Is this a bear market? Was this a bear market? Are there bears in the woods and do they...well, of course they have to. What does it matter?
My wife irritates me by referring to what goes on in the world of low finance as "gambling". I try to explain to her that it isn't at all like the horses. Can't she understand that what I'm doing when I "take a position on a company" is becoming a small part of that business. It's as if I worked for them in some capacity. Once you have grasped- I tell her, over and over again-that simple principle, all that is left to do is decide which company you'd be happy to work for. Which company would you boast that you worked for? I mean to say, if you met someone on a cruise ship, got chatting, as you do, and revealed to them that you worked for Rolls Royce or Weetabix, you'd get used to their response being some sort of brand recognition respect. Of course, if you said you worked for Cunard, they might merely reply the they also worked fairly hard too.
All of life has its ups and downs, I remind her. "Epsom Downs?" she says and we're suddenly back with the gee gees. Still it could be worse; it could be the old nags.
Why are there bulls and bears? Could it be that there are only two broad philosophies in life that are simply, if grotesquely, reflected in the stockmarket? I refer to the glass half full and half empty dichotomy. I've always been a half full man myself. Never say die, don't cry over spilt milk, upsy daisy. Try anything once apart from you know what. Now, here's the thing. I never react to a fall in share prices. What would be the point of that? I'm not in business to make a thing and sell it at a loss am I? If I worked for BP and the price of oil fell, would I resign? If I worked for Persimmon and I thought a change of government might make things tougher for the housebuilding industry would I quit?
It would be harder if I bought a share in a company that held few tangible assets and offered me no actual wages but held out the warm possibility that they…
