May's History, It's Time to Look Ahead
By Rev Shark
RealMoney.com Contributor
6/1/2006 8:51 AM EDT
"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly." -- Buddha
The month of May is now in the history books, and it will be recorded as a particularly difficult time for the bulls. The worst part of the action wasn't necessarily the point loss but the intensity and quickness of the pullback. At one point this month the Nasdaq was down eight straight days in a row, which is a particularly unusual streak.
Our job now is to put May behind us and focus on what we need to do to build our accounts. There obviously are major macroeconomic issues affecting the market but we can't spend too much time dwelling on them either. They are well known and the market is wrestling with how interest rates, inflation, energy prices, currencies and a slew of other factors will play out.
Anyone who thinks they can predict that over the months ahead is little more than a gambler who is taking some big chances.
So we neither mourn the past, worry about the future nor anticipate trouble. We focus on the work in front of us at the moment, roll up our sleeves and deal with it. That means we strengthen our defenses and make sure we keep our precious capital safe and secure as we wait for trends to develop. If we put on trades we make sure we keep time frames short, stops tight and don't hesitate to lock in gains.
We are in an environment now where good trading discipline pays dividends. We don't have an uptrend to bail us out when we do something foolish or are lazy about adhering to our discipline.
To use a cliche, this is a time to be lean and mean. Build some cash and keep your holdings lean. If they don't cooperate be aggressive about cutting them. Give yourself the ability to be more flexible. Few things can be more frustrating than to be heavily invested as the market downtrends and then discover you have little opportunity to capitalize on the inevitable bargains that emerge at the bottom.
June may prove to be as equally difficult as May but if we regroup and are mentally and emotionally prepared to deal with it there is no reason we can't prosper.
We have a flat start to the day. Economic data are rolling in and initial market response is positive to higher weekly unemployment and lower unit labor costs. ISM numbers at 10 a.m. EDT should also be a market mover. The dollar is showing some strength this morning and oil is dropping a little. Mining and commodities remain under pressure. Google has some positive comments from Piper Jaffray today and that should be an interesting stock.
At the time of publication, De Porre had no positions in stocks mentioned, although holdings can change at any time.