Financial Headlines
As I was thinking about what to write this week, I took a look around at different financial news sites for something that would catch my attention. Did you know there’s a new article published on CNBC every 10 minutes or so? The amount of “financial news” spewed at us through these sites or through social media is dizzying.
After looking for a while, nothing really interested me. So I began to think about all of the financial headlines I’ve written about since starting this newsletter over three years ago. Here are a few examples:
COVID-19 Market Crash
NFTs
Cryptocurrency
War in Ukraine
High Gas Prices
Inflation
Spike in Interest Rates
Crazy Housing Market
All of these stories, and a host of others I didn’t mention because it would take too long and become repetitive, happened within the span of a few short years.
With this seemingly endless procession of financial news and crises, how is anyone expected to make sound financial and investment decisions?
My advice would be to focus on the long term.
As wide-ranging as all of these economic events are, they all have one thing in common. They all come to an end.
Each and every one of those headlines felt very urgent and important while they were happening. Yet, with time, most people will forget they even happened.
Just think about some of the biggest headlines in your lifetime. How much do they matter today? That answer should cause you to ask, “How important then are today’s headlines?”
Money Visuals is a Twitter account I follow that posts simple, insightful graphs. Here’s one of my favorites:
Despite all of that uncertainty and turbulence, including two separate stock market drops of 20%+, the U.S. stock market is up over 75%. Not a bad return for a short three-year period.
“The four most dangerous words in investing are, it’s different this time.” — Sir John Templeton
Thanks for reading!