Ross: A dip in the stock market asks us to look at our savvy non-investments

The way stocks have been melting over the past 16 months, those of us with the courage to open the monthly statement are wondering how low can they go…

Having lived through a few of these episodes, I can tell you the answer is… quite low. I myself have ridden a few stocks all the way to the bottom of Lake Mead, and it gets very muddy.

But I have a strategy for dealing with this, and it’s very simple: Instead of dwelling on the stocks I bought, I pat myself on the back for the stocks I didn’t buy.

For example, I recently congratulated myself for not buying 100 shares of Boeing in March of 2019 when it was selling for $440 a share!

That was one of the best non-purchases I’ve ever not done.

I am also very happy that I have never bought any Bitcoin, and especially happy not to have bought it last November at a price of $64,400. That means by not buying that one bitcoin, I am about $32,000 better off.

And I resisted the Andy Warhol, which leaves me $190 million better off.

I do mental exercises like this because it’s cheaper than counseling. And sometimes it even works.

And a positive attitude is going to be very important in the coming months because we’re seeing more and more signs of an impending recession.

There’s that inverted yield curve we hear so much about… you can look that one up on your own..

But there are also signs like – well – an Andy Warhol silkscreen going for $190 million. Sinking that much into something that hangs on a wall instead of a company that actually makes something has to be an omen.

And there are other signs – like this clip from Monday’s interview with the normally stoic Jill Schlesinger –

“If you need your money in the next twelve months, it cannot be in anything that can go up or down,” Jill Schlesinger, CBS News business analyst, told KIRO Newsradio.

When the unflappable Jill Schlesinger says stuff it into your mattress – yes, I worry!

And possibly the most ominous sign of all – my wife and I got an invitation from our broker … for a client appreciation dinner at a very fancy restaurant.

Somehow it feels like an episode of Your Last Meal –– but I’ll let you know.

I plan to bring some Tupperware just in case it’s a buffet.

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