I loved the J. Keats quote/frame of mind.
This morning, in reviewing the TC2000 charts, I read what the creators of this tool call the Worden Report (Don & Peter Worden)...
Hopefully they will not mind I share it in this thread, I thought it was a great story they shared from a letter received from one of the subscribers....
Read it, you'll like it. [Above all, I love the optimism of this individual].
The Worden Report (Friday, March 10, 2000)
?The Optimist?
Our Second Golden Wisdom Award
Our first Golden Wisdom Award (on February 24) went to a person whose attitudes seemed to grow out of a life of success and good fortune. Experience taught him to be skeptical of easy solutions and he termed himself a pessimist. So we named him "The Pessimist."
Today's recipient of the GW Award is a brave man whose major life lessons root in adversity. Adversity has taught him to never stop looking for the silver lining - and, remarkably, how to find it.
It may be ironic, but the name we feel suits him best is "The Optimist."
At the outset he refers to "Sir Drill-Sergeant" (Knighted March 7) and to the plight of PG, who captured the attention and sympathy of many of our Users in the Worden Report of March 1.
We hereby bestow upon The Optimist a rank equal to Knight. He will of course receive a celebratory bottle of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin.
Dear Don and Peter,
Sir Drill Sergeant's experience and your encouragement will be of great use to the Misery of the PGs. I've been there, done that. I got downsized in 1992 at age 54, eight years ago. Had $150,000 trading in the market. Made $500,000. Got cancer and wife started running around with Multi-Millionaire friend(?)
Invested into one stock to make a bundle. Divorced people with cancer don't need money, but I thought maybe I could make enough money to keep wife after 40 years of marriage. Attorney locked up stock during divorce. Could not sell. Stock went bankrupt.
Wife divorced me and married Millionaire. Had to sell everything else and give her 50%. Now live in a one-bedroom apartment. You can acquire friends with money, but they won't be there when you're down-and-out and need them.
A real friend has helped to get my boots on me for the last two years. I now get my boots on by myself most of the time. And I trade stock again. Yes, I laid in some oil stocks a while back -- TX, XOM. HAL, NE. Nailed some puts on some high flying tech stocks and picked up a put on the OEX at the market close last Friday.
Have made some money, yes. Am I rich? No way. Do I need to get rich? No way. Do I expect to get rich? No way. But I do make it to the grocery store and pay the rent on my HUD apartment.
As I said, there is a time to buy and a time to sell, and a time to open your mouth, and a time to keep it shut. And it appears you know the difference and I commend you for the help you have extended. You made the best investment of all. You made a friend.
By the way, your TC 2000 is a great tool. I obviously don't make all my decisions with the charts. Age 62 helps. And 62-year-olds should not be playing the market. But that is what happens when Corporate CEOs, need to drive their stock options up. Self Greed is their motto!
Now all I need is a laptop, cell phone, electric golf cart, and a caddie that can hit a 300-yard drive for me. Would I then join the rich CEO's on the links? No way! I am not sure all of this tech stuff enhances the quality of life.
If I could find some "peace of mind," do you suppose I could buy that someplace on the Internet?
Sometimes it helps to think about other things besides money. Family, friends, the kids, and yes the dog and cat that asks for so little and gives you so much love. The birds that sing in the morning and the rabbits that play in the yard and put on a show for you. The ducks you feed in the pond at the park and the neighbor that says good morning to you with a smile. The hug of a little boy or girl that loves you. Try buying all of that with money! Yes, I know some people try, but they don't get the real thing.
What they need is a dose of cancer to find out money is not quite as important as they think, although they would still need it to get to the grocery store.
Once again, thanks for all your help and especially all the help and encouragement you give others. Stick with Greenspan. He has it right.
-AE (an OLD GENIE about to fade away) |
