Run Money, Run
We're an excitable species. Especially when it comes to money, a god of our own creation who we both worship and chase as a matter of course. For the vast majority, money is elusive. The more we chase it, the faster it runs.
We can't help but clamor after it, though. When we get a whiff of it (and new money does have that distinctive smell), we're single-minded in our pursuit. All other considerations are secondary. That, despite knowing (some of us through extensive experience) that it's never
I think you just coined a new definition!
re·pub·li·can
Learn to pronounce
noun
plural noun: republicans; plural noun: Republicans
1.
“Irrational people, acting in concert, can perpetuate outcomes that otherwise make little sense. ”
– therealheisenberg
De-mo-crat: “Rational people, talking in concert but never implementing outcomes that make sense.”
Independent: “Love me some chaos.”
De-mo-crat :
1.
“Rational people, arguing over exactly what to do to create outcomes that solve problems, but never actually coming to an agreement on any subject”
2.
“Everyone who isn’t on the far right of American politics in the 21st century.”
3.
“A person who is vilainized and blamed for every single problem that exists or purports to exist in American society regardless of official party designation. Also known as the enemy of the people.”
uncle!
Keynes had a treatise on this subject in one of his books- the goal in investing, and I will paraphrase is to guess where the crowd thinks the rest of the crowd is going. The hockey metaphor is Wayne Gretzky who had an instinct to know where the puck was going to go before all of the other players. It is rational even though when you really think about it, it can lead one to irrationality. Anyway, you can choose to play the game if your time horizon is reasonably short. Or you can eschew the game and be a long term investor, and look at your risk tolerance, time horizon and spread your risk.
I for one am willing to say that I am completely wrong footed (but at least not foolish enough to use leverage and shorts).
This (bear) market rally, slight housing declines = “bad news is good news”, ought to nudge the Fed to realize they haven’t soaked up their excess Trillions yet (not that they watch Market 😉
I’m happy for all of those who realize their gains, just as I have realized my losses.
My first full time job after 21 years of education was in 1970, a teaching job at a nice middle of the road regional state university. I got slightly overpaid because they needed my skills. I soon realized that although I made more than some I also made much less than others. At that point I decided that the deal I had made me comfortable so I decided not to worry too much about deals other folks had. My daughter and her husband each make much more than I ever did, even with an endowed chair and forty years of experience. For the rest of my life I have been quite comfortable with the idea that having enough assets and income to do what suits me is just fine. I have never beaten the market in stocks, although for 25 years my bond investments beat the heck out of the stock market. My portfolio sits right on the bottom third of the efficient frontier and my income rises every year, even though I currently donate 25 percent of my income to worthy charities (I hate capital gains). For me money has always been about comfort and self-sufficiency. When I was a kid my cousin down the street always had the more expensive toys, and more of them. He became a lawyer, married old big money — she is a dynamite lady, btw. He always made more money than me but he spent so much that he didn’t keep much more than me and I learned early in the game that finding a way to make what you had meet your needs was great. Anyway, he has gout and can’t sleep without a Cpap machine. We all get what we get so work with it. I will say, the first time I lost 5 figures in a day scared the crap out of me. But some days it goes the other way and like a big city cop I learned to get through those bad days.
Thanks for sharing your hard earned wisdom.
I have only lost 4 figures in a day so far while learning the game (I think I’ve seen 5 figures once but it’s an account that’s long term investments and recovered in a year) and ultimately I hope to get better but I know that losing these made up “points” isn’t life… life’s what happens when you work to make money (and the people you spend it with who don’t care about your money).
https://youtu.be/ITs-YX1yQ7o
Your article reminded me of this scene from one of my favorite movies, Key Largo.