#15

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

**NOTHING HERE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED INVESTMENT ADVICE.**

I’ve spoken with a couple different people recently about investments and investing strategy. It’s a fun topic I enjoy having. The main reasons I enjoy it is because there’s no one right answer. It’s all dependent on the individual. A few easy factors to consider that play into the equation (read: not an exhaustive list):

1. What’s the specific time horizon you’re looking at?
2. What’s your specific risk appetite? (1 and 2 tend to be correlated but don’t have to be.)
3. Are you the type of person who’s going to look at performance on the daily?
4. If looking at it daily contributes to your emotional well-being, then you may be more risk adverse.
5. If you believe in the mantra “gotta risk it for the biscuit!”, then you may have more risk tolerance.

One thing rings true…..fortunes typically aren’t made overnight. Likewise, your investments typically aren’t made/broken overnight either! And our friends at Fidelity Investments recently explained in their Market Sense report last week, some encouraging news….which can be seen in the above two graphs.

Two points being made in the graphs are A) invest consistently and B) stay the course. Given what’s going on in the market recently, I suppose we shouldn’t fret or convince ourselves to overreact. Because as you can see, though fortunes aren’t made overnight, they can be made over time!!

On a similar topic, here are some stocks to keep a W.A.T.C.H. on that can give you a pulse of consumer sentiment and general strength/direction of economy….

• Walmart
• Amazon
• Target
• Costco
• Home Depot

Reviewing these each quarter is the equivalent of licking your finger and sticking it up in the air to measure……wait, what exactly are people trying to measure in that situation? (The direction of the wind? The intensity of the wind? The moisture in the air? What am I missing here?) Nonetheless, just keep your eyes on these damn stocks.

Vladimir Putin’s mental state of mind is on high alert. Government agencies and large investment groups alike are spending a lot of man hours, and money, trying to better understand his state of mind (as it clearly has a knock-on effect of where we are today and where we potentially are headed.) Putin is an avid fan of all things manly. Guns. Taking his shirt off to show off his guns. Riding horseback with his shirt off while showing off his guns. You get the point.

But he’s also a fan of combat sports, specifically, Judo (…..cue all the Judo jokes. If you need some, call me). Here are some interesting facts to note:

• Holds a black belt in Judo
• Has written a book on the topic
• Has starred in an Judo instructional video
• Holds the rank of grandmaster in taekwondo (it was awarded to him, he doesn’t practice taekwondo)
• And has been the honorary president for the International Judo Federation (IJF)

The last bullet was true, until this week. The IJF has suspended his position as honorary president citing it was “saddened by the current international situation.” It’s nice to see the IJF stand up and speak out against Putin’s actions even if more prominent companies still refuse to.

Hopefully the World Taekwondo Federation will follow the IJF. If for no other reason than to bring back dignity and honor to Chuck Norris.

It's Mardi Gras!! Happy Fat Tuesday and cheers to all my wing-men/women!! Interested in knowing anyting and everything you ever wanted to about Mardi Gras? Then CLICK HERE.

Deuces. ✌️