The most surprising thing [I found so far] about Wall St. is we need both of these type people – the forever optimists and the forever pessimists. Yes both, as each of them are just as important as the other one. Both may be zealots but that doesn’t mean an institution as important as Wall St. can’t function properly [amid the chaos] that these two groups of opposite attitudes bring [to the table]. I know what you’re thinking, I must be crazy but it’s the plain truth. Wall St. and hence free market capitalism can [only] operate efficiently when there are both perma-bulls and perma-bears allowed to openly express their thoughts and opinions. For without both these personalities Wall St. would be lost and would not properly function as a critical institution of the United States economy. I’m not saying that either side is always right, what I’m saying is that some of the time, in certain cases, each of them will be found to be right. That’s just the thing, your job is to determine which group of these zealots is correct and when. Easy task huh? LOL!

Have you ever turned on Fox Business or another financial channel only to find an irritating anchor that is constantly harping on topics/themes that go against the grain [of reality], against all that is actually taking place? Money management talent is finite, however, any one strategist can be right at some really inopportune times. The reason for this is that financial markets are dynamic, ever moving, never static. They can appear static from time to time but asset prices are either retreating or expanding. What you have to determine for yourself or through your professional advice is a course of action that will work for you as opposed to working against you and your goals. To complicate the issue even further, no one or single strategy will work all the time on Wall St. through time. I don’t care who the strategist is, they’re not going to be effective all the time. As soon as they appear to have the correct answer, a paradigm shift can/will take place, making their strategy or solution(s) obsolete. That’s how complicated managing money can be. Recognizing and accepting these facts/rules beforehand will only be to your advantage.

A good example of a perma-bull type would be Charles Payne of Fox Financial News, he comes on each weekday @ 1 p.m. Central time. He’s always the last to admit that the stock market is down, going down, or that the patient needs any sort of resuscitation. It [pains] Charles Payne greatly, [pun intended], to have to admit the truth when the U.S. economy is in a pickle, and/or the Federal Reserve is clueless on how to tame inflation and that it’s best to all-out avoid the U.S. stock market. You can tell he just wants to report something positive so badly, even when there hasn’t been anything positive to report about the U.S. economy [for almost a year now] under Inflationary Joe and the Demon-crats on Capitol Hill, really nothing positive at all. Charles is a likable person, I’m not anti-Charles at all. I’m simply stating facts, and when a perma-bull like Charles Payne turns bearish, you better know things are bad; though I can’t say at this writing I’ve ever heard Charles mutter a bearish tone, ever; for that reason, he’s what I would refer to as a perma-bull. On the other hand, if you’ve ever had the pleasure of catching an interview with Wall St. strategist/economist, David Rosenberg, then you’ve witnessed [the opposite type], a live perma-bear. Let me say first, David Rosenberg had been @ Merrill for years by the time I joined them, so I got to benefit from many of his important market calls and listen I did. I was sad to see David move to another firm once the 2008 Financial Crisis was well underway. David Rosenberg is the best in the business in my opinion – best in class at being the consummate perma-bear. He’s bearish calls on U.S. financial markets became a thing of legend. [We advisors came to expect it from David, the thing was I needed to know exactly why, that’s where the value was, in knowing what was behind his argument.] The fact is that many personal fortunes were realized before David Rosenberg would ever place a buy signal on U.S. stocks. But to David’s credit, I have to say that I witnessed him turn bullish only once, and it was early 2009. After the stock market had been annihilated via the 2008 Financial Crisis, the market finally found a bottom in March of 2009, and that is when David Rosenberg put out a strong buy signal. In fact, he said back-up-the-truck on U.S. equities, and he was right as March 2009 marked the official bottom to a stock market crash that began in late 2007 and persisted throughout 2008.

So the bottom line is both bulls and bears make a market what it is. If you follow the financial markets long enough you’ll see a ton of wackos pop-up from time to time [from Jim Cramer’s that yell and scream and press buttons triggering strange sounds, as well as people like Mark Chaiken whose wife lost her money on his watch? But now Mark has all the answers, ever notice that?] LMAO at both of these fools! Claiming only they have the secrets to your success while the average investor doesn’t. Appears to me to be a way to separate you from your money. Maybe that’s the thing Mark has figured out? It’s always some new trick, some new strategy, but remember what I said earlier, no single strategy will work all the time or even throughout time. Ignore the “flashy” wackos and gravitate towards those that can help you get to where you want to go. Avoid advice from someone who professes to have all the answers because the answer, that answer will constantly move around… and all I know is, the answer will lie somewhere between all these bulls and bears! 😉