Inflation - Who CaresRight now in the US, the "official" inflation rate is now 8.6%. In the media, they say that this is worst that it has been for 40 years (ie 1982). What the media doesn't tell you is that the way inflation is calculated has changed over the years in a way to reduce the measured inflation. So we are comparing the proverbial apples to oranges.
Why should we care?
The inflation rate in the early 1980s was sufficient to cause a recession and a significant drop in the stock market. If we actually used the same methodolgy to calculate inflation today, the rate today would be in the double digits and so the situation today is worse than it was back then.
To make matters worse, in the early 1980s the US had a competent Presidential Administration and a competent Chair of the Federal Reserve with a backbone. Today we have neither. If we go around the World we see the same story.
So when you put this together, the table is set for a recession and a significant decline in stock prices. It is just a matter of time before it happens.
As Rockfeller said in response to a question in the early 1900s - "Don't fight the tape". The corollary to this is take advantage of it. Since I made my first investment in 1969, I have lived through the commodity price crash in the early 1970, the oil embargo in 1979, the crash in 1987, the collpase of the tech bubble in 2000 and the Great Recession of 2008 to name some of the historical events. I am still on my feet and one of the primary reasons for this is that I anticipated events and more importantly took steps to protect my assets and had the resources (money) to buy things on sale after things calmed down. I am doing that again now.
My best advice to those who care to read my posts is to do the same. One thing I have learned over the years is that the market at times can be quite brutal and doesn't take any prisoners.