FOUR!

No, I’m certainly not on the golf course. But, write that number on your fridge and look at it every morning. Four is roughly the number of recessions that each of us will be in a financial position to take advantage of over our lifetime. While the recent market rout and corresponding economic slowdown hasn’t been chalked up as a recession as of yet, I suspect that it will be.

Out of curiosity, let me know if you’ve cancelled your telephone/internet service provider, purchased more/less things online or stopped brushing your teeth…maybe keep the last to yourself. But my point is that there are business models out there that are inherently recession proof. Tourism, semiconductors, auto parts manufacturers and other industries will fair differently, but those are where the opportunities are after we recover from the coronavirus hangover.

My crystal ball is muddied when attempting to call a bottom. I’m the first to admit that I don’t know if the bottom is today, next week, or months from now. What I do know, is this will be one of our four opportunities. I continue to monitor your accounts, as well as my own, as I am invested alongside you. It’s painful to see our portfolios decline, but as a student of history and more importantly human nature I trust that we and the economy will persevere.

We have enough to deal with through the change and disruption of our lifestyles, let’s not compound the issue by making grave financial mistakes with our investments. There are no mulligans, so think straight and make rational decisions.