Maybe we can blame it all on the Beatles invasion of America. The bustling 60s with its expressions of freedom was the time when the transition seemed to sweep the nation. Instead of purchasing what we wished AFTER we had earned the capital to do so, as in generations past, we learned to purchase BEFORE we had earned sufficient capital to match our desires. The availability of credit has forced grown-ups to take a grown-up version of The Marshmallow Test.
Recall the MarshMallow Test was a test given to youngsters to determine the correlation between patience, self-discipline and success in life. A marshmallow would be placed in front of a child, who was told if the marshmallow had not been consumed by the time the adult returned to the room, the child would recieve a second marshmallow. The end result being children who passed the Marshmallow Test did better financially in life!
Most of the population are tempted by the proverbial marshmallow every day under the guise of credit offerings. These days credit card offerings are expected daily in the mail and homes have been turned into ATM machines. And those homes were in turn purchased through borrowing. The excesses are compounded by the fact that some studies have reported that over 9 out of 10 borrowers mis-represent their net worth during applications. Not only is most of the public failing the Marshmallow Test, but the government is too. A balanced budget, once demanded as part of fiscal responsibility, is now all but a distant memory.
The pervasive excesses of borrowing inevitably lead to greater gains during upswings and greater losses during corrective phases. During the declines, few stock market participants have a containment strategy. Account value fluctuations are exacerbated and panic sets in. Growth-oriented investors realize that declines in future earnings inflate P/E multiples and bargains soon turn into over-priced securities. Supposedly sophisticated quant funds who rely on black box models are often most at risk because leverage is frequently so integral to their performance. And as the models stop working, the losses are exacerbated by the earlier dependence on leverage.
For most it is too late to salvage a virtual portfolio or to take corrective action when the news media frenzy reaches peak levels and the front covers of magazines tell tales of stock market woes. But the difference between defeat and failure is the difference between giving up and taking a lesson from the pain. The most important lesson to learn is to resolve to master an approach that consistently protects capital during corrective phases and outperforms during upswings. While many such approaches exist, the one we prefer to use combines stock and option strategies, hence the company name, Stock and Option Trades. If you have a winning approach, stick with it. If you need to learn more, both Phil and the team at Stock and Option Trades are here help.
