A few months ago I wrote a quick little piece on life and the stock market. At the time I thought it to be a tad bit depressing. But after seeing Bill Gross talk about his own death in his latest investment outlook, and the death of the SurveyMonkey CEO I thought today was the perfect day to share it.
You can see the toll this historic bull market and constant central bank intervention has exacted on many market participants, most notably the arrogant (and not so arrogant) perma-bears. Some bloggers are throwing in the towel, or about to, as every red arrow they draw to the downside is quickly reversed. Others simply spew the same wrong 'market crash' headline that hasn't worked since March 2009. The rest of us don't have the luxury of an infinite investment account required of a perma-bear.
Life is short, don't go back wishing you spent more time doing more of what matters the most.
Without further adieu:
There's a very good chance you will go to sleep tonight and awake tomorrow morning, just like every other morning. However one day in the not too distant future you will not wake up. It's the inevitability of life stated so simply at zerohedge.com:
"On a long enough timeline the survival rate for everyone drops to zero."
There are thousands upon thousands of stocks, charts, filings, news, option data to peruse on a daily basis, and that's when the market is closed. During the session the action is even more hectic. When I sit back and think about the amount of data my brain absorbs each hour of the day my head starts to ache.
Over the weekend there's Barron's, the Weekend Journal, The Economist, Bloomberg Business Magazine...... you could spend an entire weekend just reading current market publications. What about fitting in a book, articles, whats being shared on twitter... again you could spend an entire weekend with your nose in stocks, without much effort. And when you've been doing it for years on end, it becomes a habit, second nature, almost a narcotic. It's soothing, exciting, reassuring, and stimulating. I love it. The key is to not let it take over your life.
Your family is not going to remember you for all the great trades you made, or for calling the top for $NUS at $140 or $PSMT at $125. They'll remember the time you spent with them. Of course they'll remember you for the food you provided for them and the roof over their heads, but they'll also remember you for all the time you spent with them. You NEVER get that time back.
Tomorrow isn't promised to anyone. And while making a lot of money might get you a nicer coffin when you move on from this world, you can't take it all with you.
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If you search the internet there are plenty of troubled tales. Traders who lost it all. Traders who took their own lives. Do not go into any trade with money you can not afford to lose. Have a plan. And don't even start trading until you can fully understand every trade you make.
You can start learning more here