The last month hasn’t been much fun for investors. The concentration has been based upon the elections, the wars in Ukraine and Israel, and also what the Fed may or may not do. All of these things have pushed the bulls into the pasture, trying to avoid the electric fences. At the same time, the bears have emerged from their caves and are roaming widely across all of our markets.
“Always “bear” in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.”
– Abraham Lincoln
The numbers speak for themselves. In the last month, according to Bloomberg data, the Dow Jones is down -1.01%, while the S&P 500 is down -1.73% and the NASDAQ is off -2.55%. What is interesting here is the comparison of the sectors. The NASDAQ is full of high-tech stocks which are tumbling more than the rest of the equity markets. There is a clue here which we should all pay attention to as we make our investments.
“There is only one side of the market, and it is not the bull side or the bear side, but the right side.”
– Jesse Livermore
In my view, the biggest driver of the equity markets is going to be who is favored to win the election and what their economic policies will be. There have been all kinds of policies tossed out recently, and I look at some of them and just shake my head. Inflation has not been only the purview of the Fed but both of our Presidential candidates. There is also the issue of the number of immigrants that have crossed into the country and what they will do to both the economy and the markets. The country is at a crossroads, and so are both the bond and stock markets. We are in the whirlpool of our elections, and there is no doubt in my mind that whoever is elected President will have a significant impact on our investments.
Please “bear” this in mind as we head towards November! We may be in a time of “barely” scraping by.
“The last leg of a bull market always ends in hysteria; the last leg of a bear market always ends in panic.”
– Jim Rogers
Original Source: Author
Editor’s Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.
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