On September 4, 1622, the Nuestra Señora de Atocha was sunk in a hurricane off the coast of Florida. The cargo of that Spanish ship was of tremendous value, including 24 tons of silver, 125 bars of gold and 350 chests of indigo. The Spanish mounted a valiant effort to retrieve their lost treasures, yet their search proved to be in vain.
I can personally sympathize with such a great loss of possessions. Recently I found myself in possession of a great sum of cash. Unlike the Spanish, I did not achieve my affluence through the conquest of my next door neighbor. Rather my slush fund came from my summer work as a life guard. Before I knew it, this money was beginning to burn a hole in the pocket of my favorite pair of jeans. That simply was an unacceptable, not to mention uncomfortable situation. I panicked and emptied my pockets into the volatile stock market.
Juice; Jamba Juice, is a name that will be eternally etched into my brain. It was in this chain, with its delectable smoothies that I chose to invest. Over night I became a self proclaimed expert on EPS ratios, dividends, yields, portfolios, and even diversification. At the time I was not in accord with the need to diversify. By god! I had the company of the future, and I was going to ride my smoothie high all the way to the bank. At first things were great. I was up a couple hundred bucks and the outlook was promising. It was easy money; the company was fulfilling my great expectations. The value of my account took off like a fighter pilot, but soon the bombs would start flying. The economy started showing signs of eminent recession, and the notion that Jamba Juice was under incompetent management leaked. Jamba stock prices plummeted like a skydiver with a broken parachute. I contemplated my options, and became even more perplexed. Should I try to ride it out? I had a feeling that the predicament would only worsen for my beloved Jamba Juice. Should I sell everything in an attempt to cut my losses? Or was pulling the old Benedict Arnold and jumping to another company my best option? I felt hopeless, my summers work was slipping away before my eyes and there was nothing I could do to reverse the trend. You can learn a lot from having you’re time and effort slip into oblivion. I literally have a graph to prove it.
My self enlightenment hit me with the force of a hurricane. My impetuous shortcomings had led to my eventual economic demise. Looking back on things, I now realize that given my financial situation, it was probably ill advised to invest in something as volatile as the stocks. I lost a lot of money, but learned valuable life lessons along the way. There are no get rich quick schemes in life. Success in any field takes a great deal of hard work or extraordinary natural ability, I’ve been blessed with some aptitude , however by working hard I have been able to surpass individuals with more natural talent. I have become diligent in my decision making process as a result of the incident. I calculate risk reward ratios like a sports statistician assesses the benefits of acquiring an injury prone all star. Though I have become more analytical, and slightly less grandiose, I will never be afraid to risk it all for what I believe in.
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