The Blatt Watch by Peter Blatt: Blatt Watch by Peter Blatt:Lucky Food, Happy New Year, and Making Proper Investments Choices in 2015

From the desk of Peter Blatt, J.D., LL.M. 

Thirteen years ago on New Year’s Eve, I co-hosted a party with a good friend.  We decided to do a theme party, ‘Lucky Foods.’ Each couple needed to bring a dish of what they considered lucky food and the co-host and I made the remaining ‘extra’ lucky foods. We felt like we were in paradise, the year 1999, had just ended and the world was doing wonderful. We were all gainfully employed and in the process of having children. It was a time of great abundance and it was hard not to make money in the stock market.

The year 1999 had a large drop in October followed by a huge backend upswing in the market. The S&P 500 went from the lows of 1100 to the highs of 1440s. The year following (spoiler alert) had a high of 1600. The story does not need to end there; it could go on to the Dot com bust etc. However, this past feeling of exuberance is similar to the feeling from most institutional managers that I follow. As history repeats itself, the question you should ask—is how you capitalize on market increases (while still being conservative enough that the portfolio does not explode if the markets correct downward).

The job of a good fiduciary advisor is to look for the positives while still tempering against the bottoms. Now what foods are lucky is like asking which ‘stocks’ to pick. Everyone has perfect vision in the mirror. The apple that you eat today might be the best and bring the most prosperity. We wish you a prosperous, healthy, and safe new year.

P.S. Examples of lucky foods includes: mandarin oranges, black eyed peas, apple pie, fried food, and honey glazed chicken.

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