My kids discovered Google Finance whilst we were waiting to board a flight home from Ho Chi Minh last week. They were fascinated by the growth of the footwear company, Crocs (CROX), and were comparing its share price growth to that of other major companies they know of - Netflix, Microsoft, Google, Tesla, Apple, and so on.

Throughout the week we've seen a number of data points released out of the US, pointing to a slowdown in the jobs market, and the question is being asked again - are we in a recession?

Financial crisis, bear markets, and panics, they all feel the same. Our primitive human mind is hard wired to safeguard and to protect us. And the opposite can be true - greed. In the span of 3 weeks, market participants (not investors) have moved from a state of panic to a state of euphoria.

The time has come for policy to adjust. The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the market decline and why I thought we had a little more to go. Turns out I was right - not to brag. These falls throughout the year are not uncommon. In fact, the average decline in any given year is about 14%.

Perspective is so important, yet it's not easy. We get so caught up in our own world that it's hard to see the forest for the trees. Last week I wrote about "Common Uncommons", and I explained how history tells us that this decline, historically, has further to go.