Take a Long-term Perspective on Investing

Outlook

There's something to be said about thegood old days, back when blackberriesonly grew on bushes.Nowadays, people cancommunicate instantlyaround the worldwith the surge ofinformation availableat our fingertips on adaily basis, whichcan lead to somehasty decisions. In aworld that increasinglydemands moreand at a quicker pace, we have forgottenhow to be patient, which is necessary duringthis era of daily fluctuating stockprices. From that viewpoint, things are certainlylooking up for the moment. Despitehigh oil prices, the economy has been supportive.Employment has been somewhatsteady, hovering around an unemploymentrate of 5%. Corporate earnings continue toperform well. The S&P 500 was up 3.61%for the third quarter and growth isexprected to continue. The projectsthat operating earnings for the yearwill be 11.4% above 2004, a new record.Instead of reacting hastily, take a lookat the current earnings reports, and tryusing a more patient, long-term perspectiveon investing.