A CALL TO FINANCIAL ARMS
Now that the market has re-opened, and we have seen the panic, I have to say: we are losing to terrorism. Osama bin Lauden has won, at least for now. He killed our people, and shook our confidence so deeply that now we are now thinking only of ourselves and our personal needs, and selling to cash.
Make no mistake, Tuesdays attack was directed at our financial heart. It was not (in spite of our feelings) designed to kill massive numbers of people, or wreck large buildings...that was only a wicked, evil means to an end. If it was bodies he was after, he could have chosen a football stadium, or any of a number of other buildings, or poison gas in the subways. It was clearly designed to damage our our financial system, and to shake our confidence.
And mostly: to show his followers our "true" heart. Our greed. How easily we can be beaten. Not militarily, but financially, and spiritually.
Their presumption still is that we will run for the hills, and that, like the buildings themselves, the market (and our system, and ultimately our way of life) will collapse.
So far, that seems to be what is happening. We seem to be exhibiting all the symptoms of shallow character he told his followers about. We are doing exactly what he said we would: selling like cowards.
But I believe the terrorists are wrong. We are made of much more solid stuff. Therefore, I believe it is important to send a message to his followers, and the world in general: it didn't work. Far from it. In fact, it had the opposite effect. Now is the time to consider whether you want to be in cash, and how much cash you really need to meet your immediate needs. The balance should be invested wisely, but quickly.
Having said that, the smaller investor with limited means clearly needs more cash percentage-wise than an institutional investor. I am also not recommending a reckless abandonment of cash reserves. However, now is not the time to leave cash on the side, hoping for a sunny day either. I think it is time to take a very hard look at your (companies) cash position, and then at the television coverage, and then into the mirror.
Then call your people on the trading floor.
-Own
PS: Re-posted from the JDSU thread |
