The Market is Up 0.77% and I've Never Felt More Alone
Written by: George from The Smartin Team
The SPY finished at 769.35, up 0.77% for the week. You see that? That’s the sound of everyone else getting rich while I debate whether the “extra” in “extra virgin olive oil” is a marketing scam. It’s a green week. The QQQ is up 1.43%. And yet, I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. Not a big bus. A shuttle. A polite, tech-heavy shuttle.
I look at these numbers and I see a conspiracy. OKTA went up 26.9% to $166.23. How? Why? I spent forty minutes this morning trying to remember my mother’s maiden name for a security prompt, and these guys are gaining nearly thirty percent in five days? It’s spite. The market knows I find two-factor authentication mildly annoying, so it rewards the gatekeepers. CRWD is up 14.5% too. Cybersecurity is the new gold. Meanwhile, I’m still using “password123” for my bank account and wondering why my identity keeps getting stolen.
The Australian Omen
Down under, the ASX 200 dropped 0.71%. That’s the real news. They’re twelve hours ahead of us. They’ve seen the future, and it’s slightly worse! They’re looking at the bottom of the globe and seeing the cracks. I see a 0.71% dip and I don’t see “market correction,” I see the end of the kangaroo as we know it. I’m telling you, they know something.
Then you look at the losers. PYPL dropped 13.0% to $53.66. I actually thought about buying the dip on Wednesday. My gut said, “George, it’s a bargain!” So, naturally, I did the opposite and bought a very expensive coat I didn’t need. Best financial decision I’ve made all year. I saved myself a thirteen-percent haircut. I’m basically a genius by omission.
P/E Ratios and My Thinning Patience
What is the deal with these valuations? You look at a company like OKTA, and you have to wonder if the Peter Lynch fundamentals still apply or if we’ve just entered a collective fever dream. I’m trying to use a fundamental stock screener app to find some sanity, but the screen just screams “LIES” back at me. We’ve got companies with P/E ratios higher than my blood pressure after a trip to the post office.
Lynch says buy what you know. I know frustration. I know regret. I know that the TA-35 in Israel was up 1.63% while I was struggling to choose between 1% and 2% milk. It’s all moving too fast. Growth is great until you realize the growth is just a balloon being inflated by a guy who’s about to sneeze.
I’m sitting here looking at ZM down 6.1% at $98.43. Remember when we lived on that app? Now it’s a digital ghost town. It’s a fad that’s fading, like my hopes of retiring before I’m ninety. If you aren’t checking the PEG ratios and the debt piles, you’re just throwing darts at a board while wearing a blindfold and a heavy parka.
Everything is a trap. The SPY is up, but my soul is down. I’m going to go stare at the Australian charts until I understand why they’re selling. They have the answers. Or they’re just as confused as I am, but with better accents.
Stop guessing and run the numbers through this before you let your gut ruin your life again.