Full disclosure right up front: I’m not a pet guy. It’s just not my thing, and I’m too busy with my work. I’m on the road today heading to a cannabis conference in Indianapolis. I’ll be in Florida next week. I’m going to China later in the year. Travel is important to my stock research, so I wouldn’t have time to have a pet even if I wanted one. It’s not that I don’t like animals, and I don’t want to offend anyone who does. Based on the trends, that’s clearly a lot of people. At times, I’ve felt like I’m the only one who doesn’t have a pet. I bring this up because I want to ask all you dog owners out there… Is it true that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” as the old saying goes?

Exactly 10 years ago, I nailed it. I don’t mean to brag, but it was one of the best calls I ever made. The date was Friday, March 6, 2009. I was appearing on television on Fox Business. The market had been in a long and brutal decline after the financial crisis and Great Recession. The S&P 500 was down 57% from its last high, which had come nearly two years earlier. Investors were not happy. I went against the grain. The selling was about done, I said. Long-term investors needed to buy stocks. The market made its intraday bottom that very day. The next trading day, Monday, March 9, the S&P 500 made its closing low of 676.53. Ten years later on Friday, March 8, 2019, the S&P closed at 2,743.07 – a 311% gain.