The stock market liked what it heard today – despite a net loss of 247,000 jobs in July, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 9.5% to 9.4%. Never mind that the declining unemployment rate is due to 422,000 people without work abandoning the job search after months of disappointment.
You can’t go broke by taking profits.
Bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs get slaughtered.
The market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent — John Maynard Keynes
If you are going to panic, panic early….
I have been mentoring a friend of mine who wanted to take control of his 401k plan and manage his investments rather than choosing from the standard mutual funds that have performed poorly in the past year or so. As I have shown him the mechanics of expanding the choices in his plan and discussed [...]
As a result of my age, I first became aware of government influences on the market in the 1970’s when we had inflation accompanied by stagnant economic growth, termed “stagflation.” Three administrations (Nixon, Ford, Carter) tried various solutions with poor results until Reagan simultaneously applied the brakes to inflation (tight money policy) and the gas to the economy (low taxes). Our current economic climate seems precarious and the government is striving mightily to influence it for good. We have interest rates pushed down by liquidity and money forcefully flowing into the system. The government is putting capital into failing businesses and trying to protect home owners. They are more worried about stopping freefall and preventing deflation and no longer worried about inflation.
