homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation Battle of Britain + Battle of Britain II Here's what happened (Continued)

Folks,

The New Year is almost upon us. Heck, I haven't gotten as much out of the Old Year as I had hoped for. Perhaps you have? I'll get another whack at those 2018 resolutions on Tuesday, as will we all, we lucky few that are still amongst the living.

It has been quite dark here all morning. A low and ten tenths overcast with heavy rain prevails. At the moment, I hear rain beating against the windows. The sound is loud enough to drown out the classical music playing from both my radios. Yup, two radios playing on the same station at the same time. 📻 📻 Sounds dumb. right? Perhaps it may be. IMHO it provides a rather Hi-Fi somewhat stereoscopic Frequency modulated sound. Before you measure me for a straight jacket and call the funny farm, I'm thinking of investing in a another stereo system. There are so many available on Amazon and other sites, I can't make up my mind which is best.

The photo below is of my opera singing "pal" Zeena. After a two month blissful hiatus, she is once again serenading me both day and night about every other week. You know, I should record that performance and send a copy to you all so you music lovers (and I know that you are one MG) can enjoy it too. Keep an eye on your frosty mailboxes for your own unique copy of "Das Fledermaus" sung by our talented Zeena around midnight one sleepless night coming soon. 🐺 🎶

Real music is and always has been important in my life. It feeds the soul. 50's-60's Rock & Roll, old or new Classical music, jazz, I enjoy a bit of most genres. Heavy metal, Rap, Hip-Hop would be exceptions that come to mind. If I listened to that I'd probably find something I would like. I'd just as soon not listen to a lot of that stuff I wouldn't like just to find a bit that I would.

Speaking of investing, and someone just did, clearly, we all know it has been a roller coaster ride for investors. There's been a lot of volatility in the market, much of it inflicted by our pals in Washington. Thankfully, we have been lucky more than unlucky. My son made some money selling short.

I believe in Mr. Buffett. To paraphrase the stock guru, "....if you invest in a well run business with a good track record, and stay in for the long haul, you'll make money over time." Easier for him to do I think than I. He also has been quoted saying: "Rule one, NEVER LOSE MONEY." Rule Two, REMEMBER RULE ONE."

But I have been lucky so far. Unlike Warren Buffet who takes control of a company and can affect its financial direction – most of us are speculating that a purchase of a share of stock today can be sold at a higher price in the future. Furthermore, we are doing this with our hard earned savings.

But friends, time is more important than money. You can get more money. You cannot get more time. Since the turn of the century, investors have recovered, theoretically, from two massive bear market corrections. After 15 years, investors are now mostly back to where they were in 2000 after adjusting for inflation. The problem is that there has been an irreplaceable loss; the “time” that was available to “save” for retirement is gone, forever.

A year or so ago I was looking to throw some useless clutter away. OK, I have always been a "Pack Rat". In looking through the detritus of my life, I came upon a paper from 9th grade. Why I still had that and yet I had thrown away several other things it turned out I should never have, I do not understand.

The single sheet of ruled notebook paper had on it a list of stocks. Stocks I had picked to pretend to invest in as a class project. As I said, that was way back in the year 1959. according to my abacus, that folks, was 59 years ago and some change. I wrote, "It's easy. You simply buy low , sell high. Was I right? Nope. I'm marginally smarter now. You also gotta know what is low and what is high. Frankly, I was just randomly guessing. Still I did good.

It was all there, what I bought, how much I bought, what the current value was then, etc. For giggles, I checked a few current values of those stocks was on that day in 2016 or it may have been 2017. Doing just a few calculations, I realized that had I really invested a few thousand in that list I would probably be typing to you from my ocean going yacht moored somewhere on the sunny Rivera this morning.

Alright, more likely, if I'd had a few thousand bucks as a 9th grader in 1959 I'd be just as poor today but standing out in the rain trying to flog a thousand dollars worth of junk I bought in 1959 instead of stock. That would be in a poorly attended and very damp yard sale.

HAPPY NEW YEAR