There are specific events that happen throughout our lives where we remember where we were and what we were doing while it occurred.
I was shopping for new shoes on 5th Avenue in New York City when I found out Michael Jackson died.
I watched the O.J. Simpson car chase from Joe Robbie Stadium, where I was taking in a Mets-Marlins game with my dad.
On September 11, 2001, I was walking into an accounting class at Fairfield University as rumors a small plane had hit the World Trade Center started to circulate. By the time class was over and I’d walked back to my dorm, both towers were down.
I was at a Miami Heat game with my family when I found out Bear Stearns had been bought out for $2 a share. I was flying back to New York, where I lived at the time, the very next morning.
Not all these events are market-moving or earth-shattering. Some are.
But a couple of things that happened this week inspired today’s note. We observed the anniversary of 9/11. And, a day earlier, Charlie Kirk was assassinated.
These are horrible events, and I don’t even like to bring them up. But my pal Chris Verrone, the Chief Market Strategist of Strategas Research, put it best when it comes to this sort of thing:
Regardless of the event, you have three choices… Are you buying stocks, selling stocks, or holding stocks. Cuban Missile Crisis, ‘87 crash, 9/11, Lehman… It doesn’t matter… Those are still the same three choices you have.
We’re traders, investors, portfolio managers, analysts, financial advisors, and strategists. We have to make decisions about the market no matter what is happening.
It’s not always easy to do. But that’s the job.
Some of us perform this job for others and owe it to our clients. Some of us manage our own money and owe it to ourselves and our families.
But the decision needs to be made. Are we buying stocks, selling stocks, or holding stocks?
Whenever big events happen, especially the ones where markets are the last thing on our minds, Verrone’s quote really resonates.
He’s right. We still have those three choices. And we need to pick one. Always.
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This Week in Everybody’s Wrong
We started the week in beautiful Huntington Beach, California, for the annual Future Proof Festival.
It was a great way to catch up with pals who live all over the country.
On Monday, we checked in to see if everybody’s still wrong about stocks.
On Tuesday, we talked about concentration.
They say “the U.S. is too concentrated and the indexes are being driven by too few stocks.”
On Wednesday, we closed out the best conference of the year with a beautiful sunset.
It pays to keep it simple, and you don’t need to be a genius to be a successful investor.
Meanwhile, Robinhood is making things easier for us to be slightly less stupid.
On Thursday, we reexamined the old 60/40 portfolio and the right balance of stocks and bonds for portfolios.
What matters are the relationship and the environment.
Here’s why we dance to the tune the market is playing.
On Friday, we talked about how, even with stocks ripping to fresh highs, the mood is pessimistic.
It’s now six straight weeks where bears have outnumbered bulls in the AAII sentiment survey.
What’s everybody so bearish about?
On Saturday, Senior Analyst Jason Perz broke down some Kurt Cobain lyrics and the basic structure of the commodity market.
Gold, copper, and oil are familiar themes – lithium, though…
Have a great Sunday.
We’ll see you Monday morning…
Stay sharp,
JC Parets, CMT
Founder, TrendLabs