On Fear

As you may know, I kadabble  in the stock market. BTW – Kadabble…that’s a word my friend Ron Roll created…its his word for ‘dabble’. I think.

I’ve written about the market in the past.  See Stop Chasing. Start Focusing and How project management made me a better trader/investor for some of my stock market ramblings.

Beginning in December 2011, the S&P 500 (and the market in general) has been moving in a nice steady upward climb.   During this climb, there have been people expecting a quick roll-over and a fast move down…and others expecting a continued climb up.

The smart traders have been long for a while. The smarter traders have been looking for a small pullback the last few days.  This pullback is necessary, they say, to help the market consolidate and get ready for more upside.

In recent weeks…many more people besides the ‘smarter’ traders have been talking about that pullback. They’ve been rooting for it even.

This week, we got a piece of the pullback…and maybe the entire pullback.  On Monday and Tuesday, we saw the S&P 500 come down almost 3%…which is the pullback that a great number of traders were looking for.

Now that we have the pullback…are these same traders who’ve been looking for the pullback exited?  Are they throwing money at the market?

No.

Most aren’t. Rather than throwing their money at the market (like they said they would)…most are now sitting around chewing their fingernails and worrying about the market.

So…here we are.  These people got what they asked for. But…then they ignored the opportunity.

Why?  Fear?  Inattention?  Misunderstanding?

Who knows why these people aren’t following up with their plans…but honestly…its not something that just afflicts traders.

I see it all the time in business too.

Think about all the strategic plans you’ve run across in your life…how many of those plans have been fully implemented? How many of those plans have been written up and talked up…then nothing happens?  For me…I’ve seen a lot of these plans written up and sit on a shelf.

Why?

Because people are afraid. They are afraid of trying and failing. I can understand that…fear is a big ol’ hairy wall that stops us in our tracks.

But…when you ask for something…and get it…you better grab it and run with it.

If you don’t…someone else will.

Image Credit: Day 122 – FEAR By CraigGrocott on flickr