The Prudent Retiree - May 2018
“Anxiety is always about possibility.”
- Søren Kierkegaard
This insight of the nineteenth century Danish philosopher well describes worries about the current market. Many things are disturbing. Partisanship in D.C. The upcoming Congressional elections. Tariffs and a trade war. China. Iranian nuclear ambitions. Russian attempts to disrupt elections. Russians controlling Trump. Syria. Hillary’s emails—wait, scratch that one. North Korea and the Summit. The Mueller investigation. Jim Comey. The Fed. Tax cuts— really, doesn’t everyone want more of their own money?
The list seems endless. We’re anxious about the possibility that any of the above could damage the market. We make a connection between events and market reaction based on our perspectives. We worry because of our opinions and beliefs. We often expect the market to be like us. It’s not.
The market will respond to events as it chooses. It does not care about our concerns or opinions. It does not care about political parties or the mainstream media or any other media. It does investors no good to worry about what might possibly go wrong. Remember Y2K? The key is listening to the market. It will tell us what it’s doing. Right now, we are in a consolidation. Remember that the market had strong gains last year with little volatility. It is normal to have some pull back. The perception is that 2018 has been a rough year. The S&P 500 closed at 2673 at the end of 2017. On May 14, 2018 it closed at 2730. That’s a slight increase. The market has been volatile, but our anxiety about possibilities has been much worse.
Søren Kirkegaard died at age forty-two so he never had to worry about retirement. There is always the possibility of disaster, but careful risk management helps tamp down the anxiety. We remain positive on the market.
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Horseman Group – 3 CityPlace Drive - Suite 290 – St. Louis, MO 63141 – 314.692.7842 – www.horsemangroup.com
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The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results.
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