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Musical Advice

Hi Guys,

Please give “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers a listen.

Rarely will you find such solid advice in a popular song of a few years ago. There is a lot more to it, but this brief excerpt captures the wisdom within the song:

“You've got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run…”

Indeed there’s much wisdom in those few lines. Enjoy and learn!

Best Regards


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Comments

  • edited June 2019
    Its true of marriage as well. They should play the song as the bride walks down the aisle.
  • there is always, always wisdom in unfathomable, inactionable bromides

    first rule is don't lose money, second rule is etc

    it's a stockpickers' market

    invest for the long term

    it was a swan of some color, a storm of some perfection

    if you can't spot the mark, that means you're the something

    sell when greed is in the air and buy when fear is in the air

    yada yada
  • Hi davidrmoran,

    Thanks for your contribution, but it falls far short. Here is a list of 1000 more or less popular sayings:

    http://wisdomquotes.com/short-quotes/

    Enjoy, but it is just a little overwhelming, just a small number so.

    Best Wishes
  • edited June 2019
    point was telling people to know when to hold or fold should always be met w wtf wtf wtf does that even mean?

    the tautology of telling your kids they will need to develop good judgment in life, and that starts with having and showing good judgment

    uh, oookay
  • @davidmoran: You do a great disservice to Roy Weitz the founder of Fundalarm with your " hold or fold should always be met w wtf wtf wtf does that even mean?" It was Roy's calling card. I would appreciate it if you would delete this nonsense.
    Regards,
    Ted
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB963435226776259024
  • Oh, Ted the soybean farmer, what does it mean, what does it mean? How does one know? How you do we develop the timing and the judgment and the insights? What are the steps to becoming savvy in these ways?

    'You gotta learn to play it right'. Right. Do you think Don Schlitz is rich from investing?

    I mean, of course you've got to know. How?

    Here's another one: 'Let your winners run.' Bwahaha. Do that as appropriate, and not when not.

    It's like people who quote John Wayne and Clint Eastwood as if were not facile. Scriptwriter lines ringing of easy, lazy profundity.

    Please. Roy Weitz was smarter than that, for sure.
  • Some days: "Happiness is a Warm Gun." Beatles. This scene is from the full-length motion picture put together just to feature the Beatles' music: "Across The Universe."
    Yes, that's Salma Hayek.
  • yes, this is quite like my investing, some decades, with less calm ending
  • edited June 2019
    @davidrmoran - My earlier comment deleted (in the interest of “harmony”)
    Regards:)


    @MJG - I’ll bet you didn’t expect to ignite a fire-storm with your post.
    (Some days it doesn’t pay to get out of bed.)
    Regards:)
  • Hi Hank,

    You’re spot on target with your observation. I thought my input was rather innocuous and would not receive any replies. I was dead wrong, but that didn’t surprise me as that is frequently the case.

    Regardless, I thank everyone for their time and thoughts.

    Best Wishes
  • edited June 2019
    MJG said:

    Hi Hank,

    You’re spot on target with your observation. I thought my input was rather innocuous and would not receive any replies. I was dead wrong, but that didn’t surprise me as that is frequently the case.

    Regardless, I thank everyone for their time and thoughts.

    Best Wishes


    I was a bit surprised that Mr buy and hold quotes axioms best suited for traders. Albeit sage advice nonetheless, especially for those who have mastered the luck factor.
  • Crash said:

    Some days: "Happiness is a Warm Gun." Beatles. This scene is from the full-length motion picture put together just to feature the Beatles' music: "Across The Universe."
    Yes, that's Salma Hayek.

    I'm coming up with "video unavailable." Are you effing kidding me? Google owns youtube. Scum-suckers. Try again: (abbreviated.)

  • edited June 2019
    I hope that we're not becoming so overzealous here that it's necessary to surgically dissect what was probably meant to be a rather lighthearted post. We all have our distinct personalities, and after many years of coexisting with MJG I really doubt that he was trying to start a small war on this.

    "Know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run" was indeed the title for many years of Roy Weitz's Fund Alarm, and it seemed to be perfectly fitting.
  • edited June 2019
    Old_Joe said:

    I hope that we're not becoming so overzealous here that it's necessary to surgically dissect what was probably meant to be a rather lighthearted post."Know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run" was indeed the title for many years of Roy Weitz's Fund Alarm, and it seemed to be perfectly fitting.

    Exactly. And have we become so overzealous that one member or investment orthodoxy may claim exclusivity over a song’s symbolic interpretations? Heck, that would be like saying that if I noted some specific fact about the stock or bond market in a post which had been previously noted by another poster in another post (albeit in a different context) I’d be required to take my message down.

    A song is a song - much in the way a poem is a poem (Some even conflate the two forms of expression.). As such it is almost always open to both interpretation and application to different aspects of the human condition. Heck, scholars are still debating the intended meaning of the last two lines of Frost’s “Stopping By The Woods ...”.
  • i have the gambler on vinyl, which I collect. Old Country I can have a listen. Young Country I cannot stand. My nose hurts listening to it.
  • @VintageFreak "The ice cream man, he's a hillbilly fan... He's got 78s by Hank Snow." (Jimmy Buffett in "The Wino And I Know.")
  • MJG
    edited June 2019
    Hi Guys,

    The very fact that the song has survived and been popular for decades is testimony to the power in its message. It contains much practical wisdom. Interest in the song started slowly but gained momentum when this recording was released:

    https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/flashback-hear-johnny-cashs-rare-take-on-kenny-rogers-the-gambler-204667/

    Johnny Cash did a great job and recent releases still reflect his original interpretation. Enjoy again and again!!

    Best. Wishes
  • @MJG,
    What exactly is the practical wisdom?
  • Hi davidrmoran,

    I am a very simple man with simple rules for investing and life itself. The lines I quoted in my opening submittal nicely capture many of those simple rules. Sorry for repeating myself but:

    You've got to know when to hold 'em
    Know when to fold 'em
    Know when to walk away
    And know when to run…”

    When successfully and consistently applied these simple rules make for a healthy, profitable, long and good life. I have enjoyed all of these (I’m 84). I wish the same for you and all others in these discussions.

    Best Regards
  • and so how at 84 do you know these things? how does anyone come to know these things? I l just love wisdom, especially when taking the form of simple, unknowable, meaning-free rules.
  • MJG
    edited June 2019
    Hi davidrmoran,

    I think you are just baiting me, but I will offer a very general reply:by study, by life experiences, by making decisions and executing those decisions. It is not worth any additional effort to respond to your ridiculous challenge. I choose to end this meaningless exchange immediately. But still with:

    Best Wishes
  • @davidmoran- Please give MJG slack on this or he will likely revert to telling us all about Monte Carlo simulators again.:)

    Thanks-
    OJ
  • tnx, OJ, it is so evident I still do not know when to fold 'em! much less walk / run
  • And who was it that first publicly noted that attempting to "time" the Market is a fool's errand? The Kenny Rogers song was very popular when it was new. In fact, the radio (remember radio?) played it all to hell so that I got sick of it. And after his plastic surgery, the poor guy has no more face. Gotta have a plan and stick to it. When I have not done so, a few times--- I did NOT come out ahead. I've never had any luck (or skill, apparently) choosing single, individual stocks. It's mutual funds for me, going forward. Exclusively. I rather enjoyed uncle Kenny with The First Edition, and the way this song was resurrected for "The Big Lebowski."

  • Come on, Crash, you just gotta know when to. Read MJG already.
  • Come on, Crash, you just gotta know when to. Read MJG already.

    (Grinning here.)

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