Fables and Fairy Tales
From the latest Market Shadows Newsletter, 7-3-13.
In this issue, we review recent put-selling trades by Paul Price, discuss the value of patience and planning, explore interest rates and inflation, and take a look at the markets with Lee Adler.
Excerpt:
Leaving success to luck is for gamblers. Chances are good that we’re not likely to win the state lottery, strike it rich in Vegas, or be remembered as day-trading prodigies. Serious investing requires following a rational plan, managing risk wisely, and never letting greed or impatience change the course.
When Aesop, a slave and storyteller in Ancient Greece, wrote The Crow and the Pitcher, he was not thinking about stock exchanges and dollar cost averaging. However, the fable is clearly about the benefits of planning and patience.
It begins, “A Crow, half-dead with thirst, came upon a Pitcher which had once been full of water; but when the Crow put its beak into the mouth of the Pitcher, he found that only very little water was left in it, and that he could not reach far enough down to get at it. He tried, and he tried, but at last had to give up in despair.”
The story doesn’t end in failure. Like a smart bird, the crow thought about his predicament and devised a plan.
“He took a pebble and dropped it into the Pitcher… Then he took another pebble and dropped that into the Pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped that into the Pitcher. At last, at last, he saw the water mount up near him, and after casting in a few more pebbles he was able to quench his thirst and save his life.” (Jacob’s translation of Aesop, 1894.)
The moral of The Crow and the Pitcher: “Little by little does the trick.”
When investing, it’s better to get rich slow than to get poor quick.
Read the full newsletter: Market Shadows Newsletter, 7-3-13: Fables and Fairy Tales.
