Manipulation is alive and well. This time last week many of us watched as the stock market headed down towards a so-called “crash.” Granted, the consumer price index number (CPI) was a little inflationary, but something more was going on here. You may ask yourself, “How does this all affect me?” Well, if you have a 401-K Plan, Retirement Plan, or work for a corporation that trades on the stock market, it can affect you greatly. We are living in an age that is extraordinary. Technology is not only shortening the distance between people, but evolving at an incredible speed. Much of this technology is helping corporations cut their expenses in half, so in turn, as expenses are decreased, or income is increased, that is eventually, hopefully, reflected in the stock of that company.

As I roamed around my small town this past weekend, the talk on everyone’s mind was how their stocks had gone down the previous day. I walked into my local coffeeshop, said hello to a few friends, and just listened to lines like, “Jennifer, can you believe what’s happening with the market?” or, “Jennifer, how much money did you lose?” Many were beginning to feel that come Monday morning the doomsayers may at last be correct and the market would just head down into a bottomless pit. Much to some people’s surprise, once the market opened on Monday, after an hour the index started heading higher….many of the same people who sold off on Friday started to buy the large technology companies back. Why is this so important, do you say? The state of panic over last weekend here in my neck of the woods was almost at drastic proportions. Many watch the daily business shows trot out the naysayers….who say “sell everything, or you’ll be sorry.” As I have observed the markets and the so-called experts these past four years, I am now down to believing only two market so-called “Gurus.” The conflict of interest in many cases is frightening.

Manipulation is a very cunning thing….it can scare you into one direction for a certain period of time, and then scare you into another direction. Manipulation is based on Fear. How much of our own lives is based in one form or another, on Manipulation? The more we understand, the more we implement, the less Fear we have. I write my newsletter each week to empower the individual….the more one knows, the more they understand and can make the changes that are needed in their lives. The world is changing….we all know that. Whatever one decides, it should be based on careful thought and evaluation, not on Manipulation or Fear. The long-term investor, in whatever walk of life, understands that the road to the green valley is paved with bumps. If your shock absorbers are well maintained, you can go the distance. If we keep an open mind, the questions eventually get answered….

Go the distance,
Jennifer Avalon
© 2000 Jennifer Avalon