More pain in the markets ahead?

I had an amazing golf weekend with Sophia out of town. I took my first lesson on Thursday. Got the range for practice on Friday. Watched the Master’s all day Saturday. Then got out for 18 on Sunday. I ended up playing the best I’ve ever played on Sunday…. unfortunately I didn’t score as I pulled a Tiger and forgot how to putt. Golf is much more fun when you’re striking the ball decently well. If only I could do this every weekend.

On another note, I have a feeling that there’s likely to be more pain in the markets coming up. While the economy may be in a better state than the last recession in 07-09, there are just too many factors working against right now. Inflation, war, supply chain shortages, etc. are all giving me a bearish sentiment for the moment.

Investors are very cautious right now across the private and public markets. Many VCs that I’ve spoken to are much more reluctant to deploy capital at the moment. Many are waiting to see how things play out in the coming months.

Us millennials have never really had to live through a recession or big market downturn. Things have largely been great ever since the last recession ended in 2009. Of course there was some short term pain, but if you zoom out, you’ll see that from 09-present has been the longest bull market in history. Most growth stocks may turn sideways or down for a much longer period than we are used to in our adult lives.

I remain hopeful but I am mentally preparing for the worst. Things will be much easier to process if the recession does play out. I’ll be ready for it either way.