Situational Awareness: the perception of the elements in the environment, comprehension of their meaning, and projection of their status in the near future, crucial for safe and effective decision making.

Piloting yourself through the clouds is a truly magical and exhilarating experience. Cocooned in a blanket of white with the hum of the engine and the knowledge that it is solely your skill and training maneuvering the ship is both satisfying and supremely humbling. To become proficient at flying solely by reference to instruments requires one to master their understanding of their surroundings in three-dimensional space, true situational awareness.

Climbing into and through a cloud the air transforms. Flying underneath a cloud, the air is rough as thermals rise to cloud height prior to dissipating. This can be an uncomfortable environment for anyone not accustomed to rocking through three-dimensional space. Upon entering the cloud, the view becomes surreal. It’s as if someone painted all of the windows in white leaving no ability to see out and the turbulence inside the cloud is usually a surprise. Many times, the air becomes angrier as if telling us that we do not belong and should have remained on the ground. Other times upon entering the cloud the air becomes quiet and inviting as if supporting our entire weight in its caress. Most of the time I am surprised by the air, unable to determine beforehand what will be encountered.

I find that entering the clouds, regardless of how often it’s done, brings a slight feeling of trepidation along with a giddiness that I have rarely experienced since childhood. Somehow flying along at almost 200 miles per hour everything seems to slow down. Worries that I have on the ground melt away in the air as I concentrate on the matter at hand, flying the airplane with purpose and precision. The mind has no time to wander but must stay focused on the things that matter at that moment and that will be in the immediate future. Somehow, it’s relaxing.

Although flight training has ingrained into me the basic rules of physics allowing a 3000-pound machine to elevate and to stay elevated, I do not truly understand it at all. I have no true comprehension of how things fly, just the knowledge that if I push here, pull there, switch this on and that off at just the right time and with the requisite force the machine reacts accordingly. It climbs or turns, descends or yaws as is intended. Maybe it’s truly magic, like the mentalist that seemingly reads minds or the magician that can disappear. But in the moment, there is no energy to seek truths, but simply to confirm and to adjust. The frequencies are set properly, the course is correct, altitude is held, avionics are as required, etc., etc. and that you are aware of how and when all of these are required to be changed and reset thereafter.

For many of us, investing is similar. We are often surprised by the market’s movements. They go up when we know with certainty that they would go down or they fall at unexpected moments. We do not fully understand or comprehend the markets and their gyrations. Maybe it’s all simply magic. It’s certainly too complex and too immense for anyone to fully understand, much less to predict. As in flying, we believe that a long-term strategy utilizing and implementing an Investment Policy Statement is required to smooth out the turbulence inherent in the markets.

As always, we thank you for your business and for your continued trust.

Sincerely,

Jack P. Cannata