The dictionary definition is “to do what other people are doing or agree with the opinions of others.” Another is to “move along and accept the prevailing trend.” To most of us, that may be a somewhat negative attitude. Who really wants to be the kind of person that simply “goes along to get along”?
While no one is really sure when the phrase was first used, I can remember a time when “going with the flow” meant to lay back and take advantage of a developing situation rather than trying to fight the current conditions.
There are some word historians that see the phrase as most likely echoing a passage from William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Brutus says: “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries.”
A “flood tide” is when the waters are rising, which allowed easier and safer passage out of the harbor for sailing ships. Catching a flood tide meant avoiding the reefs and rocks that might protect a medieval harbor. “Omitted” or trying to sail when the water is shallow, would often lead to the miseries Shakespeare speaks of. We all know that fighting rush-hour traffic is going to be a losing battle. So it is best to avoid that time of the day, or accept it and “go with the flow.”
Speaking of traffic, studies have been made about driving on freeways and expressways. The idea was to measure if staying in one lane or changing lanes and taking advantage of traffic gaps would get you to your destination faster. For trips of 30 minutes to one hour, cutting traffic did save a few minutes, reducing travel time by five or 10 percent.
However, no study was made on how much additional driving stress was generated by cutting in and out of traffic lanes. You must admit that in 2019, there are many people out there that spend much of their waking hours “fighting” politics and politicians. Certainly, taking constructive action against government policies that may be seen as unbeneficial to the nation does make sense.
Yet ranting and raving on social media for what seems like hours at a time is like spinning a prayer wheel for those hours. That is not a criticism of religious practice, but those can also be powered by the wind, water and electric motors.
One place though—like with wooden sailing ships—where going
with the flow is beneficial is the stock market. Subscribers to my
MangunOnMarkets.com were told to stay away in April of last year.
Local money had been flowing out for about two months. Likewise, they were told
to buy in November when the flood tide of local money started coming in. But
note this as almost a fundamental truth of the Philippine stock market. Heavy
and continuous foreign selling started two months after local money was already
going out the door. Conversely, local money started coming in late October and
November. Foreign money did not start buying in until a month ago.
Not only should you go with the stock market money flow, but you need to watch that first tide. Another factor is that all tides are not the same as their intensity changes through the phases of the moon.
Many people are stock market cautious right now, remembering the historic high of 2018. But that was a market going down from a higher yearlong run. The movement today is from a yearlong market downturn. Buy the PSE.
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E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.