With the Holidays in full swing, this month’s Perspective is a note from your team at Sagemark. In the months ahead we will be discussing an important phenomena playing out in the market, one that we are already positioned for, and one to which the thoughts below are analogous. While not our original intention, we’re introducing the “bi-modal” concept in more reflective and personal way with the hope that you find something of greater value than mere statistical data shapes. We hope you enjoy this month’s Perspective.
Some things are meant to be.
The holidays can be full of opportune moments to feel contentment, gratitude and joy. We just have to remember to slow down enough to make room for these moments to occur and acknowledge them when they do. This is a time of year when we’re meant to come together with family and friends to enjoy traditions, both common and unique. Whether we gather around the table to enjoy turkey and stuffing, brisket and latkes, wild game and red wine, or something altogether different is not the point. The point is that when we gather, we connect, and we find something big or small to appreciate in the relationships we have. These are the good moments. Contentment, gratitude and joy are meant to be.
There is a necessary and complementary opposite that must also be true: the holidays can throw into sharp relief relationships that have changed. When we have been separated from someone we love and care about, whether by distance, disease or by death, it hurts. Perhaps at no time is that person’s absence felt more strongly than at our traditional time of connection around the holidays. These are the not-good moments. Hopefully, eventually, these give-way to the kind of bittersweet moments of gratitude for past connections and contributions made; perhaps something more.
We are in a time of year when we tend to feel something strongly one way or the other. These are bi-modal emotions. We might go back and forth between the two, but seldom does this season pass with a simple “meh” and a shrug.
Similarly, we are in a market and political environment that is producing bi-modal outcomes. In this kind of environment middle-ground “meh” outcomes become statistically less-likely to occur. Either a very good outcome or the opposite is more likely to occur than an “average” outcome. We have built our All Weather Portfolios accordingly, but we’ll save the details for another Perspective.
As we head into 2016, we wish you joy and gratitude for the things that matter most in your life. Thank you for making us a part of your journey.