Keeping a Firm Hand on the Wheel as 2020 Roars On
By Carole Ellis
By June 1, 2020, the first year of the decade had seen some pretty incredible swings of fortune. A year that had been designated “The International Year of Plant Health” and “The International Year of Sound” by various international organizations had morphed into the “Year of the Nurse and Midwife” (per the World Health Organization) as the novel coronavirus COVID-19 plunged much of the world into a sudden and dramatic recession.
This came on the heels of a presidential impeachment trial and subsequent acquittal, the replacement of NAFTA with the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, more than a year of trade policy tension between China and the U.S., the “2020 Stock Market Crash” in late February of this year, interest rate cuts by the Fed down to 0.25 percent, plummeting gas and oil prices, a national economic “shutdown” in the United States that resulted in unemployment numbers reaching 15 percent (by adjusted estimates), and the return of the United States to space on its own rocket power with the first successful launch of American rockets from American soil since the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011.
In the words of the so-called Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, “If you stick around long enough, you’ll see everything…and it may have taken me to 89 years of age to throw this one into the experience.” While Buffett is not currently enjoying “oracle status” with every investor out there at the moment, his point stands: This is like nothing anyone has ever seen before.
With that type of historic status, 2020 is turning out to be a year full of – you guessed it – opportunities for self-directed investors. Individual investors with full control over their retirement capital have more flexibility to pivot and fill emerging needs in their communities while generating positive returns than any other investment vehicle or firm out there. In this issue of Self-Directed Investor, we will discuss the ways in which you can identify the best opportunities in today’s markets.
Whether it’s spotting opportunity funds that still offer valid, viable opportunities, understanding how to invest in oil and gas when everyone else is running in the opposite direction, or simply fortifying your investments against unnecessary tax burdens likely to emerge over the course of this decade, Self-Directed Investor has the information and the experts you need to get the job done. You don’t have to go it alone because you’re not alone. We’re on your team, and on your side – just like always.
Now, let’s start building.