We haven't been lacking financial headlines recently, that's for sure. I talk a bit about that in my Soapbox. If you are a client and want to talk about something specifically about your situation, give me a call. If you're not a client, but think you may want to be, give me a call. The number is the same (940-692-6885). 

Have a great week!

Some of the most entertaining times to be a long-term investor are those periods when short-term investors are looking over their shoulders for an excuse to sell. They're convinced that the market is going to go down before they can get out, and so they jump on any bad news that comes across their computer or phone's screen.

It has recently been a marvelous time to see this in action. With all the economic drama playing out in the world, there were plenty of opportunities to panic. The Greek Prime Minister has resigned! Sell! China devalued its currency by 2%! Head for the hills! Chinese stocks are tanking yet again! Get out of American stocks while you can! The Fed might raise short-term interest rates from zero to very nearly zero! It's the end of the world!

Of course, a sober analyst might wonder whether a change in governance in Greece (a country whose GDP is a little less than half the market capitalization of Apple Computer) is really going to move the needle on the value of U.S. stocks. Chinese speculators are surely feeling pain as the Shanghai Composite Index goes into free-fall, but most U.S. investors have approximately zero in this tanking market. If the market value of PetroChina and China Merchants Bank are less valuable today than they were a month ago, does that mean that one should abandon U.S. stocks?

What makes this dynamic entertaining-and sometimes scary-is the enhanced volatility around very little actual movement. You see the market jump higher and faster, lower and faster, but generally returning to the starting point as people realize a day or two later that the panic was an overreaction. Sure, the S&P 500 is down -I'm thinking we've seen, survived, and thrived after much worse than this.