Author : Mercedes Oestermann van Essen
The financial world is upside down and by now even a blind man with a stick should be able to see it I have been involved with trading the markets for many years and am well versed with the psychology of trading and investing It is a fact that there are still an amazing number of people who believe that the present situation can be easily remedied and that we are at the end of the down cycle
Unfortunately, there is nothing in my analysis that says that we are anywhere near an end of this down cycle and this has major consequences for the risk policy of your portfolio Today’s bear market is very different from the thirties It is dangerous to compare what’s happening at present with the crisis of 80 years ago
Yes it is true, cycles repeat themselves, but never ever in the same way The internals of today’s bear market are very different from the thirties, the seventies or the eighties down turn
An entirely new psychology is evolving amidst the ongoing market turmoil This major transition will inevitably change the fabric of the western world, there is no getting away from this fact
We are in the middle of a major paradigm shift which will end the excesses, the mindless spending and greed seen in the last couple of decades There is a move towards inner values and that had to happen sooner or later, simply because the emotional rubber band got stretched too far and is now snapping back with vengeance it seems, but when viewed from the standpoint of universal wisdom as taught by Buddhists for 2500 years, it is just nature evolving as it always does
Hinduism describes life as an ongoing cycle Developmental theory shows that we are always moving forward and not backwards What appears to be a backwards move is in essence nothing but a pause or rest in the evolutionary process of life and everything in it We can only move forward and as we grow we see more of our world It is this simple process that creates progress
It also explains why the old ways of doing things eventually stop working In other words, the indiscriminate use of Kenseyan methods to fix the present financial crisis will not work as they have done in the past If you are dealing with your portfolio employing the old asset allocation models simply because it worked in the past, you will be in for a big shock
The present ending super cycle is ushering in an entirely new cycle and a new reality You must understand this if you want to navigate the financial waters profitably over the coming months and years, possibly decades
If you are using the old risk assessment models to calculate and minimise risk without taking into account the changes in investment psychology and the change of the collective consciousness in general, you may be actually increasing risk exposure in your portfolio
We have to face the possibility that the present financial system will collapse completely This is not the place to go into cycle analysis in depth, Suffice it to say for now that there is nothing in any long term cycle analysis that points to a quick resumption of the old system
Quite the opposite is the case We have been kitting together a weak system simply by putting super glue in the cracks of the pot Finally the pot is held together by the glued cracks only It has lost its original strength I could also say its energy matrix has changed and the pot may collapse completely If it remains together somehow it will finally be unrecognisable from the original pot You will not be able to use it and look at it in the same way as the old pot This is where we presently are in this economic cycle
Therefore, be careful with corporate bonds and government bonds, even though these are traditionally viewed as safe heavens These traditional investment instruments are not nearly as safe as you might like to think in our present situation
While I sincerely hope that we will not see a complete collapse of a system that after all also has its good points, one must be mindful of the possibility It concerns me to see that the governments are blindly going back in history using old methods to fix the new problem They are completely out of touch with what should be done to move us out of this crisis
If you examine carefully the economic cycles over the last thirty years alone you will notice that each time we try to remedy a problem with the same old methods the rebound became faster and sharper This is not a sign of sound recovery but a typical sign of an ending cycle The warning bells have been ringing at least since the last crisis of 2001 and if you had been very observant since the nineties
Today, we need new ideas, we need people who have vision and sensitivity and who are in tune with universal life principles and thus in touch with our economic system An integral approach is needed and this means an approach that considers the entire system, and not just random aspects of it The financial markets are a breathing, living organism They are a reflection of the human psyche You cannot blindly pump money into an economy without considering the general population, or, should I say, the entire world system as a whole
Money needs to be handled with respect and sensitivity, just like you should handle another human being All said and done, the basic building block of money is energy, just like you and I In that sense money is an integral aspect of you and I Once you understand this, and what’s more; if our governments understood this everyone would deal with the present situation in a very different way
The present situation is calling to relinquish ego considerations and acknowledge that there is no escaping from the fact that everything is one and inter connected Everything we do has an effect and that effect that compounds because we are dealing with a holographic expression of an intelligent energy matrix that permeates everything Money, the economy, risk all are simply another expression of our spirituality in a limitless universe; and as such they are dynamic and never fixed
Mercedes Oestermann van Essen is a human development coach and expert in investment and trading psychology. She holds workshops for traders and investors. Her latest book
THE BUDDHIST TRADERis available now. Get your free report, 5 Little Known Keys To Happiness
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