One of my favorite lines from one of my favorite movies. For some reason this line from Top Gun, delivered by Tom Skerritt to Tom Cruise following Goose’s death, has always stuck with me.
Maybe it was the way he said it. The tone. The matter-of-fact nature. The stoic undertone in such an emotional scene. I don’t know.
Skerritt, the ace pilot and leader of Top Gun school, wasn’t callous or cold but direct. He knew something like this would happen. He had been through it before. He was the adult in the room. Like a father figure being there for his son going through his first breakup.
The dad knows it hurts, but he knows something his son doesn’t yet — that he’ll be OK. These things happen. It’s all part of growing up. Learn from it and move forward. Of course death is next level, but the same principles apply.
As Skerritt said to Tom Cruise at the end of the scene, “There will be others. You can count on it. Ya gotta let him go…ya gotta let him go.” Lick your wounds for a bit, but then get back to business.
Markets can be dangerous. Life too. None of us make it out unscathed. Pretending we will only increases the danger. Hell, on most days most people don’t get into a car accident. Is that a reason to not wear a seatbelt?
Today, we’re in a period where investors have been lulled into a false sense of security simple because nothing too bad has happened in a while. The 2022 bear market is a distant memory. COVID too. The election came and went without much of a hiccup. Equities and real-estate have continued upward. All is good.
But, play the markets long enough, something will happen. “You can count on it”.