Some Short-Term Advice

First, let me thank all medical professionals, EMTs, Police, Fire, Safety and Essential Service workers for their efforts to help the public.

 Some asked me about the reference in my last email regarding the ‘number of epidemics over the last 40 years’, – they appear below.  My point simply is, we’ve seen tragic illness affect many over the centuries, not just in our times. Yet the financial markets have recovered, often in as little as six to 12 months and if it took longer, it was rare.

Not to make light of any illness, my picture appeared on the front page of the Herald News of Passaic, NJ in ‘55 wailing my eyes out having just received my Salk vaccine for polio. Remember, it crippled FDR, perhaps the greatest modern POTUS and killed many.

The best short-term advice I can offer is stop watching the news, especially financial news, take a short dose daily if you must just don’t leave it on all day! Practice social distancing and follow the rules to prevent the spread. Maintain PERSPECTIVE and things will get better- just look at history.

“To buy when others are despondently selling and to sell when others are greedily buying requires the greatest fortitude and pays the greatest reward.”-Sir John Templeton

Going back to 1930, if an investor missed the S&P 500’s 10 best days in each decade, total returns would be just 91%, significantly below the 14,962% returns for investors who held steady through the downturns. – CNBC, March 7, 2020