Hello everyone!

MJ and I went on a 2 night getaway this week to Sparkling Hill in the Okanagan. Much needed R&R as it was the first time for Mama to be away from Julia who is now 1.5 years old. Hats of to Mj and all the women out there doing what you do (Mom, you too)—imagine not having a night to yourself for over 500 days…. 🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️. Anyway, if you love saunas, steams, and cryochambers, it’s a great place to shack up. Service was so-so but overall it was a great experience!

Anyway, hope everyone is doing great, and as always, if you are enjoying the Journal, please forward to your friends to subscribe. 

Personal Finance

Listened to a short podcast by the author of The Psychology of Money, Morgan Housel (highly recommend reading this book) in which he discusses the psychology of spending.

An interesting topic because, as he correctly states, much of the money and finance world is about emotions and investing, largely ignoring emotions and spending.

Questions like:

• Why do we choose to spend on one thing and not the other?

• How does our desire for acceptance influence our buying?

• What do you feel when you buy food (survival) vs. what do you feel when you buy a golf club (fun)?

• When we buy something, do we own it, or does it own us? (i.e. home, boat?)

• Do we buy things for status, or because we truly benefit?

• How does our upbringing impact our future spending?

• Are you happy when you subscribe to Netflix, or annoyed? If the latter, why do it at all? Aren’t we told to “pursue” happiness?

The interesting thing is we will ALL have different feelings toward spending money, and on what we are spending the money on.

• One person’s scooter is another person’s waste of time.

• One person’s leisurely coffee routine is another person’s addiction.

• One person’s trip to the local beach is another person’s trip to Italy.

These are questions and concepts that I’m interested in exploring.

Because while all of our feelings are equally valid, things are valued differently by different people.

There’s no perfect way to live a life for person (a) that works perfectly for person (b).

It’s unique, it’s iterative, it’s always evolving.

The key, perhaps, is to start asking yourself, how do you feel when you spend money, and is it truly valuable for you?

Something to think about—let me know!

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Stock Markets

I know a guy with a few millions here and few millions there who just called me, asking if he should sell his stocks for cash.

I said: “what, why?”

He said: “I read a NY Times article. Seems pretty uncertain out there."

I said: “you must have stopped reading my journals? Please see last week’s Issue #65—it’s important and will give you context on uncertainty and how to look at it.”

Seriously though, I scanned the article in question, quotes below from the first paragraph:

“Trump might have handed China the Future”

“Uncertainty is off the charts, well past the peak of the Pandemic”

“Economists expecting recession”

“Fund manager's haven’t been so bearish in decades”

“Stock Market looks like a meme coin, heading for a possible rug pull”

If I can say one thing, is that this Opinion column writer knows how to captivate an audience.

But is the author, David Wallace-Wells, a renowned investor/fund manager? If he is so good at calling the direction of stocks, surely he’s worth a Billion dollars?

No, he’s neither of those. Instead, he’s here grabbing attention by preying on a vulnerable emotion: fear.

That’s fine, a job’s a job and he’s good at it and people are happy to pay him for the, let’s call it, infotainment. Because that’s all it is.

Anyway, point is, don’t let a NY Times article sway your long term investment decisions.

Moving on, like I said last week, my phone is ringing a lot more than usual lately.

People asking for my opinion on the market. They don’t specifically ask “where is the market going in the next few weeks and months?” But I can hear it in their voices and see it in their eyes—they want some direction.

If nothing else, they want an answer from someone they believe to be “in the know” (even though I always argue that I don’t know anything about where markets will go in the short term).

They just want something—anything—to hang onto.

If I’m wrong, they can lay blame on someone else for being wrong, or, if things work out, they’ll forget I ever said anything at all.

Pretend stocks DO drop over the next few months, this person that read the NY Times article will tell himself he was right all along—that he shouldn’t have listened to me and instead David Wallace-Wells.

But if stocks go up, he’ll be happy and forget that I ever told him to stay invested.

Or the opposite happens. I say, “yes, sell your stocks for cash!” Stocks go down, he’s feeling great. But, who’s going to tell him when to buy back in? David Wallace-Wells? And what if stocks go marching upward and never look back while he sits in cash? Wonder who’ll get the blame then?

Stock market investing is interesting. We know it’s long-term money. Yet everyone wants a short-term answer.

Real Estate

Actively working on leasing deals (renewals and new tenants) at our properties in Edmonton. Good to see because with the strange economic and politic backdrop, one may have surmised a slow down in business activity. There are anecdotes of slowdowns appearing, for sure, but the counter point is that some businesses are thriving enough to seek lease renewals, secure their space, and pay higher rents. So far, so good (knock on wood) as it appears there is a pulse and activity is increasing, at least in Alberta.

See how things play out, of course.

1 Quote

“Don’t look back unless it’s to see how far you’ve come”

-a readers Grade 12 year book

A Question

Who else sleeps with the blinds open?

I love waking up with the sun 😎 

_____________

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Thank you

Eddie Gudewill, CFA

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