I Voted Today, Have You?

I’m in a Super Tuesday state (Georgia), so I was able to vote today.

I’m 36 and have voted in every election since I turned 18.  I still get a kick out of it.  Today was great.  The voting precinct is located in between my house and work, so only 1 mile from each.  I was able to take my son to school, vote and still get to work early.  From my car to vote and back took me four minutes.  I didn’t decide who I was voting for until Saturday and still hesitated when I stood in the ballot box.  My wife wasn’t decided when she left the house this morning and figured it out on the way in.  I think that’s going to be the case with many voters today which will make watching the news very fun tonight.

OK – finance thoughts for the day – I keep hearing the repeated concern that the previous bear markets all included a few rallies which all failed.  I like hearing that because it means there’s still a lot of negative sentiment out there and that could help lead us to a softer landing and easier way to play it.  I’m staying bearish overall for now, but believe the rate cuts will make a difference, eventually. 

I’m in the staffing industry as a technical recruiter.  I only see the microcosm of technical jobs in the Atlanta market, but we see nothing but strength.  It’s certainly not an employers market.  Pay rates are still high because unemployment is so low.  And then there are days like Thursday when, local Fortune 100 company, Home Depot cuts 500 employees from their corporate office and that doesn’t even count the large number of contractors being cut.  Our office heard about it before the news wires released it because one of our coworkers screamed “SHIT!” – her husband had just been layed off and had already been taken off site.  Luckily we found him a job in the same day, but that’s because he has a full staff trying to help him here.  Not everyone is that lucky.

That’s a lot of rambling to say that even in what I consider a stable market, Atlanta’s tech jobs, the stability is relative and can crumble quickly.  I’m going to trade lightly until we can see a better picture of where we’re heading as a whole in this economy.  I’ll continue to trade, but will place smaller “bets” and have to think through them a little more carefully.  I’ve rolled over my 401k from my last job into my IRA and have left it in cash for now.  I’ve rolled two of my wife’s last three 401ks into her IRA and only made one small stock buy which will be a long term hold for us – CSCO.  The days to put all the chips back on the table will return, but patience will be the mantra for the foreseeable future, just as we’ll have to have patience to see who the final two nominees will be for President.