Well, I must say I am still a bit shell-shocked from Papandreou’s announcement yesterday. I wanted to understand why he did what he did, so I did a little reading this morning about who this man is. I know I said he did it for political purposes, and that is certainly true, but that is a broad statement, so let me narrow it just a bit. Papandreou’s grandfather and father were popular Prime Ministers of Greece, and both have legacies of being “for the people.” The current Papandreou’s government is on the verge of failing and the people of Greece dislike him immensely. Enough said …
I don’t do a “quote of the day,” but if I did, the two quotes below would make the grade for today, or any other day …
- “All of us – hedge funds, mutual funds, mom-and-pop operations – are at the mercy of the sound bite right now. There’s a lot of fear …”
- 86-year-old Richard Russell, author of the Dow Theory Letters said, “Meanwhile, the market is almost as chaotic as I am. Nothing really makes sense. A thousand stories and opinions invade the media.”
I know, I know, the above are statements of the obvious, but, sometimes, that is what brings us back to reality; otherwise, the “thousand stories and opinions” would keep our heads spinning. In these days of turbulence, the one thing we cannot afford is our head spinning. We cannot afford to listen to the myriad voices out there sing their Siren songs. If we do, we join the ancient sailors whose fate became destruction on the rocks. No, we must block our ears and keep our wits about us …
From a market perspective, nothing is making sense and the chaos is disconcerting. Some days it feels as if I am in the movie, “Nightmare on Elm Street,” where going to sleep means waking up in a world that is scary and filled with potential financial harm. Well, maybe not that dramatic, but close, as day-to-day, we all wake up to something like Papandreou’s announcement, and that now seems to be the norm. Given this, we have two choices – go to cash to avoid the “wobbles” and potential danger or figure out how to maintain our balance and make money. Well, I am a gambler by nature, so I choose the latter …
I still believe opportunity exists in this market, especially if you understand swing trading. The peaks and valley are clearly defined, and the catalysts are plenty and foreshadowed. Yes, Papandreou’s announcement skews this notion (surprises will still come), but if you played that as an opportunity to get in, my guess is you will make money in the near term, especially if the economic forces at work simply overpower Papandreou and the whole Eurozone plan goes forward. This means the referendum vote he announced does not happen or it does and the Greeks okay the deal (surprise). As I said, I am a gambler and the odds seem good that one or the other will happen. As always, though, we will see …
Trade in the day – Invest in your life …
