Did I tell you I visited the Alhambra when I was in Granada? If one likes history, or better yet, a sense of history, this is a place to go. It is rich with both. Although there were crowds of people, I did find moments where my mind wandered to those now familiar questions I ask – What was life like in this place some 700 years ago? Did the folks who lived here have the same day-to-day issues we face today? Did they think about how to make their money work? Well, maybe the folks in that grand palace didn’t have to think about that, at least not like we do today …
The market saw fit to take another slice off recent gains yesterday. That makes two days in a row of market losses. What do you think of that? Me? I am okay with it. It has to happen to keep the momentum going. Let’s not forget traders still like profits and investors like to book gains. So, when the durable goods order did not meet expectations, both players did both things.
New orders for manufactured goods rose less than expected in February and a gauge of future business investment also fell short of forecasts,
As with the two days of losses, the above does not concern me much either. Of greater concern to me is how Americans feel about things, and right now, with gasoline prices higher and threatening to go even higher, Americans are a bit edgy about spending money.
Americans were more worried about inflation in March than at any time in the last 10 months and consumer confidence waned in the wake of higher gasoline prices.
Yet, even with that worry, they also feel things are getting better, albeit slowly.
The poll of 836 Americans across the country found that 36 percent believe the economy will improve over the next year, a nearly 10-point gain from November, and the highest level of optimism since 2010.
American sentiment can and does change, as do orders for durable goods, but both are decent right now, which fits together with the market’s attitude, a wait and see attitude. In the meantime, there is money to be made while the market holds, and there are opportunities to find positions that one can hold while waiting. This is a good time to do some homework, to do some research. Yes, this is a good time to be both diligent and patient. This is a good time to think about what you do with the market, how you trade or invest, what tools you use, and what strategies you employ. You want to be prepared when the train leaves the station, because when it starts picking up a head of steam, it will wait for no one. The time to get setup is now.
On a completely different and somewhat ironic note, I found the insert below interesting, given my recent travels back in time. Like walking the corridors of the Alhambra turned my mind to the possibilities of the past, reading the words below turned my mind to, well, the present. In the words is the possibility that someone out there is doing what I do and what you do every day, and that is doing whatever it is we do to make our day as right as it can be.
Maybe, in some distant place, someone is sitting down with their tools and trying to figure out where to make their next buck. Yeh, maybe that is what someone is doing …
Astronomers hunting for rocky planets with the right temperature to support life estimate there may be tens of billions of them in our galaxy alone.
Trade in the day – Invest in your life …
