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Coronavirus Infects Stock Market: Part X

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When I was a junior in high school I spent a week as a crewmember on a schooner. One of my duties was taking a shift each night on watch.

Life Comes at You Fast. Slow It Down with My Friday Email. It’s Free.

On calm nights it was pretty peaceful. But less so when the wind was up and the white caps lashed against the hull. On nights likes these, you had a more purposeful walk to the bow to check the anchor line.

Our captain made the night watch a priority no matter the weather. I learned a lot from his seriousness and expertise.

If you were to listen to the so-called experts, you would have sold your bonds a long, long time ago. Don’t listen to them. Your bonds are your anchor to windward.

Now, buying the right kind of bonds requires a certain amount of expertise.

That I can help you with. You need to make sure your two main risks—credit and interest rates—are reduced to a palatable level.

Treasuries and agencies are the best credits, and short-term maturities help if interest rates go up.

Own them outright, as opposed to in a mutual fund or ETF, and you have a recipe for some safety in your portfolio no matter the weather.

Read my entire series, Coronavirus Infects Stock Market here.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.
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