Weekly Market Update for May 5, 2023, from DeWayne Hall: Cash Position

It was Spring Break, 1980, and me and five buddies had just arrived at South Padre Island in deep south Texas late on a Saturday night. One of us decided that, after the ten-hour journey from West Texas, we should take the 1978 Chevy Blazer for a quick spin out onto the dark, empty beach. And no, we had not been drinking, thanks for asking. Spinning donuts in the sand was a blast, but what about trying to do donuts out in the waves? So we ventured the Blazer out in a couple of feet of water, then a little further, and a little further, until we were almost a hundred feet offshore…still fully sober. Suddenly we stopped moving, stuck, with fairly good-sized waves lapping up the passenger side. The Blazer would not go into drive. 

Water began coming into the floorboards, and we scrambled to get our luggage up on the seats. Still no drive. But wait, by some miracle, reverse gear still functioned, and we hightailed it out of the waves, off the beach, and to the hotel, driving backward. The next morning, three of us drove in reverse over the two-and-a-half-mile-long Queen Isabella Causeway into Port Isabel, one person at the wheel, and the other two manning each back door, doors open, watching the highway marker lines, and inappropriately responding to all the hecklers passing us. It would take $1,200 wired from a pretty upset dad to replace the transmission. For some reason, General Motors doesn’t warranty transmissions driven in the ocean. 

The U.S. stock market is stuck in the sand right now, unable to go really anywhere the past month. And until that changes and we finally break out of this tight range in one direction or the other, we are maintaining a large cash position. We believe putting a large amount of money to work right now may be akin to driving your money out into the waves, and could end up costing you a transmission. 

The views expressed represent the opinion of Good Life Asset Strategies, LLC. The views are subject to change and are not intended as a forecast or guarantee of future results. This material is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice and is not intended as an endorsement of any specific investment. Stated information is derived from proprietary and nonproprietary sources that have not been independently verified for accuracy or completeness.