The Good News
Bears
by Steve Obeda
([email protected])
Thursday, October 30, 1997
If you're like most people, and statistically speaking you probably are, you're not happy that the market is letting out some air. Well, why not?
If you're 35 years old, and will be saving money over the next 30 years, you should be celebrating! Have a party! Why? Because you are a buyer of stocks! The companies' earnings prospects have not changed appreciably, yet you can acquire them for less. You can buy more! Your money goes further! And relax, there's a good chance the market will recover sometime in the next 30 years. If prices really are too high, do you really want to have to buy at inflated prices for the next ten years? If you're really lucky, the market will remain stagnant for a while, followed by several years like we've just had.
So you say you're not 35, but you're 64 and about to retire? We should feel sorry for you? You've been buying into the market since it was at 700, and now you're selling after having several phenomenal years in a row. That's what I want to happen to me! Okay, so you didn't sell out at the all-time high. Big deal.
Don't get me wrong. If the stock prices decline because a world trade war erupts, then that is not good news and you have something to cry about. Or if new regulation adds $10 billion of cost per year to the economy to achieve $10 million in benefits, or if corporate taxes go up and you think the money will be wasted, then we'll cry together.
But if you've ridden this bull market from the beginning, or if you've got a lot more riding to do, relax. And don't let the market timers take a piece of your pie. Hang in there; I'll see you on the beach in 2027.
Fool on!
Have
a similar tale?
Talk about it in the Fribble Message Folder!
[Did you know that you can pen a Fribble, yourself? We welcome submissions from readers. Just click here and read "What's a Fribble?".]