A little upset today on world stock markets:

Stocks in the United States plummeted today after a surprising plunge
in the Shanghai market provoked worries worldwide about the global
economy and the valuation of share prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 416.02 points, or 3.3 percent, to
12,216.24, as all 30 stocks in Dow declined. The Standard & Poor’s
500-stock index dropped 50.33 points, or 3.5 percent, to 1,399.04. The Nasdaq
composite index dropped 96.66 points, or 3.9 percent, to 2,407.86. This
was the steepest one-day sell-off since September 2002. Asian and
European markets closed sharply lower

 Ouch.  Yet it made me think of this part of passage 34 from the Tao Te Ching (this is from one of the Henricks editions):

The Way floats and drifts;
It can go left or right.
It accomplishes its tasks and completes its affairs,
and yet for this it is not given a name.

 We could also say that it goes up and down; it can crash by over 400 points in one day; it can plunge in Shanghai and take Frankfurt down with it.

     The high-tech electronics of modern stock exchanges divert our attention from the fundamental fact that trading is a reflection of fallible, and occasionally failed, human behavior.  The talking heads of the business news shows tell us that we can know where the market is going.  But, at a very basic level, we cannot.  Shit happens.  A herd mentality takes over.  Everyone starts selling so everyone must sell, even when only a modest correction is called for. 

    A big part of my retirement money is tied up in stocks.  But I will stay put.  Who knows if it is 1929 all over again (I doubt it) or just 1987, which I still have a clear memory of?  Who knows if I will even get to retirement?  Who knows if….whatever.

     The Way floats and drifts;
     It can go left or right…

UPDATE: Dan, over at China Law Blog, passes along some Tao-esque advice from Diligence China on how to respond to the crash: "aggressive patience."  Or, as the TTC would tell us: do nothing and nothing will be left undone.