One of the distinctive features of the places we stay at Chairman’s conferences is that there’s invariably a focus on service. We just had a talk from the general manager of the Wynn property here that was probably one of the best I’ve ever heard on running a service business. Once again, I’m very grateful to be here for this wonderful experience.
I should probably comment on yesterday’s drop in the market, but I don’t really have much to say other than that volatility is normal, and after the recent run-up, some degree of decline is normal and expected.
You can make an argument that a slowdown in China and uncertainty about Ukraine were drivers of the move, but that implicitly assumes that these are somehow new or unusual. Realistically, we’ve had similar levels of uncertainty for years; this is not news.
In many respects, no news is good news. The problem is when the market expects only good news. The absence of good news is then interpreted as bad, while the possibility of actual bad news seems much worse. That may be what we saw yesterday.
More thoughts on risk levels and good and bad news next week. Have a good weekend.