Category Archives: Life

Wall Street explained. The wolf is at the door

Career, Life

The financial world is not as complicated as the news would lead you believe. There are some intricacies that are terribly complicated but on a macro level, not so much. Wall Street refers to the market as bull, bear or wolf market. Very few people have ever heard of a wolf market, but it is a real thing and that is where (my humble opinion) we are today.

Think about the three animals and what they look like, act like and attack and you can see correlations to real life in the financial markets.

The bull has his head up looking forward and ready to charge, the bear has his head looking down like he is sad. The bull and bear charge or attack alone and they are so big, you can hear them running at you before they get there. The bear has almost a snort and a dog like bark and once he gets there, he can outrun you and out climb you. Wilderness guides will tell you that the best protection against a bear is to stand still and not show fear. Sounds easy right?

Then you have what we are seeing today, a wolf market. Let’s say you are tent camping. You hear wolfs howling from far away, but you know they are not close. When the wolf decides to attack, he comes with his friends and they are stealth quiet. No barking, no growling, just a quiet approach to where you are.

The first indication that there is a problem is you hear a nearby growl and when you look up, you see not one, not two, but a pack of wolves. They attack from all sides and there is no getting away unless you jump in your truck if it is nearby and lock the door.

Financially speaking, the wolves have been howling for 120 days now. The bulls on wall street have been trying everything they know to prop up the market even in the face of COVID-19 and the civil unrest. The issue with a prop, is it is not designed for long term stability. Its is designed for holding something up for a short period of time until the real stabilizers are in place. Good strategy, right?

The problem is that the wolves are no longer howling from a distance. They are in a pack and are surrounding your campsite now. Regardless of the efforts to reopen the economy and act like everything is back to normal, we all know it is not. The second and third quarter earnings reports will have devastating financial results in most all sectors from hotel, airlines, travel, retail, restaurants, office, manufacturing and even multifamily (apartments.)

The advice is to hold your head up, be aware, don’t extend yourself financially, hold on to cash and you will get through this. The good news is that wolf attacks are rare, and you have a greater chance of being killed by lightning or a car collision. Being careful (financially) is the best protection against a wolf market. Oh yea, one more thing. If you go tent camping, sleep in your truck. KT

His eye is on the Sparrow

Life

There is a great old gospel hymn titled “His eye is on the Sparrow” written in 1905. It is a song that depicts the innocence of a little Sparrow bird in a big world and if God has his eye on the sparrow. you better believe he has his eye on you.

There are eight passages of scripture in the bible that reference a Sparrow. It is used as a metaphor because a little sparrow was considered insignificant and of little value. Have you ever felt that way? Insignificant, unnoticed and of little value? The bible says that not one of the little birds could fall to the ground without Jehovah (almighty God) knowing it. What a powerful mental example of the way God looks at you and me.

Are you in a place where you doubt God can see you? Trust me when I tell you this, he knows how many hairs you have on your head now and how many you had yesterday. Do you really think you could be in a place mentally, emotionally or physically that God does not know where you are and what is going on? He knows everything about you. Everything. He knows how many times your heart has beaten since you were conceived, and he also knows how many more times before he calls you home.

When you feel that you are someplace that God cannot find you or that you are separated from him please know that you are only a breath away from his presence. Some of the most meaningful prayers I have ever spoken were prayed quietly in my spirit. God hears every one of them and he hears every one of yours. If you are a parent, you know what I mean when I say, the love of a child is unconditional and a love that you would die for. God looks at you the same way you look at your child and he hears with the same passion and focus that you hear your child.

Wherever you think you are, God is right there with his eye on you just like he has his eye on a little Sparrow. It is a big world, but he knows exactly where you are and exactly what is going on. KT

The below link is Lynda Randle, Mom Winans and Vestal Goodman singing “His eye is in the Sparrow” and then one of my favorite pastors, TD Jakes says a few words before the congregation takes over and starts singing the song again. It is 9 minutes of the best of who we are.

His eye is in the Sparrow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUMULR_J6nA

Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you

Career, Life

That title is quite the tongue twister. It simply means to not go out of your way looking for trouble.

A perfect example of this is what some people seem to say on social media. I was taught years ago to never put something in writing that you would be ashamed to read aloud in open court. Ha. That is probably one of the best pieces of personal and business advice I have ever been given.

Today you have colleges students getting kicked out of school and booted from college teams for what they say in writing on social media. There are company executives for large corporations getting fired over things they put in writing on social media. Where did the idea come from that you could say whatever you want to say (in writing) on social media and not worry about any consequences. It is literally absurd that there are educated people that think this is how to behave.

How many times of late has some famous person said something wrong and get called out for it in the media? The media then demands the person apologize and when the person does, they blister him/her again. How dumb do you have to be to do this, especially when you have seen the last 100 people who made that misstate. It is like a music artist going political knowing that they will lose half of their customers. Ha. It makes no sense to me but hey, I am just an old school guy with old school manners.

Looking for trouble where none exists is like standing in the street hoping no cars will come by. Common sense is just that, it should be common for everyone to know it. Clearly even that term escapes many of the well healed, well-educated politicians, leaders, actors and music icons of our day.

Proverbs says in 11:27 (Christian standard version) The one who searches for what is good seeks favor, but if someone looks for trouble, it will come to him.

Many people think the bible is outdated, old fashion and not relevant today. I would argue that it is more relevant today than it was when it was written. KT

Greatest era of music (in my opinion)

Life

In my limited opinion, the greatest music groups of all time are simple: Three Dog Night, Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR,) The Doobie Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

That is really all you need to download because it’s all there, love, lost love and life in the late 60’s and early 70’s.

When I was in the 8th Grade, my buds and I had a rock band, and our main song was “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night.  We performed the song in the 8th and 9th Grade talent show but got beat out by some little girl who sang the song, Sugar Sugar by the Archies. I think the little girl’s daddy was one of the judges, which had to be the only reason she won. Ha.

You should have seen us. I sang lead on the 3rd verse and it makes me laugh just thinking about those lyrics, which today would get you in trouble. Ha. The good news was that we didn’t even know what they meant, and you couldn’t understand what we were singing anyway. Given the seriousness with which we practiced and performed, you would have thought we were cutting an album.

Anyway, if you ever need a good lift, go listen to Shambala, Up around the Bend, Call me the Breeze, Down on the Corner, Bad Moon Rising, Never been to Spain, Listen to the Music, China Grove and Takin’ it to the Streets. Those are some of the greatest songs of all time,,,, in my opinion that is. KT

Are you contented or just faking it?

Life

There are many people who at first glance, appear to be happy and content but really are not. On the surface, they act like they have it all together but upon close inspection, they are crumbling on the inside. The questions are, what causes this and how do you change it?

Finding joy and contentment is not some complicated, rare, illusive thing and only found through some secret map. Finding something to be thankful for is were it all begins. I know this sounds cliché and you might roll your eyes, but the core to finding joy is in fact finding thankfulness. If you can find that, you will find one of the greatest single reasons for living. If you want to get honest with yourself, what are the first three things you think about when you first wake up in the morning? If they are filled with strife, envy or anger, you need to find a new path forward.

My grandfather, Verla Thompson was one of the most contented men I have ever known. He was a farmer and was not wealthy. He never bought a new car and would be considered very average by today’s standards, but he loved life and shared that love with everyone around him. He always seemed to be at peace in life and as a little boy, he always took the time to explain things to me and share a little about life and he was never in a hurry. Morning, noon and night, he was contented and at peace.

The eyes never lie. They are the window to the soul. A person that is content, happy with a healthy self-esteem, it will show through the eyes. When my girls were in college, we didn’t have face time or Zoom so we relied on just a phone call. I would ask them to give me a number from 1-10 with 10 being, “I am great.” Many times, their answers were in the 5-7 range and I knew I needed to dig a little deeper to see what was going on. If God ask you (he already knows the real answer) what would you tell him? Where are you really at on a scale from 1-10?

Whatever your circumstances in life are, there are still aspects and areas of your life to be thankful for. If you want to help yourself or someone else, that is the place to start. So, if you struggle with finding contentment and true joy, get in a quiet place, be honest with yourself and really take an inventory of your life. When you let all the pettiness of life go and really look at your life, you will find some areas to be thankful for. Then whisper a quiet prayer of thanksgiving to God for letting you see it. Open your eyes and you may find that you are beginning to find balance, contentment and a deep peace. KT