Market Playground

By Walt Sokira

It is interesting how much harder investing has become over the past 20 years. Investing today seems overwhelming, complicated and downright scary. In 2011, investors witnessed so much economic turmoil: the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, the U.S. debt ceiling crisis, the ongoing European sovereign debt crisis as well as the aftermath and recovery from the subprime mortgage crisis.

Many investors have adopted a Karate Kid mentality attempting to “risk-on, risk-off” trades, with the hope to change exposure to markets and volatility. The “risk-on, risk-off” trade is now a common-term used by talking heads and market pundits on CNBC and other media outlets. While intellectually appealing, I predict the risk-on, risk-off trader will be as successful as the market forecasters of the past. The hero of one trade may be the goat of the next. Read More