Weekly Market Review

Good afternoon,

 How are you feeling today? Are you stressed? Are you sad? Are you anxious? Are you depressed?

 According to the stats, we’re all depressed. The World Health Organization says that more than 300 million people around the world suffer from this and that it is the leading cause of disability worldwide. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression

It’s certainly a real affliction, (full disclosure, the WMR has been known to endure bouts of it occasionally,) with varying degrees of severity and dozens (hundreds?) of potential causes or triggers. It could be a chemical imbalance or psychological issue or whatever, and can be serious. Here’s a Harvard Med School article about it https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/what-causes-depression

It certainly affects the productivity and attitude of anyone who suffers from it.

 The WMR considers itself generally optimistic. We kind of have to be. We know that things can be down or bad from time to time in the short term, but that things will always be better and tend to work themselves out in the longer term. How could we advise clients about improving their future by doing what we suggest if we weren’t optimistically inclined? So we try to live on the bright side and bring those in our circle along with us. “If you don’t like me brother, that’s ok, I ain’t gonna let it wreck my day. I’ll keep stylin’, smilin’, handin’ out the sunshine.” – Good To Be Me, by Uncle Kracker.

 While not always easy to focus on the positive, we do that by actively avoiding depressing stuff and/or situations and/or people that don’t make us feel good. We don’t watch local news. We don’t search for depressing stories. We don’t read sad stories or bad headlines that clients or friends might forward our way. But it’s an uphill battle in today’s society. Who could blame someone for succumbing to the negativity? We’re pounded all day long with bad news and scary headlines and things that we should be scared of or wary of or worried about. We’re bombarded with social media images and stories (fake news probably) about how much better someone’s life is than our own. Here is a sampling of key words from the headlines of a couple of main stream news sites:

“stock market set to drop…”

“real estate prices biggest tumble…”

“scary manufacturing drop…”

“decaying US airports…”

“irreparable environmental damage…”

“end of US dominance…”

“looming recession…”

“zombies are coming!”

And more of the same.

 Why bring this up? No particular reason other than as a public service. We regularly scan headlines in our quest to be well informed and provide interesting content for our weekly message. In perusing this week, we were particularly overwhelmed by the prevalence of all the negativity so we decided to comment upon it. We all have our issues, WMR included, and we just want to suggest that if you do, you’re not alone. And if you do, don’t be afraid to seek some help. There are many, many strategies which might mitigate the condition. Ranging from exercise to meditation to gratitude to grounding to nature to light therapy to negative ion exposure to dietary changes to supplements to books or recordings to pets to psychotherapy to medications, et. al. We live in the greatest country in the history of the world at the greatest time in the history of the world with less disease, less poverty, less war, more prosperity and more opportunity than has ever existed in the history of the world. Sure we all have challenges, and they need to be acknowledged and dealt with and then they will be overcome. “Named must be your fear before banish it you can.” – Yoda.

 So let’s close this week with some good news items. Disclaimer – these may or may not be good news to any particular individual.

Impeachment – No, the POTUS will not be impeached. Lots of bluster, posturing and politicking, but impeachment will not happen. You read it here first.

Recession – No, not any time soon. Someday, eventually, yes, the economy will slow and we will have tougher times, but not in the foreseeable future.

Market crash/correction – Perhaps, though we don’t see one coming soon. And when it happens, it will provide buying opportunities just like every market correction in the past.

War with <insert ominous foreign country here> - No, the world is flat. Everyone trades with everyone else, everyone buys and sells with everyone else. It is normally frowned upon to enter a military conflict with your customers. Save for some unforeseen hostile action, we will not enter war with anyone.

Climate change – The world is not going to end because Mike drives a 16mpg SUV. It especially will not end in any of our lifetimes or our children or grandchildren’s lifetimes as the alarmists want us to think. Can we do a better job at lowering pollution and creating less waste and so forth, of course and that’s a reasonable goal. But in reality, the planet was here long before us and will survive long after us.

The sun will rise, without fail and without pause, in the east tomorrow morning and every other morning for the rest of our lives, giving us a new start each day. Try to make the most of it.

 LF25 – “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill.

 Have a great week.

 Michael J. Acho, MBA, CFP?

Private Wealth Advisor

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1000 Town Center, 26th Floor

Southfield, MI 48075

248-948-5100 direct

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