Monday 10 May 2010

Why does Felix Salmon write so much crap?

That's the question. Why does Felix Salmon write so much crap?

'The point here is that volatility alone is reason enough to exit the stock market. If you want your lifetime investments to have an average 78% exposure to the stock market, then it makes sense to have 100% or even 200% exposure when you're young. But that’s no longer the case if the VIX is somewhere over 40.' That's from this post.

I don't know where to start. But I'll give it my best shot.

'Volatility alone is reason enough to exit the stock market'. Bullshit. Nietzsche said we should build our homes on the sides of volcanoes. Who are we going to listen to, Friedrich Nietzsche or Felix Salmon? WE HAVE TO TAKE RISKS. Live dangerously! Where would Big Herb be today if he had not had lived dangerously? I suppose you could argue that he would be alive and well, alive, enjoying life in the bosom of his family! Fair enough. He wouldn't have fallen off that space hopper. He wouldn't have died. But then he wouldn't have gone on to become a money god on the astral plane either. It's swings and roundabouts. Although it was the space hopper that killed him, of course. He wasn't on a swing. Or a roundabout.

'If you want your lifetime investments to have an average 78% exposure to the stock market, then it makes sense to have 100% or even 200% exposure when you're young.' No, no, no! When you're young you want 1000 per cent exposure. 2000 per cent! Was Felix never young? Was he born middle-aged? 'Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth.' Who the fuck are we going to listen to, King Solomon or Felix Salmon? It's beyond a joke!

'But that's no longer the case if the VIX is somewhere over 40.' Who gives a shit where the VIX is, eh? Who gives a shit? I'm the sort of guy who doesn't even know or care where the next meal is coming from. In the old days, my only possessions were a blanket and a few books. I'm not going to worry about the VIX being somewhere over forty. Life's too short. 'Where is the Life we have lost in living?' Tell me this: Who are we going to listen to, T.S. Eliot or Felix Salmon?