RBA governor Glenn Stevens can't take a trick.
He leaves interest rates on hold, as expected, and the dollar jumps and the share market falls.
Savers despair at these low interest rates.
The mortgage-belt yawns.
Property investors continue on their merry way, piling into over-priced property, blissfully dismissive of any house price bubble.
And stock market investors avoid shares, scared of volatility, fearful of losing money.
The old saying goes there's always a bubble somewhere.
Today, the bubble is everywhere BUT the ASX.
— Chinese stocks.
— Sydney house prices.
— Japanese stocks.
— US stocks.
— European stocks.
All the above, trading at or near multi-year highs.
But not the ASX. The S&P/ASX 200 Index is up just three per cent over the past 12 months. That's a lot of ups and downs for not much of a return.
Happy end of financial year.
There's a buyers strike. Big four banks, for so long the go-to stocks for dividend hungry SMSFs, are as popular as Sepp Blatter.
Not even will fully franked dividend yields of almost five per cent tempt investors to move money out of term deposits and in to the share market.
Take Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) for example. It's not the cheapest company in the world. It's not the fastest growing company on the ASX. But it does trade on a fully franked dividend yield of 4.9 per cent, which grosses up to seven per cent.
Seven per cent. Compared to the RBA cash rate of just two per cent. Compared to term deposits at 2.5 per cent. Compared to gross rental yields of 3.4 per cent.
It's no contest. Dividend stocks win, hands down.
Here at The Motley Fool, our investing horizon extends to years, not hours and days. We encourage investors to buy and hold quality companies for decades.
Through thick and thin. Through recessions and booms. Through corrections and crashes. Through ups and downs. Through Liberal and Labor. Through budgets and elections.
You get the picture.
There's money to be made, dear Foolish investors.
Forget what the government might do to superannuation. Forget what Labor will do to superannuation if they get elected.
Taxes change. Always have, always will.
The secret to successful investing never changes.
Worry not about whether a stock market correction might be just around the corner.
Worry not about where the ASX may end today, or even the end of 2015.
Focus on the big picture.
Today, that means two things…
1) Generating a decent income from your investments.
2) Generating a decent nest egg for your retirement.
That's it.
Because the RBA didn't cut interest rates yesterday changed nothing.
(Interest rates are still going lower… it's just a matter of when.)
Because the ASX fell 94 points yesterday changed nothing.
(It's better to be a buyer of shares when the market is lower than when it's higher.)
You are not going to get rich quickly today.
(If it looks too good to be true, it usually is.)
You're not going to lose thousands of dollars today buying quality ASX stocks.
(Even if the share market does fall today, if you're not selling, you're not crystallising a loss. Share market volatility is NO reason to sell.)
You might even make some money, if you're lucky.
Yesterday was my lucky day. Shares in one of my newest holdings —Prophecy International Holdings Limited (ASX: PRO) — jumped 17 per cent after the small-cap tech company announced sales growth was accelerating. I wrote about it in yesterday's Motley Fool Take Stock email.
Yes, such a big jump for a company I've owned for less than one week is lucky.
But when it comes to investing, you often make your own luck.
The first step is buying shares in the first place, especially during times when everyone else is selling.
Like now.
The next step is buying the right companies. Prophecy International was recommended to Motley Fool Take Stock readers by our ace analyst Matt Joass. Thanks Matt.
The final step is to invest for the long-term. Yesterday I made a paper profit of $2,000 on Prophecy International. Thanks again, Matt.
But my eyes are firmly on the bigger prize. The prize that comes with time. When an initial investment of a few thousand dollars turns into tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Think buying Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) shares when they floated in 1993 at just $2.45 per share.
Think buying Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) shares when they floated in 1991 at just $5.40 per share.
Both are fortune maker stocks.
But only if you're in the game, buying shares. And only if you let time work its magic.
Tomorrow's fortune maker stocks are NOT Woolworths and Commonwealth Bank.
You'll find tomorrow's big winners in places no-one else is looking.
Many also pay juicy dividends, like the mid-cap stocks Andrew Page recommends to Motley Fool Dividend Investor subscribers. One such recommendation is already up over 110 per cent, and I'm personally up over $16,000 in less than five months.
Lucky? Yes, absolutely. Thanks Andrew.
Skilful? Totally. Thanks again Andrew.
