Throughout history the financial markets have gone through many tests of confidence. The misconception is that people feel that somehow the current correction is different from its predecessors. What we know from historical data is two things. First, when measured against all corrections since the end of the Great Depression, the current one would be considered average in size. Second, the prices seen at the bottom of any bear market are always higher than the bottom of the previous bear market. Did you know that the S&P/TSX index in Canada was 6,838 points on September 30, 2001? As of October 1st, 2008, the index was 11,714 points – a 71% increase!
History does repeat itself…
Decade Market Return World Events
1950’s 12.7% Korean War, US Seizes Steel Mills, Russia Explodes H-Bomb, Suez Crisis,
Recession, Castro Takes over Cuba.
1960’s 10.0% JFK Assassinated, Berlin Wall Erected, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War
begins, Mao in China, Newark Race Riots, USS Pueblo Seized.
1970’s 10.4% OPEC Crisis, Terrorists at Munich Olympics, Watergate, Largest US trade
deficit to date, Steepest market drop in 4 decades, Tangshan Earthquake
kills 240,000 people, American hostages in Iran.
1980’s 12.2% Interest Rates at all-time high, Worst recession in 40 years (Markets hit
new highs following year), AIDS discovered, Black Monday (DOW drops 22.6%
in one day).
1990’s 10.6% Y2K, Persian Gulf War, End of Cold War/Berlin Wall Fall, Oklahoma City
Bombing, Global Recession, Asian Flu, Mad Cow Disease, Euro introduced.
2000’s 6.2%
(as of Sep 15, 2008) Tech bubble burst, Largest market correction in Canada & US since the
Great Depression, September 11th, Enron, World Com, Iraq / Afghanistan
War, Credit Crunch, Income Trusts, Oil & Gold at record highs, Bear Sterns
& Lehman Brothers collapse.
Four things you need to keep in mind about Bear Markets
1. Bear Markets are an essential, immutable, constant element of the economic cycle. Human nature drives the economy, and the economy drives the stock markets. People tend to overshoot and then undershoot the long term growth trends of the economy. This type of behaviour leads to unpredictable returns in the market place which is precisely why markets earn high returns over the long term.
2. Bear Markets common. In the 63 years since the end of WW2 there have been 13 bear markets. These bear markets have averaged a decline of 29% and lasted on average 15 months. On the flip side, bull markets last on average 26 months and average +71%. I am very confident that the prices we see for common stocks in the market today are low and when the market takes off again, we will never see these prices again.
3. Bear Markets are a temporary interruption of a permanent uptrend. The advance is permanent over the long term and there is over 100 years of data to certify this.
4. Bear Markets are why equity returns are what they are. It is the volatility in the market place caused by investor behaviour which allows people to get wealthy over the long term.
When things are cheap we should think about buying them. You will need money to live during your retirement and the markets are on sale now. Don’t let the over-reporting of bear markets by the media steer you away from being a savvy investor.
What is the biggest risk?
Your biggest financial risks are 1) being under-insured, and 2) outliving your money. Consider the impact of inflation for instance. If inflation runs at 3% for the next 30 years it will cost $2.42 to replace a dollar today. If you want to pay yourself $70,000 per year in dollars today that means you will need to be paying yourself $169,900 in 30 years.
Undoubtedly, in markets like these you will meet people, family, and friends who have been left out in the cold during these difficult times by their current advisors. Studies show that 35% of clients do not hear from their advisors when markets go through a correction. If you have found this helpful, please forward this information to your friends and family.
Market Perspective - To learn more about this author, visit Sharon Alderson's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 |
Related Articles |
|
 Youre Placing A Story Where
|
| |
Press coverage, whether large or small, can all be used to help build a powerful and effective media campaign.
|
|
If You Don't Know, Ask...Then Ask Again
|
| |
First impressions...how quickly do you make them, hold onto them and judge everything by them? Making a judgment based on first impressions won't serve you. Paying attention to how and why you make those judgments...
|
|
SME's - the impact of government mindset on entrepreneurship
|
| |
Does government mindset impact on SME's?
|
|
Lesson #5: Teamwork is an Essential Tool for Success
|
| |
 “When I was trying to think of what the key management principles were to build into the culture, I started talking about the Ps,” says Case. “The P's were things like passion, perseverance, perspective and people. ...
|
|
Lesson #3: See the Forest Through the Trees
|
| |
“I think the more you have a generalist perspective, I think sometimes the more you can kind of see through the forest and the trees,” says Case. “And when it gets a little bit cloudy, you know, have some sense of, ...
|
 |
Related Businesses - Evan Elite Authors |
|
Kim Castle
With nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation.
BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them?
If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
|
The Evan Elite Authors program is currently in beta phase. For details please contact us.
|
|
|
|
![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif){kind=small}
