Think Positive

There are many types of people in this world, and many ways to describe them. Those that are optimists and those that are pessimists. Some see the glass half full, others see it half empty. Some focus on the future, while others dwell on the past. Some are positive, others are negative. You get the picture. People generally like to be around positive people. Here are some examples of what people are saying these days, that are negative:

"We are heading into a depression!"
"This is the worst market since the 1930's!"
"My account is going to zero!"
"My 401k is now a 201k!"
"I will never invest in stocks again!"
"This is a terrible time to buy a house!"
"This is a terrible time to sell a house!"
"Winter will last 6 more weeks!"
"I will never be able to retire!"

Have you heard any or all of these? Now of course things are not good, but they are not as bad as the media and talking heads on TV make it out to be. There have been many bad markets and recessions before, and there will be many more to come. Newspapers are in the business to sell papers and they sell more papers on bad news than they do with good news. The editors twist the headlines to grab your attention and they will turn a positive into a negative. I once heard a speech from a senior market economist who gave a great example. He had a particular distain for the USA Today newspaper, and he said that if the USA Today had reporters alive 2000 years ago when Jesus walked on water, the headline the next day would have been: JESUS CAN'T SWIM! See, that's turning a positive into a negative. In the coming months we will hear about savvy investors who bought stock in October and November of 2008 and made millions, or of people who stuck to their retirement savings plans and decided to put MORE money into it to take advantage of the opportunity that the market has given us. You can (and should) think positive in all aspects of life. Today, is Feb. 6th and it is still winter, but I am riding to work on my motorcycle today! I am thinking positive. I smell a rally on Wall Street!