6 • May 20, 2022
First Amendment to the United States Constitution Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. ROB DOHERTY Publisher (504) 583-8907 robd@bransonglobe.com JANET STEINKAMP Editor editor@bransonglobe.com
BY PAT LAMB Columnist
W
e all like good tools that will help us get our tasks accomplished. Some of the latest and best tools to be invented, in my opinion, include the computer, cell phone, and the technology that comes with them. However, just like any other tool, they must
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MARK FEDER
Taney County Account Representative
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Train Up a Child: A good tool be used appropriately or they can cause harm. I don’t think there are very many people who would give a toddler a hammer and let them use it any way they wanted. How about a chain saw, or even a weed trimmer or lawn mower? Would we just hand them to children and walk away? Yet, isn’t that what many are doing when they buy their children a cell phone? As with any tool, children need to be trained to use technology properly. Just as there are certain things a hammer is to be used for, the same applies to a cell phone or computer. Just as a child should not be allowed to go around beating on good furniture with a hammer,
neither should a child be allowed to do everything desired with technology. Definite rules need to be used with children and technology. “But you can’t watch a child every minute!” many would say. Well, if rules are laid down and the child cannot be trusted to follow those rules, there is an easy solution. Simply take the cell phone away or disconnect the computer until the child can be trusted and DON’T GIVE IN! It is helpful to sit down with children and go over rules as soon as the computer or phone is received. The rules should be written down and placed on the refrigerator or other easily observed place. It would be even
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more helpful for the child to sign a written paper swearing to obey those rules before the phone is purchased. Just as with any tool, proper usage is necessary. Personally, I am very happy to have the technology. It can make life much easier if properly used. I’m afraid too many parents are guilty of waiting until a child does something wrong and then saying, “You shouldn’t have done that!” Every child is inquisitive and will want to examine possibilities. It isn’t fair to expect a child to automatically know what should or should not be done without being taught. Let’s teach our children to use this wonderful tool the proper way!
Stock Market Insights: You weren’t that good at Frogger
GARY GROMAN, A.K.A. THE OLE SEAGULL Independent Writer
(530) 739-5560 pattyd.ads@gmail.com
OPINION
BY DR. RICHARD L. BAKER, AIF® Founder & Senior Wealth Advisor at Steadfast Wealth Management
I
screen between opposing lanes of traffic without getting run over. Later the frog had to jump from log to log or risk drowning. It’s a timing game. If you don’t time the crossing perfectly your frog dies, and you lose the game. Sometimes people try to time the stock market and lose more than an arcade game. The stock market in 2022 has been hard to swallow for investors so far. April was one of the worst months in decades for the S&P 500 Index, and May is off to a rocky start. Bonds which usually give us some downside protections have gotten hit as well
because rising interest rates have pushed down bond prices. The stock market doesn’t like uncertainty and it’s getting a lot of it this year with high inflation, the Federal Reserve seemly asleep at the wheel, COVID-19 shutdowns in China, a continued global supply chains mess, and of course, a nasty war in Eastern Europe. We’ve seen a lot of big swings (volatility) in the market, both positive and negative. On May 4 we had the big Fed rally, where the market was up about 3%, and then the very next day, on May 5, the market went negative 3.6% which was frustrating.
During market volatility like we are going through, I see investors make mistakes. The most frequent mistake is trying to time the market by jumping in and out. When someone tries to time the market, they must be right twice. They must get out at the perfect time and get back in at the perfect time, which can be an extremely difficult needle to thread. The stock markets can turn quickly and missing even just a few big “up” days can hurt your overall investment returns over time. Putnam Investments says that if an investor remained invest-
TIFFANY GRAVETT Staff Writer tiffanykathleenbrown@ gmail.com
loved playing Frogger on my Atari 5200. Frogger was an arcade game where the player directs the frog at the bottom of the
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SEE STOCK MARKET, PAGE 8
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