Did you get a medal?

Your bet has paid off if for some odd reason you thought I would consider making some notes on the just concluded Summer Olympic games in Tokyo. It behooves many around the world to watch their country men and women compete in the world stage in numerous sports. There are many parallels between sports and finances with one such article published by Cortni Marrazzo back in 2008. I also read with much interest a post by Mary Kym on FB about Allyson Felix and why you shouldn't let anyone who doesn't know your value tell you how much you are worth!

As a former volleyball player (I think I can still play), I indulged in most live matches and the final nail biter between US women and Brazil. Congratulations to the strong 12 in your win for Gold. But I must say volleyball players are notorious liars. They'll say the ball was out when it was actually in.

16 days!

“Everybody loves a showdown!”

Here's what I noted down in just over 16 days the games took place. I'll offer a parallelism to what we do here at PeteandPete Investors.

Geography | Were it not for the Olympics some countries would never be heard of. Places like Andorra, Timor-Leste, Nauru, Vanuatu and Tuvalu are obscure and perhaps only mentioned every four years when they feature again. Unfortunately none of these countries won any medal. | Parallelism - One way to find diversification in a portfolio is adding ETFs. You can find equity ETFs with exposure to a particular country if you wanted to.

Names | It became a nightmare for some commentators in finding the right pronunciation and intonation of some names. Am sure you have been held up trying to have your name told correctly but alas! it never works. Truth be told some were quite long and caused much problem to rapporteurs such as the Iranian canoeist, Ali Aghamirzaeijenaghrad. There was also Javad Karimisouchelmaei, of volleyball and Yakhchalidehkordi y Mohammad Jamshidijafarabadi of basketball. Yet some other names meant quite the opposite of some verbs in other cultures such as the Swiss sprinter Mujinga Kambundji and Augstin Loser an Argentine volleyball player. | Parallelism - Know your ticker symbols - abbreviations used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock on a particular stock market. You should know that most ticker symbols on the Nasdaq have 4 letter identifiers and 2 letters identifiers on S&P. On the other hand, the listing of symbols at HKEX are coded (9988 for Alibaba Group Holding Ltd). You may want to take a beginner course if I am losing you.!

“55% of parents expect financial assistance from their kids during retirement years!”

Athletes | To look like they do in physique, will require that you and I be disciplined, routine-oriented, control our eating (Oi!), hydrate, watch the mirror and establish goals. You saw how they look, right? Their bodies are for show and go. Can you imagine that some are mothers? The afore mentioned, Allyson Felix, Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson, Alex Morgan, and the indomitable Faith Kipyegon, among others | Parallelism - Every successful investor has cultivated rules that they stick by. In class, I repeatedly mention Walter Schloss and his 16 rules of investing. Keep your eye squarely on the finish line.

Commercials | There are several companies that have found a niche advertising during the Olympics. For the life of me, I recall most of these companies in previous Olympics: Visa, Coca Cola, Samsung, Procter and Gamble, Toyota etc. For most of these companies it is business as usual and Olympics is a moneymaker. There's however an Ad that caught my attention by Mass Mutual (MCI) "55% of parents expect financial assistance from their kids during retirement years!" = Are you one of them? | Parallelism - It goes without saying that there are only three acceptable investment goals: 1. Provide for your family, 2. Save for a future need and 3. Leave an inheritance.

Emotions | Torn ligaments, broken bones, contusions, concussions, fractures; tears of joy, unbelief, hope, envy, anger, pride, inspiration and a whole lot of other rollercoaster of emotions. It is very uncomfortable when some expresses their emotions. A heated discussion has occurred numerous times in the world of Tennis where grunting makes headlines. One of the worst offenders is Maria Sharapova's screams which have been measured at more than 101 decibels. Emotions, negative or positive are a part of what makes us human and allows us to plan accordingly on what actions we should take. We find it easier to ask someone to mask their feelings by saying things like "take it easy" or "calm down." The Olympics is a great place to display all these emotions, rightly or wrongly so. | Parallelism - There's a myriad of feelings that appear as the stock market fluctuates. Some people ignore the drips and drabs and call it noise. For some, a drop in the share price of even a dollar sends their blood pressure off the roof. It's a good idea to know who you are and what type of personality you take in being an investor/trader. Do you grunt as a natural habit, squeal, pound the table? or are you cool, calm and collected?

Take the next bunch of classes appearing in September. Set you sights in Paris 2024 - the next Summer Olympics is sooner than you think. We are constantly chasing medals and high yields with unseen competitors. We can pursue and get better in understanding financial instruments.

Disclaimer

This blog is written for educational and informational purposes only. By no means do any of its contents recommend, advocate or urge the buying, selling or holding of any financial instrument whatsoever. Trading and investing involves high levels of risk. The author expresses personal opinions and will not assume any responsibility whatsoever for the actions of the reader. They author may or may or may not have positions in Financial Instruments discussed in this blog. Future results can be dramatically different from the opinions expressed therein. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Reprints allowed for private reading only, for all else, please obtain permission.