What do you want TMF to say? Invading Ukraine was bad. Bad for the markets, bad for oil prices, bad for Ukrainians. I think we can all look back over the last 3 weeks and agree that what is happening in Ukraine is much worse and more pressing than any concerns we might have over our portfolios. And we are just as helpless to have any control from here over what is happening there as we have to stop the bleeding in on Wall Street.
But what would you want TMF to say? They have said, on Motley Fool Live, Backstage Pass, and in numerous emails sent to Premium Fools, that their Foolosophy of long-term (3-5 years or longer) buy-and-hold investing remains unchanged. It has been proven to hold true during the Great Recession, the Pandemic Recession (which I think was worse than this downturn) and numerous corrections.
The bottom line is Fools are encouraged to focus on their invested companies business performance, not their market performance. The relevant questions are how will they be impacted by higher energy prices and by inflationary pressures. Will they be forced to significantly change business operations as a result of global sanctions? And will those impacts and changes change your long-term (3-5 years or longer) investment thesis?
Ultimately, for most of the companies recommended for investment across the TMF Universe, the answer is no, and the advice to Premium Fools is to hold onto your portfolios and do not let short-term panic distract you from your Foolish strategy. We will come out of this on the other side and your portfolios will be stronger for the journey.
Not everyone here on this Freemium Community board buy into the long-term (3-5 years or) Foolosophy of investing. Whether you are a technical investor or swing trader (chart jockey), if you have a system that works for you, that’s great. Personally, I don’t think it means you have to denigrate anyone who invests differently from you, but for the time being, it’s a free country.
My guess is that if you were active in your Service Community, you would find there has been almost a daily drumbeat of reassurance and reiteration of Foolish principles. My guess is that the issue isn’t one of communication but of not liking what is being heard. Some Fools think that WAR must change Foolish thinking, that the tried and true go out the window and drastic measures must be taken.
That’s not what happened during the Great Recession, the Pandemic Recession or any of the corrections we’ve experienced over the last two decades. And for those who stuck to their Foolish investment strategy, they came out pretty well, if not spectacularly well. I cannot convince anyone of this who is not willing to hear anything other than what they know to be true, but that doesn’t make it any less so.
The bottom line is, whenever anyone points to market performance, I just want to know, how is the business doing? More often then not, there’s nothing anyone can point to in the business operation of the company to warrant panic selling. So hold on, invest more if you have the cash reserve, and hope that Russia will come to its senses and get the heck out of Ukraine.
Fuskie
Who by Russia means one specific Russian…
Premium Home Fool: Ask me a Foolish Question, I’ll give you a Foolish Response!
Ticker Guide: The Walt Disney Company (DIS), Intuit (INTU), Live Nation (LYV), CME Group (CME), MongoDB (MDB), Trip Advisor (TRIP), Vivendi SA (VIVHY), Mimecast (MIME), Virgin Galactic (SPCE), Axon Technologies (AXON), 51Jobs (JOBS)
Disclaimer: This post is non-professional and should not be construed as direct, individual or accurate advice
Disassociation: The views and statements of this post are Fuskie’s and are not intended to represent those of The Motley Fool or any other sane body
Disclosure: May own shares of some, many or all of the companies mentioned in this post: https://tinyurl.com/FuskieDisclosure
Fool Code of Conduct: https://www.fool.com/legal/the-motley-fools-rules.aspx#Condu…
Invitation: You are invited to interactively watch Motley Fool Live online television: https://www.fool.com/premium/live/
Call to Action: If you like this or any other post, Rec it. Better yet, reply to it. Even better, start your own thread. This is YOUR TMF Community!