Market View: Confusing the Summer’s Roses for Weeds

What would the summer financial season be without a continuing stream of bad data to push you to react?

I’d call that unlikely event a good quarter, indeed. 

As such, I’ve long suggested that folks should try hard not to allow themselves to get pushed around by stories.

And that opinion may serve you well as the media machine finds itself with less to write about while the major players take their holidays.

The result is they end up pulling at the roots of financial roses just to call them weeds at every opportunity.

Because in the upside down world of finance, bad news weeds sell far better than roses.

And there’s no punishment for headlines being wrong, vague or completely misrepresenting the whole picture.

Click-bait makes for wonderful commercial gardens.   

Just Remain Patient…

We’ve just passed the one weekend each year that kicks off the dreaded financial summer doldrums. 

And it marks the countdown to the alleged "summer swoon" that so much of the media wants you to fret over. 

Ignore it all.

But if that summer swoon actually does roll around, know that there are always some great deals to be had from those who react to it.

In fact, EVERY summer swoon before right now was a buying opportunity.

How do I know this?

Simple: Because they were all at lower prices than where we are at present.  

Yet, in a recent CNBC diatribe asking readers if they were worried about an impending recession, about 84% of respondents fell into some stage of dread.

That’s as much a sad state of affairs as it is wonderful sentiment if you’re a long-term investor.