Buy or Sell

To buy or to sell…that is the question.

Investment anxiety is often driven by the tension of not knowing the future. God tells us to live one day at a time, choose to obey His principles, and put our faith in Him, not money, or gold, or the stock market. With that perspective, we can try to discern whether we’ll enter a period of deflation or continued inflation and make necessary adjustments.

If the supply of goods begins to exceed the demand for those goods, prices will go down. Often, high prices reduce demand since fewer people can afford to buy, and prices begin to drop. If that dynamic persists over a sustained period, it causes a depression like America experienced nearly a century ago. If the supply of money exceeds available goods, then prices go up, and inflation persists. It’s better to buy during a period of deflation and sell during a period of inflation. That’s the proverbial “buy low, sell high” strategy.

Sir John Templeton determined his timing around emotional sentiment. He said to buy during times of peak pessimism and sell during times of peak optimism. The problem is always a matter of knowing what period we’re actually in. This leads me to Solomon’s wisdom and counsel in Ecclesiastes 11: “Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what disaster may occur on the earth.” (Ecclesiastes 11:2) In other words, diversify so that if one fails, others may succeed. That will reduce your anxiety when buying or selling!

I want to personally invite you to join us in Knoxville, Tennessee, September the 10th through the 13th, as we celebrate all that God has done through Crown over the last 50 years. Learn more at crown.org/50years.