Black Tuesday

We like our history simple. And we like our dates definite. That’s one reason why we commemorate things like birthdays and anniversaries. But when it comes to the flow of time – in a life, or in history – it’s not always so simple. Take This Day in History for today, “Black Tuesday.” We like to think of the stock market crash of ’29 that kicked off the Great Depression as happening all at once. And it did come on relatively suddenly after nearly a decade of fun and excess during the Roaring 20’s.  But did you know there was also a Black Thursday and a Black Monday as well?  Read the article at the link from History.com and you’ll see.  And don’t even get me started on Black Friday…. but I digress.

Demarcations in time are always somewhat arbitrary, as my friend Anna’s very cool blog post about a horse’s-eye view of time attests. I even know someone who changed their birthday by 6 months because they preferred fall weather to spring allergy season when they were actually born. But that case is a bit extreme.  My point is, whether it’s “Black Tuesday,” or your birthday, time keeps rolling along.  The stock market fluctuates – and we all keep getting older – every single day, in spite of our desire to commemorate definite ends and definite beginnings.

So, for those celebrating today, “Have a Happy!” And for those investing in the stock market? Well, “Caveat Emptor,” I guess. And for those whose Latin is a little bit rusty, that means ‘Buyer Beware!”