Hi Flack,
<<To which I replied, "Right, but that was THEN,
and this is NOW!"
Why is this simple concept so difficult for people to
understand? >>
Because people are generally optimists when it comes to the stock market, often to the exclusion of reason. Everyone wants to believe in the happy ending, and we eventually get there, but no one wants to acknowledge that there can be lots of ugliness from here 'til then. Still too many people afraid of missing out, and the brainwashing job done by all the so-called experts has been thorough, to the point that they make it seem sinful to be out of the market. The fear of missing out is taking a long time to change into the fear of losing a large percentage, but the process is well underway now. My wife says "gee, you're cheery", but I'm just trying to call it like I see it. Turning a blind eye will not help our portfolio. The markets around the world are telling us that this is going to be one ugly period. This will end sometime, but I don't know when, and I see a lot more ugliness to come before we get to that point. Hope I will recognize it when we're close. For the average investor, he should be most concerned about preservation of capital, and not return. As I write this, I notice the bottom-catchers pushing the indices well off their lows. Tells me that the process of changing attitudes still has a long way to go.
JP |
