Others can't resist gambling, drinking, smoking...

There are plenty of vices on earth. But I think gambling is the most vicious. Not necessarily the most dangerous for health, but definitely the most vicious.

Simply because it can easily change the way you think.

The worst thing that can happen to you is to win!!!

If you win the first time, gambling becomes a way to "make money" not a simple entertainment as it was before you won.

Why do you think that in a casino there's a lot of people winning small amounts of money all the time? Anyone who has worked in this industry would tell you things that you can't even imagine. Everything is designed to attract you. From the shiny aspect to the sound of money falling from machines, everything has been designed to make you THINK YOU CAN WIN.

Knowing a little bit the other side of the gambling industry, I thought about it when a bank contacted me for an investment.

I've just been offered to invest on Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50. Actually in a special fund that would payoff 12% on 18 months (2% per quarter) if and only if the index does not lose 30% over the period. In which case the loss is on my initial investment and I don't get any coupon.

This is very tempting I must say. Moreover I can go out of this fund at any moment.

However I'm not a specialist of this index, so I had a look at the market to see what specialists were saying about it. WOW! Some say it will continue to go up, some say it's gonna crash. Who shall I trust?

It reminded me of my trading years (10 years ago on structured finance) when I had to make decisions like this on different types of instruments with money that was not mine. Easy call when you are not impacted financially speaking by the decision.

It reminded me my mentor who told me at that time that trading takes a completely different meaning when it's your own money at risk.

Isn't it exciting to be able to make such interesting decisions and build investment strategies?

So why on earth would a bank waste a precious time talking about your personal account???

Why would they care to spend a dime in loans for small businesses when the big money is out there waiting for them?

Why would they care about what the 'most important guys on earth' (the presidents) are telling them that they have been bad students and they need to review their copy?

Why would they care when at the same time they are the ones financing the campaigns?

Why would they care when their lobby is certainly one of the most powerful?

Yep, Why would they care about anything else? Look at the figures since the beginning of the year...

Feel free to comment.
Cédric Pariente.

Original Post: http://b32trust.blogspot.com/2009/11/some-people-cant-resist-chocolate.html