On Sunday the world marveled as we witnessed yet another milestone of human achievement when Richard Branson reached outer space in the world's first commercial space flight. The engineers and scientists at Virgin Galactic understood that propelling a commercial aircraft into outer space would be one of the most difficult challenges of space exploration yet. Of course, I was among the multitudes glued to their screens intent on inserting myself into this historical moment, even if only in a small way. I could not help but reflect on the massive multi-year effort across diverse collaborations that culminated in this historic moment where everything came together in a manner that, in my mind, bordered on the fantastical. I found it somehow amusing that, in the end, it was all about propelling a small airplane to some distant destination. Even the enormous WhiteNightTwo that provided a platform for the launch of VSS Unity was ultimately discarded. It's fascinating to me that what was once such a large part of the mission would ultimately only go so far and yet, there would be no space flight without it. In some ways, it is the same with our investment planning. Although we may begin with an idea of where we want to end up, not every stock in our portfolio is necessarily intended to get to our final destination with us, no matter how attached to it we may be. Even "big winner" stocks will need to correct significantly someday. While it may be impossible to take emotions completely out of our buy and sell decisions, adherence to a prudent investing system can help minimize the emotional component of investing and help you know when to "let go" of excess cargo. Keep that in mind as you see trade confirmations come through your e-mail and we periodically ask you to update a risk tolerance questionnaire. Recognize that investing is a dynamic process that lasts a lifetime. And we're here to act as mission control.
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