Investing

Surviving in the Ring with Mr. Market

World Telegram staff photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In investing, as in boxing, there are lots of theories on how to avoid going down for the count.

In practice, however, surviving a pummeling boils down to just two things:

1. Knowing when to do nothing

2. Knowing when to take action

Unfortunately, when you’re taking body blows, you can’t be counted on to make the right choice.

One particular summer provided many teachable moments from both boxing and investing:

I did something I never thought in a million years I’d ever do — go to the boxing equivalent of a supper club.

I mean, why listen to torch songs when you can see blood fly while you eat instead?

My boxing teacher, The Hawaiian Mongoose, was defending her New York State title at the thoroughly misnamed Cordon Bleu Banquet Hall in Woodhaven, Queens.

Of course, I had to go and cheer her on.

I was curious, never having seen a boxing match, let alone a full lineup lasting from cocktails through dessert.

And what a scene it was! Characters everywhere decked out in full costume: supersized people, all wearing bling, only a handful of whom were security (clearly, not all the action was…