On the first day of every month, Gabriela has brought home an orchid from the neighborhood florist.
Under the florist’s care, the orchid thrived. The flower petals perked. Little buds of future flowers popped up on empty stems. And the leaves stood at attention like the guards outside of Buckingham Palace.
Under my wife’s care, though, all of the orchids have died…
It’s not intentional, of course. Nobody drops $129.99 plus tax on the first day of every month to buy the best-looking plant in the flower shop with the intention of killing it.
But the end result is the same. The plant does okay in our home for the first week. By the end of the second week, it looks a little tired. The leaves start to droop. The flowers shed a petal or two. And the buds stop growing and show no interest in bursting open.
The third week is usually quite somber. Most of the orchid petals have abandoned ship. The leaves are wilted and sagging. And while the florist tells me, “That’s impossible,” it appears to me that the buds have shrunken and have hidden back inside the stems.
By the fourth week, the orchid needs hospice care.
And by the end of the month, I perform the burial services. “You deserved better than this,” I say as I deposit the “stick in a pot” into the green recycling bin.
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Gabriela then heads off to the neighborhood florist and tries it again. She knows – with absolute certainty – that the orchids will thrive in our home. “I just have to get the timing right,” she tells me, as she also explains why the credit card bill will be a bit higher this month.
I don’t object to her habit or her expense. Gabriela’s infatuation with orchids is similar to my infatuation with gold stocks.
Like the orchids, I just know – with absolute certainty – that gold stocks will have their day in the sun.
Much as my lovely wife started out this year thinking she could finally keep an orchid happy and alive in our home, I started the year thinking gold stocks would rally.
Neither of us has been proven right… yet.
Every month we start over. My wife has a new plant. And I have new information to justify a gold stock rally.
For my wife… so far she has discovered that too much water is lethal to orchids. A little sunshine – but not direct heat – is good. And orchids don’t like rap music – a discovery that came as a result of leaving June’s sacrificial lamb in my youngest son’s room for three days.
As for gold stocks… I’ve learned that the market takes far longer than it should to recognize the problems of too much debt. The commercial trader positions can reach historic extremes. And normal technical conditions – and the response to those conditions – aren’t necessarily true in the gold sector.
My wife came home yesterday with the most beautiful blue orchid I’ve ever seen. There were three bright blooming flowers and six buds that looked ready to explode open at any moment.
“This is it,” Gabriela said. “I just know this will look so beautiful in our living room for months to come.”
Her history isn’t great. But I know her enthusiasm will pay off someday. And I don’t want to miss it.
That’s the same way I look at owning gold stocks right now.
Best regards and good trading,
Jeff Clark
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