Insights and Observations
June of 2020 began the summer of trauma from the COVID-19 pandemic and economic lockdown. During the following Fall and Winter, the resulting lock down hardened. Optimism was difficult.
Then the cloud started to lift, modern medicine again started winning against disease. Our stock markets rallied with economic optimism, turbocharged by government stimulus.
Things change, sometimes very rapidly and very unexpectedly and trying to quickly hop from one trend to the next in a timely fashion is difficult at best. The point here is that a diversified portfolio does not capture the full excitement of the current trend, but over the long run smooths out volatility and captures the miracle of compounding returns.
The current edition reviews the following:
- The energy and commodity sectors quickly and unexpectedly rebounded from dogs to darlings.
- Overseas stock markets have relatively attractive valuations and should not be overlooked.
- A reminder that a balanced portfolio reduces volatility.
As always, know what you own, do not overinvest, and stick with quality.
-Cliff Jarvis