The Quick Fix

“Did you take anything yet?” That question reliably sends my pulse soaring. After a long weekend in which the Karas family, sidelined by illness, barely stepped outside, I may be slightly on edge.

The remark refers to the familiar tendency to reach for medication the moment the thermometer creeps above 37°C. Yet fever is often the body’s own remedy. Let’s leave it at that. I’m not a doctor; it’s outside my circle of competence.

Decide and move on

Swift decisions generally serve us well. Leave a problem to smolder and you will soon face a blaze. Successful entrepreneurs understand this instinctively. They act quickly and decisively, and that makes all the difference.

You may expect me to say, “But investing is different.” No, not always. Some investment styles demand split-second judgment. You open a position and, within minutes or even seconds, the thesis must hold or you close it again. Losses are cut immediately. It is an intensely competitive arena in which computers increasingly compete only with each other.

Perfection is impossible

Long-term investors cannot extinguish every feverish flare in the markets. Sometimes the only sensible response is to endure it. Struggling companies, of course, merit closer scrutiny. Expert networks help to interpret shifts in an industry and to understand their implications.

Investing also means reacting too slowly at times and watching developments for longer than you should. Expecting perfection is unrealistic.

Yet those who follow a sound, time-tested strategy with discipline can weather even difficult markets. Investors sense when conditions turn. It feels like the morning after an illness: the headache recedes, the fever cools, and energy begins to return.

With that, I wish you resilience and good health in this season of flu and financial markets alike.