The Ignorant Investor

Wow. Up 3% on the NASDAQ and 2% on the Dow. I don't see why, since the Fed did exactly what most people have been expecting, and there's nothing in the news today that wasn't apparent yesterday.

As you can see, posting over the past two weeks has been non-existent. It's not just because I'm busy at work, either. I've just got nothing to say about this market. It seems to be getting more volatile and more confused. I get the sense that the traders are in charge. People focused on the next three months, trading on the trends rather than on a long-term outlook. I've gotten to the point where I can't watch closely, because when traders are running amok all they're talking about is how to make a quick buck, and I don't know how to play that game.

So I took a step back today and looked at the basics. Oil prices are still high. Inflation is still around. Interest rates are going up. The housing market is slowing. The dollar is falling, which will make imported goods (and parts) more expensive. From the standpoint of conventional wisdom, those are some pretty tough headwinds going into the end of the year.