In Oliver Stone’s Wall Street the character of Lou Mannheim was expertly played by Hal Holbrook. Should any less have been expected from such a phenomenal actor?

The character was written as a seasoned veteran and included in the film to impart wisdom on the young and relatively inexperienced. Here are a couple of his better quotes:

“Quick buck artists come and go with every bull market but the steady players make it through the bear market.”

“Man looks in to the abyss and sees nothing staring back at him.  At that moment man finds his character.”

The sentiments remain quite relevant today. Some introspective investors will find they are not investors at all but merely speculators. They are happy to accrue positive returns but flee at the first sign of a downturn.

Financial writer Adam Smith (the pen name of George J.W. Goodman) once wrote about the stock market:

“If you don’t know who you are this is an expensive place to find out.”

Whether we asked long ago and need to check ourselves or we’re asking for the first time now is a great time.  “Who am I? What type of investor am I? Am I in it for the long haul or am I a speculator?”

New to investing and thinking of buying stocks today? The stock market will help you find out just who you are because there are two possible outcomes:

  1. You’ll find out that markets can go lower, you’ll get nervous and you’ll sell. You’ll find out you’re not in it for the long haul.
  2. You’ll fall backwards into a short-term positive result.

Option #1 is arguably better. For a novice to lose money is a fantastic learning opportunity.

Option #2 is much worse. Making money is bad? No…but the worst thing that can happen to a novice is immediate success. It breeds overconfidence and that’s very, very bad.