robt justine: This true story may give you a giggle.
I was feeling my oats, it was time to be an investor.
I barged into A.G. Edwards&Sons more than willing
to make myself some big money. It was my first stock,
I think it was 1973. Don't laugh but I had looked at
the charts. What I saw truly amazed me. The company
was Mattel Toy's. The chart was fantastic. I couldn't
wait to spend my first million. The price had been as
high as 60, but now it was 3. Certainly by the end of
the week it would be pecking right back at 60. I couldn't
wait for all that money.
To make a short story short. The damn stock did nothing.
Up a 1/8 down a 1/8, this continued for weeks. I scratched
my head, and wondered what the problem was. It sure was taking
a long time to get back to 60 in fact it was taking a long
time to get to 3 1/2. But I was determined, and so I held.
Then one day I looked in the paper, my eyes eager for the wonderful
movement in my only position. It wasn't there, it wasn't in the
paper. I wondered what could be wrong. Finally I deduced
that it was simply a misprint, the ink didn't land on the
paper correctly. No problem I figured, things will change
tomorrow, it will make it's move tomorrow, tomorrow will
be the day my 300 shares grows into a fortune. Needless to
say again the ink forgot to land in the space I was accustomed
to gawking at.
The broker said that trading had been suspended by the S.E.C.
There was some kind of problem with the numbers on the
balance sheet. I was crushed that new Corvette was fading
from my dreams. I wrote the CEO and got a reply, but it would
be awhile before things got straightened out.
It was a long wait indeed, it was months. In the meantime the
market had turned positive and many stocks rallied. Mattel
got the numbers fixed, and one day the broker called and
informed me that Mattel would resume trading. As it turned
out I sold at over 7 dollars per share a short time later. But I
did learn two things: as I have stated before that the charts
are not the Holy Grail, they can only make suggestions. And I
learned that I would be hooked into being an investor for a
lifetime. |
