Why We Shouldn't Pay Too Much Attention To Any of This

So much has likely grabbed our attention in recent months. Maybe it's wise at this point not to pay too much attention to any of it.

Locally, we had a trial of a guy who tried to subdue a homeless character who was threatening fellow passengers on an NYC subway, followed by an admission that the city has been swamped by illegal immigrants, a percentage of which are criminals causing more than their share of trouble. Preceding which the city and surroundings experienced a drought which witnessed (first time in memory) a wildfire in a city park that could have escaped its environs and threatened city residences. (So much for the belief that only Californians have to deal with this threat to life and property.)

All of this followed a long stretch of media reporting on crime in the subways getting out of control. Not that this has been effectively countered, but the reporting stopped, as it always does, after the attention spans of the media's customers flagged. Nevertheless, crime - despite claims to the contrary by officials, continues to grow along with homelessness, a percentage of which consists of folks who should really not be wandering around as they do.

But maybe you're not blessed (ahem!) with residing in the NY metro area and none of the local stuff matters much to you. So let's look at some more general matters.

Sloshing around us recently: the Presidential Election and all the drama that accompanied it - not the least of which were assassination attempts on one of the candidates. (And isn't it a bit odd how little attention was paid to these after the initial incidents?) Then, of course, the results. Some were miserable, some happy, some even ecstatic.

The ecstatic promote the idea that the new Prez and his "brilliant" team with immediately turn the economy around. (Wait, the current Prez has been telling us it's great!!!?) With that, established business will boom, new business will mushroom, employment - real employment, not the phony stuff that's been reported for the last few years, will pick up. All will be more than well.

As a result, markets will respond, no, have already responded to the good news. Stocks will boom - a new and powerful multi-year Bull Market. Gold will calm down as the US dollar gets stronger and stronger. The long-term Gold Bull may not be shot, but it'll be relaxing, maybe even sleeping for a while.

What about bonds? With all the government and corporate debt that's built up, it's hardly imaginable that the bond market will have an extended respite from its initial Bear Market stage. But then again, the ecstatic amongst us will not stand for any bad news. So maybe bonds have a respite for...well, let's not try to figure out timelines for happy bonds. 

Meanwhile, this Year of Our Lord 2024 continues to march on to its terminus. Before it hits the wall, Christmas will arrive. And this will serve as our escape hatch from all of the above. Hence the suggestion to not pay too much attention to any of it - for now. 

The true and the maybe not so true stuff will have to take a back seat. We're preparing for Christmas. 

And this year, Hanukkah begins on Christmas night. And that's something we can pay attention to. There's something in this that - one hopes - will change the stupid practice of celebrating Christmas from Halloween until Christmas Day, at which point many of us set Christmas aside. 

But with the first day of Hanukkah on December 25th, maybe Christians will remember that December 25th also signals the 1st Day of Christmas. We all know the song, but it's had not impact on most of our lives for many, many years.

In years gone by, people celebrated Christmas on Christmas Day and for days after. Christmas Day was just the beginning.

How about we all take this to heart and extend our Christmas celebrations - religious for sure, but secular as well, to at least the 12 Days of Christmas. 

And for the hard-core among us, recall that historically, many folks left their Christmas decorations up until February 2nd - the Feast of the Presentation. (Forget about "Ground Hog Day" please.)

Anyway, it's time to firm up preparations. And so stop paying so much attention to all the chatter about politics, the economy, and markets. Okay?