Good morning.
Stocks once again advanced and declined largely on pre-election stimulus talks. Even with a rising chance of there being no stimulus before the election, the market is still close enough to all-time highs that either outcome shouldn’t move markets too much either way.
On the political front, polling in swing states is starting to narrow. This either reflects that America is nearly evenly-divided between the two parties, or that pollsters want to hedge their bets in case of an unpredicted outcome reminiscent of 2016’s polls.
Traders should continue to expect wild swings no matter what polling numbers come out.
Now here’s the rest of the news:
October 21, 2019
Important Question to Ask Yourself
Ambivalence. It’s a big word with even bigger meaning. Surely you’ve felt it before. It’s that feeling of internal conflict that you sense when you have mixed emotions about a decision — or indecision. It’s that gut-wrenching feeling when you don’t follow your gut instinct — even though you know you should.
There are many reasons why you might experience ambivalence — the simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings toward an object, person, or action — and tuning into this dysergy can pay huge dividends toward achieving our most important goals and priorities.
To better understand this, you simply need to take a page out of the great Zig Ziglar’s book and ask yourself the following question:
Will what I’m about to do bring me closer to or take me further away from my goals?
This crucial question helps you do two key things. First, you’ll need to honestly and clearly establish your most important goal and priorities. In other words, you need to know what’s truly important to you. Secondly, it will help you objectively assess whether your current actions, attitudes, and behaviors align with that.
In the end, EVERY decision (or indecision, which is actually a decision in and of itself) has an opportunity cost. If you do one thing, you’re not doing something else, and vice versa. You can literally apply this question to every aspect of your life — your health, your relationships, your work, your family, you name it. Take for example…
- Does buying clothes you don’t need (with money you don’t have) helping you get out of debt? Probably not.
- Does taking a walk after dinner (instead of plopping down on the couch) help you lose those 10 pesky pounds? Probably so.
- Does checking your email every 5 minutes help you get started on that presentation, blog post, or project that you’ve been holding off? Probably not.
- Does thumbing through Facebook (instead of getting on the floor and playing with your child) enhance your relationship with your family? Nope.
- Does going to bed 30 minutes earlier allow you to get up 15 – 30 minutes earlier (before chaos sets in) so you can work on your top priority? Yep.
- Does lifting others up with genuine compliments (instead of gossiping behind their backs) help you become a more positive person? Absolutely.
- Does practicing gratitude (instead of focusing on what you don’t have) help put you in a better mood and give you more energy? Without a doubt.
I think you get the picture. Next time you’re feeling that sense of internal conflict, take the one-question survey: Is this behavior, activity, or attitude bringing me closer to or further from the person I want to be?
To the BEST you … 😉
You’ve heard of the tail wagging the dog? In the case of the stock market, that can often be the case when options traders get active. That’s because when options trades increase, banks need to hedge their contracts by actually buying shares.
Today Darren Hardy posted a great ‘Come From Behind’ message! Any time I hear the words “Come From” I think of Newfoundland. NFLD more than captures my imagination … It captures my heart! Newfoundlanders say, ‘they’ll be disappointed when they leave this Earth and go to Heaven’. That says quite a bit in just a few words!
Markets hate uncertainty… and they love stimulus. So it’s no surprise that the stock market was buoyant that some more stimulus programs would be hitting the economy, possibly by the time of the election.
Good morning.
End of the month wrap-up. Good Morning. The Japanese have a term Ikigai, meaning reason for being. The Finnish have the term Sisu, meaning resilience. And the Swedes have Lagom, meaning moderation. All point to popular terms used in popular books and articles to discuss the concept of clutter, whether mental, emotional, or, usually, the physical.
Even with the recent selloff, the stock market is near all-time highs. So, too, is the housing market. On Tuesday, home sale data indicated the highest levels of sales since 2006. A big bump occurred in homes with a price of over $1 million.
The FOMC policy statement is going to be announced today at 2pm EST and there will be a press conference with Chairman Powell at 2:30pm. As a stimulus bill has proved elusive, investors will be looking for what Powell has up his sleeve for expanding the Fed’s balance sheet. There are two main topics to watch for in the statement or in the press conference: negative interest rate policy (NIRP) and yield curve control. While the Fed isn’t all-powerful, they can goose the market along most of the time and it looks like they may need to do it again.
The power is now in your hands … how you deal with ‘such people that may include those who disagree with anything you say, the negative thinkers who suck the life out of you, the rude or hot-tempered folks who treat you like trash, or those you simply can’t get along with’.
The journey of personal development is about becoming the best version of yourself that is possible. It isn’t a race and there is no final destination.
On this day, we left “Our Million Dollar View” and drove towards Halifax. Along the way we “reminisced” about the previous days and what was accomplished together. One of the memorable spots along the way was Wolfville.
As I pointed out last week, the selling in the market didn’t look like it was over based on the volatility markets. The lack of movement in the VIX on Tuesday is just another indication that sellers haven’t capitulated, and the bottom isn’t quite near.
Usually gifts benefit the recipient. The giver also benefits because they get to experience the joy of giving and they get to see how happy their gift has made others feel but for the most part gifts benefit the recipient more than the giver.
When you hold a grudge, it greatly affects your life in ways that you may not ever see. Just like a dog can smell fear, people can sense when you are holding on to anger. They may not be able to identify it but they know that something is ‘off’ with you. When you are unconsciously sending off these bad vibes, people don’t like it and they don’t want to associate with you.
(Pictured left) the girls standing outside Anne of Green Gables.
When we all met back together around 5:00 pm at Shining Waters, we had each eaten lunch at various places and at various times. We decided to “freshen up” and then head-out in the KIA for dinner at the Blue Mussel Cafe. My buddy Bill Jones on a previous vacation to PEI had mentioned what a great dining experience was about to await us!!!
Not a word of a lie … the best place … hands down for fresh seafood and a true dining experience. First we had drinks in the bar while our table was being cleared, then we moved to our table for appetizers. I choose to order a plate of mussels, while the 6_foot catch of the day, [8 oz. portions of halibut] were being prepared. If that were not enough, we each finished our meal with a fabulous dessert, to be chosen by each individually. Simply delicious!
