It was Blaise Pascal, the brilliant French mathematician, physicist and philosopher who said:
"All of men's miseries derive from a single source; his inability to sit peacefully in his room."
Pascal was not referring specifically to investing -- but he certainly was including it. We love to tinker, adjust and monkey with. At least I do.
My name is Frank, and I am an adjustaholic.
My affliction began early in my youth. I would fiddle incessantly with the old rabbit ear antennae on the "television set" in a futile effort to achieve picture perfect clarity on a 1974 Magnavox. I would indulge in impulsive, hare-brained schemes such as throwing the football in an effort to knock the frisbee out of the tree. And then throwing the tennis racket at the football.
By 5 o'clock the tree on my lawn looked like Dick's Sporting Goods.
Sure. I could have waited patiently for my dad to come home and retrieve the offending object. Could have for 2 minutes that is, before the restlessness set in.
I'm older now. I have an HD TV and I don't play much frisbee anymore. But I am still a fiddler.
It raises to mind a behavioral finance question: What is to become of the Fiddler's Green? I'm not referring to the traditional Irish song (which is great by the way), but to the financial portfolio of the modern adjustaholic. If you are an adjustaholic like I am, there are some days you have an urge to fiddle. Somedays you just wake up, get a cup of coffee... and you just really feel like buying a stock.
Any stock.
I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna buy... geez, I dunno... something in the IBD top 10! Like SYNL! And why not? It's # 1 on their list for crying out loud! What exactly does SYNL do? They print $$$ for their investors, THAT'S what they do! It's up to 45. Have you seen the chart! It's a rocket ship! Besides, I'll just cut my losses at 8% if it drops. (And I really will this time too.) But it won't drop! That's the beauty of it! You may say I'm joining a game of Musical Chairs at the Greater Fools Social Club, but they're playing the live version of Freebird - and they haven't even gotten to the guitar solo yet!
Do I really need to tell you what happened next? Suffice it to say I capped my losses at 8% this time. (Okay, 10%). And the fiddler loses some more green.
I recently had a conversation with my colleague, Dr. Peterson. I stated that we cannot change human nature, but that we could plan around it.
Dr. Peterson pointed out that the same human nature that bedevils our investing process is equally apparent in our planning processes.
He has an undeniable and somewhat depressing point.
Well, I still believe we CAN plan around human nature, but it is not easy. It requires honesty with ourselves and self-awareness. It requires having, at the ready, a behavioral alternative that is less self-destructive than placing a buy order. Sometimes it may require help. One of the best things a busybody investor can do is to have a partner - a financial advisor, a friend - someone they can call in his/her moments of weakness.
I'm serious. Alcoholics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, Smokers Anonymous -- one of the most effective methods of stopping a destructive behavior is to reach out to another person when your will is faltering. It helps.
Pascal was right. I cannot sit peacefully in my room, the one with the computer in it... and the access to my brokerage account.
Next time I feel the urge to buy SYNL, maybe I'll call Rich. Or maybe I won't bother to sit in my room at all, and I'll go for a long, long walk instead.
"All of men's miseries derive from a single source; his inability to sit peacefully in his room."
Pascal was not referring specifically to investing -- but he certainly was including it. We love to tinker, adjust and monkey with. At least I do.
My name is Frank, and I am an adjustaholic.
My affliction began early in my youth. I would fiddle incessantly with the old rabbit ear antennae on the "television set" in a futile effort to achieve picture perfect clarity on a 1974 Magnavox. I would indulge in impulsive, hare-brained schemes such as throwing the football in an effort to knock the frisbee out of the tree. And then throwing the tennis racket at the football.
By 5 o'clock the tree on my lawn looked like Dick's Sporting Goods.
Sure. I could have waited patiently for my dad to come home and retrieve the offending object. Could have for 2 minutes that is, before the restlessness set in.
I'm older now. I have an HD TV and I don't play much frisbee anymore. But I am still a fiddler.
It raises to mind a behavioral finance question: What is to become of the Fiddler's Green? I'm not referring to the traditional Irish song (which is great by the way), but to the financial portfolio of the modern adjustaholic. If you are an adjustaholic like I am, there are some days you have an urge to fiddle. Somedays you just wake up, get a cup of coffee... and you just really feel like buying a stock.
Any stock.
I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna buy... geez, I dunno... something in the IBD top 10! Like SYNL! And why not? It's # 1 on their list for crying out loud! What exactly does SYNL do? They print $$$ for their investors, THAT'S what they do! It's up to 45. Have you seen the chart! It's a rocket ship! Besides, I'll just cut my losses at 8% if it drops. (And I really will this time too.) But it won't drop! That's the beauty of it! You may say I'm joining a game of Musical Chairs at the Greater Fools Social Club, but they're playing the live version of Freebird - and they haven't even gotten to the guitar solo yet!
Do I really need to tell you what happened next? Suffice it to say I capped my losses at 8% this time. (Okay, 10%). And the fiddler loses some more green.
I recently had a conversation with my colleague, Dr. Peterson. I stated that we cannot change human nature, but that we could plan around it.
Dr. Peterson pointed out that the same human nature that bedevils our investing process is equally apparent in our planning processes.
He has an undeniable and somewhat depressing point.
Well, I still believe we CAN plan around human nature, but it is not easy. It requires honesty with ourselves and self-awareness. It requires having, at the ready, a behavioral alternative that is less self-destructive than placing a buy order. Sometimes it may require help. One of the best things a busybody investor can do is to have a partner - a financial advisor, a friend - someone they can call in his/her moments of weakness.
I'm serious. Alcoholics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, Smokers Anonymous -- one of the most effective methods of stopping a destructive behavior is to reach out to another person when your will is faltering. It helps.
Pascal was right. I cannot sit peacefully in my room, the one with the computer in it... and the access to my brokerage account.
Next time I feel the urge to buy SYNL, maybe I'll call Rich. Or maybe I won't bother to sit in my room at all, and I'll go for a long, long walk instead.
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