The Stock Market Hoax
Oooh! Ride the roller coaster of intoxication
throw your dollars on beckoning roulette wheel
buy some junk bonds, throw them in your closet
keep your heart in your mouth for the plunge
and the stock market passions arising ever higher.
You’re on a magic carpet of exhilarating roll,
peaking before fall of no return spades your wallet
seedy men in spiffed up jackets shoveling money
into their coffers before resounding closing bell.
Buy low, sell high they chant in overpowering chorus
I watch in horror as my no-load fund tumbles
Secondary bond portfolio is worthless, crumbles
ever downward into bottomless abyss as I hang on
worthless certificates which are just scraps of paper.
The promised land eludes me once again as I dissolve
puddle on littered floor of instant wealth fantasies.
Money, Money, Money, Money, MONEY
Trading futures,
Trading lives,
Trading hopes
On the backs of a hopeless nation.
Money making money.
Men making men.
The hopeful breeding a new world
Of the hopeless.
Gamble and risk.
High stakes and more.
And entire world
Removed from the reality of compassion.
A global world
United in greed
Fast money,
And even faster bets.
The world turns on.
The lamentations grow.
Another generation is lost
In the endless turmoil.
Drowned in a sea of green and gold.
Stocks
This is like a secret club.
Learn our language and be successful.
Otherwise, you're grasping at fool's gold.
Put your bank account on a roller coaster.
Supply and demand.
Up and down.
Gain and loss.
Fortune and poverty.
Now you're hungry.
You make money and eat.
Now you're hungry for more.
You take your new money and buy an SUV.
Shares come and go like waves anyway.
The business of businesses.
Closing at $81.77.
Close the portfolio.
To Market, To Market
Wooden stalls line the street, bright and early each morning. The lovely white birds roost inside, taking stock of inventory. They each begin with a few dozen chubby-cheeked infants per day, and all of them are sold out by nightfall. Children are in high demand these days.
Couples come from miles around to survey the wide selection. Some come alone, and returning customers occasionally bring other little ones, products of this very market.
"See where you come from," they tell their little ones. "This stall here" or "that stall there." Misbehaving children are often threatened with returns. The parents, of course, threw away the receipts long ago.
After hours and days of searching and comparing prices, a deal is struck. A tiny, sweet infant goes from wing to loving arms, bubble-wrapped if requested. Sometimes parents have it delivered straight home, soaring over houses and trees and fresh-mowed lawns in the firm but kind grip of the stork.
One day, it will be grown-up enough to wonder where it came from. Its parents will look to one another and smile, then tell them the wonderful tale of the-
Hold on, you said stock market?
My bad.
Day Trade
Playing on fear
While ignoring the greed-
Disbanding the short bears
As I buy down with speed.
A self-proclaimed bull
At times overly optimistic-
But the glass stays half full
As I stay delightfully hedonistic.
When I sell too early I have to remember
You can never go broke taking a profit-
The next day I won’t even remember
The previous day’s specific profits or losses.
Bored of charts and lulling hours,
Dead months in August and the end of December-
Longing for more volatile powers
For the entertainment of my ADD in capricious splendor.
Clicking bids and taking offers,
Ups and downs it’s all part of the game-
Always needing to maintain the velocity to prosper
Day trading ignites a breathtaking flame.
#CecilyChoi #StockMarket #DayTrading #Poem
Beautiful
There is beauty in simplicity. In honesty. In purity.
In that way, what is more beautiful than the stock market?
What is simpler than the longing for success, for money?
What is more honest than dropping any pretense of selflessness (the biggest and most common lie people tell themselves) and focusing your efforts on generating wealth, knowing full well that there are many who will judge you for your occupation, for your honesty?
What is purer than dealing solely with money itself, rather than working a job unrelated to finances that you only do for the money?
With all this in mind, what is more beautiful than letting go of the pressure to appear humble and allowing yourself to fully embrace and be motivated by your desire for wealth?
The Big Board*
Massive fiduciary institution
Discordant noise pollution
Fervent impassioned elocution
Leveraged selling substitution
Margin buying execution
Hedge fund redistribution
Derivative joint resolution
Insider trading convolution
Domestic currency diminution
Pursuing economic absolution
Unequal monetary distribution
Investors absent restitution
Securities fraud prosecution
Distressed business dissolution
Plenitude cultivates destitution
AND
Securities, bonds, funds, and stocks,
Market venture building blocks.
Trading shares,
Splitting hairs,
Buy, sell, or hold advice from hawks.
*(Nickname for the New York Stock Exchange; the world's largest and the U.S.'s oldest.)
big companies
the promise of wealth
with little risk draws me in
and i step into fortune's hand
just when i decide to enter
appears before me
the horse race of
crazed lunatics
and money fazed brains
who rapidly foam
at the mouth
screaming
more more more
clawing and biting
twitching eyes and paper
thin pale wrinkled hands
swell against my throat
as the competition
knocks me back off my feet
and i fall towards
destitution and ruin
at the mercy of the
wild dogs
Taking Stock
When you buy stock, you invest in a company, and the value of the company goes up.
Thereby, the company expands its business and hires employees. If the company is managed well, you get capital gains and maybe interest on your investment. If the company goes bankrupt, you get nothing unless there is a government bailout. This means the government loans the company money plus interest to stay afloat until the general economy improves. In a sense, taxpayers retain their jobs by paying for them via a bailout. Incompetent management gets a golden parachute.
Gamblers do not buy stocks. They buy puts, holds, or option contracts that may expire either with a profit or a loss. Your 401K, IRA, or Roth fund may be invested in a combination of both of these methods.
Investments are regulated by laws, but that's not much comfort when illegal activity makes off with your dough. There are a million schemes for getting you to invest. Ask questions, read the small print, and get multiple opinions before you buy. Money is merely a medium of exchange; it circulates, and it is quite possible to end up on the short end of the stick. Should you make a profit, the state and federal government want a hefty piece, not to mention the fee for your broker.
Most of us make a living through some sort of business whether we are employees or owners. We know what happens when there aren't many available jobs. A long stretch of unemployment is a frightening condition for a person or a family, but it can also be an energizing event. We are creatures that depend on give and take. There is no point in condemning business. It makes work and work buys groceries. Ultimately, the best investment is in yourself, your education and your physical and mental health. With or without the stock market, you can't buy happiness. Happiness is a DIY project.