October Madness

October  Madness;

I just finished watching the second presidential debate, a glorious mudfest if there ever was one.
I'm thinking that the only way the public will get to hear what each candidate thinks about the issues is to put them in separate rooms and not allow either to hear what the other said. Perhaps they could then each read the others statement and craft a rebuttal,  which neither would hear until they read the debate transcript later. The whole thing is madness; presidential election politics turned into the grandest of charades.

Funny thing, after several years, I have only paid passing attention to my portfolio over the last few months. I looked tonight to see that prices on the higher yield holdings have moderated a bit (not a lot, however). Some cash has built up in my qualified plan, as I haven't just immediately deployed it. I'm wondering if a fat pitch will come along from somewhere. I still check the blogs, but nothing particularly appeals to me, so I'm now doing what others have done, sitting on cash. I wish I could sell puts in the qualified plan, but I'm not allowed.

The summer swoon didn't happen. September didn't bust me. October hasn't yet. I wonder what the election handicappers are saying will happen depending on which candidate is elected. What happens if neither gets enough votes to clinch it and the minor party candidates can't get a majority either?

This is another time where sitting on one's hands doesn't seem like such a bad thing to do. The dividends roll in,  dividend growth happens, DRIP happens, compounding happens, new money waits for good opportunities. Seems like a good way to ride through the roller coaster of national political housekeeping season.