Don’t Let The Media Hysteria Make You Sick!

Investors Alley
Don’t Let The Media Hysteria Make You Sick!

I grabbed the clicker;
“Turn off the damn TV!” No, I didn’t turn off hyped political
commentary; it was the Weather Channel.

They blared; millions of
people were going to “suffer” from the current heatwave. The next
headline, “US could set disaster record this year”, followed by 3
minutes of videos of every kind of natural disaster imaginable. They also
promoted their series, “The race to save the planet.” Show me the
weather and spare me the hysterics!

I had a major news
organization as a client. Their mantra was, “If it bleeds, it leads”;
meaning that blood, disasters and bad news was used for lead stories. Grab the
attention of the reader/viewer; the more eyeballs they capture, the more they
make in advertising revenue. Like it or not, hype sells!

Today we are overloaded
with 200+ cable channels, 24-hour hysterical news bombarding viewers, broadcast
and social media all clamoring for our attention.

Too much of this media hyped crap can be unhealthy.

In 2018 CNN health
reported, “Too much bad news can make
you sick”:

“With every news alert or breaking story, our world seems to
be pushed further and further into crisis. It is taking a serious toll on our
environment but also on our mental health.

In the past year,
hurricanes battered communities around the globe, a monster earthquake wreaked
havoc in Mexico, the American West erupted in flames and continues to burn, there
have been more school shootings, and the Hawaiian volcano Kilauea is pouring
lava into the Pacific Ocean, threatening the lives and homes of
residents.”

Today, never-ending riots,
political hysteria of an election year, pandemic and economic declines caused
by government shutdowns, make the 2018 problems seem mild.

CNN continues:

“Our brains are hardwired to process stress relating to
trauma by entering what is known as “fight, flight, freeze” mode
before returning to a restful state, explained Susanne Babbel, a
psychotherapist specializing in trauma recovery. However, constant exposure to
trauma can derail our ability to cope healthily and hinder our ability to
return to a relaxed state.

Every time we experience or
hear about a traumatic event, we go into stress mode. We might go numb or have
an overactive fear response to the perceived threat. Our physiology is
triggered to release stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline,” Babbel
said.

“Ideally, after the
perceived threat is resolved, the body’s resting state of homeostasis should be
regained. However, recurrent exposure to traumatic events means the body is
undergoing this process far more frequently than ever, interrupting this
restful recovery.

Over time, when we
experience this process again and again, our adrenal glands can become
fatigued. Adrenal fatigue can lead to being tired in the morning, lack of
restful sleep, anxiety and depression, as well as a multitude of other
symptoms,” Babbel said.

…. “Chronic levels of
stress can have myriad physical manifestations such as headaches, muscle
tension or pain, stomach problems, anxiety and sleep issues.

One way of coping to this continual exposure is not getting overloaded with the news and pacing yourself with your consumption. (Emphasis mine)

…. What is important is to pay attention to when you are
overloaded, when you start to get stressed, when you feel numb and moody or
irritated or feel other outward symptoms of a nervous system response. Whenever
you feel like you’re ‘off,’ that is a signal. That is your signal that you need
to stop.”

Turn off the TV!

Most people look at
television as “entertainment”, a way to get our mind off the everyday
problems. Whether it is the news networks, weather channel, or the now
politicized sports broadcasts, many viewers are simply turning it off. Screw
it, who needs the stress! Don’t let the media hype make you sick.

When old people talk about
“the good old days” or a “simpler life”, much of it hinges
on being able to relax, have fun and enjoy life to the fullest.

What about retirement?

I define “comfortable
retirement” as being able to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle and not
constantly worrying about money. Earthquakes, viruses, riots and hurricanes are
events and will eventually be handled.

Money concerns throughout
your retirement is a constant. We’re regularly bombarded with negative economic
news; with much of it politically motivated. Here are some samples from my
reading stack this week:

• Stockman
  Slams “Lockdown Lunacy” – Your Government Ordered Depression Has
  Arrived
• U.S.
  small businesses face mass closures without more pandemic aid.
• GDP,
  adjusted for inflation, collapsed by 32.9% in Q2.
• Doubts
  Emerge Over Dollar’s Role As a Reserve Currency
• Peter
  Schiff: “The Dollar Is Not Just Going Down; It’s Going To
  Crash.”

Whether it is a riot,
pandemic, weather event or major economic catastrophe, you do what you can to
protect yourself from physical and emotional harm.

I’ve written dozens of
articles about investing, record low interest rates, stop losses, government
produced inflation and how gold and silver serve as a hedge.

Emotional factors

Don’t let money worries
affect your health either. I’ve often said, “Owning gold helps me sleep
better at night.”

Friend Jeff Clark, senior
analyst at GoldSilver.com really caught my attention with this article:

“Before becoming a gold and mining analyst I worked as a
counselor for many years. …. My business did well, so I suppose I was
relatively good at it, too.

I attributed my success to
one factor in particular over the others. It’s a secret I carried throughout my
career that more often than not led to a successful outcome.

There are lots of things
that contribute to a healthy state of mind, but…there was one element that,
once instilled in my client, I knew we had a great shot of being successful.

That
attribute was hope. (Emphasis mine)

My specialty was vocational
rehabilitation. The clients I worked with were permanently disabled, physically
or mentally. They had been beaten down; their futures irrevocably altered. You
could see it on their faces. But once we identified something they could do
vocationally, hope set in. And that changed everything for them.

It was more than just being
optimistic or putting on a brave face. The one thing these clients were really
good at they could no longer do-but once they realized they had new opportunities
true hope set in. And it made all the difference.”

I asked Jeff to define
“hope”. What were they hoping for that came true?

He said:

“Dennis, my clients were permanently disabled, the result of
an accident or some other misfortune. Many were scared, they did not want to be
looked upon as invalids or helpless for the rest of their lives. Many were
terrified of being dependent on family or the government for their survival.

Through vocational
rehabilitation, we were able to give many of them a new lease on life. Not only
could they earn money and become independent, it gave many of them a whole new
self-image. And it all started by giving them real hope.”

Hitting close to home

Jeff’s response struck a
chord with me. My grandson Justin was born with cerebral palsy. Throughout his
childhood, the educational system put him in classes with the slow learners,
dubbed handicapped kids. Justin isn’t dumb. He may have had to work harder than
most, but he learned. And boy did he learn….

I took great pride when he
was rolled in his wheelchair to get his college degree, and then his master’s.
He’s now in his 30’s – a productive, self-reliant and confident young man.
Counselors like Jeff make a difference.

Jeff and I discussed how
pleased we are with the current gold and silver prices.

• Thru
  Tuesday Aug 4, gold is up 33.1% YTD, silver is up 45.5% YTD.
• Silver
  was up 35% in July, its best month since Nov 1979.
• Gold
  was 10.9% in July, best month since Feb 2016.
• Silver
  is the best performing asset class of 2020; gold is 2^nd, Nasdaq
  3^rd.

Baby Boomers are generally
well past their peak earning years. It’s not surprising that a survey
showed, “Older people fear running out
of money more than they fear death.”

As Suzanne Babbel
explained, constant worry and stress can affect your mental and physical
health.

There is truth to the old saying, worrying yourself to death.

Despite the government
printing trillions in fake money, record low interest rates, and a shaky stock
market, our personal portfolio is currently up over 11% this year, due in great
measure to the increase in metal prices. That is quite a feat when you factor
in a large portion invested in low interest rate CD’s

Jo and I enjoy seeing the
balance go up despite all the world’s problems going on around us.

Friend John Williams
at Shadowstats July 30^th newsletter
(58 pages) reports the “Deepest ever GDP decline”, and shows us gold
has outperformed the Dow for the last 20 years.

Pundit Bill Bonner recently
asked, “Is this Peak Gold?” He
doubts it, but I’m not too concerned.

Much like friend Chuck
Butler says, “I hope things never get so bad that I have to sell my gold.”
I’d much prefer to see the current issues go away and pass our holdings on to
the next generation.

With Jeff’s help, I now
understand why owning metals, and metals stocks has kept one retirement fear
under control.

Don’t let things get you
down

You are in control of your
emotions. If you are watching TV, and feel your blood pressure rising, turn it
off. Keeping your financial and emotional fears under control is healthy. You
will sleep better and enjoy life!

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Don’t Let The Media Hysteria Make You Sick!
Dennis Miller