The Emid Report on Volatility 2019: First of a Series Designed to Help You with You Finances, #1

Introduction

WHY I WROTE THIS REPORT

Some things never really change, notwithstanding the way in which they come to us. Writers and their motivations would head that particular list. The early artists who used cave walls as a canvas, the scribes who wrote on parchment, the would-be publishers who flocked to Johannes Gutenberg’s invention, and those who publish online have had at least one thing in common through the ages: someone had a story to tell and hoped that the audience would appreciate it and perhaps even take it to heart.

That seems unlikely to change despite unparalleled advances in technology and changes in public attitudes and tastes.

In these turbulent political times, I can understand that some may find books written by what I can only describe as the Donald Trump book industry (Stormy Daniels, David Frum, Omarosa Manigault Newman, Sean Spicer, Michael Wolff, Bob Woodward and others) appealing, especially with their ripped from the headlines immediacy and behind the scenes cachet.

However, I must submit that the concepts discussed in The Emid Reports deal with our pocketbooks and our ability to look after ourselves, our dependents (whether children or elders), our investments and our retirement.

Working in communications—whether print or electronic—and therefore being in the position to influence individuals’ decision making, whether in their financial, spiritual, professional or social lives, brings with it an awesome responsibility and the obligation to be correct, careful and conscientious.

And that is my mission here.

Sometimes an author or a journalist decides to tell a story simply because it seems necessary. In a recent example, I became genuinely appalled at some of the investment projections I heard concerning so-called pot (marijuana) stocks and wrote about them, though strictly speaking they were outside of my normal pursuits. I did that because I could not believe some of what I was reading and hearing, and felt the need to separate hyperbole from fact (which is often what a journalist does). It could be said that I had become professionally alarmed. And I had to take great care to put my position clearly: I was not taking issue with anyone who wanted to smoke pot for medicinal or recreational purposes. Rather, I was taking issue with some of what was passing for investment analysis of pot stocks.

I wrote this book because stock market volatility continues to foment a mix of misunderstanding and dread: misunderstanding of the market and dread of what might transpire according to the pessimists who forecast a replay of the disaster of 2008-2009. The story that I want to tell is that in 2019 we will certainly encounter more volatility and uncertainty. Those who consider and implement some