Animal Spirits: The First Thing to Go in a Crisis

Another week in quarantine so Michal and I continue to record Animal Spirits from the comfort of home. We discuss: Why the end of this crisis will only look obvious in hindsight How long until people start losing their patience? Why fiscal stimulus is so important right now The U.S. response to this crisis shows…

How Does the Market Crash Impact Retirees?

This can be a scary time for those who have never lived through a market crash. But young people and those still in the accumulation phase will eventually come to realize that lower prices are a good thing for new savings. For those approaching retirement or already in retirement a market crash poses an even…

Random Thoughts on the Crash As We Catch Our Breath

Some random thoughts as we get a couple of days off from paying attention to the markets: Will the winner-takes-all only get worse from here? One of the big worries before the current crisis hit, which seems rather trivial at the moment, is the growing concentration at the top of the stock market in just…

What If You Buy Stocks Too Early During a Market Crash?

I know of a professional trader who foresaw the Great Recession, went to cash in the summer of 2008 before things got crazy and came up with a wonderful plan to put his money back to work at the lows. He planned on putting his cash into a simple S&P 500 index fund in 25%…

What’s Causing All the Panic Buying & Selling of Stocks?

When I wrote this piece for Fortune a couple of weeks ago it seemed apt to compare the market volatility to the ups and downs of the European debt crisis of 2011. At the outset of this downturn, we were seeing 3% and 4% moves in both directions. Then last week the market said to…

Returns From the Bottom of Bear Markets

We are now in the 13th worse bear market since the late-1920s with losses just shy of 30%. It would take another 15% drop from here to get to a 40% loss. It would take another 30% drop from here to get to a 50% loss. I don’t know if this is going to happen and neither…

The Power of the Human Spirit

A number of years before the onset of World War II, Winston Churchill warned the House of Commons about the dangers of a potential German invasion, describing London as, “the greatest target in the world, a kind of tremendous, fat, valuable cow, tied up to attract the beast of prey.” A few months later he…