Hope and Emotion

Hope

I am hoping that some of my family will be able to make it down for our wedding. I communicated with my brother today, and although things are not really rosy in their part of the country, they may be able to come down. Hopefully, at least 5 of them (mother & husband, brother & wife, sister) will be able to car pool and split expenses and make the 12-14 hour trip.

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Emotion

I've been thinking about our stock market lately. We've had some wild swings in its prices for a while. The conclusion I've come to is that the market is run by emotion: fear that [something] will happen, fear that housing will do [whatever], fear that oil will do [whatever]. If fear consumes the investors, they will sell and prices will drop. The media will confirm this. Pay attention to market reports. Listen for words like "fear", "worry", etc. If hope or elation fills them, they will buy and prices go up. It seems that very little has to do with actual business conditions or a tangible belief that a company has a future by virtue of its product or service.

Ideally (IMO), investors should invest in (and support) businesses/corporations that they believe can be successful on the merits of the respective business. Must they engage in emotional buying and selling in a desperate attempt to make a lot of money? The stock market was never intended to be a short-term money-making endeavor. It was never intended as a vehicle for high-stress panic buying and selling. Its reason for being is to help a business grow by allowing investors to help supply capital towards that end. If our markets were to return to its roots and not run by an emotional crap-shoot, it would be in much better shape. But then, our government would have to get out of the way and not force businesses to make stupid decisions, and at the same time allow irresponsible ones to fail.

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Emotion is the fuel for another of our country's engines: Politics and political elections. I don't recall any election (and I've seen quite a few) that wasn't run like the stock market - on emotion. Far too many people fail to vote with their brains. They vote with their hearts, according to what "feels good". Candidates always try to appeal to emotion, because that is what voters use most. Because it's driven on emotion just like the stock market, its results are just as shaky.

We need to start fueling our nation's engines with brain power, not emotion. It's very similar to drugs. People do drugs because they make them "feel good". They become trapped by them, enslaved by them - all for the desire to feel good. The same is true for the market and the government. Invest and vote with your emotions, and they will bite you.

As a nation, let's let our brains be the driving force, not our emotions.


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