Flyers Fans & Investors-Feelings Drive Behaviors

Flyers Fans & Investors

Emotions, Feelings Drive Behaviors

by: Brendan Magee

Right off the bat, I have to admit I am not the biggest hockey fan. I don't follow it religiously, but like everyone who grew up in Philly the past 40 years or so, I remember the Broad Street Bullies, the Stanley Cup Championship teams,and I know who Ed Snider is. I know I have to one extent or another been the beneficiary of the work he has done in Philadelphia. 

This past week the team played their very first game in their history that Mr. Snider wasn't alive for. So the roots grow deep between Mr. Snider and the Flyer fan base. When the news went out that Mr. Snider died there was a tremendous and beautiful outpouring of emotion. All last week when you turned on the sports radio, you heard tremendous expressions of love, appreciation, and sadness. Everyone in Philadelphia knows we lost a great man who loved us as much as we loved him. 

On Monday night the Flyers lost, in pretty bad and frustrating fashion, to the Washington Capitals. Frankly, the game was over long before it was over and people who paid a lot of money were more than a little upset at what they were seeing. Remember, this is the first game the Flyers played since Mr. Snider died and in tribute the Flyers organization wanted to make it special.

They gave out white wrist bracelets that would light up the arena as a tribute to Mr. Snider. Unfortunately, the fans fueled by anger, and probably some alcohol, (not all of them mind you) started to throw the bracelets on the ice and created, not only delay in the game, but also gave the Philadelphia sports fan another black eye. 

In either case, calling into a radio show to pay tribute to Mr. Snider or making an ass out of yourself at a game, is not something people calmly and rationally decide to do. The emotions fuel the behavior, some times for the good some times for bad. 

Investors have the same vulnerablity and until they understand and appreciate how powerful their emotions are, they will be run by their emotions and suffer the consequences, not manage them.

You have a great meal at Appleby's. The food is great. The waitress treats you good. The place is packed. You, fueled by great feelings think, how great it would be to own a piece of this franchise? You look up the stock and fueled by that great experience invest $10,000. Was it the feelings that drove the investment decision or rational thought?

You don't hear the phrase thank you as often as you feel you should from your financial planner. You feel taken for granted and under appreciated. You ask yourself, am I with the right guy? In a matter of days you decide to change who your financial planner is. Was that decision based on a calm cool evaluation of the portfolio you have and whether or not the portfolio was working or not? Was what was a the root of the decision you being ticked off at your adviser's lack of attention? 

Were any of the decisions from the examples above based on the academically proven, time tested rules of investing, or were they based on impulse?

There is nothing wrong with emotionally based decisions. Ed Snider made decisions about who should be on the Flyer's roster because he wanted to win a Stanley Cup. He didn't like seeing other teams hoist the Cup. It stung. Like the fans he wanted a winner. However, there are times and situations where unchecked emotions can lead to decisions and behaviors that are in direct conflict with your desired outcome. Mr. Snider at the end of his life admitted there were times when his lack of patience hurt his team.

During the crash of 2008 investors withdrew $58 billion from the stock market in November alone. Was it buy low/sell high that was in control or was it out and out panic that was driving those decisions.

People would like to believe that their decisions and behaviors are the result of calm, cool, reasoned rationalization, like Spock from Star Trek. However, there was a reason Mr. Snider had all those advisers working for him. It was so he had someone close by to counter impulse decisions.

It would be an incredible breakthrough for investors to get just how powerful their emotions are. It would be an incredible benefit to their financial well being if they could get that their emotions will not drive them to prudent behavior and they aren't going any where. The solution is, a coach who they can share with what they are thinking and feeling before any decisions are made. It would safe a lot of heart ache and maybe even some embarrassment.

Rest In Peace Mr. Snider.

Brendan Magee is the founder and president of Inevitable Wealth Coaching. With questions and comments e-mail brendan@coachgee.com or call 6190-446-4322.