My, what a difference a month makes.  I am old enough to remember many times that markets have shifted direction radically in thirty days.  This past month has been no different.  I have been amused to read the reactions of millennials who have been shocked, shocked by first their losses in the cryptocurrencies and now their losses in the broader markets.

For those of us in the pulp and paper industry, I am reminded of the ads that Hanson, of the UK, ran at the time of the dot com bubble burst at the turn of the century.  They pointed out that they made mundane objects, such as bricks and other building materials, that were as traditional and as necessary after the dot com burst as they were before.  We in the pulp and paper industry would do well to remember exactly the same thing and apply it to our investment decisions now.  Necessarily, the pulp and paper stocks are going to generally follow the trends of the markets, but we must never forget how essential and basic our products are to the underpinnings of modern economies as a whole.  There is real value to be found here.