A Century Later, Ben Graham Still Seems Like a Prophet

The Wall Street Journal had a recent story detailing the trend of small investors jumping back into stocks, some trading options and futures.  I’m old enough now, combined with twin quirks of being interested in finance at such a young age and having my lifespan line up with some interesting times in the capital markets, that I’ve watched this play out three times.  At this point, you’d think it would lose its novelty but I still find my mouth dropping open and my head shaking in disbelief, mixed in with a bit of sadness.  Reading what people are doing with their hard earned money – money that they exchanged for part of their life by selling time that could have been used traveling, reading, painting, or hanging out on the beach – doesn’t compute.  If you took $5 out of their wallet, they’d throw a fit, but they’ll gamble $5,000 on something they barely understand.