Life is getting very difficult for people who must keep track of their stock portfolio, and few days ago referring to the economic bubbles caused by the excess use of money for gambling I asked the question "where does the money go(1)." I have the answer today, and this answer comes from the same journalist Margaret Wente I mentioned in the writing I just finished few minutes ago(2).

Ms. Wente is very partial to the granting of early parole for inmates who have found their salvation in the Scripture and who have completed self-improvement courses, including the course called "psychology for success(3)." In her column "Where did all my money go?(4)" Ms. Wente describes her tribulations and her husband's as they cope with the catastrophic plunge of the Nortel stock, and genuinely she asks herself "where did all my money go?" As to say, well, how can Ms. Wente's wealth be changed from one day to the next when she did not do anything. Nortel was worth 37% of the gross domestic product two days ago, and yesterday it was worth 22%. The answer is too much speculation in the financial markets, and too much speculation means that the poor Wentes have to cope with mental and financial hardships.

Ms. Wente explains that she and her husband don't buy and sell stocks themselves and that keeping track of our money every day soon made us manic-depressive. For example, when Nortel went up, my husband started saying, "Those idiots. Why didn't they buy us more Nortel?" And when it went down, he would say, "Honey, we lost $7,000 today. How come those idiots bought so much Nortel?"

Now I wonder, who are the idiots?

Endnotes

1. Understanding Money and People's Lives, by Mario deSantis, October 24, 2000

2. Colin Thatcher and his psychology for success, by Mario deSantis, October 26, 2000

3. How Colin Thatcher found God, by Margaret Wente, October 24, 2000, The Globe and Mail

4. Where did all my money go? Margaret Wente, October 26, 2000 The Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/gam/Commentary/20001026/UWENTN.html