Saturday 25 October 2008

Chickens and Elephants

"I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it". 

An old joke, but with house prices and the Stock Market dropping by the day, and no bottom in sight, (that sounds rather rude!), it doesn't seem quite so funny these days.

Of course the bottom will be reached at some point, and although recovery will be slow, (at least Pound Cost Averaging will help) at some point I will be back to where I was.

Advanced in my years as I am, I do (hopefully) still have a few years before retirement, and since I am not as stupid as I look (always a great relief to my Mother), I hope to have all my ducks in a row by that time.

Funny really how my sports investing has been a far better savings method over the past 4+ years than the more traditional stocks and shares.

My old parents are watching their HBOS shares lose value every day. I'm expecting them to ask me soon how to open an account on Betfair, but I shall point them over to BETDAQ. They can't be paying a Premium Charge at their age.

At the other end of the age spectrum, my son turns 18 next month. Since he is almost as gifted at Maths as I am, I think I could do worse than forget his new socks and gloves, but fund him a new Betting Exchange account instead.

Continuing with the financial (and toilet) humour, I read this Nassim Nicholas Taleb quote:

"Option sellers, it is said, eat like chickens and go to the bathroom like elephants" 
(Option sellers earn a steady small income from selling the options, but when a disaster happens they lose a fortune).

No comments: