This cliche is a truism of investment lore. For those foolhardy enough to venture into the speculative world of the stock market it is a warning to not stand in the way of either an advancing or declining market trend. Betting against either directional force is a sure way to lose your investment or wager, however you may view it.
Over coffee today I was speaking with my dear friend Graham. We were commiserating about current events, at least those worth talking about. Most of the worlds troubles are well beyond our control and barely comprehensible even to the reasonably well informed. I left remembering that cautionary investment advice. I have benefited but more often lost by following business and investment trends. I confessed to him that I was now adapting my financial experience to the broader world and more specifically to our American culture.
The broader trend in the world at large is toward totalitarianism and dictatorships thinly disguised as “democracies”. This is as true in the United States as it is in the meanest, most wretched Third World country. Single party governance achieved by fraud, gerrymandering, corporate funding or outright refusal to accept election results is as close to embracing Democracy as lying beside a corpse is to lasting romance. Trump and his ilk only put a face to an underlying trend. The GOP is ethically and morally bankrupt., as worthless as Enron or WeWork. Those who invested were or will be defrauded and lose whatever faith or cash they had entrusted to these entities. China is the purist example of a developed totalitarianism currently to be examined. With faces and other bio data recorded to be used to control and restrict the options and life choices of the governed. It is undoubtedly being considering as a trend and an option by those who invest in attaining and keeping political power and social control for themselves. Those mysterious “They” who reputedly hold and pull the strings of wealth and government. At one time I would have consoled myself with the belief that the Supreme Court of the United States would police and correct abuses of power, to use another investment term I would have considered them a “Buy and hold”, reliable and trustworthy. Since they are now a subsidiary of the bankrupt Republican Party, that faith is gone. I would like to close with one final shibboleth of investment advice: “Diversify” your portfolio. By that I mean own some precious metals, get a second passport if your heritage permits it (mine is through the Republic of Ireland and the EU) and prepare to protect your assets, including your loved ones. The stock market survived “Black Friday” and “Black Monday” but I’m not sure our Republic will survive a trump win in November of 2024.