When I was a kid, my mom used to warn me about the stove. “Don’t touch the burner — it’s hot.” Naturally, I touched it. Once. Never again.
Markets work the same way. Every investor has to burn their fingers at least once. Maybe it’s chasing a meme stock at the top. Maybe it’s levering into a “can’t lose” trade right before a Riskquake hits. Whatever the lesson, it leaves a scar.
But here’s the funny part: those scars are useful. They’re like the little calluses on a guitarist’s fingertips. Without them, you can’t play the music. Without market burns, you can’t build investing discipline.
The danger is when you forget the lesson. I’ve seen investors who did get burned, but instead of adjusting, they doubled down. They kept touching the burner, convinced this time would be different. That’s not resilience — that’s delusion.
A better approach: build your portfolio like a good kitchen setup. Keep the heat where you need it — a few speculative Moonstakes on the back burner — while your staples simmer on the front. And always, always know which knobs you’re turning.
Because in the kitchen, as in markets, the worst thing you can do is set the fire alarm off for the whole house.
🔗 Investopedia on Risk Management
🔗 NYTimes on Lessons From Meme Stocks
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