To most individual traders, there is no bigger buzz kill than a narrow trading range. It takes the wind out of the sails of breakout and momentum traders, and even expert stock pickers have a tough time finding the stocks which are bucking the sideways trend.

Wall Street would much rather see a lively bull market when stocks are roaring and participation is widespread among all classes of investors. But sometimes even a trading range-type market is good enough for the Street, provided stock prices are near all-time highs. For even when prices are making no headway, the aggregate yield on stocks pays enough in dividends to make the lack of action worthwhile. 

There are indeed enough listed companies which pay a high enough dividend to make buying and holding in a lackadaisical stock market an attractive proposition. This is one reason for the torpor which currently infuses not only the financial market, but the rest of the country as well. Why worry when you can sit back and live off the interest? Widespread lethargy breeds a range-bound stock market, but it also contributes to a sluggish economy. As we’ll discuss here, there is a reason for the public’s lethargy and within that reason lies the solution to the problem. 

If you needed proof of the trading range-induced complacency out there right now, the public’s response to the U.S. airstrike on Syria is a good example. While there was a modicum of shock and anger, the response to the military action was mostly lethargic. Even the stock market seemed unimpressed enough to rally, which underscores the extent of the public’s complacency. 

Even Congress is infected with the conservation bug. Even as President Trump touts his ambitious plan to cut taxes, the U.S. House majority leader is pouring water all over that plan by saying Congress will balance any proposed tax cuts by finding ways to increase revenues (read more taxes, but in different areas).Thus the old “paying Peter by robbing Paul” syndrome has infused America’s elected leaders, who seem to afraid to risk anything like general prosperity.

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