Health & Fitness
Fear and Loathing on Wall Street
Fear abounds on Wall Street. Slow growth is better than no growth. Can your time frame handle the volatility better yet can you stomach it?
It has been an interesting few weeks on Wall Street. In late April the Dow Jones closed above 13,230. A few short weeks later the sky fell and the Dow is hovering almost 1,000 points lower. Did the World change over the past month or are the headlines and not fundamentals driving investor sediment?
Europe is a mess. There is no getting around that. One day the market sells off over the Greek elections and a few days later it rebounds based on the latest set of news. Spain reports tough economic data and we swing yet again. Couple the mess in Europe with our own slow economic growth and pending Presidential election and it’s clear we are in for a rocky 2012.
There are hundreds, if not thousands of Wall Street clichés that tell us to buy stocks when they fall out of favor; buy low, sell high, be a contrarian, etc. All those clichés apply to stocks today. Running away from a volatile market provides only short term comfort at the neglect of meeting long term goals.
Find out what's happening in Bel Airwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Our economy is slowly growing and any growth is better than no growth. If your investment time frame and stomach can handle the volatility it makes sense to buy best in class holdings while others are running away.
Shawn Miller is a fee-only, Financial Planner with Sovereign Financial Services in Bel Air, MD. Shawn provides advice to individual, businesses, and endowments. You can reach Shawn at 410.575.3120.