04 Aug The Dog Days? Not 2013

According to Wikipedia, the origin of the term “dog days of summer” was tied around a star. Sirius, in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog), is called the “dog star” because it is the brightest in the group. In the Greek and Roman days, these stars were most prominent during the summer months, hence the use of the phrase. It was not seen as a positive, in fact it was tied to people going crazy and evil stuff happening. The Romans even sacrificed a dog to Sirius each year, because they thought that the star’s brightness actually caused the unbearable hot weather.

Bet you didn’t know that (I didn’t)! It is August and the middle of our dog days in the Northern Hemisphere. In the northern part of the US where we don’t get warm weather all year, we do our best to appreciate the opportunity to hit the beach, boat, pool, sports or other outdoor activities. We connect with friends and family and make the time to unwind a bit. Many go on vacations during this time.

Normally we see things slow down in business during the dog days. Not so this summer, at least for those of us busy in the capital markets! I have not seen an August this busy in quite some time.  We are busy with IPOs, reverse mergers, acquisitions, private financings and ongoing work for the many public companies our law firm represents. With the market hitting new highs, a surge in merger & acquisition activity, corporate profits strong, housing beginning to rebound, the Fed keeping interest rates at historic lows and the economy remaining in growth (albeit slow) mode, there’s a strong storm of activity on Wall Street.

One presumes that it’s a matter of time before a major market correction comes. We need to be ready for this. That doesn’t mean the rally ends, just pauses. Keep that in mind. So these dog days, not so evil!