In a bit I’m going to give you my market predictions for 2010. But first I wanted to share some of the things that I read in the Wall Street Journal and other publications such as Forbes and the Financial Times, during the first few months of 2009. The names have been withheld to protect the innocent.
• “We believe that 2009 will be tougher than many anticipate…the world’s first global recession is just getting started.”
• “It’s way too early to get back into U.S. stocks.”
• ‘..the last time investors really soured on stocks, during the 1970’s, market returns were lousy for a long time.”
• “Just how low can stocks go?...As earnings estimates are ratcheted down and hopes for a quick economic fix fade, the once-inconceivable notion of returning to Dow 5000 or S&P 500 looks a little less far-fetched…”
• “Even if investors think it can’t get any worse, the underpinnings of a sustained, healthy really aren’t in place yet.”
• “We’re not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination. One has only to look at the pace of rising unemployment.”
In case you were wondering, contrary to the above comments, 2009 was pretty rewarding for most investors. The indexes were all up and some of the dollars lost over the last few years were recovered. So what about 2010?
Well, I decided to take some advice before I made my prediction so I looked to someone who was an advice expert. The expert told me,
“It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” Yogi Berra
If you haven’t guessed by now, I have no predictions. The world is a very uncertain place and predicting changes in the investment market is hard and predicting how investors will react is even harder (if not impossible). The above quotes result from experts trying to outguess one another. At Wisdom, we try not to pay attention to things we can’t control. We invest based on your values and what is important to you taking into consideration the risk you are comfortable with as well as your time frame. There is peace of mind in knowing that you have done everything you can to ensure making smart choices with your money.
