MICHEL PIREU: When reel life reflects the good, bad and ugly of investing
It is easy for stock market investors to relate to one-liners when watching a movie. When Harry Callahan asks, “Do ya feel lucky, punk?” in Dirty Harry, what investor doesn’t think, “Whoa, you can’t rely on luck!” Nor is Harry Callahan the only movie character who will have you thinking about the markets. At times, it feels as if that’s where the script writers are getting all their material.
When William Munny, the legendary killer in Unforgiven tells Little Bill, “Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it”, it sounds like a reminder from Ray Dalio that a good investment decision can just as easily have a bad outcome as a bad decision and good outcome. “Don’t just do something, stand there”, sounds like something John Bogle might have said, while Clint Eastwood’s “Let’s not go and ruin it by thinking too much” sounds like something Charlie Munger would say...
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