First Quarter 2023
7.03. Yep, 7.03% for 1st Quarter 2023. Yes that's the S&P500 return for the first Quater of this year. Sustainable? No idea. But what I do know is that in December when I wrote my yearend review, almost no one...I mean none of the market pundits or TV gurus or the so-called experts, expected the market to go up. Reading my blog back over the last several years there has been a thread of truth that's pretty darn obvious in review...and that is short term thinking may sell advertising, but it is horrific for investing.
In my December blog I ended with that I was optimistic about the future. I acknowledged the challenges:
"Honestly, it’s easy to see why there is pessimism. Bad news sells and there has been plenty of it to capitalize on. After almost three years of being told by the supposed experts that we were all going to die of a disease called COVID, lockdowns and policies that have done
incalculable damage to the economic stability and mental health of so many, an invasion of a sovereign state by a nuclear power with no clear end or even true goal in mind, inflation rates that have not been seen since the 1970s, energy and food prices that have sky rocketed,
new ESG policies in the boardroom that places gender and appearance ahead of qualification, unfettered mass migration from third world countries over our southern border bringing with it new and more powerful drugs that are designed to addict and harm our children, complete disfunction in Washington amongst our elected officials and little belief that they know what they are doing anyway, now substantiated information about what we ‘knew but didn’t want to admit to’ that we are lied to by the media and that the government has intentionally suppressed dissenting views on a variety of subjects including our healthcare, riots and our elections all while some are rewriting the history we grew up with through the removal of stories in the classroom, statues in our parks and museums and the ‘cancelation’ of people who have differing opinions and /or were once our heroes, it’s no wonder people are depressed".
Now we can add bank failures, a slowing economy, a fed and executive that continue to push us towards economic disaster, overt surveillance of our military by Chinese balloons and the arrest of an ex-president.
But I'm still optimistic. WHY????
Because every one of these things is short term in nature and I believe that with proper planning, a good strategy (and time) all things work out. History shows us this but in today's world we are so influenced by our media that we are blind to what is the truth. We are inundated with biased news, others' opinions that wish to make them yours, by the media who think they should no longer report but opine on what your truth should be.
So I'm optimistic because I believe our strategy, 'empower, enhance and elevate' works. The e3 model helps one deal with the mental anguish associated with volatility in markets ... because it can help you from making short term decisions instead of long term plans. Having a plan and sticking to it is invaluable during times of stress. The e3 model can help deal with investment stress so why not talk to us about instituting our strategy?
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A professional adviser should be consulted before implementing any of the strategies or options presented.