The Upcoming Week: Will You Be Surprised by Joy or Sadness?
Without dwelling too much on the obvious, the week ahead will likely surprise you - depending on what you thought heading into Monday. As for whether you'll be surprised by joy or sadness, it depends of a number of factors.
If you're in the "worse to come" camp, you'll be surprise if the stock market begins on an up note. As for joy or sadness, that depends on the rest of the week. If an early upswing gives way to sustained losses the rest of the week, the sun will burst through those initial dark clouds of a rising stock market - that is if you're portfolios are positioned to benefit from falling stock prices.
If you're in the "volatility is settling down" camp, so let's buy some stocks, you'll not be surprised by an early upsurge. After all, you're the one who thinks stocks are bobbing in a warm bath of value after sinking in recent weeks. You may, however, be disappointed, even saddened, if you haven't placed your buy orders before the market's open. On the other hand, you'll likely brim with joy if you've jumped into that warm bath first thing and picked your best choices off the undulating surface, like a seagull diving into the waves for its meal. Then again, if the week finds stocks continuing their slide, your joy will quickly turn to sadness as ever lowering prices cloud over the early sunny skies that greeted the week.
Frankly, the emotional possibilities appear endless this week, depending on your outlook, you holdings, your personal disposition to rising and falling markets, and, most importantly, whether you've got some semblance of balance in your portfolios. The only folks who might escape the surprises, as well as the exposure to the swings of joy and sadness, are those sitting in cash. Those sitting in cash, typically subject to various critical epithets ranging from cowardly, bereft of ideas, lacking fortitude, lazy, etc., may soon be catapulted to the highest levels of investment acumen, at least in the envious minds and hearts of those suffering both pecuniary loss as well as emotional turmoil. The peace of mind of sitting in cash, combined with lack of loss, can be an unbeatable combination. And it may well be that we have arrived at one of those rare moments in time when that combination will triumph over those investors who hold either a strong bull or bear view.
Indeed, we may be entering a time when the course may be to just sit on your hands and hold cash, with no plan to do anything beyond enjoying the languorous satisfaction of receiving a flat-lined brokerage statement. Of course, any real joy or sadness would be dampened by such languor. You'll experience neither the thrill of victory nor the agony of defeat. It's the price you pay for holding cash.
If you're in the "worse to come" camp, you'll be surprise if the stock market begins on an up note. As for joy or sadness, that depends on the rest of the week. If an early upswing gives way to sustained losses the rest of the week, the sun will burst through those initial dark clouds of a rising stock market - that is if you're portfolios are positioned to benefit from falling stock prices.
If you're in the "volatility is settling down" camp, so let's buy some stocks, you'll not be surprised by an early upsurge. After all, you're the one who thinks stocks are bobbing in a warm bath of value after sinking in recent weeks. You may, however, be disappointed, even saddened, if you haven't placed your buy orders before the market's open. On the other hand, you'll likely brim with joy if you've jumped into that warm bath first thing and picked your best choices off the undulating surface, like a seagull diving into the waves for its meal. Then again, if the week finds stocks continuing their slide, your joy will quickly turn to sadness as ever lowering prices cloud over the early sunny skies that greeted the week.
Frankly, the emotional possibilities appear endless this week, depending on your outlook, you holdings, your personal disposition to rising and falling markets, and, most importantly, whether you've got some semblance of balance in your portfolios. The only folks who might escape the surprises, as well as the exposure to the swings of joy and sadness, are those sitting in cash. Those sitting in cash, typically subject to various critical epithets ranging from cowardly, bereft of ideas, lacking fortitude, lazy, etc., may soon be catapulted to the highest levels of investment acumen, at least in the envious minds and hearts of those suffering both pecuniary loss as well as emotional turmoil. The peace of mind of sitting in cash, combined with lack of loss, can be an unbeatable combination. And it may well be that we have arrived at one of those rare moments in time when that combination will triumph over those investors who hold either a strong bull or bear view.
Indeed, we may be entering a time when the course may be to just sit on your hands and hold cash, with no plan to do anything beyond enjoying the languorous satisfaction of receiving a flat-lined brokerage statement. Of course, any real joy or sadness would be dampened by such languor. You'll experience neither the thrill of victory nor the agony of defeat. It's the price you pay for holding cash.
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