Confusion de Confusiones by Joseph de la Vega

 

STOCK MARKET

A place of paradoxes.

The most fairest & the most deceitful.

The finest & the most vulgar on earth.

Quintessence of academic learning & a paragon of fraudulence

A touchstone for the intelligent & a tombstone for the audacious.

A treasury of usefulness & a source of disaster.

This is how Joseph de la Vega describes the most enigmatic & dynamic business of stocks in his book Confusion de Confusiones.This seventeenth century masterpiece is the oldest book ever written on the stock exchange business. Taking the form of a dialogue between a philosopher, a merchant and a shareholder, it describes the workings, the mechanisms and the participants of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the first stock exchange ever created in the world. The book is based on the dealings in a single security, the stock of the Dutch East India Company and its crash of 1688 and the furore created by the false rumors of war and a tax hike to fund an increased defense budget.

The author describes the three classes of people associated with the stock exchange business -

1st Class - The Princes of business, 2nd - Merchants and 3rd - Speculators which translated in today's modern times means - 1st - Investors, 2nd - Short - term traders and 3rd Speculators, the definition of which remains the same be it any century, the people who eat, drink, sleep, breathe shares and are the main contributors to the dynamic nature of stock markets. He has further divided the speculators into two classes who are always colliding with each other - Bulls and Bears. Bulls or liefhebberen (the later meaning "lovers" in Flemish) start their operations by purchases, and Bears or the Contremine ( a name which is explained by the fact that India is considered to be a mine and that this faction strives to exhaust this mine) start their operations by sales. He has mentioned about call and put options, forwards contract and many other things which existed then and are pretty much prevalent today as well. He has mentioned about the three main factors that influenced the rise and fall of prices - the conditions in India, European politics and opinion on the stock exchange itself. Well same applies today as well - global factors, Indian economy and politics and opinion on the stock exchange and you can add up the influence of media, mainly business channels which greatly influence the retail investors i.e., the lay public. It is interesting to note when you read the book that nothing much has changed in terms of the basic nature of the business, nature and type of people associated and the rationale behind their workings over the years but instead has been an improvement and a build up from then to now in terms of technology and a few more things added that makes it more refined and sophisticated based on the foundation laid then.

The Author shares his perceptions based on his experiences and observations, which you can easily term them as his golden principles -

          In his words,

• The first principle [in speculation] - Never give anyone the advice to buy or sell shares, because, where perspicacity is weakened, the most benevolent piece of advice can turn out badly.

• The second principle - Take every gain without showing remorse about missed profits, because an eel may escape sooner than you think. It is wise to enjoy that which is possible without hoping for the continuance of a favorable conjuncture and the persistence of good luck.

• The third principle - Profits on the exchange are the treasures of goblins. At one time they may be carbuncle stones, then coals, then diamonds, then flint-stones, then morning dew, then tears.

• The fourth principle - Whoever wishes to win in this game must have patience and money, since the values are so little constant and the rumors so little founded on truth. He who knows how to endure blows without being terrified by the misfortune resembles the lion who answers the thunder with a roar, and is unlike the hind who, stunned by the thunder tries to flee. It is certain that he who does not give up hope will win, and will secure money adequate for the operations that he envisaged at the start. Owing to the vicissitudes, many people make themselves ridiculous because some speculators are guided by dreams, others by prophecies, these by illusions, those by moods, and innumerable men by chimeras.  

Era's change, way of dressing and doing things change, there are changes in technology but emotions which govern human behavior and influence their decisions will always remain the same and therefore his advice is still applicable to a T even in today's times. 

A must read for anyone and everyone connected to the stock market business.

Message In A Bottle by Nicholas Sparks

Do you believe in Love?

If you believe in God, you will definitely believe in love. He has made someone special for everyone and will show his presence through that someone.

If you believe in true love, you will get it. There will be a day in your life when someone will make you understand the meaning of "WE".... Its not about you and I....Its about "WE" that makes all the difference.

LOVE is a sacred bond between two people, the most purest and sweetest emotion which has the power to heal the deepest wound, wash away all your pain and make you feel alive once again.

Message in a bottle is the tragic story of a journalist Theresa Obsorne who works for Boston Times and writes columns on parenting. Deeply hurt by her ex-husband who shattered her trust, she is wary of true love, trailing through life shuttling between her work and her 12 year old son, who take up all her time and keep her occupied with barely any time left for herself. She is persuaded by her boss who is also her best friend to take a trip with her to Cape Cod so that she gets a chance to discover herself once again and come out of the grief and pick up life once again while her son is vacationing with his father and his new wife.

While strolling on the beach, she stumbles upon a bottle which has a letter rolled in it. She removes the letter from the bottle and is deeply moved by the desperate message that a man has written for his wife. She publishes this letter and comes across two more letters written by the same man for his wife. She gets very curious and wants to know more about this man Garrett and Catherine and wants to know what pulled them apart. Her quest to know more about him leads her in search of him and from this begins an episode which changes her life completely. Garrett and she fall for each other but their love is hindered by many confrontations with real life difficulties setting in like they being from completely different backgrounds and the distance but the main conflict was Garrett still being unable to overcome his dead wife Catherine whom he loved very deeply. Garrett wondered if one could be in love with two people at the same time. This was one of the main dilemma that their relationship faced. All this while he was unaware about his letters with Theresa and when he came across them accidentally, he was furious and left Theresa hurt and accused her of setting up all this and calling their relationship a sham but when Theresa explains him everything, he feels sorry but by then Theresa leaves him and a year later she gets a call from his father and gets to know about Garrett's death. One week later she receives a letter from him where he tells her that his biggest mistake was not letting go of Catherine and that he realized that they were fated to meet and now wants to spend all his life with her and is going to be with her soon but.... destiny had other plans.....

Very touching....

We suffer when we don't accept reality and see only what we want to see and trap ourself in our own perceptions and restrain ourself from receiving what life has to offer.....

Emma by Jane Austen

I just love reading classics. The plot, the characters, the backdrop is almost always so amazing, there is so much substance that when you finish reading the novel, you end up craving for more and wish the story never ended. Jane Austen's Emma is no exception in this regard. Very entertaining, Emma is the story of Emma Woodhouse, a rich girl, who is very imaginative, loves doing match making of her friends but herself is not interested in matrimony. Her passion for match making proves to be fatal at one point and she ends up making so many blunders and messes up herself and the people around her in this process. Funny and full of rich irony, Emma was refreshing, after reading some heavy stuff. Just loved it.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

'Nothing can cure your soul but your senses and nothing can cure your senses but your soul.'

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is the story of a boy who sells his soul for his youth.

Dorian Gray is a young boy whose life changes due to two people - the artist who makes his portrait, Basil Hallward & his friend Lord Henry. Basil worships Dorian, he makes him conscious of his beautiful youth. Dorian is introduced to Lord Henry via Basil who eventually influences him greatly into a sinful life. For Lord Henry, Conscience and Cowardice are the same thing. When the portrait is complete, Dorian becomes terribly sad, he feels that this picture will mock him when he grows old and make him sorry for his lost youth and in that moment he says a prayer in which he is ready to trade his soul for his youth. His wish gets fulfilled. Dorian leads a double life and seeks great pleasure in doing the most gravest acts. The burden of all his sins is borne by the picture, the man in the picture becomes old, ugly and wrinkled after every sin that he commits while his youth remains intact in real. Even at the age of 40 he looks like how he looked when the portrait was made. He hides the portrait from the world as he is scared to reveal the darkside of his soul. The innocence on his face, makes it impossible for anyone to believe that he is capable of doing all those hideous acts. But when he has a close call with death, he starts feeling terrorised by his acts and guilty too.
You can run away from the entire world but you cannot runaway from yourself. There is no escape. There is no refuge. The most difficult thing in the world is to face your inner self which you may call your conscience. Every human soul consists of God and Devil. The conscience is the representative of the God.
When he dies, Dorian's staff fails to recognize him because the face of the dead man lying beneath the portrait of their master is all wrinkled and old, unlike the young Dorian in the picture.
By the way, it will be so cool if you could be young all your life