Exactly how the Stock Market works has bugged me for 9 years. Being only 24, that's a hefty percentage of my life! I had various jigsaw pieces of information but not knowing the overall picture meant building it was impossible (defined in my book as too hard for me!). Needless to say the books written by the Wise were no help at all.
Since reading TMF UK Investment Guide and discovering your website, I've spent many hours on-line devouring the available information. I even registered (as GoodPrognosis).
Some of you might be amused by the similarities between my search for relevant investing information and a similar struggle which I began at the tender age of eight. Hence this Bribble.
Magic always amazed me (at 8). I knew deep down inside that it wasn't really magic. But no matter how hard I watched I could never work out how it was done! I was in awe of magicians, and thought to be one must be a wonderful life so I resolved to uncover the mysteries.
My parents tried to be helpful and for a few years Christmas presents were off the shelf box-sets of magic tricks. Expensive box-sets they were too, considering what they actually contained. It soon became clear that these sets all contained basically the same tired tricks and information. I eventually discovered that the only tricks available to the public were those the Magic Circle allowed for mass production. This hardly felt like the veil of secrecy had been lifted.
By the age of ten I knew how useful libraries were. So visited my local branch, which had recently had a computer system installed linking it to all libraries in England. Through this system I was able to get a list of all the books that England's libraries possessed on Magic. Many of these were entitled "The truth behind Magic tricks", "How to create illusions like the experts" and "How to cut a woman in half". Success!
But the Magicians were ready for me. Their wallet size depends entirely on protecting certain information. Every book I ordered would turn out to be a biography, a history of prestidigitation or a photograph series of women cut in half. Not one of which simply explained, in words of one syllable, how to actually do the damn tricks.
By the age of eleven I'd all but given up, but was lucky enough to obtain a copy of a card tricks book which clearly explained the fundamentals of card manipulation. The Holy Grail! Pure information! At last! I also discovered the people who supply professional Magicians with equipment, who for a price could provide a catalogue of every trick/illusion there was. For a larger amount of cash they'd send me details of the currently popular illusions.
I wasn't best pleased to discover that a good Magician is only so through hours and days and weeks of constant practice. But even though the path wasn't easy, just knowing where it was gave me momentum enough to travel it.
Just as my first real magic book couldn't instantly make me a fantastic Magician, reading your book didn't magically transform me into a skilled investor. But the warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of my stomach tells me I'm finally on the right road.
Any Magician revealing secrets is instantly despised and belittled by every other Magician. As, I am sure, you are similarly appreciated by the Wise.
Eventually I became a skilled (by my standards at least) Magician. Hopefully, when I retire, I'll be able to look back and say the same about my investing.
The chap who wrote that first Magic book was long since dead. I never had the chance to thank him. But I would not miss this opportunity to thank you (over and above the cover price!) for your eye-opener. (Should I do your shoelaces whilst I'm down here?)
Incidentally, if you've stuck with this post and are wondering why this has been bugging me for exactly 9 years, I'll explain. When I was fifteen (still hooked on Magic) I started reading the "How to beat Blackjack" books. Of which there are thousands. I was attempting to design a card-counting system on my home computer because this sounded like easy money! Eventually I came across the original, the first and only book ever to truthfully explain how Blackjack can be beaten.
Unfortunately the author (Edward Oakley Thorpe) was a genius mathematician. He proudly wrote his book and clearly printed the formula and the necessary data required from the gaming table to decrease the house advantage sufficiently to allow a punter to win (in the long run). Sadly you'd have to be a genius mathematician to remember this formula, let alone use it without an A4 pad, pen and calculator. (Which are, would you believe, frowned upon in casinos).
He broke the bank at every casino in Las Vegas, England, Monte Carlo and Paris, before he was barred from every casino in the world! (Casinos didn't like him). His success made him infamous in the gaming community and inspires millions of eager suckers, all convinced that they too will "break the bank". (The casinos don't mind this too much; you can buy his book and all the clones in Las Vegas with no trouble)
He'd already quit Blackjack, though. He had risen to the challenge and met it. He then turned his attention to the stockmarket, and I remember his reasoning clearly:
"...because in the long run the chances of doubling your initial investment before losing all of it can be increased to as much as 99%."
It was then that I returned to the library and started fighting the Wise for information.
Fool USA
