"You know in a mental institution they sometimes give a person some clay or some basket weaving? It's the therapy of moviemaking that has been good in my life. If you don't work, it's unhealthy—for me, particularly unhealthy. I could sit here suffering from morbid introspection, ruing my mortality, being anxious. But it's very therapeutic to get up and think, Can I get this actor; does my third act work? All these solvable problems that are delightful puzzles, as opposed to the great puzzles of life that are unsolvable, or that have very bad solutions. So I get pleasure from doing this. It's my version of basket weaving." Read more.
Trading in the stock market may be my own basket weaving. 'Playing' in the PSE has become good therapy vs. office work that is becoming more a struggle and unlikeable as days pass. The company I work for is great, worth fighting for, a firm you can believe in. But the level of absurdity in my particular division is increasing each day. Policy this, protocol that, restriction this, semantics that, write this detailed, but not too long, disdain this, support that, be good with your internal customers but ignore that, do this first. And often times you are asked to pursue a thing that has no clarity, no perceived end. At least in trading, when you sell it's either you've lost money or gained. You lose or you win--it can't be clearer than that.
Also, office politics--it is not necessarily evil. It's the squeak in the gears and pinions or maybe an important lube in office work as we roll along. But for long term, it suits a different animal that's not me. After 5 years in a company grinding with a particular type of power play, I become disillusioned. Or is it just me reaching shelf-life against that kind cubicle atmosphere? Woody Allen is not subject to 'external' control since the very first movie he directed. As long as he does it on budget on on time, there's no pressure from the outside, no boss, no financier looking over his shoulder. When you trade your own money, it's you alone who's clicking buy and sell, and making the decision.
It's good to discover that there is this Woody Allen Documentary. I was elated it was available for torrent (would be impossible to find a dvd copy of this here, even if I do want to go legal). The 3.5-hr film is a great look at a long, productive, and still going-at-it life. I was surprised he cooperated in such a project. At that, with all his neuroses, he can smile as jovially as this:
Watching about his discipline, quirks, 'compartmentalization,' work ethic, urge to finish, brought a 'profitable' learning for me. It's equivalent to reading a book about Allen and his extraordinary yearly output. At one segment he said, "I never had a writer's block." Wow.
Which listed company wouldn't be stunted in five years forward? Which one among our small PSE would consistently and extraordinarily show +15-20% increase in earnings year-on-year? AGI? JFC? PGOLD? Hectic season at work is coming, struggle to finish what has been committed for 2013 is on. I wont have time for trading even a few hours before and after lunch. I would need to park funds for intermediate term, and maybe concentrate only on a few week 'plays' in a short watchlist. If it's cash, then I would need to park in a money market uitf. If its equities, I need the company that has room and strong urge to grow.
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Btw, my favorite Woody Allen films (in no order):
Love and Death
Bullets over Broadway
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Match Point
Hannah and Her Sisters
Manhattan
Annie Hall
Whatever Works
Deconstructing Harry
Everyone Says I Love You
Mighty Aphrodite
Deconstructing Harry
Allen's yearly output makes his films commodities. When his producers ask him to consider just doing 1 in two years to make the audience anticipate them more, he says "that's nonsense." He doesn't have time to read reviews and think about box office earnings, because after finishing one movie, he's immediately on to the next.
This is good practice especially when cutting losses. Dont wallow on a loss for too long after selling, move immediately into analysing the next stock deserving your money. And if you're ding what you like, a master of your own trading rules, be sure to filter out and avoid all nonsense.
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