims to ensure corporations pay a minimum rate of 15% no matter where they operate. Advocates of the ambitious deal aim have it come into effect in 2023, which has left many nations scrambling to comply with the new rules.'

MY COMMENT

At least we held steady....."that's all I have to day about that".

 

YEP Smokie....those are very good earning for J&J. Not to take anything away....but....I think they are one of the many companies that did a rope-a-dope with forward guidance......intentionally downplaying the guidance to look better when reporting in the future. It is all about managing expectations....that is smart management.

I used to own this company for many, many years as one of my BIG CAP GIANTS. I am sad to see that they are going to spin off their consumer health unit. I dont normally care to own drug companies. It was their iconic consumer products that caused me to make an exception in their case......they were basically a conglomerate....not just a drug company. Now.....I will not consider them in the future.....I dont like drug companies.....too boom and bust for my taste.

They had HUGE issues with their baby powder liability issues. I assume this is part of the reason to spin off the consumer group....although this is the current fad.....splitting up companies into little stand alone businesses....to create short term shareholder value and make the executives look good for BONUS reasons. In my view.....very FOOLISH.

They did previously take steps to isolate the baby powder liability:

Johnson & Johnson Seeks To Dodge Baby Powder Cancer Liability With Controversial Bankruptcy Scheme, While Sitting on Billions in Cash
Scheme, known as the "Texas Two-Step", has been used by other companies to avoid or mitigate asbestos liability.

https://www.aboutlawsuits.com/jj-baby-powder-cancer-liability-bankruptcy-scheme/#:~:text=In a move that is being widely ridiculed,multinational company has billions in assets on hand.

 

Markets are BOOMING again today....so far. Hopefully the start of another......BEAUTIFUL DAY.

The reasons....the lack of FED foolishness to hammer the markets today....we dont have to deal with the FED baloney till November. In addition EARNINGS are coming in better than expected......WOW......big shock there. (sarcasm)

 

I must say...even though I live the open today.....I dont have any confidence for where we will close. The markets have been so extremely volatile and erratic lately......there is no way to predict the close this early in the day.

 

So glad I choose to use my taxable IRA money first in my retirement and structure the rest of my retirement income to MINIMIZE tax liability.

RMD Tips for a Down Market
Some ways to potentially help alleviate the sting of government-forced withdrawals in a down market.

https://www.fisherinvestments.com/en-us/marketminder/rmd-tips-for-a-down-market

(BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content)

"Of all the investing maxims we have seen, we can’t recall any that included “sell low” as timeless advice. More often, it is a thing people do out of panic, then regret later as a market recovery leaves them behind. But what if you have no choice? That is the situation retirees may be facing if they haven’t yet taken their annual mandatory minimum withdrawals from their traditional 401(k)s and IRAs this year. The prospect of reducing stock exposure at levels well below early-year highs—thereby reducing exposure to the eventual rebound—is far from attractive. Thankfully, there are ways to lessen the blow.

Yes, those who turned 72 this year and older with tax-deferred retirement savings accounts must take required minimum distributions (RMDs) or risk facing a stiff 50% penalty on the amount not withdrawn. What is your RMD? Divide last year’s ending balance for your tax-deferred plan(s) by your—and perhaps your spouse’s—remaining-year life expectancy, which the IRS helpfully estimates (Uniform, Single, Joint). Or, ask your financial professional to tabulate it for you. This is the minimum amount you must withdraw this year—which is then subject to taxes. It is how Uncle Sam ensures he gets his slice of those long tax-deferred monies.

Federal law mandates retirees withdraw these funds. But they don’t mandate what you must do with them, which gives people some flexibility. If you don’t need the money straight away and can cover the taxes, you might find it beneficial to withdraw your RMD amount in-kind—simply transferring securities into a taxable brokerage account in the amount required. You still have to pay taxes on the withdrawal, but this lets you stay invested. Then, you are able to sell at your discretion when you need to raise cash for living expenses or other purposes.

You might also consider in-kind charitable distributions to satisfy your RMD and avoid taxes altogether. The IRS allows you to donate securities directly to qualified organizations, satisfying your RMD without having to pay taxes on it—at least up to $100,000. This lets you help out a charity you like and sidestep the taxman at the same time.

We know not everyone is able to do this. If you rely on your annual RMD to fund expenses, selling securities to take your RMDs—and paying taxes on them—is likely unavoidable. However, if you keep the rest of your account invested to capture the recovery, taking your RMD likely isn’t an insurmountable hurdle preventing you from participating in a recovery. The amount left will still compound over time. If you choose to, you could also take your RMD in installments or pull it in-kind, selling some of the securities as you need cash. This isn’t requisite, of course, but it is a way to maintain market exposure.

To see the effect of an RMD withdrawal late in a bear market, consider a hypothetical investor turning 72 in 2008 with $500,000 in a tax-deferred retirement account. (Understanding that before 2019’s retirement system overhaul, you were required to start taking distributions earlier, at age 70 ½.) Using today’s life expectancy tables—unrealistic, but just to illustrate the point—the investor withdraws $18,248 ($500,000 divided by 27.4 years, from the IRS’s Uniform Lifetime Distribution Period) at 2008’s end. The difference between a half-million dollar account and the same less the RMD would have been $82,763 ending 2021. That is significant, due to compounding’s power, but in the larger scheme of things, the remaining $481,752 after the required distribution, if it remained invested, would hypothetically grow, too. Of course, real-life investors would have had to continue taking RMDs year after year (except for the suspensions in 2009 and 2020). This isn’t meant to be an analysis of the long-term impact of taking RMDs, though—rather, we are simply showing that if you have to reduce your stock exposure by several thousand dollars late in a bear market, it isn’t automatically a huge, permanent setback.

Now, if you do choose to mitigate RMDs’ impact by transferring shares in-kind or taking them piecemeal, we recommend speaking to your financial professional sooner rather than later. Remember, if you are moving shares in-kind, the timing is basically irrelevant. And if you don’t have a taxable brokerage account set up, it will likely take a few days to open and execute the movement of securities. Best not to rush around right at yearend.

MY COMMENT

From what I have lived as an early retiree at age 49....managing taxes is going to be much more important than people think in retirement. In fact managing money...period....is very difficult in retirement. This will be the BIG fly in the ointment of the self funded retirement system that we now live with if you dont work for government.

 

YES.....ANY earnings beat no matter how a company does it will be a good thing. We need to pile up some positive momentum to try to stem the negativity and the bear market impact.

 

Here is the simple truth......what actually works for the vast majority of investors. LOL....Emmett. Here you go....I will celebrate a 1000 point gain in a couple of days any time....even if it peters out by the close today. That is just my nature.

Every Storm Runs Out of Rain

https://granite-wealth.com/blog/every-storm-runs-out-of-rain

(BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content)

Certainly you’ve seen some of the aftermath of Hurricane Ian somewhere in the news. Astounding to see the damage caused, right? After hitting Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane, putting the entire island nation in a blackout, it made US landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in southwest Florida, with winds of 150mph. Forecasts put the storm surge around 18 feet in the Fort Myers area, though it’s unclear what the actual surges were, as those gauges were destroyed in the storm - though some estimates have it at 15 feet. After barraging Florida and sliding out to the Atlantic from Florida’s east coast, Ian regained strength it lost over land in Florida, and made landfall again in South Carolina as a Category 1.

Here are some other stats from this nasty storm:

• Almost 30 inches of rain in some parts of FL
• 10+ inches of rain in the Carolinas
• At least 131 deaths in the region
• Over 3.2 million lost power in the region at some point
• Current estimates are upwards of $84 billion

BUT…

… the storm is over. Well, THIS storm is over. It’s likely that it’s not the last one that the southeast US will experience, though Hurricane Ian is ranked as the 4th worst hurricane on record in the United States.

What is interesting, however, is overlaying the similarities of a hurricane with a stock market drawdown.

We’ve been riding a downward trend for 10 months now after the market peaked on the first trading day of the year. And while it’s easy to say you’d never stay invested in a losing stock market over 10 months, who do you know that sold to 100% cash that first week of January?

Most stayed invested despite the slow, steady decline because we are human, and our nature tends to hold onto an illogical sense of optimism when times are good (and let’s be very clear: things were REALLY GOOD from April 2020 through November 2021…). This “optimism bias” allows our brain to dismiss warning signs and instead cling to the sometimes-unfounded belief that things will continue on this positive trajectory just like they have to this point.

It’s the same reason that, despite massive warnings and meteorological forecasts, Fort Myers is under scrutiny for possibly not giving early-enough evacuation orders. We tend to minimize or dismiss dangers under the guise of, “it won’t be THAT bad,” or, “it won’t happen to me.” Unfortunately, that mindset is not rooted in reality, but rather in hope - something we all should maintain, but not allow to fully overtake our decision-making process.

Why live there anyways if hurricanes are a regular threat to the region? Well, are there any places on earth where weather is not a potential harm to your livelihood or life? Floods. Tornados. Blizzards. Monsoons. Drought. Heat waves. Frigid temperatures. You can never be 100% isolated from meteorological threats. But I’d opine that opportunity cost has a lot to do with why many endure the threat of hurricanes in places like Florida, because then there isn’t a hurricane, it’s a great environment to live in with some of the most favorable weather in the US.

On the same wavelength, why invest in the stock market if corrections / downturns / crashes also happen on a regular basis? Opportunity cost is your answer here… If you weren’t invested over the last 10 years, for example, you lost out on your hard earned cash simply sitting in place, doing almost nothing aside from gaining near-negligible interest from your bank. If you were invested over the last 10 years, however, you’d have seen maybe a 200-300% increase in your stock market-invested portfolio (depending on what specifically you were invested in). By investing in a market that always has the potential to decline, but sees growth over the long-term every time, you are saying, “yes, there is a risk in this, but I am willing to accept this risk due to the potential growth I can see from this investment.”

You are investing despite the hurricanes - willing to endure the hurricanes so you can golf 3 days a week, go to the beach 365 days per year, and wear sandals every day.

One thing we know for certain is that every single bear market in the history of the stock market has come to an end, and we’ve ended up in a better place than when it all started. Sometimes that turnaround happens fast (initial COVID quarantine period saw the market eclipse its pre-COVID high by mid-August 2020 - that’s quick!), while other times it happens much more slowly (i.e. the Great Financial Crisis, which took years). While inside of those negative periods, our brains turn on their “pessimism bias,” where our thoughts tend to skew towards the negative, insinuating things will never get better and we are doomed.

The truth is rather somewhere in between - as it always seems to happen.

I can’t tell you how to get through a disastrous hurricane, but I can tell you that getting through a painful market crash can be as simple as focusing on the short-term (do you have cash readily available for the coming 6-12 months?) and tuning out the noise (consider how optimistic market headlines can be these days… certainly they do not add value or peace to your day-to-day). It certainly doesn’t mean you should not be invested, or that you shouldn’t continue to invest, though it may force you to consider what your true tolerance for risk is. Is it worth sharing your fears and concerns with your financial advisor in order to better align your investments with your ability to tolerate risk (even mentally / emotionally)?

Unequivocally, I would say yes. Tell your advisor if this current market has you feeling uncomfortable to the point where you want to bury all your money in the ground rather than invest, but be willing to consider a plan that you and your advisor devise together to alleviate your short-term fears while still taking advantage of the large (but sometimes risky) benefits of investing in the market.

Remember, every storm runs out of rain…

Don’t forget how good the sunshine will feel when the clouds break."

MY COMMENT

AMEN......the typical lesson of long term investing.

 

You know how I am Emmett.....It is fine with me if others have different opinions or views on anything to do with investing. I have been investing so long.......it does not bother me.....I have a long lifetime of confidence in what I do and how I invest. My style of investing and investing habits served me very well over my lifetime.

This thread is open to ANYONE to post anything they wish about investing.....or to comment on my posts......they dont have to agree with me. I doubt that in reality Rayak and I disagree about much to do with investing. I dont buy into ANY of the zero sum crap.....and....I certainly dont believe there is only one way to invest.

In general.....EVERYONE....has to find what works for them and produces the returns they want in investing.

 

SORRY....have to get out and run some errands. So....I will just ignore the markets while I am gone and HOPE that is it still up when I get back.

That is my primary investment strategy......"HOPE".......LOL.