Arvin Meritor (ARM) says that it is re-thinking its previously announced stock spin-off of its car parts unit and cutting jobs in light of its projections of future business conditions.

Seems like a sane thing to do given not only the level of current economic slowing down and uncertainty.

Any investing model is based on assumptions about how prices of securities are arrived at.  In times like these when the  rules of the game seem to be in flux,  maybe  to eventually settle down and go on more or less as before or maybe to change significantly, perhaps it is best to stay alert, watch and wait.  This goes for individual companies as well as for us.

The real trick, it seems to me, is to not “go to sleep at the switch” and miss the signs that a new trend is shaping up while trying to not get impulsive.

I believe it was Gerald Loeb who said many years ago that for us investors that it is not just fear and greed that push us into bad decisions, but also impatience.

Staying patient and awake.  That is the challenge now.

Tags: ARM, Arvin Meritor, fear, greed, impatience, spin off, spin-off stocks, stock spin-off