How to invest, or how to let go. A bearish perspective.

When you have extra cash you want to stow away for tomorrow there is no better place to put it than in equity investments. Right? It can be nerve-wracking looking at price charts for securities, the gyrations can be sharp and discouraging. When considering adding to or starting a new investment strategy one often gets overly caught up in timing the markets. One of the biggest causes of insecurity comes from looking at a chart of the general market. Prices for the overall indices are usually at or near all time highs.

How do we approach investing when we want a deal but usually end up having to buy stocks or bonds near all time highs. Price appreciation, based on historical data for the overall market is nearly a given. It will happen. But we can't necessarily feel that instantaneously, and being human we would much prefer if the reward was earned now, not 1-50 years from now. To reconcile this you have to remember in your mind that almost every person who has ever invested in the stock market has bought at or near all time highs. Every generation is working and every generation is producing results. As a whole the entire world economy grows every year nearly without question.

It is easy to be pessimistic with all the adversity and negative news stories we come across daily. But eventually you have to step back and remember that humans as a whole prefer to work and be active. Because of this economies will continue to rise. Negative externalities such as pollution and climate change are not priced in by markets. Therefore the finite amount of resources of the planet is not a cap on how high mankind's markets can rise. The size of any bubble that might exist is only limited to the imagination and willingness of humans to work, spend, save, and produce for today through the future. It is true though that tendencies of people, their governments, and by extension society will change the nature of industry and the overall demand for certain solutions that corporations can provide for various issues.

Therefore be not afraid to buy at or near all time highs for a security. You are in good company. All human history consisted of individuals who bought at prices much lower than those of today. However, they too looked at price charts that were at all time highs and thought markets were overbought as well. But it wasn't, it never really is actually. It oscillates from time to time due to the inner-workings of humankind and the disasters we sometimes inflict on ourselves for territory across an artificial line someone envisioned in prior lives. It might also fall because some people are prejudiced to those with differing beliefs about one book or another.

But fear not, in the end mankind is hard working and markets will rise. If there is a catastrophe so insurmountable that men can not solve it, money wouldn't be worth anything anyhow and having stuffed it away under your pillow or in the closet would have yielded nothing. Money is only so good as the faith than humans put into it.