Resilient or Manipulated?
Yet again the stock market threatened "correction" but snapped back in the nick of time. This iteration occurred somewhere between the Greek crisis and the Chinese stock market crash. Sinking stock prices dropped (yet again) below the "magic" 18,000 level, penetrating deeper into the 17,000s as the media fired grim stories of Grexit, drachma, Shanghai Stock Exchange, etc. in machine-gun fashion.
Then it all stopped. Things now look a lot brighter, witness higher stock prices. Is this a sign that our stock market is resilient or manipulated? Well, resiliency's hard to demonstrate. Manipulation's another story. Just look at the difference between the Chinese approach to saving the day and our own.
First, to set the record straight, while the Greek thing isn't quite resolved, the best bet remains that every exotic variation of kicking the can down the road will be concocted before anything of note actually occurs. As for China's stock market, the government, never lacking in ways to remind us that apparently there's no character in the Chinese language that represents the concept "rule of law," resorts to such measures as threatening arrest to anyone shorting stocks, as well as demanding that companies buy their own stocks on massive quantities to keep the market afloat. Maybe someday they'll assemble something like our PPT - Plunge Protection Team - rather than pull out their guns and swords. Our PPT has all the appearance of prudence, without the heavy-handedness. Much more professional in appearance. Manipulation? Of course! But there's not pretense otherwise. As for the Chinese, for now, the old ways will have to do.
And so our dear U.S. stock market, at the tail-end (?) of its historic rise since 2009, not only bounces, but - can you believe it - may actually head for another record high. It's not quite there yet, and may not actually get there, but the trend is up and, as you know, the trend is your friend. Why not another high?
As investors, there should be no quandary regarding what to do. You've got your preferred allocations set, don't you? If so, nothing's happened yet to make you fiddle with it. Best to enjoy the show. And if you perhaps don't find the occasional fireworks entertaining, just sell down to your "sleeping level" and tune the whole thing out. Just sayin'.
Then it all stopped. Things now look a lot brighter, witness higher stock prices. Is this a sign that our stock market is resilient or manipulated? Well, resiliency's hard to demonstrate. Manipulation's another story. Just look at the difference between the Chinese approach to saving the day and our own.
First, to set the record straight, while the Greek thing isn't quite resolved, the best bet remains that every exotic variation of kicking the can down the road will be concocted before anything of note actually occurs. As for China's stock market, the government, never lacking in ways to remind us that apparently there's no character in the Chinese language that represents the concept "rule of law," resorts to such measures as threatening arrest to anyone shorting stocks, as well as demanding that companies buy their own stocks on massive quantities to keep the market afloat. Maybe someday they'll assemble something like our PPT - Plunge Protection Team - rather than pull out their guns and swords. Our PPT has all the appearance of prudence, without the heavy-handedness. Much more professional in appearance. Manipulation? Of course! But there's not pretense otherwise. As for the Chinese, for now, the old ways will have to do.
And so our dear U.S. stock market, at the tail-end (?) of its historic rise since 2009, not only bounces, but - can you believe it - may actually head for another record high. It's not quite there yet, and may not actually get there, but the trend is up and, as you know, the trend is your friend. Why not another high?
As investors, there should be no quandary regarding what to do. You've got your preferred allocations set, don't you? If so, nothing's happened yet to make you fiddle with it. Best to enjoy the show. And if you perhaps don't find the occasional fireworks entertaining, just sell down to your "sleeping level" and tune the whole thing out. Just sayin'.
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