Sunday, January 31, 2010

Telling the truth about "investing"

Whenever folks point to the criminal behavior of the banksters, we are told how essential these folks are to the operation of the real economy.  So now we have a fan of finance capitalism informing us that in fact, investing is really like playing poker.  Really.  Read for yourself.
Poker and investing go hand-in-hand
By Bob FrickTribune Media Services  January 28, 2010
Ever watch professional poker players calculating the odds, then coolly dissecting their opponents? Many of the same skills the top players use can help you be a better investor. Success at investing and gambling, it turns out, has much to do with controlling emotions. And playing a little poker can help you recognize, and avoid, emotional traps that endanger your most important stack of chips -- your portfolio. But you need to know what to look for.
The psychological issues that drive investing and gambling are "identical," says Andrew Lo, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Financial Engineering and one of the leaders in the field of behavioral finance. It's easy to find investment professionals and professional poker players who agree. Says poker pro Daniel Negreanu, who holds four World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour Championship titles: "Having emotional stability and emotional control is key to both investing and poker." more

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