Bull market? Bear market? Nu? Mu? Lessons in Semantics…

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There is a famous zen story (mondo) about a monk who asked, does a dog have the Bhudda nature?  To which the zen master answered, mu.  Mu means in this case both “no” and “nothing”.

When asked if we are in a bull market we answer, Nu?

Good god, what is the point? our readers ask.

Here’s the point.  As you may know one of Magee’s books we edited is The General Semantics of Wall Street which concerns itself with the way we think about the market and how it affects our decisions.  If you think of this market as a bull market you react one way.  If you think you are in a bear market rally you react another.  Good god, does Bassetti think at all our readers are saying.  Mu.  Nu?

Best not to think at all.  Best to analyze.

So we do not think of  (or describe) this market as a bull market.  We observe that this is a trend.  Think about it.  A bull market is describable in mainly emotional terms.  (The term itself is emotional.)  A trend is describable in both mathematical, statistical, basing point, and graphic (chart analysis) terms.

Viz, (nu?) we have just had 31 days of sidewave (a kind of drift in this case) and we are now 10 days into an upwave.

Think about that.  If you fully comprehend this it will revolutionize your relationship to the market, the dog and to investing itself.

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