John in the Stock Market

As Wall Street tumbled in October, I heard much moaning over lost money. Didn’t people realize that you only lose on stocks when you sell, and then only if you sell for less than you paid originally? The person I’ve known who was skillful in buying and selling was John. He waited out the downturns.

I was 57 when I met John in the fall of 1986. He was a dapper little man, 68 years old, who wore glasses and had only a fringe of gray hair around his bald head. He was absolutely wonderful! Intelligent, witty, generous, and, above all, kind to everyone. (Remember that, you young people, who refuse to date anyone who is not “attractive” physically.)

John and I dated a few times, when he called me one day and asked if I would take him to get his new car. Early one morning I picked him up at his condo and drove him to the auto dealer. Then he drove his shiny dark blue Oldsmobile, and I drove my three-year-old BMW, and we went to McDonald’s for breakfast.

Over egg McMuffins he told me he paid cash for the Oldsmobile, bought with profits he made in the stock market. I sipped orange juice (I don’t drink coffee), as he explained. He invested in only one stock. “I noticed,” he said, “the price fluctuates between 25 and 33. I buy at 26 and sell at 32.”

From then on he gave me almost daily reports on how “his” stock was doing. He made a large investment, and the price was rising: 28 . . . 29 . . . 30. One day he said, “When the price goes to 32, I’ll sell and take you on a cruise.”

The price went to 30 1/4 . . . 30 3/4. . . . 31 . . . 31 1/4. . . 31 ½ . . . 31 3/4 . . . 31 7/8 . . .

“We’re almost there!” John told me triumphantly over rib-eye steaks at a local restaurant.

Then the stock went down: 31 1/4 . . . 30 ½ . . . 30 . . . 29 . . . 27 . . . 25! . . . 23 . . . All the way down to 16! John stopped trading. Even when the stock started going up again, John did not rush to sell. He set his goal and stuck to it.

John and I were married for two years when the price of his pet stock finally rose to $32 a share. Then he sold. And we went on our cruise.

Since John died, I’ve managed the “portfolio” of stocks and bonds he left me. I made some profits. I’ve also had a couple of spectacular losses. I learned hard lessons in the corruption of corporate America. But that’s another story.