Before I comment on the stock market, I have to say something about the terrible situation in Ukraine. I encourage you to donate to a charity supporting the Ukrainian people such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (https://www.icrc.org/).
So how was Putin able to invade a sovereign country with impunity? To put it politely, most of it has been suboptimal government policies on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US, Biden’s knee jerk cancellation of the Keystone pipeline, prohibiting fracking on US government lands, and general hostility to the energy industry has resulted in the US going from being energy independent to being dependent on foreign sources, including Russia! And on the other side of the Atlantic, Germany’s foolish closing of nuclear power plants has resulted in more imports of Russian gas. So where did Putin get the funding for his military and the feeling that US and Europe are weak? From the US and Germany! Appalling. I think that we need to wean ourselves from fossil fuels, but as I have said repeatedly, we need to do so with a coherent plan, not removing energy sources with no thought on how to replace them!
Now, to the Growth Fund. To put it mildly, its performance has been suboptimal. But as I said last year, the Growth Fund is intended for long term investors. Let’s just say I was too early in several of my picks. I particularly like Amazon at these prices as it is extremely undervalued. And it looks like Fortinet will recover soon as the threat of cyber attacks is high with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. So, stick with the stocks in the fund, they may not recover this year, but I definitely think that they will be high fliers in the medium to long term.
On the Income Fund, it has performed relatively well. Personally, I am collecting dividends from several of the stocks in the fund including Exxon, AbbVie, Lockheed Martin, Merck, and others. So, again, sit back and either reinvest your dividends (if you are not retired), or collect them like I do as part of my retirement income. If you need some additional cash, I recommend trimming (but NOT selling all) of your holdings in the higher fliers like Exxon and First Horizon and only if you need the money to meet some obligations.
So, folks, that’s about it for now. Let’s hope that the Ukraine situation is resolved soon. We can only hope.