Yesterday I ran a piece by\u00a0James B. Stewart, a long-time financial writer with the New York Times.\u00a0 The article was called\u00a0 \u201cHow not to invest during a pandemic.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Stewart’s piece contained these paragraphs:<\/p>\n \u00a0 This week I described my recent investing struggles to Frank Murtha, a managing partner of the consulting firm MarketPysch and an expert in behavioral finance. He said nothing I told him was unusual, even among seasoned investors.<\/p>\n \u00a0 My reluctance to look at my portfolio was common, he said. “Watching yourself have less money is painful,” he said. “It’s not just that you’re poorer. You also feel ashamed, foolish, like you screwed up. One of the toughest things is to separate your money from your ego and identity.”<\/p>\n \u00a0 He gave me credit for gathering the courage to face reality and then to buy. “Nothing relieves anxiety more than taking action,” he said. “You can take small actions that address the emotional need to do something without putting your finances at undue risk.”<\/p>\n \u00a0 Stocks are one of the few assets that psychologically become harder to buy as they become cheaper. “Every decision to buy is met with negative reinforcement,” Mr. Murtha said. Even he missed the great buying opportunity in March 2009. “I was too scared,” he said.<\/p>\n \u00a0 At least I didn’t commit what Mr. Murtha considers the most serious error, which is to sell into a steep decline. “That’s where people really get hurt,” he said. “Once you’re out, the emotional leverage works against you. Either the market drops further, which confirms your fear. Or it goes up, and you don’t want to buy after you just sold. Then it gets further and further away from you. People don’t realize how hard it is to get back in.”<\/p>\n All through last night night, I agonized: My cash is not king. King is being invested in equities. And despite the gloomy predictions about the upcoming 32% unemployment and “the second leg down” in the market, I should be more fully invested.<\/p>\n In fact, it’s insane to sell into a downdraft — no matter how bad your declining paper wealth makes you feel. (I felt really bad.) You’ll always sell at the bottom. Trust me. That’s Murphy’s Law.<\/p>\n Own good stocks. Dump bad ones — like retailers, airlines, energy companies and cruise lines (though fortunately I have never owned them.) Hold the good ones.<\/p>\n I will buy more stay-at-home stocks, like Zoom Video, Teladoc, DocuSign, Slack (WORK),\u00a0 And the online shoppers Amazon and\u00a0 Chewy. And the online entertainers — ROKU and Netflix.<\/p>\n I’m liking Shopify. My super-mart nephew, Dan Whitten, owns three pubs in Australia. He had to close them because of the virus. But he used Shopify to build an online drive-in\/ delivery bottle\u00a0 shop. It took him only a day last weekend to build his impressive site. Click here.<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>He’s using the sales to keep as many of his people employed as he can. He’s really impressed with Shopify (SHOP). Remember Dan’s in Sydney, Australia. He can’t deliver to the U.S. His prices are in Australian dollars, which are worth much less than an American dollar. I don’t know where Shopify is — somewhere out there in the cloud.<\/p>\n I’m also nibbling at the virus pharmas, like Johnson and Johnson, Eli Lilly, and Gilead and maybe the very volatile Regeneron.<\/p>\n Praying on Stay-at-Homers<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Thieves are preying on stay-at-homers, like you and me.<\/p>\n The standard weapon is phishing. They send you an email that looks legit. They owe you money. Call them.<\/p>\n Cal them. Give them personal financial information… And bingo, you’re screwed.<\/p>\n The best way of checking the legitimacy of an email is to look at the sending email address. If it looks weird, it is.<\/p>\n Be wary.<\/p>\n Do things that make home working less stressful.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n I’m playing tennis every day. I also make “big” accomplishments — like changing light-bulbs and batteries, and writing this blog (which I enjoy).<\/p>\n Here’s a piece<\/p>\n 10 Daily Habits That Are Drastically Improving My Life<\/em> The author instances stretching, intermittent fasting to meditation. You may find some ideas in his list.\u00a0Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n You must watch this video<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n I mentioned it yesterday. You may have missed it. It arms you with weaponry against the virus. In turn, that makes you feel less freaked:<\/p>\n
\nThese habits will help you be, think and do better.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cornell-750x253.jpg\")
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. It\u2019s on the bottom left.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/facuiandtrump.jpg\")
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