Today when I saw this picture in Facebook on the wall of the page Piled Higher and Deeper, I was prompted to think of children as an investment in the stock market of life, where every decision or even every thought is a trade off between some or all of the following.
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
I leave you with this poem by Kahlil Gibran and my modifications below it .
Children
The Portfolio
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."
And the speculator who held a stock certificate in his folio said "Tip us about today's bets."
And he said:
And the intelligent investor said:
Your children are not your children.
Your equity are not your bonds or commodities.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They are Capital's longing to grow itself.
They come through you but not from you,
They are invested or traded by you but not because you exist.
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
And though you value them , your perception may not be shared by others.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
You may put in your analysis but cannot demand conformance to your predictions.
For they have their own thoughts.
For the market moves irrationally.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
You may own the portfolio but you will not determine it's market value.
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
For their future values cannot be predicted by you, even with the best Quantitative Financial Analysts and Algorithms.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
You can choose to be irrational. But don't expect the stock price movements to be rational.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
For the present price of a stock has nothing to do with the path it has taken.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
You can choose the selling and buying price. But you cannot undo a trade once it has happened.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
You are just a temporary owner of the shares. Others will own them later and you will own other shares later. The market uses your account as a temporary resting place in it's eternal dance of reallocation.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
Do not be troubled by the volatility of the market.
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
For the market rewards the patient and sensible investor just as it eventually finds the correct price for every share.
Kahlil Gibran
Sanjay Francis George
- Between fear and greed.
- Between risk and return.
- Between overzealous ambition and cowardly pragmatism.
- Between minimizing pain and maximising joy.
- Between memory and imagination.
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| Taken from PHD FB picture dated 22 February 2013 |
My Response was
Reduce Volatility through Hedging. Have more kids if you have an IQ > 140 (high BV/Price ratio) , have no genetic or mental diseases (fundamental analysis) and you are in the top 20% of the wealthy (P/E Ratio Rank) instead of refusing to breed (diversify and expand).
W.Shakespeare once said
They have their exits and their entrances,
Since I do not believe in predestination or socialism but in free will and laissez faire markets , I think the stock market will be a better analogy for life than a scripted play. Like people, companies are born (incorporated), marry (merge), have kids (spin off subsidiaries), die (close down or go bankrupt), etc. At any point in time there are other people (investors) and organisations (banks, mutual funds) who are stakeholders in your performance. Finding a great investment is like finding a great friend or spouse. Do your due diligence.
Putting together a great portfolio is like Having Children. Timing and Selection of breeding partner matter a lot. Managing your portfolio is like raising a family. You have to bring patience, thought and effort to the table. You have to put in time and money. And sunk cost can sink you often.
Kahlil Gibran
