September 2021

I’ve been feeling a little out of sorts lately.  I’m not sure if it is the continued threat of COVID, the constant changes in health protocols, or maybe it’s just the lengthy to-do list for both work and home.  Whatever the source, when life throws us a few curveballs, it seems like we will never see through to the other side. When we are in the moment, it feels like it will last forever.  As the moment passes, we wonder how did we not see that things will work out.

Physical injuries are like this too.  They hurt and nag and bother us, and then all of a sudden (or after rest, ice and physical therapy) they seem to just disappear.  In fact, we almost forget about them, because we feel good again. Nothing is reminding us of the bad times.

A good stock market can be like this too. Now, hear me out, it’s not the stretch you might think it is. During a good stock market, everyone is happy. Investments go up, you are making money, and life feels good. We forget that the stock market can go down.  Of course, there are always those moments of trauma, whether in our personal lives, physically or mentally, or in the stock market, that we just don’t forget.  Hopefully we might learn something, but it doesn’t just disappear, whether it be an injury or a personal event.  For many of us, the great recession was that moment with our investments.  It hit hard and it hurt badly.  It wasn’t fun coming into work, nor was it fun explaining why your investments had dropped so low. 

While we cannot predict future declines, we did learn from the lessons of the great recession. We learned that when things are scariest, prices are often low and thus it can be the best time to buy.   We learned not to take on unnecessary risks.  We learned how important it is to plan for needs and expenses ahead of time. We learned that sometimes taking no action is the best action to take.  We learned that as bleak as things got, stock markets do come back and once again we will feel like all is good in the world.    

We are in one of those times when we feel like all is good in the world of investments.  We are having another great year in the stock market, but anything can happen.  We don’t make predictions but we do plan because that is what we learned works best.

Any opinions are those of Stacy Caudill and not necessarily those of Raymond James. The information contained in this report does not purport to be a complete description of the securities, markets, or developments referred to in this material. Investing involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected.