POTUS and FLOTUS Get COVID
It's the perfect sentence in our acronym-obsessed world: POTUS and FLOTUS get COVID. Ya think?
Most of us know what POTUS stands for, even FLOTUS. But what about COVID? Well, CO is corona, V for virus, D for disease. There.
Here'a another acronym that's relevant these days: FOMO - stands for "fear of missing out." We may be in the heat of a FOMO attack right now. Sure the stock market's been whacky at times. But it seems that the small retail investor has returned to buying securities in a big way for the first time in, oh, 20 years or so.
Of course the thing about the small retail investor piling into the market is that it's a sign the end times are near. Not the end of the world; but the end of the stock bull that's been bubbling up lately.
The success of the relatively new brokerage operation, Robinhood, stands as a witness to the insanity that's out there. Apparently the data tells us that not only is the little guy buying stocks, but he (and she) are apparently into options in a big way. For the first time ever, more options were traded than stocks recently. Madness.
And such madness will not end well. The vast majority who are speculating and driving the value of the portfolios up, up, and away will likely lose most if not all their money when the other shoe drops.
Of course, when it drops remains an unknown. But it will.
Then again, why should we care? The pattern of the little guy buying when the market's near or at a top is well-established. It goes back centuries. Bubbles attract even those who've never invested in anything ever. They bid up the item, like tulips for instance, beyond anything anyone ever could imagine, until the item crashes back to a more rational level.
The thing about stocks is that, unless you buy so-called penny stocks that very well could evaporate into the ether, many real companies will survive the crash. So you'll not lose every penny if you own some of these. You'll just see the value of them plummet. Worse, you'll likely sell out your holdings when the value plummets farther than you could have imagined, thus sealing your losses permanently.
Is this a game any sane, prudent person wants to play. What do you think?
But, sad as the inevitable reckoning will be, the world likely won't end. There are - rumor has it - some sane folks out there who aren't throwing their milk money into stocks and options. Let's just hope there are enough of them so that the economy - which will head into a recession when the market crashes - won't crumble into a full-blown Depression.
Oh, that's right, it's already in a recession. So how does this work: The stock market keeps churning with an upward bias, with the economy in the toilet? Ah, it's the 64 trillion dollar question. No one really has a good answer.
With all that, going on in the background, life goes one its own merry way. I hope yours has more to it than POTUS, FLOTUS, COVID and the markets. Politicians and money, after all, cause us all a lot more pain than we asked for or need.
When it comes to real living, you could do a lot worse than reading the Bible each day. This morning, as part of my regular reading, this from Psalm 117 was included:
Let Israel now say, that he is good: * that his mercy endureth for ever.
Let the house of Aaron now say, * that his mercy endureth for ever.
Let them that fear the Lord now say, * that his mercy endureth for ever.
In my trouble I called upon the Lord: * and the Lord heard me, and enlarged me.
The Lord is my helper: * I will not fear what man can do unto me.
The Lord is my helper: * and I will look over my enemies.
It is good to confide in the Lord, * rather than to have confidence in man.
It is good to trust in the Lord, * rather than to trust in princes.
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