September 11, 2001 was obviously a remember where you were moment and Mark was a big part of my September 11 as he was for many people working in the business or following the markets. I've told this story before but on that morning I was on the phone with a client (I was a trader back then) selling some stock into the premarket (this stock had been halted for a while and this was the first morning it was going to trade). Mark reported the first plane hitting, I interrupted the client to hear what had happened. No one knew yet what was actually going on but for some reason (I don't know the reason) I said to the client we need to get more aggressive. We sold as much as we could and then got off the phone before what should have been the open. For the rest of the morning we sat around watching CNBC trying to understand the moment.
At one point yesterday Simon let out that he'd been "quite ill." I was never a huge fan of his and I wrote many times that he acted like he did not understand the ETF market but like many people he has been a fixture in my career just about every morning for a long time. He certainly could be entertaining and no doubt he will be missed.
A little more local to Walker (the town where I live) is the story of the Pink Car. Legend has it that the mayor of Prescott crashed the car here in the 1940s (he supposedly was drunk at the time). It was moved across the street after the accident and then painted pink in the 1960s. About 20 years ago they started naming all of the streets up here and so the street where they left the car after moving it was named Pink Car Hill.The Pink Car has long been a local landmark. We took a picture in front of it for our 2010 holiday card. Yesterday the pink car was stolen presumably for the scrap value but for now we obviously can't know. I'm glad we have some pictures of it.
For the people who live here in Walker the stealing of the Pink Car is truly a Black Swan event. It has been here for almost 70 years and then one day it gets stolen? Unforeseeable in my opinion. Taleb might say it was not a Black Swan for the dirtbags that stole it.
On a more personal level my college fraternity (our chapter at San Diego State) was sanctioned such that it was not quite the death penalty although it could be the death of the chapter. Fraternities are clearly not for everyone but it was for me, I learned a lot of different things, did a lot of different things and had a lot of fun. I attribute my very active involvement with the fire department to my having been very active in the fraternity. I feel bad for anyone who is in the chapter now but who will not get the full experience that they apparently wanted. Obviously these same people one way or another contributed to the problem.
I have no idea how I come across in these posts but I have a very positive outlook on things. Bad things happen in the world and to people and I am no exception but it is what we do with bad things that matters. The events described above are great reminders to not just live in the moment but also to understand the moment and then enjoy it. We all have our own ideas about how to be happy and how to enjoy life and occasionally events occur that serve as a good reminder to not let happiness and fulfillment get too far down on the priority list.
4 comments:
Thanks, Roger. Those events are indeed useful reminders to live more fully. As I've gotten (much) older, I've learned a couple of things about using the news, too.
First, most of the widely reported news is either bad or sad. That's what drives media commerce, unfortunately. It's important to find the good news out there and balance out all those Black Swan events that are so widely reported.
Second, people personalize bad news too much. Storms, war, floods, earthquakes are absolutely terrible but, thankfully, don't have a direct bearing on most people's lives. Get involved if you want to but remember that it's likely not the end of your world.
Finally, remember that you're in control of your consumption, not the news directors and editors. You can turn off the television or computer just as easily as you can turn it on. If the news depresses you, choose to tune it out. You might be boring at cocktail parties, but you can have a happier life if you remember that you're in charge.
Just some life lessons from an old timer. I might add that they apply to investing as well.
true about reporting of news. personally i think taking a little time to reflect is constructive not depressing--again it is what we do with this sort of stuff.
thank you for the comment.
Nice post today.
All the more we should cherish the good things that happen in our lives.
I think as one ages, this becomes more compelling. Time seems to past more quickly - and one does not want to get into the habit of centering a life around doctor's appointments and bowel movements.
T
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