Malcolm Jenkins, Concussions, & Investor Instincts

Malcolm Jenkins & Investor Instincts

by: Brendan Magee

I know I am a week late on this, but today I would rather write about the aftermath of the Eagle's game vs Dallas as opposed to yesterday's vs the Dolphins. Last week, as weary as we were from a late night game, we were all thrilled that the Eagles pulled out a win in overtime and, finally, seemed to have put the season on the right track. Today, boy do we all know different.  

One of the subplots coming out of Dallas was that safety Malcolm Jenkins played a the majority of the game with a concussion. Eagle's fans applaud Jenkins for his toughness and doing what it took to win the game. Just about everyone else, with all that has been discovered about the dangers of concussions, say Jenkins was crazy for risking his health and well being by not telling the medical staff what he was dealing with.

No one doubts the toughness of professional football players. They kill themselves week after week, but they also play with the fear that today's game could be their last. They could get hurt or someone better can come along and take their jobs. In a moment, there goes the contract and financial security. To last in that game, you have to have a real knack for survival, and sometimes that instinct works against the player. Be it a football player or an everyday human being, we all have instincts. We were born with them and they operate without our permission. Pain, pleasure, survival are amongst the strongest instincts we have.

Touch a hot stove, pain makes sure you never do that again. Pleasure makes certain that this weekend's cheese steak will not be your last. The thought of coming out of a game, letting the medical staff know you have a concussion, being forced to leave the game, perhaps needing to sit out the next few week's worth of games and maybe seeing your back up take your job is pretty painful. Under normal circumstances, and if it happened to be happening to someone else, your instincts would be telling you to get to a doctor.

The choices aren't so clear when your livelihood might be hanging in the balance. This is why as much as possible the National Football League is taking the decision as to whether or not a player stays in the game after sustaining a blow to the head out of the players and coaches hands.

When it comes to the long-term health of the players it doesn't bode well to rely on the instincts of the player. They have been conditioned to get on the field and play no matter how painful the injury might be. Instincts might be considered a player's worst enemy. The same can be said for investors.

No matter the investment advertisement or commentary have you ever heard a word about watching out for your own instincts? Have you ever heard Jim Cramer say that as far as your instincts are concerned, you have little to no shot at policing your instincts and emotions? Have you ever heard any investment analyst talk about how they can use your instincts to work against your best interests? The answer to all these questions is a big fat "No." As a result investors have very little appreciation for the role and the impact their instincts have on their investment decisions and behavior. They cannot even start to be accountable for them.

You wake up to headlines screaming that China's stock market is in a free fall. You have money invested overseas. "Holy ####! Pain! I got to call my broker and sell everything I have in international stocks." Cramer comes on and plays up the latest can't miss stock. "My portfolio is in the tank. If this keeps up I'm sunk." Pain!  "Let's go all in on company XYZ." Scenarios occur like this everyday and are too numerous to count.


Just like Jenkins knows a concussion isn't anything to play with and needs proper medical attention,  investors know they should not sell low/ buy high. They know diversification is the cornerstone for prudent investing. However, instincts in the blink of an eye can over power prudent behavior and put you on a crash course for disaster. The same guy who said one more beer or slice of pizza won't kill you is the same guy dealing with congestive heart failure. "Damn didn't that pizza taste good!"

I've heard the more you resist the more things persist. Perhaps, the solution for football players and investors is to admit how overpowering their instincts and emotions truly are. Perhaps even more so, they need to admit they are powerless in dealing with their instincts. Hence, they need help. As far as their football careers and financial security are concerned, both investors and players would be better served if they put the task of policing their instincts in the hands of someone they trust. 


Brendan Magee is the founder and president of Inevitable Wealth Coaching. With questions and comments e-mail brendan@coachgee.com or call 610-446-4322.

Alcoholics and Investors-The Urge Never Goes Away

Alcoholics & Investors-

The Urge Never Goes Away

by: Brendan Magee

I attended the funeral of a great guy I had known for a long time. He died at the age of 85 and  lived a long life. One thing that I didn't know about my friend, Dave, was that he was a fifty year member of Alcoholics Anonymous. I only found out because at the luncheon after the services, I sat down next to a nice gentleman, Tom, who had been attending A.A. with Dave for the better part of 30 years.

One thing that struck me about the conversation we had was that Tom said, somewhat jokingly, that he bet his good friend Dave was up in heaven at that very moment enjoying a nice cold bottle of Budweiser. I was a little taken aback. I asked why he said that. I was thinking the last thing a person, after devoting 50 years of his life to sobriety, would be doing is entering the pearly gates with a cold beer in hand. Being a curious sort, I asked Tom, why he felt that way. He told me that no matter how much an alcoholic had spent in recovery, the urge or desire to drink never completely goes away. After spending so much time in a conversation and structure for sobriety, the urge might not be as strong as someone who has been sober for a month or a year, but it is always there Tom said.

Tom went on to say two things about A.A. that I thought related to investing. He said that is why he made it a point to go to his meetings on a consistent basis, going to at least two meetings a week whether he was on vacation or not. He said in order to not have his addiction get the better of him, and potentially ruin his life, he needed to make sure he stayed close to a conversation for sobriety. He said "Beer and booze are always  around me. I can't escape it, and without my meetings and fellow meeting makers, I don't know how I would have made it this long."

Tom said he and Dave also knew when someone who had been sober would start drinking again. He said that when ever someone stopped coming to meetings, invariably, they would hear a story that so and so started drinking again. They either got a DUI, got kicked out of their house, lost a job, or was in some kind of trouble due to drinking.  Tom told me there were two things an alcoholic needed to have any chance of staying sober. One was, the understanding that alcoholism wasn't going any where, it would always be there., Two was, that they needed to stay in a conversation for sobriety, via meetings with a group of committed individuals. On your own he said, an alcoholic has very little chance of staying sober.

I thought the perils of an alcoholic are very similar to that of many investors. When it comes to investing, gambling and speculation are all around. Investors have access to behavior that on the surface might seem harmless, but can quickly get an  investor, unknowingly, on a destructive path. How many people take, what on the surface is an innocent beer with the guys or partake of a wine and cheese party, with no idea that that would lead to tragic consequences?

Stock picking, market timing, and track record investing are all over the place. There isn't a commercial out there that isn't trying to goad the investor into behavior that is harmful to their financial security. The ability to transact business with a brokerage firm is a click of a computer away. One trade, one mutual fund purchase that based on a superior track record can easily hook an innocent investor. Once embedded, the urge never goes away. The high of perhaps beating the market or coming oh so close to picking a winner can be intoxicating.

So how does an investor thrive and survive in such a destructive world? One, admit that the forces trying to talk them into destructive behavior are all around them. They cannot escape them. They are powerful and in all likelihood more powerful then they are. Two, immerse yourself in a conversation for prudence, just like an alcoholic immerses themselves in a conversation for sobriety. Understand that a conversation and strength take place in a group of like minded people.

 Prudence, staying away from gambling and speculation, most likely will not be found at a day trading facility (People, places, and things to avoid).

Lastly, be it drinking or gambling and speculating with your money, they have benefits and a costs. With drinking, any personal pain you are dealing with gets numbed. You are around people who are laughing, singing, and having a great party, to name a few of the benefits. There are also costs to drinking, waking up with a hangover, relationships can be damaged, even severed for good as a result of drunken behavior or things that wouldn't be said while sober. Your career and finances can suffer as a result of excess drinking. A drinker needs to decide what they want more, a life with or without drinking.

Gambling and speculating with your money has benefits too. There's the action and shot of adrenaline waiting to hit on a hot stock tip. The dream of hitting it big and living a life of luxury can be very exciting. The idea of being able to brag to your friends about beating the market and out performing the Wall Street hot shots is enticing too. There's also the down side of gambling and speculating. The expected rate of return on gambling and speculating is zero. For every winner there will be thousands of losers. It can be upsetting seeing your money wasted on bad investment choices. It is sad to see other investors getting ahead of you while you make your broker rich at your expense.

Again, you just have to make a choice about which activity is costing you more. Once the cost outweighs the benefit, the path to go down or to avoid becomes obvious. You may need help staying on the right path, but that is also a sign of wisdom, to know what you should and shouldn't take on on your own.

So understand, no matter the vice, the urge isn't going any where. It will always be with you. You just need to understand and appreciate how strong it will be. Get help and then enjoy life. Isn't it great to know that you have the power to choose how great the quality of your life will be?

Brendan Magee is the founder and president of Inevitable Wealth Coaching.With questions or comments go to brendan@coachgee.com or call 610-446-4322. For more educational material go to www.Coachgee.com.