The mornings have a chill in the air here in Salem as kids are back in school and the leaves are starting to change. I had a nice summer, mostly staying fairly close to home with some beach time, visits with friends and family and a few other high points.
Among those high points was seeing the Rolling Stones in concert. I have seen them many times in my life but have resisted seeing them and their contemporaries over the last 20 years or so. It’s not that I didn’t still enjoy their music (I do). It’s just that going to a concert to watch a bunch of old guys who look somewhat like a great band I used to enjoy wasn’t exciting to me. In fact, the thought of them singing around high notes was just depressing.
So when my buddy Scott got in touch and asked if I wanted to go, I had some trepidation. Scott and I have been Stones fans from way back and we’ve seen them many times together including when we saw them for the first time 43 years ago.
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I am here to report however that my concern was unnecessary. The singing was great. Mick Jagger wasn’t sprinting around the enormous stage as he did when they first went that direction in 1981, but he still covered a lot of territory during the 2+ hour concert.
Keith Richard’s guitar playing, and Ronnie Wood’s to a less extent, was slightly hampered by what appeared to be a bit of arthritis in the fingers, but it was at a level I suspect many people were even unaware of. This was my first time seeing them since the death of founding drummer Charlie Watts but Steve Jordan on drums and Darryl Jones who replaced founding bass player Bill Wyman were more than up to the challenge of filling those big shoes. The songs, old and new, were well-performed and the staging and lighting exquisite.
Ed and Scott rocking at the Stones
Overall, a smashing success. I don’t know when arthritis and other maladies of age will bring the end of the Rolling Stones, but I am VERY glad to have seen them at least this one more time.
And speaking of old acts aging well, let’s talk about the economy and the stock market (how about that for a segue?).
Overall, it continues to be a good picture.
As the chart above shows, the Dow blew through 40,000 and even 41,000 this past month. It was just 4 years ago it broke 30,000 and only 7 years since we broke 20,000. And with slight variations the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ charts look similar.
What about the economy? Well, there are ups and downs, but unemployment remains low, job data remains strong, manufacturing jobs are up, wages are up moderately, and inflation continues to moderate.
Unlike inflation, prices remain higher than most would like, but we are starting to see some signs of price moderation too. All indications are that the Fed will drop interest rates this month, most likely by 25 basis points. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments a week ago in Wyoming seemed to affirm future cuts.
Not perfect but pretty good. And certainly an environment that should allow most investors to feel comfortable buying stocks.
In this election year, there are a lot of people on every side who have a vested interest in shaking your confidence. Don’t be taken in. I remain bullish on our economy and the stock market.
I recently wrote about why the market is not overvalued, both from a historical perspective and because of the record amount of assets in money market funds, much of which is likely to return as interest rates start to fall which will put upward pressure on prices.
When those money market rates fall, the stock market is the best place for most people to look to put most of those assets. Sitting on the sidelines getting suboptimal returns costs you real money.
The average individual investor can reduce their investing gains by as much as 75% by sitting out of the market too long after a correction or other kinds of market turbulence. Don’t be one of them.
These days we are hearing a LOT about the upcoming election. And that’s only going to get worse in the next two months. Much of the election-related noise from political groups and the media is designed to encourage you to vote one way or another, but I absolutely guarantee the pundits are not trying to help you make money.
As regular readers know, I do not believe politics has much to do with making money in the stock market so I won’t do a deep dive on that again here.
If you’re serious about being a successful investor, either tune out this political noise or at least compartmentalize it.
Get your political news fix wherever you want – whether you want straight-up information (yes, it does still exist) or messaging from more partisan outlets.
And when you want to make money, know Cabot has been helping investors for more than 50 years, through up and down markets and 10 presidential administrations. We are here to make sure that, whatever your political leaning, although you can’t always get what you want, if you stick with Cabot, we’ll make sure you get what you need.
For your investing success,
Ed Coburn
President & Publisher
Cabot Wealth Network
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