You Can't Time the Stock Market

As I write this column, the S&P 500 was down almost 3 percent from its Friday close -- or, for the optimists in the room, up more than 2 percent from its morning bottom. One is tempted to send the market a gentle note inviting it to really spend some time getting to know itself, maybe work through some issues in therapy, channel its highs and lows in a productive direction.