What is it you want - part 2
Reading Dean’s last post the other day reminded me of a story I heard some time back that I think is very relevant to the topic of why we trade, and how we choose to trade.
Then not long afterwards I read Sean Rasmussen’s post in the bullhunters blog which reminded me of it yet again, so I’m going to share the story with you now.
While on holidays in Mexico, a tourst complimented a local fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
“Only a little while senor” he replied
“Hmmm, well why don’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?” the tourist asked
“Because this is all I need to support my family senor” was the reply.
“Ok, but what do you do with the rest of your time then?”
“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife Maria, then in the evening I stroll into the village where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, senor.”
The tourist scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and I know all about wealth creation and financial markets so I could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the money you make from selling those extra fish you could buy a bigger boat. Then with the profits from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, and eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would start selling directly to the processor, until eventually you would open your own cannery. You would then control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise. How does that sound?”.
The fisherman thought about it for a minute then asked, “But senor, how long will all this take?”
“About 15-20 years”.
“But what then senor?”
The tourist laughed and said “That’s the best part! When the time is right you would announce an IPO on the stock market and sell your company stock to the public. You would make millions and become very, very rich!”
“Millions, senor? Then what?”
“Then you would retire and move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos…”
Happy Trading
Brian Dibbins
Trade Profitably © 2006 - 2007
26th June 2007
Click here to return to the articles list
