There are a couple things bothering me. It scares me that our government might be operating and making decisions for corporations.

Many of you own companies or are, at least, in charge. What would your reaction be if someone from the government showed up at your doorstop and said, "You know what, we are taking over."

I read a story back around 1990 I think about our government taking over, for income tax problems, the Mustang Brothel Ranch that sold, among other things, whiskey. I think our government finally sold it for a loss.

If you can't run a brothel and sell whiskey and make a profit, how in the world can you run General Motors? "Ok boys and girls, let's go build a bunch of green ugly cars that no one will buy." That whole thing scares me.

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How about health care for everyone, known as socialized medicine? Our politicians do not want to call it that, but that is what it is.

There is no question that something needs to be done to provide health care for people who cannot afford it. But if you think the government is merely going into competition with private industry, I have a bridge I would like to talk to you about.

Fraud is everywhere with Medicare and Medicaid. Can you even imagine what will happen if our government gets into the socialized medicine business?

How about the care itself? Don't take my word for it. The next time you run into one of our neighborly Canadians, ask them how free socialized health care works for them.

I've asked one of them that question, and if their answer doesn't scare you, nothing will. I'll give you a hint. If you have a brain tumor, be prepared to wait.

All of these issues affect investing. I always am trying to figure out how I am going to be affected by government decisions, which ultimately affect investments.

There is no question that some of our corporations have been run by nitwits. But letting the government in is like giving a 16-year-old boy lots of money, some alcohol, a beautiful girl and the keys to the car. I was 16 once, and I know.

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Bob Howard, who writes the investment publication Positive Patterns, is a pretty smart guy. I like smart people.

Bob and I don't agree on everything, but one thing we do agree on is that we try to figure out where money is going to go later this year, next year or whenever, and we go there and wait.

Sometimes a client will say, "Why are you buying that particular sector?" It could be anything: oil stocks, financials, whatever. I try to get them to understand that just because I buy something today, does not mean that tomorrow I am going to be right. As a matter of fact, I am hardly ever right tomorrow.

I am trying to go where I believe the money is going to go. It's like trying to call the bottom.

I get tired of these people on the financial networks pounding their guests to call a bottom. No one knows if we have seen the bottom. Not your neighbor, your golfing buddy, not me.

What I have said, and continue to believe, is that if we know all there is to know, and we don't have any more surprises, then perhaps we have seen the bottom. I mean, we already know a bunch of bad stuff, bad housing, bad banks, bad almost everything.

If we know all of that stuff, then we could be ok.

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All right, let me get off my box and onto the markets.

This last month and a half have been interesting, have they not? Since the early March lows when the markets were down about 25 percent for the year, the Standard and Poor's 500 stock index has risen about 35 percent as I write this on Tuesday.

Thirty five percent is a big number. If you got out in early March, you have a problem.

Do you get back in now; do you wait for a pullback? What do you do? Whoever got you out has the problem. Try asking them.

One plan commonly used is dollar cost averaging. That is when you put similar sized amounts into the market over weeks or months on a regular basis.

That is not my suggestion because I don't know you, but it is a commonly accepted plan. You'll never get back what you lost being out, but you know that already.

If you have questions for me, you can e-mail me at Howie.pentony@uvestfinancial.com or you can go to www.nextierwealth.com and sneak around in there in Wealth Management.

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The other night I was reading a newspaper story out loud to my wife. I like to try to help her become more worldly.

It was about a burglar someplace around here who was climbing back out of a house through a window and fell into a repair area of fresh concrete and broke his leg.

After listening to me, she said that she bet he became a hardened criminal.

It is a wonder I try to do anything for her.

Howie Pentony is a Butler financial adviser, UVEST Financial Services member, FINRA/SIPC.