Old Beginnings
Submitted by Atlas Indicators Investment Advisors on January 1st, 2020
January has been the start of the year since about 46 BC. It was then that Julius Caesar had the calendar updated from a 10-month version to something close to our current almanac and decided to start the year on the day his city’s newly elected officials started their tenure. Named for Janus, the Roman God of beginnings and endings, the name remains appropriate after all this time.
Resolutions have an even longer history than January. Babylonian records as far back as 4,000 years ago show people looking to curry favor with gods making promises to repay debts or return borrowed objects. They did this during a 12-day festival in the springtime (think vernal equinox), the beginning of their agrarian calendar.
The start of the year is great time for resolutions, but there’s never a good time for predictions. Reality offers too many variables for anybody to be consistently accurate. With this in mind, Atlas, uses a method of observation to allocate our managed portfolios. Variables change moment to moment, but they inevitably coalesce into a trend. A trend which lasts until it doesn’t. Our process-driven approach will not keep us from being wrong, but it will help us avoid staying wrong once old trends give way to new areas of favorability.
Welcome to the new decade. We look forward to working with you as the 20s unfold, and history continues being written.
