Since I opened my doors in the seventies, during my business lifetime, I have seen markets going in and out of favor, but I stayed on the course no matter what the economy has done, up or down. Looking at history over hundreds of years, this has been "par" for the economic course. Since the current political administration took the reins, the economic winds have negatively affected millions of US citizens. It is unbelievable to me, and it is hard to imagine that these numbers have reversed dramatically since the last administration. There will undoubtedly be a shakeout, and jobs will not be exposed. New jobs will be created, and efficiencies will emerge, i.e., people might eat out less with the latest products, and travel will be reduced, for example.
When I first got out of high school, I got a job on a chicken ranch, and it was my task to take care of thousands of chickens. I was all alone for hours with these chickens, and being just out of my teens, I thought it would be entertaining to make a loud noise by screaming at the top of my lungs to scare the chickens. What surprised me next was that the chickens simultaneously stopped making any sounds. One could hear a pin drop throughout the hen house. Subsequently, it would take the chickens hours to start again, beginning with the brave chickens and then the entire hen house. Over the years, I have met retired individuals raised during the Depression. These depression-retired folks' pocketbooks' seem to be noticeably different, as they saved every penny, unlike the baby-born generations who followed, having an unequal experience of spending and stretching their budgets.
Dana