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Dating & the Stock Market


 

Investing from an early age is the smartest thing one can do. Being fortunate enough to have strong male role-models in my life, my grandfathers and my own father started teaching me the value of money from an early age. Lessons learned were many and as I grew up I began to make my own connections with regards to value. Life, and everything in it, is always related and relative to everything else. To be good at picking stocks and investing is no different to being wise when it comes to other marketplaces; such as the sexual marketplace. Dating and stock picking are so similar in nature it is actually scary sometimes. They both have one main thing in common: Valuation.

I began investing during my first year at college, and like any young investor I made mistakes; got emotional about certain stocks (aka-oneitis). Soon I began to learn that trading is art that requires a lot of Zen, and to be a good trader you need to be cold. If you're down $10,000.00 its not a big deal, if you're up $10,000.00; still not a big deal. Wins and losses become meaningless. What matters is your strategy. Sure you're down today, but what about a week from now? You can't let one hour, or one day of market trading rattle you; it's all about your target and goal for your position.

Just like with dating and bachelor-ism; to slay and make profit you need to check the bull-shit at the door and recognize that its all a game; and the ones who win are the ones who have abundance mentality rather than scarcity. Along the way, through your investing career, you will begin to figure out what kind of an investor/trader you are. At first, I thought I was a long-term investor; committed to companies and holding on to my investments...no matter what the trouble, or costs. The dating world, like the stock market, has changed significantly in the last decade; hook-up culture, Tinder and algorithms. To make money in today's market it often pays dividends to make short-term trades instead of holding on for the long haul. Most of my best trades/investments were the ones that took a week or a month to pan out; grossing sizable returns by pumping & dumping a stock.

One of my favorite trades to do is contrarian; wherein you find companies and stocks that are totally undervalued and overlooked, buy a shit-ton of shares, wait in the weeds and then sell when they become popular. Companies that have been unfairly punished by the market due to rumors or an overreaction to news are the best. The companies that are turn-around stories. The companies that nobody knows about yet, even though the potential can be seen if the market just looked in their direction (eventually it does). They are like the girls back in high-school that were overlooked and then became suddenly hot after a year. The market then falls in love with them all over again; and the guys who 'sold' their shares are now kicking themselves because they can't get back in anymore--or will have to pay a large premium for shares in that company. They have to pay a higher price for her company; because she is now in DEMAND.

As i grew up and started seeing and dating women, I noticed that a lot of my grandfathers and father's maxims applied to the worlds of both stocks & dating.

"The first piece of shit news is never the last."

Enron and Nortel didn't just go bankrupt overnight. There was first a question of accounting, followed by restatement of profits, then dividend cuts. One after the other after the other. When it comes to corporate fuckery there is never just one infected sore or cockroach; there are way more skeletons underneath the church basement. Trust your gut, nobody is perfect, but there is a huge difference between minor infractions and HOLY FUCK, I NEED TO BAIL NOW incidents. Know all the Red Flags and keep an eye out for anything that doesn't sit right with your investment and position. The truth always comes out in the end because liars are always caught over time.

"If you can't get your hands on a hot new company, she's probably not worth it anymore."

This one goes to the maxim of the town bicycle. That new IPO has been pumped and dumped up to where it is now overvalued and running on ego. Sooner or later it will fall. Each year a new hot IPO comes to market and everyone and their brother wants a go at it. The valuation in a hot new IPO is one of scarcity; once everyone has it you can be damn sure scarce is the last thing that it is.

Sure, it's possible that she is the one girl that appreciates everything that you are and do, including your sense of humor, and believes that that app idea you have will be the next Tinder--all from a glance and a wink from across the bar. Then again,no, probably not.

Recognizing the difference between ideal and reality will go a long way when it comes to dating and investing. A good trader lives in reality and does not adhere to feelz, delusions and wishful thinking about what 'should be'. It's all about the 'what is' and what the market is saying to you.

"Don't let bad trades turn into investments."

What trader hasn’t given in to the temptation to buy a stock just for a quick pop?

Even though you knew full well the company was shitty, you’d be out of the trade long before it even mattered. Except everyone else had the same idea.

Soon you’re staring at a big red number in the profit/loss column. But instead of selling the stock you had no intention of owning in the first place, you try to rationalize why the company is suddenly a decent investment. Sadly, this is not all that different than the one-night-stand gone awry.

"Good investments work from the beginning."

It happens to every trader. A stock has been on a consistent trajectory upward, but the second you buy it, it does a 360. WTF! It’s as if somehow the market knew.

Occasionally, these stocks come back. But even if they do, it seems that every penny is a struggle; so much stress and an eternity in waiting for them to regain. Most traders’ biggest winners are the most effortless. The profits started ringing up from the get-go. When they don’t, that’s often a sign.

If you’re arguing with someone right off the bat, chances are you’re not right for each other. Sure, you could make it work. But every day will be a slog.

Maybe that’s what people mean when they say they “just knew.” A relationship with a bright future should never be a struggle.

What I have learned throughout the years is that there are a lot of shitty companies. Companies that have loads of debt, rapidly depreciating assets and have diluted their share base multiple times in order to get short-term financing. This also applies to the dating world--if you can read between the lines of that last sentence.

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