When I was about 5 or 6 years old I read one of my first books; the protagonist was a furry blue puppet. Our hero told the dear reader not to flip to the end of the book, there was a monster waiting there...and like any wise blue puppet, he did not want to face said creature.
Being a children's book, you can rest assure there was no nefarious monster on the last page; just the blue furry hero. Once he realized his fears were unfounded he smiled and went along his merry way.
But I recall thinking...even at that ripe age; now what? No monster...so really, we're at the same spot we were when the story began.
I have the same kind of feeling about the Federal Reserve's announcement Tuesday that left a key interest rate unchanged; curtailing the longest run of interest rate increases in recent history. Now what?
The Fed's decision to recess hikes had been widely anticipated given the signs of a spreading economic slowdown, in part, reflecting the impact of the Fed's long string of hike rates.
It was the first time the Fed had met and not raised rates in more than two years. In explaining the decision, the Fed noted that "economic growth has moderated from its quite strong pace earlier this year."
Will Tuesday's rate pause mean anything to the stock market? For penny stock investors, July was no more fun than June. In fact, it's more realistic to say the stock market pullback that began after the Federal Reserve's May 10 meeting is still going on.
And, the relief for millions of business and consumer borrowers may be short lived. The central bank noted that "some inflation risks remain." Meaning, interest rate hikes could be just around the corner.
Is this good or bad? For astute penny stock inventors...I think this is good. The best time to buy is when penny stocks are low, when there's fear in the market and sellers are flocking to sell.
The rockets flying over Lebanon and Israel may make investors dump their coveted shares in Acme...but just remember, it's the same company it was before the shelling began. The only difference, now it's a bargain.
The stock market is a resilient force. It can take a hammering...and so far, it has always bounced back.
As one witty economic pundit noted, "Eventually, the fear will go out of the market. Economic conditions will right themselves. There will be a cease fire in the Middle East and stocks will rally."
It may take a while, but it's always happened. So take advantage of the low flying buying opportunity that is the "Summer of '06". Because eventually, things will heat up again; and some of today's penny stocks bargains will soon be out of reach.
