I saw a prominent article yesterday which struck a chord with me personally.
Slope of Hope Blog Posts
Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.
Gratitude and the Treadmill
You are probably acquainted with the hedonic treadmill, or what I usually call hedonic acclimation. It asserts, quite correctly, that humans tend to become accustomed to whatever the circumstances in their life are and consider that to be “normal“, whether you’re imprisoned or living the vapid life of endless indulgence like Lauren Sanchez or Paris Hilton. Whatever you encounter day to day becomes the norm, and slight variances from that become good or bad……….but just for you.
Changes in the Rearview Mirror
For years now, I’ve done something which is a bit unusual, but I find oddly helpful, which is to track the positions I have closed out. In other words, when I close a position, I move it to a different part of my portfolio spreadsheet, updating its “entry” price with its “exit” price so that I can see what would have happened to that position if I had simply hung on to it.
By its nature, this is a constant source of either relief (“Phew, glad I got out!“) or regret (“Idiot! Coward! You should have hung on!“) I constantly have my eye on the rearview mirror.
$1.5 Million Goners
Anyone who trades equity markets on a regular basis knows all too well the feeling of regret. There’s really no such thing as a contented trader, because if the market is going against us, we wish we weren’t in position, and if the market is going for us, we wish we were more aggressively-sized.
Years ago, I even set up a page called Woulda Shoulda Coulda which lets anyone punch in a symbol, date, and purchase amount just to see what the value of any given security would be in the present day. Try it, and I guarantee you’ll want to tear your hair out.
I was reminded of the topic of regret when I stumbled upon this prominent post over in /wsb:
A Signal You’ll Find Nowhere Else
This market is marvelously exhausting. I’m already resenting the weekend ahead, since it’ll create a break in the festivities. Can you imagine if Juneteenth was coming up? The past three days feel like thirty, and the only sad thing is that – – as Colonel Kilgore assured us – – someday this war’s gonna end.
In the meantime, though, the bombs are dropping, and Slope’s 20 years have proved one thing: when the market gets battered, Slope gets popular. It’s only just beginning……….
