Greed & Fear, Pain & Pleasure, Bull vs. Bear

All bull markets start with investors crowding churches, synagogues and temples around the world.  At the country clubs, the Hamptons, Palm Beach, LaJolla, Greenwich a united chorus can be heard:  “Lord, forgive me for having overindulged myself in what turned out to be a bear market.  I got carried away, a bit too greedy…pardon me Lord I will never buy another high P/E stock again, mea culpa, no more Nifty 50 stocks or the latest, hottest Mutual Fund in Money Magazine.”   

It is always darkest before the dawn and then a loud and forceful voice is heard coming from the alter from those houses of worship:   

Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace there may be in the stock market.  As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with the bulls for most investors get exactly what they expect from the stock market.  Speak your truth quietly and clearly; but don’t listen to your salesman broker for they too have their mortgage to be paid with your commissions.  Avoid loud and aggressive persons (Jim Cramer) for they are vexations to the spirit.  If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser investors than yourself.  Enjoy your profits as well as your losses.  Keep interested in your portfolio, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.  Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery.  But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many fundamentalists strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.  Be yourself.  Especially do not avoid the technician, those closing prints are usually real traders not algorithms.  Neither be cynical about making money; for in the face of losses and despair it is perennial and as green as grass.  Take kindly the counsel of your investment advisor, gracefully surrendering your hard-earned cash.  Nurture your mental stops to shield you against sudden market declines.  But do not distress yourself with imagining a $100 stock disintegrating to $15 in three days.  Many fears are born of bear markets.  Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.  You are a child of Wall Street no less, not poorer or richer, you have the right to be here.  And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt Wall Street is unfolding as it should.  Therefore, be at peace with the stock market.  The stocks don’t know you own them and wouldn’t behave any differently if they did.  Whatever you conceive your investment approach to be in the noisy confusion of life on Wall Street, keep peace with your soul.  With all it’s sham, drudgery and broken dreams, the stock market is still a beautiful world.  Be careful and strive for profits.

 

An updated version of DESIDERATA, which was a prose poem by Max Ehrmann about attaining happiness in life, updated by Dean Parisian about the stock market in 2018.