Gambling

When I tell the girlfriend that poker isn't gambling and that it's like investing in the stock market, she says something along the lines of, "Exactly, that's gambling." Contrast that with my father, of course, who thinks not investing is gambling, just like poker is. Whatever it is, there's a degree of luck involved, so I suppose there's always some sense in the notion that it's "gambling". Allow me to share my thoughts regarding the market.

There's panic all over the place because people are worried about credit issues. Subprime has spilled over into the general debt market, and that in turn has freaked out everyone. Wall Street is selling things left and right, and the general vibe is negative enough to put our beloved stock market into a selling frenzy. Call me lucky or call me clever, but I liquidated pretty much anything that didn't have long term value to me already so I've been waiting on the sidelines waiting to pick up some deals. Some others are already saying it, so it's not a novel concept or anything, but I think Q4 is really going to reward those value stocks that have good growth and industry attention but have been unfairly caught up in the selling frenzy. Come end of this year, my guess is that I'll either be begging on the streets or I'll make some sick, sick gains.

Now here's the real question. Who wants to stake me? I need room and board for the next six months and you take 100% of the loss, 50% of the gain.