Breadth Thrusts & Bread Crusts: Let's Eat

JC Parets
September 29, 2022

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

The market is enduring a volatile week, finishing out a chaotic month in what has been an unprecedented year.

  • Safe havens have offered no safety as cross-asset correlations have turned positive and balanced portfolios are enduring their worst year since the 1930’s.
  • This week, underwater explosions have ruptured gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, while a massive hurricane has crossed from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, leaving a trail of devastation in Cuba and Florida. 
  • Stocks are now trading at their lowest level in two years and the British pound has sunk to its lowest level in two centuries.

Dismissing all of this as merely challenging seems trite. Acknowledging the difficulty of the environment helps chart a path for moving forward.

Why It Matters: You cannot thrive if you do not survive. Bull markets are about thriving. Bear markets are all about surviving. For me, this is an environment for learning as much as I can, even if it’s not one for making the biggest profits. 

One Thing To Learn: Stepping away can be healthy. Those who argue you need to remain fully invested or fully engaged with the market at all times may not have your best financial and emotional interests in mind. 

What Others Have To Say:

  • My ASC colleague Sean McLaughlin: “At the end of the day, we’re all just staring at flashing numbers and letters on a computer screen. There are better ways to spend our time. Get outside. Enjoy this time of the year. Recharge and refresh.” 
  • All-world basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo: "not only physically, but mentally just kind of get away from the game, spend some time with your family, do what you love and just sit on the couch and eat Doritos and be a couch potato. You need that in order for you to be great."

Moving Forward: If less is more in the market right now, there is more time for me to engage in other ways. More time to discuss a good book. More time to plan next year’s garden. More time to catch up with friends and colleagues. 

We’ll learn a lot – about ourselves and about the market – as we live through this period. Future market watchers will believe we were wise for persisting and surviving through these challenges.  

For now, I’m finding something to read, something to grow, and someone with whom I can share an egg sandwich. I’ll survive to fight another day.

 

 

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