I want you to understand that stocks, like trees, don’t grow forever. Look at Apple stock. During the first trading day of 2022, Apple’s market cap surpassed $3 trillion. Did you know that on the same day with $3 trillion, you could have owned all of McDonald’s, Walmart, AT&T, Philip Morris, Berkshire Hathaway, Proctor & Gamble, JP Morgan Chase, Starbucks, Boeing, Deere, and American Express combined? Does that mean Apple’s going down from here? Listen, I’m Your Survival Guy, not Johnny Appleseed.
But here’s the deal. When you get older, you can’t afford to lose money (can you ever?), because you don’t have the TIME to make it back. One of the key pitfalls investors fail to overcome is ELIMINATING EMOTIONS from their portfolio. When you get older, it’s even HARDER. You hold on too tight. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t get emotional investing other people’s money. Why? Because it’s dead serious business. Period.
Look, the stock market discounts everyone’s best and worst ideas. Putting your real money, you know your life’s savings, to work is serious business. I remember like it was yesterday when I first started working with Richard Young in the late 90s. I would be amazed at his concentration on a specific problem and how he could think it through. His concentration and seriousness, whether investing a hundred grand or a million bucks, was off the charts. That memory is branded into my brain like a stray steer in Costner’s Yellowstone because the business of investing is serious.
Yesterday, Apple traded intraday down a percent. Why? Because the ten-year Treasury bond rose to 1.789% from 1.769%. Big deal, right? That’s only twenty one-hundredths of a percent. And yet there’s blood in the streets. In other words, Apple—like other tech shares—is super sensitive to interest rates.
Action Line: Think about Apple’s price today as a reflection of the sum of its future earnings. It’s like a bond with no maturity date. So, if you’re concerned about your exposure to sensitive positions like this, perhaps we should talk. I’m here for you. If you are one of the many people who know what they need to do to prepare their portfolio, but can’t get focused enough to break through your emotions and make the hard calls, I can help. If you’re serious about preparing your portfolio for what’s ahead but need that extra push, click here to sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive newsletter. I’ll be there to encourage you to push through inertia and take the steps you need to protect you and your family. But only if you’re serious.
