Odyssues And The Sirens
Hewitt: Common mistakes investors make and how to avoid them
1. Investor has no global strategy. Most people have accumulated a hodge-podge of funds across multiple accounts -- brokerage, 401K from work, IRA from a previous job, etc. Oftentimes, there is little attention paid to how they fit together as most people try to identify the fund that will provide the best return among the choices provided. Research has shown it is nearly impossible to select the fund with superior returns in the future based on past returns.
2. Investor does not stick to a plan and trades too often. It is easy to forget that making changes is not free: transaction costs, commissions, bid/ask spreads, taxes (though focusing on tax-costs too much can be detrimental) can greatly impact your total return over time. There has been much research on decision-making; studies suggest people (and some advisers) tend to over-trade because they feel the need to "do something," even if it is not necessary.
3. Investor has the incorrect time horizon. This typically comes up in the context of confusing what is important in the long term versus the short. Market prices are volatile, and because of this, you must be mindful not to invest money you will need in the next several years. Volatility of market prices in the short term can be considered the "price" of long-term superior returns. In other words, we accept the seasonal changes in market prices for better returns over the long term. This confuses people at times because they want to have the best investment return every year. This is not practical. To use an analogy, you would never race a marathon by running as fast as you can for each individual mile because eventually you would tire, quit running, and ruin your total time.
4. Investor is overconfident in their abilities and tries to time the market. We have the tendency to believe we are better at something than we really are. Why? Two reasons.
One, we remember our wins better than our losses. This is just common sense to me. Two, we generally are good at predicting patterns. Think about how much we know in math and sciences now compared to our ancestors. However, our ability to discover patterns can lead to trouble. There have been countless studies on this.
Odyssues And The Sirens - News

The sirens who lure sailors to their death have never been as alluring or creepy as the women writhing in the silks above Odysseus' ship, and the goddess Athena has never looked as powerful as Jennifer Johnson as she elegantly steps onto Odysseus'

In “The Odyssey,” Odysseus had his men tie him to the mast so he would be unable to go after them. The odd thing about the one siren in this otherwise fairly predictable one-act comedy is that she has recently received a gift from the gods,

In Homer's Odyssey, the hero Odysseus uses his cunning while at sea to overcome a challenge that I believe applies to these investor mistakes nicely. Odysseus wanted to hear the beautiful song of the sirens but he knew that he would fall victim to
Images of a writer friend who wrote a book about the sirens' songOdysseus' craving for experience ingeniously indulged with ropes and the beeswax-packed ears of his sailors…masts and trees…tree is the root-word of truth…what is truth?
JN In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus is lashed to the mast so that he can hear for himself the Siren's song, which lures men to their deaths on the rocks. I had to be lashed to my chair to watch the 65th Tony awards and, as I feared, despite the ginned up
Odyssues And The Sirens - Bookshelf
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Excerpts from "The Post-Corporate World, Life After Capitalism"
First thou shalt arrive where the enchanter Sirens dwell, they who seduce men. ... Vanquished by that song, the Sirens lost their power and turned to stone. ...
How Does 'O Brother Where Art Thou' And 'The Odyssey' Compare?
There is the enchantress Circe, who sleeps with men and then turns them into pigs; and the Sirens, who sing to sailors and lure them to their deaths. ...
David Stone's Odyssey Study Guide
What does Odysseus learn about his mother and father when he visits Hades? ... Have listened to the Sirens? Draw a picture of the two cliffs, Scylla, Charybdis, and the fig tree. ...
Odysseus' journey home timeline | Timetoast timelines
When the are insight of Ithaca Odyssues is asleep and his curious men open the bag of bad ... She warns him of the sirens and how to deal with them,also of Scylla and Chrybdis. ...
I'm tired of "emo" - General Music Reviews - Epinions.com
Summary: The stupidity of the "emo" label. General Music Reviews: I'm tired of "emo" ... story of Odyssues' 20 year journey home after he and the army of greeks conquered Troy. ...