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LEARN FROM MARKET WIZARDS – PART 7
Hetty Green is considered one of the earliest American value investors and the wealthiest female speculator of her own time. She lived from November 21, 1834 until July 3, 1916 (aged 81). She was the first American woman to make a significant effect on the stock market. Her greatest quality is prudent speculation, especially considering the standards of her times. She invested and reaped rewards in unique ways. On the other hand, she was remarkable for being mean and stingy. At the time of her death, she was worth up to $3.8 billion (inflation-adjusted to 2006). Her 2 children inherited her wealth, and after their death, over 50% of the wealth was taken as taxes and the rest went to charity.
Lesson
There are certain lessons you can learn from Hetty Green.
1. Women can become great traders and investors. Successful trading isn’t the birthright of men only. In fact, there are many women all over the world who trade successfully and who’re smarter than some men in the markets.
2. If women are properly educated about the financial markets, they’ll develop very great ability to trade permanently victoriously. Women have certain qualities that can be used to their advantage in the markets; something that’s very rare in men (unless they’re discipline). They tend to be cautious and conservative, while they take risk control very serious.
3. Hetty’s trading methodology – just like that of the Oracle of Omaha (Warren) – is to be greedy when people are fearful and to be fearful when people are greedy. No wonder Hetty is known as the Witch of the Wall Street. When people are extremely and irrationally confident about the stock market, then it’s time to sell. When people dread the markets too much, thus becoming apathetic towards it, it’s time to buy. This has become a timeless market principle.
Conclusion: Are there any changes in your personal life that prompt you to consider your tomorrow? Are you ready to start making fortune in the markets, though it doesn’t come overnight? Or would you prefer to limit yourself to your monthly salary, including the whims and caprices of your boss? The choice to be a trader may seem daunting, but the future reward makes it worthwhile. If you’re a woman, getting properly educated and making an attempt in trading would really change your perception of the financial markets.
This article is ended by a quote from Hetty:
“There is no great secret in fortune making. All you do is buy cheap and sell dear, act with thrift and shrewdness and be persistent… I buy when things are low and no one wants them. I keep them until they go up, and people are crazy to get them… When I see a thing, going cheap because nobody wants it, I buy a lot of it and tuck it away. Then, when the time comes, they have to hunt me up and pay me a good price for my holdings.”
