Jan
28
Investing and Philosophy, from J.T. Holley
January 28, 2009 |
One of my favorite lines in a philosophical novel (Sophie's World) is "Why is Lego one of the most ingenious toy in the world?" My thoughts are that it is timeless, creative beyond imagination, durable, ageless (adults can play too), and global. Stocks are I feel parallel in that they too have to be one of the most "ingenious speculative toys in the world". What are some of the reasons for you? Many are the same for me as for Legos.
V. Katsenelson adds:
This is what I wrote awhile back about why I love investing: I love everything about it:
The uncertainty of every decision. The intellectual exercise of putting different pieces of the puzzle together while never having enough information at your disposal. The constant battle with one's emotions, the hardest and the most important battle of all. The never-ending pursuit of perfection despite its unattainability, how just when you think you have figured it out, the market has a new lesson in store for you. The humbling aspect of the market, arguably the most humbling mechanism ever invented by humans. The people, the debate, the search for the truth. The fact that for every trade there are two opposing sides (buyer and seller), and time is the variable that separates them from discovering who was right and who was wrong. And finally, the hidden, rarely recognized, but fascinating impact that randomness plays in many outcomes.
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Just as two fingerprints are never to same. neither are two people when it comes to trading. That is what makes the game fascinating to me.
the classic comment about hold-em poker is it takes 15 minutes to learn and a lifetime to master. Plus it is like golf you can play virtually forever until you die.
Why do we never tire of looking at the ocean or a body of water for that matter, Or the sky. For as much as it is the same it is forever changing and adapting.
That is what the market means to me
You mean there’s no herd after all?
NOW what am I supposed to follow?
:)
Cheers,
George
I dont love all the things you mention VK but I agree with all of em
I dont agree with this
One of the most fascinating aspects is the markets adaptive nature.Trader in his struggle to make sense of the market continues to adapt without prediction, expectation. May be we know we are in flow with the market only in hind sight . But trader always has an intutive sense of calm when his position is with the market.
Love of knowledge as the speculator struggles in his search of truth is one of the most interesting aspects for traders. Hastening the price to its inevitable level is one of the functions of speculator. Profits and losses are by products of this activity as often emphasised in this forum.
My daughter some times asks ” what is the use of your work to the society”. Even though I cannot answer her directly, I mumble myself and refer to Victor’s articles for inspiration, direction and solace.
Lego is a fascinating toy product and an extremely interesting piece of engineering. Those who are a certain brain wired species may impart great wisdom in this area however,
I am not sure what Lego's have in common with speculation. I must think on this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego
As for stocks, they are in a sense a building block. I believe there are over 7000 stocks. When one factors in the ETFs, closed end funds etc. the list expands greatly. Now what are the building blocks that you have to work with.
146 Sectors
large cap
mid-cap
small-cap
micro-cap
Growth
Value
GARP
Vulture
Combine this with International stocks
Europe
Asia
South America
Emerging markets.
Now you get a picture of the endless variety of "Lego's" that you have to call upon to build a portfolio. You can take a few to build a stick man, Many to build a development center, it is all up to you. In my view, this is what is most intriguing about stocks.
sl.
A bit like golf in that you never conquer it. A lot of kids play for the money too as businessmen often don’t put in the time it takes. Beats mowing grass.