Trading Toward the American Dream

JamesDicks — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:39:31 +0000

I don’t know about you but, so far, this year has been very busy for me. Dealing with the current state of the economy, politics, trying to understand the new paradigm of American commerce, more politics, the housing dilemma, stocks go up big…then go down big, more politics…well, you get the message. From the moment we wake up in the morning until the time we go to bed at night, there seems to be some kind of controversy going on and, frankly, it’s getting tiresome. We struggle daily to make more money so we can buy more things and many times it appears that our 20th Century pursuit for a life of personal happiness and material comfort has become a real chore for us in the 21st Century.

Traditionally, Americans have tried to attain what became known as the American Dream through hard work and cautiousness as it pertained to their personal finances. This approach helped our grandfathers develop a solid financial foundation that insured a comfortable life and a tranquil retirement. But in the past few decades those values have been pushed to the sidelines in favor of a “get it now” financial attitude tied to a “get rich quick” philosophy. Our population seems to be constantly searching for instant riches through state sponsored lotteries, game shows, pro sports, show business or litigation. Many psychologists actually believe that the idea of quick riches has served to deteriorate our traditional American work ethic.

A few decades ago, the vision of the American Dream was essentially universal. You attained it by earning and saving enough money for an education for yourself and your children, a home in the suburbs, a dependable car, through a first-rate job to sustain the dream. But today it’s different for each one of us – today the dream is how you personally define it. For many of you, trading is a method of attaining the dream but remember that trading is not a get rich quick scheme but rather a technique of adding to your personal wealth in a methodic manner.

Trading will allow you to adjust your personal prosperity at your own pace based exclusively on your own parameters – things like risk tolerance and your specific financial goals. But never doubt that you will have to work industriously and deliberately in order to excel in your trading. It takes some planning, some preparation and some education. It also takes a calculated work ethic to attain a positive end result. There is no “get rich quick” plan – it’s going to take some time and you have to be prepared to expend the energy necessary to attain a successful final outcome. A winning trading experience represents how Americans used to reach for the dream – with a determined and unwavering resolve while developing a sense of self-reliance and confidence in their plan.

Ideally, we might all feel more secure and content if we could go back in time and live a less complicated life but that’s not going to happen. It is time to develop a new principled strategy that will insure growth in the short-term and in the long-term.

Today, American society seems to be extremely focused on the intrinsic power of the almighty dollar and, many times, totally discount the joy we can find in our lives for reasons other than material gain. We should remember that while money is an important aspect of life, it certainly isn’t something that genuinely brings joy – you can have lots of money and be totally miserable. I believe it’s time for us all to redirect our attention and values to the things that are truly important in life in an effort to not just attain, but enjoy, our personal American Dreams.

The End is Near?

JamesDicks — Mon, 11 May 2009 23:13:53 +0000

I keep hearing news reports about the current economic situation and so many government economists are now saying that the end of this fiscal debacle could start to mend itself earlier than first anticipated….this year! I kind of have my doubts but in keeping with my own personality, I always try to keep positive thoughts.

Just this past week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave an extremely optimistic report when he said he expects things to start showing growth patterns this year. Bernanke, speaking to a joint Congressional Economic Committee, gave his most hopeful prediction so far about the end of the recession, telling us that he anticipates the U.S. economy to start growing this year — although the recovery could be weak and more jobs will be disappearing even after a recovery seems to take hold. He said he saw hopeful signs, including more solid home sales, a revitalization in consumer spending and a small improvement in lending conditions for banks, businesses and individual borrowers. Even though it’s Bernanke that said it, it’s still only one man’s opinion but it is good to hear some hopeful words for a change rather than the normal gloom and doom presented hourly (24 hours a day!) by our esteemed media.

The economists who are telling us their opinions today are doing so, I believe, to gain a foothold to fame. Should an economist or analyst “hit the ball out of the park” with a prediction, they will be labeled a hero for the remainder of their career and might even win the Nobel Prize. Stranger things have happened!. And if they miss it, it probably will go unnoticed by the American population. So, what do they have to lose?!

My point is to stop listening to these harbingers of doom or those who sometimes deliver unsubstantiated good news via the media. Chances are that sometimes both of them are right in some form or another and sometimes both of them are wrong. What really matters is your personal economic situation. If you have a job, the economy is in pretty good shape. If you don’t have a job, the unemployment rate is 100 percent at your house. It just depends on your personal perspective and that is developed by your individual situation as it pertains to your own life right now.

Those who are responsible for informing the American public, whether they are politicians or media reporters, are doing a disservice to our population by reporting what they believe in partisan truths. It might be true but then again…..?????

The old adage of “sifting through the noise” comes to mind and I urge each one of you to apply this concept to your own life. Determine what is important to your situation, find a source that you are comfortable with and then apply this information to your personal and professional life. No matter what side of the political fence you sit, why read or watch a news agency that angers you? There’s enough anger in the world so don’t amplify it.

If you are conservative – fine!

If you are a liberal – great!

One thing is for sure, everyone needs accurate information, or what they perceive to be accurate, to make solid decisions. So, filter the information you receive everyday to determine what’s important to your situation and then use it to find your own economic reality.

Whether things start to improve this year or not – generally the “big picture” is out of our control. There is no sense in getting upset over what the economy is or isn’t doing. Just fix what you can in your personal life, don’t get frustrated, and keep moving forward. One thing is for sure; bad times always seem to improve and I truly believe this “bad time” will be no exception. When the economy begins to improve is really not that important – the only thing that’s important right now is keeping your personal economic situation on the tracks. If we are all strong individually – we’ll be stronger as a country.

The James Dicks Blog » politics

Trading Toward the American Dream

The End is Near?