WELL....well....I am now UP for the past two days. Today......I made more than I lost yesterday...by a small amount. It was a good day today with six of seven stocks up. My only down stock.....HD. I also beat the SP500 today by 1.56%. A good day all the way around. ALSO....a good way to enter the final three days of the week.
A nice story of the day today. Apple’s market cap closes above $3 trillion https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/05/apples-market-cap-closes-above-3-trillion.html ALSO....THIS ONE. Job data suggests ‘soft landing’ is increasingly likely, economists say https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/05/job-data-suggests-soft-landing-may-be-near-say-economists.html
The nice close today.....at least for some investors....depending on what you own. Stock market news today: Tech gains, Dow lags on heels of slowing labor market demand https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stoc...of-slowing-labor-market-demand-210119483.html (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "US stocks closed mixed on Tuesday following fresh jobs data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Tech was the biggest gainer of the day with the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) closing up about 0.3%. The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) hugged the flatline while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dropped more than 0.2%, or roughly 80 points. A losing start to December is putting November's roaring rally in the rearview mirror. Doubts are surfacing about the notion the Federal Reserve will soon call an end to rate hikes, sapping enthusiasm. Investors are now looking to upcoming labor market data for evidence the US economy is headed for a so-called soft landing. Tuesday's reading on job openings in October showed slowing demand in the labor market with job openings sliding to 8.73 million last month, down from 9.35 million openings in September and 10.47 million in the prior year. Over the month, the number of hires and total separations changed little at 5.9 million and 5.6 million, respectively, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Within separations, quits (3.6 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.6 million) were changed little. ADP private payrolls numbers will be released on Wednesday while Friday's crucial monthly jobs report will be scoured for catalysts for the Fed to change policy course." MY COMMENT NO....I dont care about the fantasy of rate cuts. We had a good....normal.....market day today. The economic data continues to come in...about as positive as possible....for stocks and investors. We are on a roll with the economic news lately as well as in the markets.
Kind of a wishy-washy market today. In the green....compliments of the employment data that came out today.....but not sure what it wants to do. The payroll data today is another a spike in the heart of future rate hikes by the FEDd....another good report for the markets and investors. Plus.....the Ten year treasury is down again at 4.117%.......it has dropped like a rock....but no one is talking about it since it is not something that is not......DRAMA. All in all a normal market day with the usual fluctuations.
Speaking of the private payroll data. Private payrolls increased by 103,000 in November, below expectations, ADP says https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/06/pri...-in-november-below-expectations-adp-says.html (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "Key Points Private payrolls grew by 103,000 workers in November, below the downwardly revised 106,000 in October and the 128,000 Dow Jones estimate. After leading job creation for most of the period since Covid hit in early 2020, leisure and hospitality recorded a loss of 7,000 jobs. Services-related industries provided all the job gains for the month, as goods producers saw a net loss of 14,000. Private payrolls increased by 103,000 in November, below expectations, ADP says Private sector job creation slowed further in November and wages showed their smallest growth in more than two years, payrolls processing firm ADP reported Wednesday. Companies added just 103,000 workers for the month, slightly below the downwardly revised 106,000 in October and missing the 128,000 Dow Jones estimate. Along with the modest job growth came a 5.6% increase in annual pay, which ADP said was the smallest gain since September 2021. Job-changers saw wage increases of 8.3%, making the premium for switching positions the lowest since ADP began tracking the data three years ago. After leading job creation for most of the period since Covid hit in early 2020, leisure and hospitality recorded a loss of 7,000 jobs for the month. Trade, transportation and utilities saw an increase of 55,000 positions, while education and health services added 44,000 and other services contributed 15,000. Services-related industries provided all the job gains for the month, as goods-producers saw a net loss of 14,000 due to declines of 15,000 in manufacturing, despite the settlement in the United Auto Workers strikes, and 4,000 in construction. Recent layoffs in Silicon Valley and on Wall Street also did not show up in the data, as both sectors posted gains on the month. “Restaurants and hotels were the biggest job creators during the post-pandemic recovery,” said ADP’s chief economist, Nela Richardson. “But that boost is behind us, and the return to trend in leisure and hospitality suggests the economy as a whole will see more moderate hiring and wage growth in 2024.” Companies with between 50 and 499 employees led job creation, with an addition of 68,000. Small businesses contributed just 6,000. The ADP report comes two days before the more widely watched nonfarm payrolls count from the Labor Department. The two reports can differ widely, though the numbers for private payrolls were close in October as the Labor Department reported growth of 99,000, just 7,000 below the revised ADP tally. Including government jobs, nonfarm payrolls increased 150,000 in October and are expected to show growth of 190,000 in November, according to Dow Jones. Another sign that the labor market is loosening came Tuesday, when the Labor Department reported that job openings declined to 8.73 million in October, the lowest level since March 2021." MY COMMENT Just about ALL the various economic reports lately have come in on the side of no more FED rate hikes. This one joins the club. Good news for stock investors and the bull market. This being "private" jobs data it does not include the huge elephant in the room.....government employment and the spending spree that continues with government. Of course the more money government takes and spends.....the less there is under the control of the private economy and business.
I like this little article. Why stock markets will always evolve with the times https://www.thenationalnews.com/bus...ck-markets-will-always-evolve-with-the-times/ (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "Here we go again. “Demographic experts” complain that low developed world birth rates will cause labour shortages, hurt businesses and tank economic demand, all while “zombie-like” old folks suck resources dry. Their simple-minded conclusion: “bad” demographics will hurt the global economy and stock markets. But these fears are old – and wholly backward. Older populations aren’t impediments to progress – they are signs of it. Here is how to see through daffy demogra-fictions. Yes, the western world is ageing. Start with America. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 9.8 per cent of US residents were aged 65 or older in 1970. That has nearly doubled to 17.3 per cent. Supposedly bad. In 2000, America’s “old age dependency ratio” – OADR, how many people aged 65 and above for every 100 working-age folks – was 20.9. It has since spiked to 30.4. Also, supposedly bad. By 2050, the OECD projects it to reach 40.4 – and 55.4 in the EU. Supposedly awful! That means only about two workers would “support” every person over the age of 65. By 2080, the US Census Bureau projects America’s population will peak and start easing lower. Supposedly terrible! What to do? Celebrate! Every major economy gets relatively older as it prospers. As living standards increase, lifespans follow. Birth rates fall, too, alongside infant mortality. American men born in 1900 had a life expectancy of 46.3. Women? 48.3. By 1950, when I was born, they reached 65.6 and 71.1. Now? 73.5 and 79.3. Tremendous healthcare advances mean those extra years are fruitful and productive. Doomers conveniently ignore the crucial caveats of “good” demographics. Sadly, countries allegedly sporting the youngest populations (and, hence, lowest OADRs) – mostly in Africa – suffer poverty, shorter lifespans and higher infant mortality rates. But demographics aren’t destiny. Innovation is. History shows most regions growing into major economies get relatively older – without killing economic growth and stock market gains. In 1982, America’s OADR was 20. It has since thrived, not dived. Gross domestic product tripled. Through to October, including dividends, the S&P 500 returned 11.5 per cent annualised in the US dollar since 1982’s start. Yes, periodic recessions and bear markets came and went. They always do, everywhere. But growth continued. Stocks climbed as OADR rose. It has been similar in the UK, Germany, France, Canada, Australia – you name it. Fear peddlers like to blame pockets of slow European growth – like Italy and Spain – on demographics. This is what I call “demogra-fictions”. Italy’s OADR is below Germany’s and near identical with the Netherlands’. Spain’s is much lower than both. Like most lower OADR countries, both have higher average annual hours worked per capita than the others. If older demographics didn’t torpedo Dutch and German growth over recent decades, why would they be hurting Italy and Spain? They aren’t. Structural problems – like a dearth of technology and innovation and regulations stymying innovation – explain their lags. Doomers think all oldsters are penny pinchers. Wrong. Consider this: In 1984, Americans aged 25 to 34 spent 41 per cent more than those aged 65 to 74. Yet, the gap shrank to just 12 per cent by 2022. Again, innovation-derived prosperity rules. Longer lifespans and an increased retirement age mean oldsters earn more than before – and spend part of it. Sure, those aged 45 to 54 – the US’s highest spending bracket – still outspend 65 to 74 year olds by about 50 per cent. But even that gap decreased from more than 80 per cent in 1984. Old folks invest, funding capitalism’s growthy magic. They give money to kids and grandkids, who spend it. “Dependent” burdens? Ha! Many work into their 70s or 80s. I am 73, with no retirement in sight. Experience can make older workers more productive today, not less – especially with physically intense farming and manufacturing jobs giving way to today’s service and knowledge-orientated economies. Demographic bears also erroneously extrapolate recent trends. Every major economy gets relatively older as it prospers. As living standards increase, lifespans follow. Birthrates fall, too, alongside infant mortality. No one knows for sure if US and European birth rates will keep falling, or how many skilled workers immigration may bring. Globally, how might new inventions spur new efficiencies, as they always do? Consider the microchip’s impact over recent decades, or the internet and mobile phones. Stocks? They price factors impacting companies’ profitability three to 30 months or so out. Not further. Demographic trends evolve glacially over decades, giving markets ample time to adapt to whatever far-future realities emerge. Demographic doomers play Goldilocks but never find “just right” conditions. “Too many” births stoke overpopulation moaning. “Too few” spur today’s slow growth jabbering. None of it tells you one iota about where economies or stocks are headed long term. But it says much about sentiment. Sour spirits lower expectations, teeing up the positive surprises that drive stocks up the legendary “wall of worry” bull markets love to climb. So, stay bullish. Tune out the demographic drama." MY COMMENT Yet another made up BS issue that is supposedly going to impact the markets. Who in the world makes this stuff up? They are certainly not real world investors. As usual....IGNORE IT ALL.....when you see this sort of fear mongering seeping into commentary.
Nothing else going on today. Time to just sit back....do something else....and let the markets settle into the day.
I am dead flat for the day right now. I only have two stocks up at the moment....HD and GOOGL. But the others have such mild losses.....I am basically flat for the day. With the losses being so mild....... it will not take much to turn the rest of my portfolio to the green today......if.....we get a little market boost as the day goes on. I have rational "HOPE" for the markets today.
It really is quite silly when you do read through some of the daily financial stuff. I remember back when we were in the thick of it. Red day after red day. All of the dire predictions and hand wringing about every little detail. Notice how most of that never quite worked out like many of the pundits and so called experts said. There were some really doomsday stuff being floated out during that time period. And yes, a good portion of it was just over blown BS. Now we have shifted to the beginning of trashing 2024....just starting to see some of the negative predictions about it. I also noticed the other day, when we had that first little down day after a good run of green, the headlines were loaded with silly stuff. All over a single day. Now I realize there are other investors that do watch and follow short term action for a reason and do things quite differently than long termers. I have no issue or problem with that, everybody does their own thing. But, for those that are in the long term group, most of this "stuff" is just simply going to be a distracting noise over the long haul. It just is...based on how we invest and manage our plans. This is not to say there will not be difficulty as a long termer. There will be. There will always be a time and place for it. The same can be said of the great times. Trying to predict and worry about much of either side of it is just going to lead to mistakes and worry. It is going to invite emotional decisions. So, if anyone is new to long term investing and find that they still struggle a bit with the day to day noise or short term, make a New Years resolution to separate yourself from some of it. Maybe that is evaluating your risk and holdings, maybe it is as simple as tuning out from some of the noise, or taking a good look at your tolerance level and ability to manage with less emotion. It can be done and you will be glad you did.
I have not seen anything on the market today since this morning. I can see from ly LOSS today that the markets got worse in the afternoon. I guess they simply refuse to see and believe good news....the private payroll data. I had only two stocks UP today....HD and COST. Glad to see HD still doing their recent run up. It has had a really nice run over the past few weeks. I also lost out to the SP500 today by 0.59%.
Even though the markets refuse to acknowledge it....the good news just keeps piling up for investors and the markets. The Ten Year Treasury is sinking like a rock. Oil is also way down. Oil settles at lowest level since June on concerns of oversupply, weak demand https://finance.yahoo.com/news/oil-...erns-of-oversupply-weak-demand-172719771.html The way we are going next thing you know....the fear mongering.....will be all about the coming deflationary depression.
Here is the market today. Dow, S&P 500 slide for a third straight day as recent rally falters: Live updates https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/05/stock-market-today-live-updates.html (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "U.S. stocks retreated on Wednesday as investors assessed data indicating falling inflation and the jobs report loomed. The Dow Jones industrial Average lost 70.13 points, or 0.19%, to close at 36,054.43. The S&P 500 shed 0.39% to 4,549.34, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.58% to 14,146.71. It was the third losing day for the 30-stock Dow and the S&P 500 — the first since October for both indexes. Stocks relinquished earlier advances, with the Dow at one up nearly 170 points at its session high. All three indexes traded both above and below their respective flatlines in the choppy session. The market initially got a morning boost after economic data. A drop in labor costs boded positively for the path of inflation, while a jump in productivity signaled the potential for the economy to skirt a recession. November private payroll data from ADP offered the latest indication that the job market, long considered a pain point for the Federal Reserve, was easing. “ADP’s payroll data shows the Fed’s anti-inflation treatment is now really taking effect,” said David Russell, global head of market strategy at online investing platform TradeStation. “The numbers point toward a soft landing, but investors may start to worry about a recession if policy remains too hawkish. It’s the Fed’s battle to lose at this point.” But Wednesday’s ADP report is just one in a string of labor-focused data releases traders are weighing over the course of the week. On Tuesday, Labor Department figures showed job openings in October fell to the lowest level since March 2021. Investors will monitor jobless claims numbers on Thursday before turning attention to widely followed data on November nonfarm payrolls, wages and the unemployment rate due Friday. “There’s no getting around the fact that the data at the end of the week … is the one everyone is eagerly waiting for,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda. Labor costs also fell more than economists expected, while productivity increased at a higher rate than anticipated, new government data showed. Wednesday marked the third straight losing session for the Dow and S&P 500. Those declines raised questions around whether the late 2023 rally was taking a pause or if the market had run up too far, too fast. Still, the three major indexes remain poised to finish the fourth quarter and calendar year higher. Cloud company Box more than tumbled 10% after reporting third-quarter results that came in below analyst expectations. On the other hand, homebuilder stock Toll Brothers gained nearly 2% after exceeding expectations on the top and bottom lines." MY COMMENT I have NO FEAR of the economic data tomorrow and Friday. Based on what we have seen so far this week and the last couple of weeks....I expect that the data will be very favorable for investors wanting the FED to shut up and go away. i am sure the greatest hiring and jobs reflected in the data will be.......drum roll please....government jobs. It is simply....obsessive delusion....that the markets have been so afraid of their shadow this week. I am sure we are also seeing some early overhang from the FED meeting next week mid week. I dont think I have ever seen markets this obsessive over the day to day news and the made up fear that is pushed every day. A sign of the times? Probably. The media has changed significantly from the past and the nature of investors has also changed significantly in the under 35 age group. I am thinking that in general the investor population has gotten dumber than in the past......and....the "trading" mentality is stronger now than ever. People need to wake up and realize that the markets are NOT the economy.
A nice strong day today as the economic data......which is not particularly relevant to business and stocks.....continues to come in nicely. The Ten Year Treasury is up z bit today but still significantly lower at 1.146%. Stock market news today: Stocks pop as focus fixes on jobs data https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stoc...op-as-focus-fixes-on-jobs-data-143320339.html (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "US stocks were higher on Thursday as investors looked again to labor market data for signposts to the path of interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) lagged the other major averages, rising about 0.2%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) popped 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) pointed to a rebound for tech stocks, rising 0.8%. Signs this week that the labor market is finally getting back to normal point to the Federal Reserve's anti-inflation interest rate hikes as having their desired impact. With a soft landing for the economy looking more likely, traders have been betting on a Fed policy shift to cut rates. But the market's nerve was rattled Thursday after leaders at the Bank of Japan hinted the end of the central bank's negative interest rate regime is near. That prospect helped drive the 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) up as much as 8 basis points to 4.18%. Adding to the caution was growing speculation that stocks are primed for a pause after their blistering November rally, given December is usually a "boring" month for the markets. The latest weekly jobless claims data revealed 220,000 claims were filed in the week ending Dec. 2. The number came in line with what economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected and was up just 2,000 from the week prior, largely reflecting limited increases in layoffs. But the crucial monthly US jobs report on Friday will be the real test of inflation and interest rate expectations before the Fed's last meeting of the year next week. In commodities, oil prices regained some ground after hitting a five-month low. West Texas Intermediate futures (CL=F) and Brent (BZ=F) crude futures, the international benchmark price, both rose about 1%." MY COMMENT Now all we have to do is get past the jobs report tomorrow and the FED meeting next week. Same old same old....it never ends.
YEP.....this is a normal market.....make that....bull market. Recovery Caps Off the Regression This young bull market’s first correction is officially complete. https://www.fisherinvestments.com/en-us/insights/market-commentary/recovery-caps-off-the-regression (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "US stocks hit fresh 2023 highs in price-only terms Friday, bringing year-to-date returns to 19.7% and officially ending the late-summer correction. Global stocks closed the day less than one percentage point from the same feat. As usual, sentiment turned on a dime. There was no all-clear signal. No warning. No identifiable fundamental shift. The V-shaped recovery went largely unnoticed for the first few weeks. This is how markets work, and it is why we counsel staying patient through the wobbles. As corrections go, this one was mild. Its magnitude was -10.3%, just barely eclipsing the traditional correction threshold of -10%, and it lasted a mite less than three months.[ii] Both are below the average for S&P 500 corrections since 1925, -14.2% and 3.2 months.[iii] Long rates, which endured a sentiment-driven spike alongside stocks’ drop, have also fallen fast, with 10-year US Treasury yields down from their year-to-date high of 4.99% on October 19 to 4.22% Friday.[iv] This tandem freakout and recovery is noteworthy because the primary underlying fear—higher-for-longer Fed interest rate policy—hasn’t gone away. Pundits continue dissecting all Fed statements for any possible hint that rate cuts might come next year, and they keep coming up empty. But markets seem to have priced the fear and moved on. This brings to mind a point one of our first-class frequent readers has asked us to pass on—and since, like Vegas Air in the semi-classic movie The Wedding Singer, we let our first-class readers do pretty much whatever they want—we happily do so: It is a bit weird to even call this, or any bull market pullback for that matter, a correction. The euphemism exists because of the presumption that they happen when sentiment shoots too far, too fast and needs a bit of a poke to come back to earth. Ergo, sentiment “corrects.” But the vast majority of the time, corrections happen because some big fear captures the zeitgeist, sending sentiment quite far—irrationally, you might say—below reality. As our reader observes, using the term “corrections” in this context therefore seems quite wrong, as it implies the downturn was, well, correct. But if it was an overreaction to a false fear, “correct” seems a misnomer. Our reader suggests “regressions” as a more accurate alternative, and if we had the power to make that term a thing, we surely would. Alas, we lack that kind of clout. This pullback surely acted like a regression. Fundamentals weren’t markedly worse in August, September and October. Actually, we now know the US economy was accelerating somewhat during this stretch, with Q3 GDP growth clocking in at 5.2% annualized.[v] (Now, that headline rate overstates things somewhat, but growth was fine regardless.) We had twin government shutdown standoffs, but considering no shutdown ever caused a bear market and both standoffs resolved in time, we don’t see them as fundamental political risks. Interest rates? Higher long rates temporarily re-steepened the yield curve, which in any other universe is considered a good thing. Gas prices spiked ever so briefly—fanning inflation fears for a hot minute—but they quickly reverted. The Fed stayed on pause, with only its forecasts changing—forecasts that aren’t worth the paper they are printed on, as the last two years illustrate quite well. Meanwhile, all that changed in November was that a range of economic indicators slowed down. If you read the prior paragraph and think none of it makes logical sense in explaining the steep regression and recovery, well, you are right. That is the point. Stocks’ short-term behavior often defies basic logic. Sort of like the human emotions that drive the day-by-day wobbles. This is what Ben Graham meant when he famously quipped that the stock market behaves like a voting machine in the short term and a weighing machine in the long term. Short term, stocks’ popularity vacillates on investors’ feelings, their heat-of-the moment reactions to headlines. Sometimes those are uppy feelings, and sometimes they are down feelings. (There is also a lot of noise from traders using various systems and algorithms.) But long term, all that feeling nonsense tends to even out in the weighing of fundamental reality. The scales pre-price how reality over the next 3 – 30 months is likely to shape up relative to expectations, and when you reflect back on market history, you can see it is uncannily correct. This is why keeping a longer perspective is so important. Focusing not on what stocks do today, but on what they are likely to do over the next year or two based on the fundamental economic and policy landscape (and how those compare to sentiment surrounding them). If a bull market looks likely to continue over that foreseeable future, then it is generally best to stay invested through the turbulence. Reacting to the wobbles can mean trading in and out of the market at the wrong times, locking in losses and missing rebounds. Staying calm through the wobbles isn’t fun during the wobble itself, but it is the only way we know to reap the rebounds and stocks’ overall long-term bull market returns—returns necessary to support things like cash flow in retirement. As for what comes next, we will share our 2024 forecast in the coming weeks. But it is worth noting, for now, that since 1925, S&P 500 price returns from a correction’s … err, regression’s low average 25.2% over the next 6 months and 33.1% over the next 12.[vi] Averages don’t predict, and they are made up of extremes, but this illustrates the overwhelming tendency for stocks to storm back and roar higher after temporary lows. They have done the storming back, but we think there is still plenty of room to roar and run." MY COMMENT Market weakness and even corrections are part of the normal market process. They happen in bear markets and they happen in bull markets. Smart investors that embrace the long term.....sit through them and do nothing. If you are lucky you have some funds to add during any correction.....but....you dont wait for a correction to put funds to work. If you do that you are a market timer and will probably miss......both.....the bottom and the explosive gains as the markets come out of correction.
I like this little article. What’s Your Why? https://www.morningstar.com/portfolios/whats-your-why (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "I come from a family that does not speak the language of investing but has been quietly shaped by it nonetheless. As a young kid, I moved around—first from Virginia, then to Texas, and finally to the suburbs of Chicago, where I spent most of my youth. Throughout that time my parents used V.A. loans to purchase homes with less money down than their peers, riding the wave of ever-falling interest rates. Much of this was made possible by circumstance. Not everyone is so lucky. My dad worked odd hours. In the summers he would take us to the horse racetrack near our home. At the age of six, I was handed the daily program and was asked what I thought of the next race. I looked at the numbers, I looked at the odds, and I made a judgment call. Sometimes it was the right one, and sometimes it was not. But I learned to listen to the numbers and let them guide my decision, and how to calibrate my judgment with the knowledge that my opinion mattered and that it had consequences. I learned the unbridled joy of coming home with a full wallet and a smile. I also learned that the consequence of misplaced confidence was empty pockets and tight faces. I was still in school when the 2008 financial crisis hit. Very quickly I learned what a recession was, and was shocked when my peers hadn’t heard of it. I realized that it didn’t hit home for them the same way that it did for me. “Hitting home” is not a figure of speech—each week it seemed the letters from our 529 plan landed in our mailbox, informing us of some new disappointment that caused my college savings to winnow down even further. We didn’t talk about it. I learned that it’s okay to start over. Sometimes, these things happen. You make do and soldier on. Get up the next day and keep going. Defeat is not destiny. Eventually, the markets came back. (They usually do.) I was able to attend college, though of course I had no idea what I wanted to do. But I had an economics teacher who told us colorful stories of his upbringing in Vietnam and how markets functioned even when societies broke down. He believed in us and got up every day motivated to explain how the world worked. I had an English teacher, too, who taught us the power of communication. Words shape people, and people shape the world. If you can communicate with your words (and the words you don’t use), you can move mountains. I got to college unsure whether I had chosen the right path. I didn’t know what investment management was—all I wanted to do was figure out why the stock market went up one day and down the next. Swirling around me were all these conversations about terms that I had never heard before, like EPS and PPS and P/E and P.E. I had someone tell me to just put $1,000 in an IRA and it would be the best thing that I ever did. It probably would have been, but I didn’t have $1,000. And I didn’t know why the Irish Republican Army needed my money. I learned what these terms were, day by day. I had professors who broke it down, batting 19-year-olds’ egos aside like a cloud of gnats. They made it make sense because they asked us what we thought. Often I was wrong, publicly, in front of my peers. And they let me know. Accountability, after all, is the best teacher. And humility is the most important lesson. It was equally informative to learn from professors whose disciplines are far different from my own. Most things that seem like they matter in the short term really don’t in the long run. A technology management professor taught us what long-term truly means. He showed us what it meant to stay focused and think ahead. He also taught me the power of personalization. On day one, I walked into class with 54 other students. He called on us each by name. I learned that long-term focus is important. Discipline is critical. And empathy is profound. I have benefited enormously from good advice, from people far smarter than me who nonetheless wanted to see me succeed. I liked sitting across the table from them, liked asking them questions. I admired their patience with a clueless upstart because they had faith in their vision and enjoyed articulating how they thought about the world. I tried to thank them. They always found a way to one-up me. They wanted to help me achieve my goals, and there was nothing I could do to repay them other than to get out there and do it. I learned that it was okay to ask questions. We are only as good as the people we teach. It hasn’t always been easy. Along the way, many people have very graciously and professionally told me that I’m not smart enough. They were right, of course. Nobody is. We’re all trying our best anyway. Even so, I am in the uncomfortable position of getting to tell other people what I think, when I’m much more dispositionally suited to absorbing the thoughts of everyone else around me. If you must know (and you must, because you made it to the bottom of this article) what I think, it’s this: There’s no secret trick, not really. Time, diversification, and compounding are the only friends you’ll ever make in investing. But in the meantime the markets go up, the markets go down, and still I try to figure out why. Every time I sit down to evaluate an investment I remember the animal spirits of those first highs and first lows, and try to acknowledge both. I try to help other people avoid the painful piles of envelopes. Mostly I try to remind people that if we get knocked down, in 15 years it probably won’t matter anyway, as long as we keep getting back up again. In the meantime, what really matters is getting the right guidance and keeping your ego in check. But that’s enough about me. Tell me about you." MY COMMENT Being an investor....especially when you have the pressure of dealing with larger sums of money.....is a great way to get to know yourself.
On the bad days....we sit and wait. On the good days....we sit and wait. the hard life of an investor.
Here is a question for those that are working. Is the Christmas Bonus still a thing? I dont know.....but....I dont think it is in the big corporate world. Is it? How about small or professional businesses? When I was in business every employee got a Christmas Bonus. We would all go out to lunch a few weeks before Christmas and at the end the envelopes would be handed out to everyone. The amount......at least one month of pay. There were years when cash flow made writing those Christmas checks a real drag. But....I knew people counted on that money....so I had no choice. Most of the businesses that I knew did Christmas Bonuses back than. Anyone getting one now?
Yes they are in some places. I have a relative or two that have all received a nice Christmas bonus every year.
We don't get Christmas Bonus's but do get yearly 'Performance Pay' based on some made up metrics that pays out in February. Better than nothing. We are wrapping up the year and so far I have made 0 trades in my Brokerage account. I will say I will take this year over last year anytime!
