面皮，面皮厚的意思。面皮厚，死缠着你欢心的女子不放，又不使其讨厌。说想说的话，做想做的事，不羞羞答答，理直气壮的说你爱她。不为自己的胡搅蛮缠羞耻，不羞于为她跑腿，捏脚，倒洗脚水。
功夫，功夫深的意思。只要功夫深，铁棒磨成针。试把你喜欢的女人当成坚不可摧但终将被你摧毁的堡垒，兢兢业业，埋头苦干，任劳任怨，不计报酬。女人的心肠总还是软的，一天不行一个月，一个月不行一年，功到自然成。
嘴巴，嘴巴甜的意思，说好听的，甜言蜜语，甜而不腻。让她觉得你是世界上最忠实的雄性。瘦的话，说她苗条，肥的话，说她丰满，不算漂亮的说她漂亮，单眼皮说她象日本人。
投其所好，就是查言观色，说她想听的，给她想要的。打喷嚏给她递手帕，笑的时候陪她笑，哭的时候为她擦眼泪。
Sunday, February 28, 2010
抓住男人心 投其所好
抓住男人心 投其所好导读: 生意中，投其所好，是最常用的营销手段。作为女人，想要给自己找到心仪的准客户，你也必须懂得顾客所好：先了解心仪男人的嗜好，然后，投其所好去迎合他。这样，就必然容易征服这个男人，促成婚姻这笔大交易。
都说，女人心，海底针。其实，男人也是如此，想要征服他，首先得了解他，然后，投其所好。没有什么比投其所好，更能打动一个男人的心了。
曾听说这样一则趣事：美国大思想家艾默生和儿子欲将牛牵回牛棚，两人一前一后使尽浑身力气，可牛怎么也不进去。家中女佣见两个大男人满头大汗，徒劳无功，于是便上前帮忙。她仅拿了一些草让牛悠闲地嚼食，并一路喂她，并顺利就将牛引进了栏里，剩下两个大男人在那里目瞪口呆。
猫喜欢吃鱼，狗喜欢啃排骨，你如果把这些东西送到他们面前，它们一定会做出友好的表示。就连与人无法沟通的动物偶都是如此，可见投其所好的魔力。这种魔力可以说无所不及。他喜欢什么，你就送什么，没有人能例外。因此，在与人交往时，投其所好往往能让我们与对方相处得非常融洽。
投其所好也可运用于对爱情的追逐上。古埃及艳后Cleopatra之所以迷人，并不仅仅因为她长得多漂亮，而是因为她精通不少取悦别人的方法，特别是这些方法对于男人最有效果。
都说，女人心，海底针。其实，男人也是如此，想要征服他，首先得了解他，然后，投其所好。没有什么比投其所好，更能打动一个男人的心了。
曾听说这样一则趣事：美国大思想家艾默生和儿子欲将牛牵回牛棚，两人一前一后使尽浑身力气，可牛怎么也不进去。家中女佣见两个大男人满头大汗，徒劳无功，于是便上前帮忙。她仅拿了一些草让牛悠闲地嚼食，并一路喂她，并顺利就将牛引进了栏里，剩下两个大男人在那里目瞪口呆。
猫喜欢吃鱼，狗喜欢啃排骨，你如果把这些东西送到他们面前，它们一定会做出友好的表示。就连与人无法沟通的动物偶都是如此，可见投其所好的魔力。这种魔力可以说无所不及。他喜欢什么，你就送什么，没有人能例外。因此，在与人交往时，投其所好往往能让我们与对方相处得非常融洽。
投其所好也可运用于对爱情的追逐上。古埃及艳后Cleopatra之所以迷人，并不仅仅因为她长得多漂亮，而是因为她精通不少取悦别人的方法，特别是这些方法对于男人最有效果。
决心是支配自己生活的第一步
在追求成功的过程中，仅仅有良好的愿望，并不能给自己多大帮助，这无非是守株待兔，无论要做成什么，都需要有明确的决心，有了这种决心，思想才会转化成行动。无论何时何地，如果你没有做出成绩，典当操纵其他人永远会 甚至是一枚弃用的棋子。
很多时候，你需要用成绩证明自己的存在。不管什么人，只有在首先解决了衣食住行这些最基本的生活需求之后，才有可能去追求别的东西，否则，穷人被困 为贫穷所累，为贫穷所苦。在贫困的泥淖之中，只有为生存挣扎的心思，哪里还会有为理想奋斗的余力呢？
而事实上，即便是把基本的生活需求解决了，为了追求生活，事业成功和幸福， 也还需要有一定的物质基础，即在学习和奋斗过程中所需要的起码财富。财富是人奋斗的助推器，它可以为人向某一目标奋进提供外力，它可以成为跳板，成为一个跳板反弹人民成为周， 成为人渡河的舟楫。
同样是奋斗，在同样的人生起跑线上，有人乘飞机，有人坐汽车，也有人徒步而行，在有限的生命历程中，谁能率先达到目标显然是不言而喻的。我们都在生活中的人不能从分离的决心 健康也好，财富也好，人际关系也好，都是先有决心才会实现。临渊羡鱼，不如退而结网。
也许再多的愿望，不如一个行动的决心，决心是支配自己生活的第一步。大多数人制定的目标 由于并不衷心渴望达到，也就缺乏达到的自信心。英国哲学家罗素曾经说过：“一般人，往往认定自己办不成，凡事均不抱太大希望。”反过来说，如果是这样，为什么，所以我常常嘴唇“，”不，请不要委托我们的希望和谈话心死亡。 然而，能否把精力集中到一个目标上，对成功者来说极为重要。
一旦有了自己的要求，就集中精力来完成，一直到实现为止，不要分心，请不要缅怀过去。 精力集中的人，才可能把握机会，才可能为自己创造机会，从而最终走向成功。
不要让外界的事物影响自己的注意力。在完成目标之前，要能够心无旁鹜，?为了保持你的目标密切关注 下定决心，持之以恒，直到最终完成。运用你的知识、智能，制订一个可行的行动方案，把握自己的思想，最终，你就会培养出把全部身心投入目标的能力。
很多时候，你需要用成绩证明自己的存在。不管什么人，只有在首先解决了衣食住行这些最基本的生活需求之后，才有可能去追求别的东西，否则，穷人被困 为贫穷所累，为贫穷所苦。在贫困的泥淖之中，只有为生存挣扎的心思，哪里还会有为理想奋斗的余力呢？
而事实上，即便是把基本的生活需求解决了，为了追求生活，事业成功和幸福， 也还需要有一定的物质基础，即在学习和奋斗过程中所需要的起码财富。财富是人奋斗的助推器，它可以为人向某一目标奋进提供外力，它可以成为跳板，成为一个跳板反弹人民成为周， 成为人渡河的舟楫。
同样是奋斗，在同样的人生起跑线上，有人乘飞机，有人坐汽车，也有人徒步而行，在有限的生命历程中，谁能率先达到目标显然是不言而喻的。我们都在生活中的人不能从分离的决心 健康也好，财富也好，人际关系也好，都是先有决心才会实现。临渊羡鱼，不如退而结网。
也许再多的愿望，不如一个行动的决心，决心是支配自己生活的第一步。大多数人制定的目标 由于并不衷心渴望达到，也就缺乏达到的自信心。英国哲学家罗素曾经说过：“一般人，往往认定自己办不成，凡事均不抱太大希望。”反过来说，如果是这样，为什么，所以我常常嘴唇“，”不，请不要委托我们的希望和谈话心死亡。 然而，能否把精力集中到一个目标上，对成功者来说极为重要。
一旦有了自己的要求，就集中精力来完成，一直到实现为止，不要分心，请不要缅怀过去。 精力集中的人，才可能把握机会，才可能为自己创造机会，从而最终走向成功。
不要让外界的事物影响自己的注意力。在完成目标之前，要能够心无旁鹜，?为了保持你的目标密切关注 下定决心，持之以恒，直到最终完成。运用你的知识、智能，制订一个可行的行动方案，把握自己的思想，最终，你就会培养出把全部身心投入目标的能力。
无数的失败一定会成就你辉煌的人生
松下幸之助说：“人的一生，总是难免有浮沉。不会永远如旭日东升，也不会永远痛苦潦倒。下沉的浮点反复，人们 正是磨炼。因此，不浮动的骄傲以上; 沉在底下的，更用不着悲观。必须以率直、谦虚的态度乐观进取、向前迈进。? “艰难和漫长的成功之路， 长，有许多人在中途倒下了，为什么人们相信谁。失败，不坏 可怕的是你在失败后就站不起来了。坚持困难的经济衰退， 直到最后的成功。让压力成为你冲向终点的动力，挑战和机遇的僵局， 只要坚持一下，总有一天你会成功。它接着说：“在生活中，许多辉煌成就的失败！ ”
《简爱》的作者曾意味深长地说：? “人的生命是要吃苦。 人的一生肯定会有各种各样的压力，因此，宗经痛里面，这是受影响 但这才是真实的人生。”
人生。”
《简爱》的作者曾意味深长地说：? “人的生命是要吃苦。 人的一生肯定会有各种各样的压力，因此，宗经痛里面，这是受影响 但这才是真实的人生。”
人生。”
讓財富在你心中發芽
在我心中一直有一個聲音，push我去寫出一本書，書名就叫＜讓財富在你心中發芽＞。
如果有機會的話，我會再跟讀者們分享這本書的有趣機緣，在此我只能說，這本書的內容是催促我加快腳步進行理財寫作與教育推廣的核心動機，它幾乎已成了我奉行不渝的信仰和信念。
讓財富在你心中發芽，指的是一種有機的理財觀，是從生命的內涵出發，由內而外，去營造一個精神與物質同等富裕的生活。
我常碰到許多朋友問我，你說了那麼多，我又沒時間去作功課，乾脆告訴我明牌在哪裡好了？
如果你真為瀕於貧窮線的朋友好，為什麼不直接告訴這些人，金銀財寶都埋在哪些股票和基金上頭呢？
唉！我為世人這種淺薄之見，感到嘆息。這就好像農夫不去種田，卻要一個農業專家告訴他：你為什麼不直接告訴我，成熟的稻穗在哪裡呢？
如果像我一樣的財經專家說，成熟的稻穗在你家後院，只要你在對的時間撒種、澆水、除草、等待，時機一到，它就發芽抽穗了。這位農夫可千萬不能告訴我，我又不是像你一樣的農業專家，我哪有時間做功課，去瞭解什麼是對的佈稻時機呢？
唉！所以我說世人淺見，無如此之甚也。
我慶幸我不是農業專家，也不是財經專家，我只甘為一個平凡的農夫，用簡單、易懂、不難理解的方法，去告訴那些習慣把投資當打獵、當搶劫的上班族，也許你可以改換一種觀點，用有機的生活之道來看待投資、看待理財。
有機的財富觀就是一種從生命的信仰、信念出發，看自己能懂什麼產業？知道什麼商品？再從這個能懂的方向上，搭配自己奉行不渝的生活哲學，去選擇合適的投資方向，最終才搭配以利，取得利益的結果。
讓財富與一個人的生命進行有機的結合，而不是一種速食且速成的財富觀，正是我所奉行不二的致富法則。且我由其中受惠良多！
一切的財富都是虛空的，都將成過眼雲煙，投資人與其追求身外虛幻的財富，不如回到內心，由自我學習、成長與挑戰出發，去學習如何駕馭不可測知的未來，並尋求一個穩定且踏實的生命經驗。
人生如此，投資亦然。人生不過是來人世間遊戲一回，要用有意義的遊戲態度來參與人間，而不能跳過過程而想直達目標。所有生命的最終目標都是死亡，不可能是財富的增加。
用生命的過程來換取財富，必須過程富挑戰性、意義性與生命精彩的學習，才值得一切。
農夫流血流汗播種，為的是辛勤之後收割的歡樂，而不是有人現成栽好一畝地，他可以莫名其妙在旁邊就有一籮筐的稻穀可以食用。
人從自己出發，胼手胝足地到泥土地上耕種，與變化莫測的自然取得一種競爭中的平衡，最終獲得豐碩的果實，這就是一種有機的生命觀。現代人做投資，未嘗不可如此也。
人從自己出發，挑選自己適合的投資標的物，則一年要賺個5%到10%的年報酬率，幾乎是輕而易舉之事，多數人是因為貪心，而難以致之，而不是獲取適量報酬率有多困難。
人心常因不足而走捷徑，很少因為取足而放棄險惡的市場叢林。這是現代上班族投資股票、基金常失利之處。
財富一定要由自己的心念出發，由自己的能力與生命經驗出發，而絕不可能有一條倚賴外力的速成捷徑。這個道理，見諸於投資理財，也印證於事業生活。
我不喜歡有朋友經常來閱讀我部落格，卻依然對財富資產的不足而長吁短嘆。人貴知足，而常苦於不知足。生命之苦，常是因比較而來，而不是因知足而來。
如果我費盡心思，只換來朋友善意地建議我組成一個股友社，免費讓上班族加入聽取致富明牌，則我何苦來哉要日寫千言萬語，鼓吹世間無速成致富之路呢？
朋友，財富在你心?面，人人都有致富的機會與本錢。莫感嘆自己能力不足，要深思你的能力是否未被你發掘出來？
天生我材必有用，誰也不可能從他人口中得到一個致富的捷徑，因為這根本違法自然生機，違背天地之道。現代人多陷入金錢煩惱，我認為就是心思偏離生命的本質，而忽略從天人合一、小我與大我共富、共好的角度去思考事情。
＜讓財富在你心中發芽＞，是一本我預計於明年夏天寫出來的書。它幾乎已在我腦海裡呼喚，要我加快腳步按進度寫作。這本書將是我在木馬文化出版的第七本書，而在我於該出版社寫出第一本書＜管好你的錢＞時，就已逐漸播下了種子，一直到後來，我才知道，這是我要為普羅上班族客戶奉獻的一套書。
這一套書很辛苦，很難暢銷，但我甘之如飴。因為這是我的信念和使命，是我傾聽內心聲音而必須完成的任務。朋友，如果你為你費盡千辛萬苦，仍得不到合理報償而感到感嘆時，我真心建議你多想想：是不是你忘了去傾聽你內心的聲音？是不是你忘了去聽取你內心有個財富的種子在向你發聲呢？
有時候，當我們聽到內心種的是一棵大樹，就不要忘記，它結果很慢，而不是難以致富！
如果有機會的話，我會再跟讀者們分享這本書的有趣機緣，在此我只能說，這本書的內容是催促我加快腳步進行理財寫作與教育推廣的核心動機，它幾乎已成了我奉行不渝的信仰和信念。
讓財富在你心中發芽，指的是一種有機的理財觀，是從生命的內涵出發，由內而外，去營造一個精神與物質同等富裕的生活。
我常碰到許多朋友問我，你說了那麼多，我又沒時間去作功課，乾脆告訴我明牌在哪裡好了？
如果你真為瀕於貧窮線的朋友好，為什麼不直接告訴這些人，金銀財寶都埋在哪些股票和基金上頭呢？
唉！我為世人這種淺薄之見，感到嘆息。這就好像農夫不去種田，卻要一個農業專家告訴他：你為什麼不直接告訴我，成熟的稻穗在哪裡呢？
如果像我一樣的財經專家說，成熟的稻穗在你家後院，只要你在對的時間撒種、澆水、除草、等待，時機一到，它就發芽抽穗了。這位農夫可千萬不能告訴我，我又不是像你一樣的農業專家，我哪有時間做功課，去瞭解什麼是對的佈稻時機呢？
唉！所以我說世人淺見，無如此之甚也。
我慶幸我不是農業專家，也不是財經專家，我只甘為一個平凡的農夫，用簡單、易懂、不難理解的方法，去告訴那些習慣把投資當打獵、當搶劫的上班族，也許你可以改換一種觀點，用有機的生活之道來看待投資、看待理財。
有機的財富觀就是一種從生命的信仰、信念出發，看自己能懂什麼產業？知道什麼商品？再從這個能懂的方向上，搭配自己奉行不渝的生活哲學，去選擇合適的投資方向，最終才搭配以利，取得利益的結果。
讓財富與一個人的生命進行有機的結合，而不是一種速食且速成的財富觀，正是我所奉行不二的致富法則。且我由其中受惠良多！
一切的財富都是虛空的，都將成過眼雲煙，投資人與其追求身外虛幻的財富，不如回到內心，由自我學習、成長與挑戰出發，去學習如何駕馭不可測知的未來，並尋求一個穩定且踏實的生命經驗。
人生如此，投資亦然。人生不過是來人世間遊戲一回，要用有意義的遊戲態度來參與人間，而不能跳過過程而想直達目標。所有生命的最終目標都是死亡，不可能是財富的增加。
用生命的過程來換取財富，必須過程富挑戰性、意義性與生命精彩的學習，才值得一切。
農夫流血流汗播種，為的是辛勤之後收割的歡樂，而不是有人現成栽好一畝地，他可以莫名其妙在旁邊就有一籮筐的稻穀可以食用。
人從自己出發，胼手胝足地到泥土地上耕種，與變化莫測的自然取得一種競爭中的平衡，最終獲得豐碩的果實，這就是一種有機的生命觀。現代人做投資，未嘗不可如此也。
人從自己出發，挑選自己適合的投資標的物，則一年要賺個5%到10%的年報酬率，幾乎是輕而易舉之事，多數人是因為貪心，而難以致之，而不是獲取適量報酬率有多困難。
人心常因不足而走捷徑，很少因為取足而放棄險惡的市場叢林。這是現代上班族投資股票、基金常失利之處。
財富一定要由自己的心念出發，由自己的能力與生命經驗出發，而絕不可能有一條倚賴外力的速成捷徑。這個道理，見諸於投資理財，也印證於事業生活。
我不喜歡有朋友經常來閱讀我部落格，卻依然對財富資產的不足而長吁短嘆。人貴知足，而常苦於不知足。生命之苦，常是因比較而來，而不是因知足而來。
如果我費盡心思，只換來朋友善意地建議我組成一個股友社，免費讓上班族加入聽取致富明牌，則我何苦來哉要日寫千言萬語，鼓吹世間無速成致富之路呢？
朋友，財富在你心?面，人人都有致富的機會與本錢。莫感嘆自己能力不足，要深思你的能力是否未被你發掘出來？
天生我材必有用，誰也不可能從他人口中得到一個致富的捷徑，因為這根本違法自然生機，違背天地之道。現代人多陷入金錢煩惱，我認為就是心思偏離生命的本質，而忽略從天人合一、小我與大我共富、共好的角度去思考事情。
＜讓財富在你心中發芽＞，是一本我預計於明年夏天寫出來的書。它幾乎已在我腦海裡呼喚，要我加快腳步按進度寫作。這本書將是我在木馬文化出版的第七本書，而在我於該出版社寫出第一本書＜管好你的錢＞時，就已逐漸播下了種子，一直到後來，我才知道，這是我要為普羅上班族客戶奉獻的一套書。
這一套書很辛苦，很難暢銷，但我甘之如飴。因為這是我的信念和使命，是我傾聽內心聲音而必須完成的任務。朋友，如果你為你費盡千辛萬苦，仍得不到合理報償而感到感嘆時，我真心建議你多想想：是不是你忘了去傾聽你內心的聲音？是不是你忘了去聽取你內心有個財富的種子在向你發聲呢？
有時候，當我們聽到內心種的是一棵大樹，就不要忘記，它結果很慢，而不是難以致富！
現在你敢了嗎？
投資股票並沒有很難，難的是我們的心常跟著市場起伏。
投資基金並沒有很難，難的是投資人往往連商品特性都沒有搞清楚就投資。
投資房地產也不會因為投資本金大就增加難度，難的往往是投資者連投資、投機都分不清時，就不知花錢買屋要做什麼了。
我常看到許多投資人，在金錢的迷宮裡打轉，想勸他們停下腳步，問問自己在做什麼，無奈他們開著極快的跑車，我追也追不上。有些在迷宮裡繞路的慢速車，會看到我招手要他們停下來，但他們搖下車窗的第一個問題是：你不要叫我停下來，要告訴我明牌在哪裡？
明牌在哪裡？明牌在投資人的方向盤上，不是嗎？
如果是一個平時有做功課，會對市場上的股票進行勘查者，則此時停下車來，冷靜觀察市場，會看到市場因為心理面因素形成大退潮時，股市高速公路竟然讓出了一條空曠車道，可以讓投資人隨心所欲地大撿便宜貨。
如果你過去三個月，迷惘於股市人擠人的塞車現象，又感嘆手中持股皆漲不動時，則利用車潮大退場的時機，建立新的一年難得一見的投資上路時機啟動引擎，則後悔的時光不會太長。
投資人後悔，常常不是錯失高點賣出，就是錯失低點買入，不然就是懊悔什麼都沒做，股價卻已撥雲見日，柳暗花明。
如果一個投資人能建立正確的投資心態，心中永無悔字，在別人棄車而逃時，勇敢上路做投資，投資獲利的機率絕對高很多。
這篇文章談的都是投資，不是投機。投資指的是針對投資標的物的內容進行審慎評估、觀察，並進行合理的投資鑑價後，最後只等著合理的買點浮現。
合理的買點何時會浮現？就是賣方恐慌的時候！
恐慌，是投資市場買方最有利的出價點。有時，這個出價點可以拉得很長，但有時稍縱即逝。但不論是一個長時間的股價低盪，或是短時間的超跌，讓投資者不後悔的關鍵，永遠是內心有做功課的不後悔態度。
有做正確的功課，就是一個好的投資者，也是一個緊握方向盤，不隨波逐流的好車手。
股票如此，基金、房地產投資皆然。基金、房地產與股票的差異，只是價格波動的時間周期不同，或說，買方入場出價的價格談判時間較長，投資者進場反要更冷靜、更緩慢審思後再決定是否出手。
投資賺錢不會很難，難的往往是投資人的心會受到事物的表象所迷惑，更會被市場多數人的情緒拉著走，而不懂得時時停下腳步，看看自己的方向盤在哪裡？
投資人的明牌是自己的投資方向，而不是市場趨勢。如果自己知道要往哪裡去，則當高速公路南下或北上清出一條車道了，你為何不敢上路呢？
2010年春天，全球股市大回檔，相信股票型基金淨值也回落不少，台灣房地產價格也在鬆動。那些過去你擔心價格過高而不敢投資的東西，問問自己，現在你敢了嗎？
還是不敢，就請別再羨慕別人老是能輕鬆賺錢囉！
投資基金並沒有很難，難的是投資人往往連商品特性都沒有搞清楚就投資。
投資房地產也不會因為投資本金大就增加難度，難的往往是投資者連投資、投機都分不清時，就不知花錢買屋要做什麼了。
我常看到許多投資人，在金錢的迷宮裡打轉，想勸他們停下腳步，問問自己在做什麼，無奈他們開著極快的跑車，我追也追不上。有些在迷宮裡繞路的慢速車，會看到我招手要他們停下來，但他們搖下車窗的第一個問題是：你不要叫我停下來，要告訴我明牌在哪裡？
明牌在哪裡？明牌在投資人的方向盤上，不是嗎？
如果是一個平時有做功課，會對市場上的股票進行勘查者，則此時停下車來，冷靜觀察市場，會看到市場因為心理面因素形成大退潮時，股市高速公路竟然讓出了一條空曠車道，可以讓投資人隨心所欲地大撿便宜貨。
如果你過去三個月，迷惘於股市人擠人的塞車現象，又感嘆手中持股皆漲不動時，則利用車潮大退場的時機，建立新的一年難得一見的投資上路時機啟動引擎，則後悔的時光不會太長。
投資人後悔，常常不是錯失高點賣出，就是錯失低點買入，不然就是懊悔什麼都沒做，股價卻已撥雲見日，柳暗花明。
如果一個投資人能建立正確的投資心態，心中永無悔字，在別人棄車而逃時，勇敢上路做投資，投資獲利的機率絕對高很多。
這篇文章談的都是投資，不是投機。投資指的是針對投資標的物的內容進行審慎評估、觀察，並進行合理的投資鑑價後，最後只等著合理的買點浮現。
合理的買點何時會浮現？就是賣方恐慌的時候！
恐慌，是投資市場買方最有利的出價點。有時，這個出價點可以拉得很長，但有時稍縱即逝。但不論是一個長時間的股價低盪，或是短時間的超跌，讓投資者不後悔的關鍵，永遠是內心有做功課的不後悔態度。
有做正確的功課，就是一個好的投資者，也是一個緊握方向盤，不隨波逐流的好車手。
股票如此，基金、房地產投資皆然。基金、房地產與股票的差異，只是價格波動的時間周期不同，或說，買方入場出價的價格談判時間較長，投資者進場反要更冷靜、更緩慢審思後再決定是否出手。
投資賺錢不會很難，難的往往是投資人的心會受到事物的表象所迷惑，更會被市場多數人的情緒拉著走，而不懂得時時停下腳步，看看自己的方向盤在哪裡？
投資人的明牌是自己的投資方向，而不是市場趨勢。如果自己知道要往哪裡去，則當高速公路南下或北上清出一條車道了，你為何不敢上路呢？
2010年春天，全球股市大回檔，相信股票型基金淨值也回落不少，台灣房地產價格也在鬆動。那些過去你擔心價格過高而不敢投資的東西，問問自己，現在你敢了嗎？
還是不敢，就請別再羨慕別人老是能輕鬆賺錢囉！
窮人，別想靠股市翻身！
多年來，我看過無數朋友相信股市是窮人的天堂，並期待透過證券投資來翻身致富。
我最害怕上班族抱有這種觀念，更害怕證券老手與高手，存有這樣的期待而終身被綑綁於股市煉獄之中，一輩子都翻不了身。
其實，想要從證券市場撈走數桶金的最好方法，就是忘掉報酬，忘掉獲利，忘掉虧損，也忘掉股市是窮人翻身的天堂或富人鬥爭的地獄！
股市其實只是一群企業主，集合起來，向有錢人招手、募集資金的一個交易場所而已，在這裡，大家只是在商言商，談生意、談賺錢，沒什麼天堂與地獄之別，也沒什麼窮人進來就會變成富人的道理。同樣的，更沒有富人進來卻會變成窮人的理由。
事實上，在作生意的場合，會作生意的就會賺錢，不會作生意的，就不會賺錢。商場上從沒見過，不會作生意的，路邊攤竄個貨，幾天下來就會變成有錢人。也很少看到很會作生意的，市場幾個價格起落就消失無蹤、再也不經商了。
把股市想成是一個經商之所，想成是商販在這裡湊錢談創業，或者，股票小販在這裡兜售股票的殺價市場，或許能協助更多投資朋友打破迷思。
因為太多人把股市想成是一夕致富之地了，使得這裡煙霧瀰漫，讓很多上班族看不清市場真相。
我想要告訴你的是---股市只是一個金錢交易市場，而關於金錢市場，永遠都只向有錢人開門、不向窮光蛋招手！如果你沒有一顆富人的腦袋，那麼想到證券市場作金錢生意，只是死路一條，注定是人間煉獄。
但如果你擁有一顆正確的生意頭腦，那麼，冷靜觀察哪裡有合適的投資機會，或者，觀察哪裡有低買高賣的商機，靠的就是商業頭腦，而不是想翻身致富的賭徒心態。
我同意在商場上，有很多人白手起家，從貧無立錐之地到富可敵國，但，那是因為這些窮人學習了正確的經商態度、手腕與智慧而成功，是他們在腦袋裡灌入了有錢人的思維軟體，讓他們從屢敗屢戰、從多次失敗中累積成功經驗而翻身致富。
這個過程不是賭徒心態，而是一種拚搏精神。
在證券市場，想成功，需要的也是一種積極的拚博精神，而不是賭徒心態。兩者的心態可以用一句話來說明---「謀事在人，成事在天」。
正確的證券投資之道是謀事在人，把獲利繫乎於自然無為；但多數的賭徒投機客卻反是，是以成事在天的投機心理，將命運下注在股市上萬點、飆股、黑馬股、高成長股與明牌身上，他們以為他們做了很多謀事功課，但殊不知，成事在天的投機心理存於心，一切的功課都是請鬼拿藥單---白搭。
沒有想通這道裡的人，一定會不斷又不斷的輪迴於股市煉獄之中，在賺錢、賠錢、賺錢、賠錢的輪迴中打轉，殊為可惜。一般無知上班族誤入賭場也就算了，最怕精於賭技者，流連於股市天堂，一直渴望翻身致富，最終卻一直賺不到錢，這種人，最是可惜，因為他們認不清天道與鬼道、神道與修羅道之別。
如果，您也是證券投資老手，多年來做了許多功課卻白忙一場，那麼我奉勸您想一想，人會窮困的原因是什麼呢？是不是缺乏一顆富貴由天的豁達之心呢？
人若豁達，福氣就暢通，未見汲汲營營於小利者，氣量狹小而卻能運走大量財富者。反而是堅守商道，以誠信、踏實、原則、穩健、保守、助人、樂善、和氣等心態經商者，雖未必大富大貴，卻必能穩健獲利、持盈保泰。
投資如果像經商，則由窮致富的道理是堅守商道，而非渴望翻身。想一夕致富的窮人，不把押注於天的投機心態拿掉，則任何謀事都很難成功，因為他的腦袋住在窮人的地獄裡，又豈能高飛到「謀事在人，成事在天」的平常心天堂裡呢？
我最害怕上班族抱有這種觀念，更害怕證券老手與高手，存有這樣的期待而終身被綑綁於股市煉獄之中，一輩子都翻不了身。
其實，想要從證券市場撈走數桶金的最好方法，就是忘掉報酬，忘掉獲利，忘掉虧損，也忘掉股市是窮人翻身的天堂或富人鬥爭的地獄！
股市其實只是一群企業主，集合起來，向有錢人招手、募集資金的一個交易場所而已，在這裡，大家只是在商言商，談生意、談賺錢，沒什麼天堂與地獄之別，也沒什麼窮人進來就會變成富人的道理。同樣的，更沒有富人進來卻會變成窮人的理由。
事實上，在作生意的場合，會作生意的就會賺錢，不會作生意的，就不會賺錢。商場上從沒見過，不會作生意的，路邊攤竄個貨，幾天下來就會變成有錢人。也很少看到很會作生意的，市場幾個價格起落就消失無蹤、再也不經商了。
把股市想成是一個經商之所，想成是商販在這裡湊錢談創業，或者，股票小販在這裡兜售股票的殺價市場，或許能協助更多投資朋友打破迷思。
因為太多人把股市想成是一夕致富之地了，使得這裡煙霧瀰漫，讓很多上班族看不清市場真相。
我想要告訴你的是---股市只是一個金錢交易市場，而關於金錢市場，永遠都只向有錢人開門、不向窮光蛋招手！如果你沒有一顆富人的腦袋，那麼想到證券市場作金錢生意，只是死路一條，注定是人間煉獄。
但如果你擁有一顆正確的生意頭腦，那麼，冷靜觀察哪裡有合適的投資機會，或者，觀察哪裡有低買高賣的商機，靠的就是商業頭腦，而不是想翻身致富的賭徒心態。
我同意在商場上，有很多人白手起家，從貧無立錐之地到富可敵國，但，那是因為這些窮人學習了正確的經商態度、手腕與智慧而成功，是他們在腦袋裡灌入了有錢人的思維軟體，讓他們從屢敗屢戰、從多次失敗中累積成功經驗而翻身致富。
這個過程不是賭徒心態，而是一種拚搏精神。
在證券市場，想成功，需要的也是一種積極的拚博精神，而不是賭徒心態。兩者的心態可以用一句話來說明---「謀事在人，成事在天」。
正確的證券投資之道是謀事在人，把獲利繫乎於自然無為；但多數的賭徒投機客卻反是，是以成事在天的投機心理，將命運下注在股市上萬點、飆股、黑馬股、高成長股與明牌身上，他們以為他們做了很多謀事功課，但殊不知，成事在天的投機心理存於心，一切的功課都是請鬼拿藥單---白搭。
沒有想通這道裡的人，一定會不斷又不斷的輪迴於股市煉獄之中，在賺錢、賠錢、賺錢、賠錢的輪迴中打轉，殊為可惜。一般無知上班族誤入賭場也就算了，最怕精於賭技者，流連於股市天堂，一直渴望翻身致富，最終卻一直賺不到錢，這種人，最是可惜，因為他們認不清天道與鬼道、神道與修羅道之別。
如果，您也是證券投資老手，多年來做了許多功課卻白忙一場，那麼我奉勸您想一想，人會窮困的原因是什麼呢？是不是缺乏一顆富貴由天的豁達之心呢？
人若豁達，福氣就暢通，未見汲汲營營於小利者，氣量狹小而卻能運走大量財富者。反而是堅守商道，以誠信、踏實、原則、穩健、保守、助人、樂善、和氣等心態經商者，雖未必大富大貴，卻必能穩健獲利、持盈保泰。
投資如果像經商，則由窮致富的道理是堅守商道，而非渴望翻身。想一夕致富的窮人，不把押注於天的投機心態拿掉，則任何謀事都很難成功，因為他的腦袋住在窮人的地獄裡，又豈能高飛到「謀事在人，成事在天」的平常心天堂裡呢？
THE PRINCE
Alwaleed is probably the most important financial kingpin that you've never heard of. Unlike a George Soros or Rupert Murdoch, publicity-shy Alwaleed mostly stays out of the limelight, preferring to work by telephone from his Riyadh office. But he has already made his mark on several premier deals of the 1990s. Alwaleed's 1991 debut on the world stage was in true grand style: $800 million to shore up Citicorp, making the Saudi prince its largest shareholder.
Since then, Alwaleed has been building an international portfolio of high-profile but undervalued assets--like a Warren Buffett on a global prowl. He has bought up chunks of Euro Disney, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the Four Seasons-Regent hotel group, the world's largest luxury chain. Last July, the prince made waves in Europe when an Alwaleed-led alliance bested Rupert Murdoch in bidding for a $1.2 billion stake in the Italian TV empire of media tycoon-turned-politician Silvio Berlusconi.
That move signaled a new direction for the prince. Now, he may become a player in the frenzied buying and selling of media properties. Recently, Ted Turner sounded him out-unsuccessfully-about helping finance a bid for CBS. ``We're going to go for a big one,'' predicts Alwaleed. ``With Murdoch attacking from the north, we're going to counter from the south.'' Offers to come in on other media megadeals routinely cross his desk.
The prince has taken advantage of Saudi Arabia's sudden wealth--and its less-than-sophisticated business environment--to make himself the kingdom's most powerful mogul. With a bank, a supermarket chain, vast real estate holdings, and a broadcasting operation, his reach in Saudi Arabia is unmatched. Throw in an operation that doles out $150 million a year to down-and-out Saudis and even needy princes, and Alwaleed is making himself a household name in the kingdom. Could a foray into Saudi politics be his next step--as it was for Italy's Berlusconi, whom Alwaleed admires? Alwaleed dismisses that: ``I like being a free man and talking openly. Who wants to be handcuffed?'' he says.
Right now, Alwaleed is more concerned with proving that he is very different from the glitzy sheikhs who squandered their petrodollars so fast in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of these would-be global tycoons turned out to be the world's biggest suckers instead. Some of Alwaleed's royal relations got lured into the Hunt brothers' bungled scheme to corner the world silver market in the 1970s. More recently, Abu Dhabi's ruler, Sheikh Zayed, was fleeced of billions of dollars by the scandal-ridden Bank of Credit & Commerce International. With his studied approach, Alwaleed is as different from those high rollers as Buffett is from Donald Trump, whose 283-foot yacht the prince bought at the knockdown price of $18 million from Trump's creditors in 1991. Even though not all of his investments have been home runs, the prince has an enviable track record. In the past 12 months alone, the prince has ratcheted up over $2 billion in paper profits on his Citicorp and Euro Disney holdings. And, as Alwaleed might himself remind you, at age 38 and with $10 billion in his pocket, this fitness fanatic, who doesn't drink or smoke, is just getting started.
Along with other big investors, Alwaleed and his small band of advisers get first crack at some of the biggest deals going. When Kirk Kerkorian went after Chrysler Corp. recently, the tycoon offered Alwaleed a stake. It was turned down flat. ``Kerkorian was using me for leverage. And anyway, buying in at $56 in hopes Chrysler would go to $100 wasn't interesting enough,'' says the prince. ``When it comes to deals outside Saudi Arabia, I don't go against management.'' Also receiving thumbs down recently: stakes in Britain's Saatchi & Saatchi and a global satellite telecommunications system.
In fact, perched behind Alwaleed's huge desk at his Riyadh headquarters is a three-foot-high pile of confidential prospectuses from Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and Alwaleed's own consultants around the world. Looking at the printout of his global holdings, which aides prepare for him each week, he says he aims ``to go to $15 billion [in assets] in three or four years.''
Don't expect impetuous moves. Although his key aides number less than 10, potential deals are rigorously studied. Arthur Andersen & Co. is kept on retainer to evaluate every new investment lead, as is Hogan & Hartson, a tony Washington (D.C.) law firm. Citibank also chips in, from sizing up new projects to daily air shipments of U.S. and British newspapers for the prince to scan. Despite the glittering trappings of Alwaleed's great wealth--his yacht, a Boeing 727, and a fleet of 250 cars and motorized caravans--the prince is a workaholic. When he takes his regular late-night jog through the deserted streets of Riyadh, aides run behind carrying constantly ringing cellular phones. And Alwaleed's one vacation each year--a three-week stay on his yacht off the French Riviera--is crammed with meetings with potential partners. This last August, for example, Alwaleed sent his jet to fetch pop star Michael Jackson for an onboard lunch and discussion of a joint marketing operation. Days later, Monaco's Prince Albert was feted--to help swing approval for a new, multimillion-dollar Four Seasons hotel in Monte Carlo.
FIFTY SLAVES. How did this son of Arabia climb to such a lofty position so fast? Many have assumed the slim, 5-foot-8-inch, 140 pound Alwaleed is a one-man investment front for other, more publicity-shy Saudi princes. Some have whispered about contracts to build secret military bases in Saudi Arabia-or even fat commissions on oil shipments. Alwaleed himself hasn't done much to quell the rumors. The prince has put out an implausible story about starting out with a modest $35,000 from his father. Now, through dozens of interviews with the prince and associates, BUSINESS WEEK has pieced together the tale of how this determined investor built up his empire.
Of course, Alwaleed was never poor. But when the prince was born in 1957, Riyadh was still a forbidding desert town largely closed to foreigners. But, as the son of Prince Talal, the 21st son of Saudi Arabia's first king, Alwaleed enjoyed privileges unknown to most Saudis: running water, cars, and a ham radio that his father toyed with as a hobby. Until his father freed them when Alwaleed was 5, some 50 slaves helped keep order at home.
But the kingdom's wealth was nothing like it is today. The oil, which American companies were pumping some 350 miles eastward, fetched just pennies a barrel on world markets--and the Saudi government was in a constant financial bind. In fact, King Saud, whom Alwaleed's father briefly served as Finance Minister, was deposed by his brother Feisal in 1964, in part because his spendthrift ways threatened to throw the kingdom into bankruptcy.
That all changed in a flash. The oil-price explosion of the 1970s brought fabulous wealth, and the Alsaud clan--which now numbers around 6,000 princes--became collectively the richest and certainly the largest royal family on earth. The Alsaud maintain a tight grip on Arabia, as they have since Alwaleed's grandfather, the formidable Abdulaziz, unified most of the vast Arabian peninsula in the 1920s. Today, Alwaleed's uncles, sons of the founder, fill the top roles in the state: King, Crown Prince, Ministers of Defense and Interior. Not for nothing has Saudi Arabia been called ``the only family business with a seat at the U.N.''
But Alwaleed is an Alsaud with a difference: In 1962, his father and four of his brothers revolted against the rest of clan. Talal showed sympathy for an Alsaud enemy, Egyptian revolutionary Gamal Abdel Nasser, and publicly called for a more open political system. This affair was a serious, embarrassing rift within the family and led to exile for Talal in Egypt, where he was exploited by Nasser's propaganda. He was eventually allowed to come home. But ever since, an unspoken code among the Alsaud has barred Talal--and, by extension, his family--from an active role in government. ``Talal was free to make money,'' says a former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. ``But he was never really forgiven.''
FRAMED TRANSCRIPT. This situation is the one subject the normally loquacious Alwaleed will not dwell on. But being something of an outsider goes far to explain his drive to succeed in business. From the age of 16, he says, ``I realized I wanted a plane and a boat and to make money.'' That was easy for princes at the top of the Saudi hierarchy--sons of the King and his full brothers--but more difficult for others.
As a grandson of Abdulaziz, Alwaleed gets a monthly $19,000 check from the royal court. With close to 400 people on his private payroll--ranging from the 160 employed at his Riyadh palace to his yacht's 40-man crew and the two gun-toting guards who follow him 24 hours a day--that stipend covers less than 2% of his household expenses. This is the grand style expected of a senior prince, not a minor royal.
Early on, this outsider prince says he saw himself on a mission--to make his mark through business. That was evident after Alwaleed landed in San Francisco in 1976 to begin undergraduate studies in business at Menlo College. Unlike many other rich Saudis who went to Menlo, Alwaleed applied himself with a concentration that is remembered even today. ``He was the hardest worker I have ever seen,'' recalls Carlos U. Lopez, Alwaleed's academic adviser.
After Alwaleed's first year, an anxious Talal dispatched an emissary to California to find out whether his son was studying enough. ``He said Alwaleed's father was worried that his son might not be doing well,'' remembers Lopez. ``I said: `My God, have you seen his grades?' They were straight As.'' A framed copy of Alwaleed's transcript from Menlo hangs on the wall of his palace today.
But Alwaleed acquired his financial skills on the job, not from textbooks. When the prince returned to Riyadh in late 1979, it was an auspicious moment to start out in business. Oil prices were breaking records, and the government was pumping billions of dollars into construction, from superhighways and new ministries to squadrons of the fanciest fighter planes ever built. It was a gold rush that transformed the kingdom and made overnight millionaires out of many Saudis. Under Saudi law, every foreign company with work in the kingdom must have a local sponsor--who pockets around 5% of any contract.
In 1982, after setting up a company called Kingdom Establishment in a tiny prefabricated office, Alwaleed landed his first deal: an $8 million job to build a bachelors' club at a military academy near Riyadh. He was representing a small South Korean contractor.
From then on, the prince's business grew rapidly and became more sophisticated. Instead of acting as mere agent, Alwaleed boosted his profits by setting up his own companies to form joint ventures with foreigners. With that, Alwaleed was bringing in up to $50 million in profits a year. ``He was very different from other princes and rich Saudis, who represented companies and just sat back,'' says Amr Khashoggi, CEO of Saudi Arabia's largest cement maker.
Alwaleed used this new stream of cash to play for high stakes in the white-hot Riyadh property market. Alwaleed's portfolio of 25 million square feet of prime Riyadh real estate and 14 square miles of property just outside the city makes him the largest private landowner in the Saudi capital today. The value: ``at least $2 billion,'' says Alwaleed.
For a property owner with a sharp eye, Saudi Arabia's poorly managed banks were a ripe target. In 1986, the Saudi establishment woke up to its first hostile takeover when Alwaleed announced he had secretly amassed a controlling stake in the loss-making United Saudi Commercial Bank. Appointing a new board and management, Alwaleed cut the bank's staff from 600 to 250. And in a country where imported labor is often treated poorly--and stock options are unknown--Alwaleed quickly instituted twice-yearly employee meetings, where he hands out cash and keys to new cars to top performers.
The formula worked. USCB was back in the black by 1988 and was Saudi Arabia's most profitable commercial bank by 1989. The bank also proved a gold mine of business intelligence. As USCB chairman, says Alwaleed, ``I got to know very well the strengths and weaknesses of local companies.'' Alwaleed's Kingdom now has majority stakes in companies ranging from Saudi Arabia's largest supermarket chain to fast food, livestock, and hospital management. With $1.5 billion in the form of minority stakes in large Saudi companies, Alwaleed is set to become even bigger.
Too big, maybe? The balance between royals and commoners in Saudi Arabia's business world is already an uneasy one, with many griping over senior princes' easy access to rich deals. Tempers flared recently when Al-Mawarid, a Riyadh conglomerate controlled by two Alsaud princes, strong-armed several local businessmen into handing over dealerships. Alwaleed claims he'll be immune to criticism: ``People know that when I take over a company, I fix it up, and it will be in safe hands. I'm Saudi. I'm dedicated to the nation, and I'm involved in charity.''
Although Alwaleed says he gives out of Islam's admonition to help those less fortunate, it's also a way of buying popularity and protection on a massive scale. Using a bank of Compaq personal computers, two full-time Muslim scholars direct a staff of 20 as they dole out one-time cash grants of $800 to $2,000 for up to 6,000 needy Saudis a month. His handouts to Bedouin tribesmen visiting Alwaleed's campsite are talked about across the country--as was his publicized gift of $8 million in July to help Bosnian Muslims. But all this has not kept him from being blasted by a London-based Saudi opposition group.
It is not surprising that Alwaleed would want to extend his reach outside Saudi Arabia, if only to diversify his holdings. Long before he made his first big move, he began working on his global bargain-hunting game plan. ``I got a call from Alwaleed in late 1987 asking me to collect as much information as possible about U.S. money-center banks,'' recalls one of Alwaleed's Swiss private bankers. ``He thinks of moves three or four years ahead.''
At the time, Citicorp was just one of several possible targets. By 1989, Alwaleed was snapping up shares of Citicorp, Chase Manhattan, Manufacturers Hanover, and Chemical, sometimes calling in buy orders from a cellular phone while horseback riding in the desert. Within months, he had spent close to $250 million--at one point holding a 2.3% stake in Chase. ``But then, I sold everything and concentrated on Citibank,'' remembers Alwaleed.
He says he decided that Chemical and Chase were too concentrated in New York and lacked the global brand presence of Citi. On the surface, it was a strange choice: Among the four banks, it was clearly the worst performer, because of a combination of New York real estate loans and exposure to Third World debt. In fact, by late 1990 it was widely feared that the bank might fail.
The crucial moment came in 1991, as the U.S. and its allies were on the verge of ousting the Iraqis from Kuwait. Since Alwaleed, as a Saudi prince, was duty bound to remain in the capital during the Gulf war, lengthy bull sessions on the Citi stake with his lawyers, Al Christianson and Mark Mezou, were interrupted several times by Iraqi attacks. Having already bought 4.9% of Citi's common stock at an average price of around $12, Alwaleed and Citi worked out a special convertible preferred issue in return for a capital injection of $590 million.
``I was the only one in the world willing to talk to Citi,'' Alwaleed claims today. Was he contacted by the Federal Reserve as part of a Citi bailout, as some have suggested? The prince says that's nonsense. ``The only time we had contact with the Fed was when we were going over 9% and needed their approval.''
The deal put a floor under Citi, and it has also turned out very well for Alwaleed: His 9.9% stake is convertible at just under $16 a share. With the bank in better shape and Citi common stock selling in mid-September at a 15-year high of $67, Alwaleed's stake has more than quadrupled in value, to $2.8 billion.
What does Alwaleed think of Citi now? If Chairman and CEO John Reed continues to cut costs, says the prince, Citi shares will continue their ascent, to $100 in the next two years. Returning a call from Citibank Vice-Chairman Paul Collins, Alwaleed gently admonishes the executive to move more quickly on paring overhead. Being a mere shareholder, he knows Reed and Collins needn't take his advice: ``But if I didn't trust them, I wouldn't put my money there,'' he says.
Although Alwaleed has been one of Citi's most important private clients since he started in business 15 years ago and took out a $300,000 loan, using his Riyadh palace as collateral, the prince had never met Reed before directly investing in the bank. That's changed. Now, the two have a long discussion at least once a year, most recently just hours after the mid-August announcement of the Chase-Chemical merger. In 1993, Reed and his son flew to Saudi Arabia and donned Bedouin robes for a late-night party at Alwaleed's high-tech camp 30 miles from Riyadh--complete with roast camel, Bedouin dancers, and some target practice with machine guns.
If Alwaleed is merely a passive--if important--investor in Citi, he's taking a more hands-on approach to hotels. ``It's a natural for him,'' says Chuck Henry, an ex-director of real estate investments at CS First Boston, who now serves as Alwaleed's full-time hotel-industry consultant in New York.
Alwaleed owns big stakes in New York's Plaza Hotel and San Francisco's Fairmont chain, but the centerpiece of this strategy is the holding he bought in Toronto's Four Seasons Hotels Inc. The price he paid for 26.6% of Four Seasons, $124 million, stunned the hotel industry.
Although the investment's value has fallen, Alwaleed is now busy laying plans with Sharp to expand the 40-hotel group to 60 properties within five years and 80 within a decade. Alwaleed doesn't bother to attend board meetings, but he and Sharp are regular phone pals. Sharp admits he approached their first meeting--on the prince's yacht--with some apprehension: Before the two got down to talking about a potential deal, Sharp says, ``I made it clear that I am Jewish and that I have significant ties to Israel. If that's a problem, we shouldn't even get started.'' Alwaleed immediately assured Sharp there was no problem.
Indeed, many of Alwaleed's closest partners are Jewish, from Sharp and Walt Disney CEO Michael D. Eisner to property czar Reichmann. Sometimes this leads to bruised feelings. Following Alwaleed's big move into Euro Disney in 1994, Eisner was stung by newspaper stories saying that he would not be able to visit Saudi Arabia because of his religion. He sent Alwaleed an angry fax. Alwaleed now says he has an open invitation. After Reichmann plotted business deals on Alwaleed's yacht last August, the prince says he was taken aback when an aide inquired if the Canadian's deep religious beliefs were an obstacle to working together. Alwaleed joked: ``I told him: `Reichmann's an Orthodox Jew, and I'm an orthodox Muslim. We're both orthodox, so where's the problem?'''
``He is traditional and religious, yet modern,'' Reichmann says. ``From others who have dealt with him, I know that when a transaction is completed, it conforms 100% to the initial formulation.''
The prince's biggest deal after Citi was his buy into Euro Disney, the $4 billion park near Paris. With $3 billion in debt, the park opened in 1992, just as recession set in. After looking at the numbers, Alwaleed was convinced the problems weren't permanent. Says the prince: ``It wasn't that people hated Paris, or the weather, or Disney. The problem was simple overleveraging. They just didn't have enough to cover the debt.''
Alwaleed and his top adviser, Riyadh businessman Mustufa Al-Hejeilan, say the buyout of a 24% stake June, 1994, was the most difficult and complicated deal yet. After 16 days of negotiations in Paris, Alwaleed squeezed the banks into forgoing interest payments until 1997--worth as much as $500 million. He also forced Walt Disney Co., which has a 39% stake in Euro Disney, to say au revoir to $70 million a year in management and royalty payments until 1999.
Even with that, many scoffed at Alwaleed's wisdom in investing in the loss-making park. But with attendance up sharply and the company turning its first profit in the June quarter, Alwaleed's $300 million has doubled in value.
The big hit at Euro Disney could, however, be a trap for Alwaleed. Like many an industrial baron before him, the prince seems to have an itch to get involved in media and showbiz--fields that have already proved treacherous for outsiders.
Over the past two years, the prince and another Saudi tycoon, Salah Kamel, have pumped more than $300 million into launching a five-station chain, Arab Television & Radio (ART). The somewhat starstruck Alwaleed personally runs ART's music channel and seems to relish hobnobbing with the top singers of the Arab world.
Alwaleed says his media operations and his foothold in European TV are the stepping stones to something much bigger. The prince hints he's tempted to enter the frantic bidding wars changing the face of U.S. broadcasting--but finds prices are high. But there's another aspect, one that also explains why Alwaleed has avoided any hostile takeovers in the U.S. ``I don't need people saying the damned Arabs are taking over.'' If he moves in media, he says, it will be with such partners as Italy's Berlusconi and Germany's Leo Kirch.
The prince's Hollywood bent has led to a budding relationship with recording star Michael Jackson. Last December, Alwaleed and Jackson MJJ Productions signed a confidential agreement to set up a joint company to develop movies, animation, resorts--everything but song recording. Gushes Jackson: ``We want to create a new multimedia empire. The prince is sweet and humble but at the same time very daring and wants to do incredible things. Just like I do.''
It sounds a little too ethereal, but with Alwaleed's track record, who can say he won't turn whatever he touches into gold? In the guest book on Alwaleed's yacht, in between flowery thank-yous from scores of guests, one message from a top Citibank executive stands out. ``I've worked with Your Highness for 15 years,'' he writes. ``Now, I look forward to the next 15 years, when you will become the most powerful and influential businessman on earth.'' Obsequious? Certainly. But he's probably not way off the mark.
A Fast Rise From Not-So-Humble Beginnings
1957
Born in Riyadh to Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz and Mona al-Solh, the daughter of Lebanon's first Prime Minister
1960-8
Lives in Beirut with his mother after parents' divorce
1962
His father, Prince Talal, attacks the Saudi system, goes into exile
1979
Gets honors degree in business from Menlo College in California
1980
Sets up Kingdom Establishment, the foundation of his empire
1982
Wins the first of his many lucrative Saudi military construction contracts, representing a South Korean builder
1986
Shakes the Saudi business world by taking over troubled United Saudi Commercial Bank
1991
Comes to the rescue of Citicorp, his biggest deal
1994
Bails out shaky Euro Disney theme park
1995
Buys 50% of New York's Plaza Hotel for $160 million
1995
Negotiates for 10% of London's Canary Wharf with developer Paul Reichmann and others
Since then, Alwaleed has been building an international portfolio of high-profile but undervalued assets--like a Warren Buffett on a global prowl. He has bought up chunks of Euro Disney, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the Four Seasons-Regent hotel group, the world's largest luxury chain. Last July, the prince made waves in Europe when an Alwaleed-led alliance bested Rupert Murdoch in bidding for a $1.2 billion stake in the Italian TV empire of media tycoon-turned-politician Silvio Berlusconi.
That move signaled a new direction for the prince. Now, he may become a player in the frenzied buying and selling of media properties. Recently, Ted Turner sounded him out-unsuccessfully-about helping finance a bid for CBS. ``We're going to go for a big one,'' predicts Alwaleed. ``With Murdoch attacking from the north, we're going to counter from the south.'' Offers to come in on other media megadeals routinely cross his desk.
The prince has taken advantage of Saudi Arabia's sudden wealth--and its less-than-sophisticated business environment--to make himself the kingdom's most powerful mogul. With a bank, a supermarket chain, vast real estate holdings, and a broadcasting operation, his reach in Saudi Arabia is unmatched. Throw in an operation that doles out $150 million a year to down-and-out Saudis and even needy princes, and Alwaleed is making himself a household name in the kingdom. Could a foray into Saudi politics be his next step--as it was for Italy's Berlusconi, whom Alwaleed admires? Alwaleed dismisses that: ``I like being a free man and talking openly. Who wants to be handcuffed?'' he says.
Right now, Alwaleed is more concerned with proving that he is very different from the glitzy sheikhs who squandered their petrodollars so fast in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of these would-be global tycoons turned out to be the world's biggest suckers instead. Some of Alwaleed's royal relations got lured into the Hunt brothers' bungled scheme to corner the world silver market in the 1970s. More recently, Abu Dhabi's ruler, Sheikh Zayed, was fleeced of billions of dollars by the scandal-ridden Bank of Credit & Commerce International. With his studied approach, Alwaleed is as different from those high rollers as Buffett is from Donald Trump, whose 283-foot yacht the prince bought at the knockdown price of $18 million from Trump's creditors in 1991. Even though not all of his investments have been home runs, the prince has an enviable track record. In the past 12 months alone, the prince has ratcheted up over $2 billion in paper profits on his Citicorp and Euro Disney holdings. And, as Alwaleed might himself remind you, at age 38 and with $10 billion in his pocket, this fitness fanatic, who doesn't drink or smoke, is just getting started.
Along with other big investors, Alwaleed and his small band of advisers get first crack at some of the biggest deals going. When Kirk Kerkorian went after Chrysler Corp. recently, the tycoon offered Alwaleed a stake. It was turned down flat. ``Kerkorian was using me for leverage. And anyway, buying in at $56 in hopes Chrysler would go to $100 wasn't interesting enough,'' says the prince. ``When it comes to deals outside Saudi Arabia, I don't go against management.'' Also receiving thumbs down recently: stakes in Britain's Saatchi & Saatchi and a global satellite telecommunications system.
In fact, perched behind Alwaleed's huge desk at his Riyadh headquarters is a three-foot-high pile of confidential prospectuses from Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and Alwaleed's own consultants around the world. Looking at the printout of his global holdings, which aides prepare for him each week, he says he aims ``to go to $15 billion [in assets] in three or four years.''
Don't expect impetuous moves. Although his key aides number less than 10, potential deals are rigorously studied. Arthur Andersen & Co. is kept on retainer to evaluate every new investment lead, as is Hogan & Hartson, a tony Washington (D.C.) law firm. Citibank also chips in, from sizing up new projects to daily air shipments of U.S. and British newspapers for the prince to scan. Despite the glittering trappings of Alwaleed's great wealth--his yacht, a Boeing 727, and a fleet of 250 cars and motorized caravans--the prince is a workaholic. When he takes his regular late-night jog through the deserted streets of Riyadh, aides run behind carrying constantly ringing cellular phones. And Alwaleed's one vacation each year--a three-week stay on his yacht off the French Riviera--is crammed with meetings with potential partners. This last August, for example, Alwaleed sent his jet to fetch pop star Michael Jackson for an onboard lunch and discussion of a joint marketing operation. Days later, Monaco's Prince Albert was feted--to help swing approval for a new, multimillion-dollar Four Seasons hotel in Monte Carlo.
FIFTY SLAVES. How did this son of Arabia climb to such a lofty position so fast? Many have assumed the slim, 5-foot-8-inch, 140 pound Alwaleed is a one-man investment front for other, more publicity-shy Saudi princes. Some have whispered about contracts to build secret military bases in Saudi Arabia-or even fat commissions on oil shipments. Alwaleed himself hasn't done much to quell the rumors. The prince has put out an implausible story about starting out with a modest $35,000 from his father. Now, through dozens of interviews with the prince and associates, BUSINESS WEEK has pieced together the tale of how this determined investor built up his empire.
Of course, Alwaleed was never poor. But when the prince was born in 1957, Riyadh was still a forbidding desert town largely closed to foreigners. But, as the son of Prince Talal, the 21st son of Saudi Arabia's first king, Alwaleed enjoyed privileges unknown to most Saudis: running water, cars, and a ham radio that his father toyed with as a hobby. Until his father freed them when Alwaleed was 5, some 50 slaves helped keep order at home.
But the kingdom's wealth was nothing like it is today. The oil, which American companies were pumping some 350 miles eastward, fetched just pennies a barrel on world markets--and the Saudi government was in a constant financial bind. In fact, King Saud, whom Alwaleed's father briefly served as Finance Minister, was deposed by his brother Feisal in 1964, in part because his spendthrift ways threatened to throw the kingdom into bankruptcy.
That all changed in a flash. The oil-price explosion of the 1970s brought fabulous wealth, and the Alsaud clan--which now numbers around 6,000 princes--became collectively the richest and certainly the largest royal family on earth. The Alsaud maintain a tight grip on Arabia, as they have since Alwaleed's grandfather, the formidable Abdulaziz, unified most of the vast Arabian peninsula in the 1920s. Today, Alwaleed's uncles, sons of the founder, fill the top roles in the state: King, Crown Prince, Ministers of Defense and Interior. Not for nothing has Saudi Arabia been called ``the only family business with a seat at the U.N.''
But Alwaleed is an Alsaud with a difference: In 1962, his father and four of his brothers revolted against the rest of clan. Talal showed sympathy for an Alsaud enemy, Egyptian revolutionary Gamal Abdel Nasser, and publicly called for a more open political system. This affair was a serious, embarrassing rift within the family and led to exile for Talal in Egypt, where he was exploited by Nasser's propaganda. He was eventually allowed to come home. But ever since, an unspoken code among the Alsaud has barred Talal--and, by extension, his family--from an active role in government. ``Talal was free to make money,'' says a former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. ``But he was never really forgiven.''
FRAMED TRANSCRIPT. This situation is the one subject the normally loquacious Alwaleed will not dwell on. But being something of an outsider goes far to explain his drive to succeed in business. From the age of 16, he says, ``I realized I wanted a plane and a boat and to make money.'' That was easy for princes at the top of the Saudi hierarchy--sons of the King and his full brothers--but more difficult for others.
As a grandson of Abdulaziz, Alwaleed gets a monthly $19,000 check from the royal court. With close to 400 people on his private payroll--ranging from the 160 employed at his Riyadh palace to his yacht's 40-man crew and the two gun-toting guards who follow him 24 hours a day--that stipend covers less than 2% of his household expenses. This is the grand style expected of a senior prince, not a minor royal.
Early on, this outsider prince says he saw himself on a mission--to make his mark through business. That was evident after Alwaleed landed in San Francisco in 1976 to begin undergraduate studies in business at Menlo College. Unlike many other rich Saudis who went to Menlo, Alwaleed applied himself with a concentration that is remembered even today. ``He was the hardest worker I have ever seen,'' recalls Carlos U. Lopez, Alwaleed's academic adviser.
After Alwaleed's first year, an anxious Talal dispatched an emissary to California to find out whether his son was studying enough. ``He said Alwaleed's father was worried that his son might not be doing well,'' remembers Lopez. ``I said: `My God, have you seen his grades?' They were straight As.'' A framed copy of Alwaleed's transcript from Menlo hangs on the wall of his palace today.
But Alwaleed acquired his financial skills on the job, not from textbooks. When the prince returned to Riyadh in late 1979, it was an auspicious moment to start out in business. Oil prices were breaking records, and the government was pumping billions of dollars into construction, from superhighways and new ministries to squadrons of the fanciest fighter planes ever built. It was a gold rush that transformed the kingdom and made overnight millionaires out of many Saudis. Under Saudi law, every foreign company with work in the kingdom must have a local sponsor--who pockets around 5% of any contract.
In 1982, after setting up a company called Kingdom Establishment in a tiny prefabricated office, Alwaleed landed his first deal: an $8 million job to build a bachelors' club at a military academy near Riyadh. He was representing a small South Korean contractor.
From then on, the prince's business grew rapidly and became more sophisticated. Instead of acting as mere agent, Alwaleed boosted his profits by setting up his own companies to form joint ventures with foreigners. With that, Alwaleed was bringing in up to $50 million in profits a year. ``He was very different from other princes and rich Saudis, who represented companies and just sat back,'' says Amr Khashoggi, CEO of Saudi Arabia's largest cement maker.
Alwaleed used this new stream of cash to play for high stakes in the white-hot Riyadh property market. Alwaleed's portfolio of 25 million square feet of prime Riyadh real estate and 14 square miles of property just outside the city makes him the largest private landowner in the Saudi capital today. The value: ``at least $2 billion,'' says Alwaleed.
For a property owner with a sharp eye, Saudi Arabia's poorly managed banks were a ripe target. In 1986, the Saudi establishment woke up to its first hostile takeover when Alwaleed announced he had secretly amassed a controlling stake in the loss-making United Saudi Commercial Bank. Appointing a new board and management, Alwaleed cut the bank's staff from 600 to 250. And in a country where imported labor is often treated poorly--and stock options are unknown--Alwaleed quickly instituted twice-yearly employee meetings, where he hands out cash and keys to new cars to top performers.
The formula worked. USCB was back in the black by 1988 and was Saudi Arabia's most profitable commercial bank by 1989. The bank also proved a gold mine of business intelligence. As USCB chairman, says Alwaleed, ``I got to know very well the strengths and weaknesses of local companies.'' Alwaleed's Kingdom now has majority stakes in companies ranging from Saudi Arabia's largest supermarket chain to fast food, livestock, and hospital management. With $1.5 billion in the form of minority stakes in large Saudi companies, Alwaleed is set to become even bigger.
Too big, maybe? The balance between royals and commoners in Saudi Arabia's business world is already an uneasy one, with many griping over senior princes' easy access to rich deals. Tempers flared recently when Al-Mawarid, a Riyadh conglomerate controlled by two Alsaud princes, strong-armed several local businessmen into handing over dealerships. Alwaleed claims he'll be immune to criticism: ``People know that when I take over a company, I fix it up, and it will be in safe hands. I'm Saudi. I'm dedicated to the nation, and I'm involved in charity.''
Although Alwaleed says he gives out of Islam's admonition to help those less fortunate, it's also a way of buying popularity and protection on a massive scale. Using a bank of Compaq personal computers, two full-time Muslim scholars direct a staff of 20 as they dole out one-time cash grants of $800 to $2,000 for up to 6,000 needy Saudis a month. His handouts to Bedouin tribesmen visiting Alwaleed's campsite are talked about across the country--as was his publicized gift of $8 million in July to help Bosnian Muslims. But all this has not kept him from being blasted by a London-based Saudi opposition group.
It is not surprising that Alwaleed would want to extend his reach outside Saudi Arabia, if only to diversify his holdings. Long before he made his first big move, he began working on his global bargain-hunting game plan. ``I got a call from Alwaleed in late 1987 asking me to collect as much information as possible about U.S. money-center banks,'' recalls one of Alwaleed's Swiss private bankers. ``He thinks of moves three or four years ahead.''
At the time, Citicorp was just one of several possible targets. By 1989, Alwaleed was snapping up shares of Citicorp, Chase Manhattan, Manufacturers Hanover, and Chemical, sometimes calling in buy orders from a cellular phone while horseback riding in the desert. Within months, he had spent close to $250 million--at one point holding a 2.3% stake in Chase. ``But then, I sold everything and concentrated on Citibank,'' remembers Alwaleed.
He says he decided that Chemical and Chase were too concentrated in New York and lacked the global brand presence of Citi. On the surface, it was a strange choice: Among the four banks, it was clearly the worst performer, because of a combination of New York real estate loans and exposure to Third World debt. In fact, by late 1990 it was widely feared that the bank might fail.
The crucial moment came in 1991, as the U.S. and its allies were on the verge of ousting the Iraqis from Kuwait. Since Alwaleed, as a Saudi prince, was duty bound to remain in the capital during the Gulf war, lengthy bull sessions on the Citi stake with his lawyers, Al Christianson and Mark Mezou, were interrupted several times by Iraqi attacks. Having already bought 4.9% of Citi's common stock at an average price of around $12, Alwaleed and Citi worked out a special convertible preferred issue in return for a capital injection of $590 million.
``I was the only one in the world willing to talk to Citi,'' Alwaleed claims today. Was he contacted by the Federal Reserve as part of a Citi bailout, as some have suggested? The prince says that's nonsense. ``The only time we had contact with the Fed was when we were going over 9% and needed their approval.''
The deal put a floor under Citi, and it has also turned out very well for Alwaleed: His 9.9% stake is convertible at just under $16 a share. With the bank in better shape and Citi common stock selling in mid-September at a 15-year high of $67, Alwaleed's stake has more than quadrupled in value, to $2.8 billion.
What does Alwaleed think of Citi now? If Chairman and CEO John Reed continues to cut costs, says the prince, Citi shares will continue their ascent, to $100 in the next two years. Returning a call from Citibank Vice-Chairman Paul Collins, Alwaleed gently admonishes the executive to move more quickly on paring overhead. Being a mere shareholder, he knows Reed and Collins needn't take his advice: ``But if I didn't trust them, I wouldn't put my money there,'' he says.
Although Alwaleed has been one of Citi's most important private clients since he started in business 15 years ago and took out a $300,000 loan, using his Riyadh palace as collateral, the prince had never met Reed before directly investing in the bank. That's changed. Now, the two have a long discussion at least once a year, most recently just hours after the mid-August announcement of the Chase-Chemical merger. In 1993, Reed and his son flew to Saudi Arabia and donned Bedouin robes for a late-night party at Alwaleed's high-tech camp 30 miles from Riyadh--complete with roast camel, Bedouin dancers, and some target practice with machine guns.
If Alwaleed is merely a passive--if important--investor in Citi, he's taking a more hands-on approach to hotels. ``It's a natural for him,'' says Chuck Henry, an ex-director of real estate investments at CS First Boston, who now serves as Alwaleed's full-time hotel-industry consultant in New York.
Alwaleed owns big stakes in New York's Plaza Hotel and San Francisco's Fairmont chain, but the centerpiece of this strategy is the holding he bought in Toronto's Four Seasons Hotels Inc. The price he paid for 26.6% of Four Seasons, $124 million, stunned the hotel industry.
Although the investment's value has fallen, Alwaleed is now busy laying plans with Sharp to expand the 40-hotel group to 60 properties within five years and 80 within a decade. Alwaleed doesn't bother to attend board meetings, but he and Sharp are regular phone pals. Sharp admits he approached their first meeting--on the prince's yacht--with some apprehension: Before the two got down to talking about a potential deal, Sharp says, ``I made it clear that I am Jewish and that I have significant ties to Israel. If that's a problem, we shouldn't even get started.'' Alwaleed immediately assured Sharp there was no problem.
Indeed, many of Alwaleed's closest partners are Jewish, from Sharp and Walt Disney CEO Michael D. Eisner to property czar Reichmann. Sometimes this leads to bruised feelings. Following Alwaleed's big move into Euro Disney in 1994, Eisner was stung by newspaper stories saying that he would not be able to visit Saudi Arabia because of his religion. He sent Alwaleed an angry fax. Alwaleed now says he has an open invitation. After Reichmann plotted business deals on Alwaleed's yacht last August, the prince says he was taken aback when an aide inquired if the Canadian's deep religious beliefs were an obstacle to working together. Alwaleed joked: ``I told him: `Reichmann's an Orthodox Jew, and I'm an orthodox Muslim. We're both orthodox, so where's the problem?'''
``He is traditional and religious, yet modern,'' Reichmann says. ``From others who have dealt with him, I know that when a transaction is completed, it conforms 100% to the initial formulation.''
The prince's biggest deal after Citi was his buy into Euro Disney, the $4 billion park near Paris. With $3 billion in debt, the park opened in 1992, just as recession set in. After looking at the numbers, Alwaleed was convinced the problems weren't permanent. Says the prince: ``It wasn't that people hated Paris, or the weather, or Disney. The problem was simple overleveraging. They just didn't have enough to cover the debt.''
Alwaleed and his top adviser, Riyadh businessman Mustufa Al-Hejeilan, say the buyout of a 24% stake June, 1994, was the most difficult and complicated deal yet. After 16 days of negotiations in Paris, Alwaleed squeezed the banks into forgoing interest payments until 1997--worth as much as $500 million. He also forced Walt Disney Co., which has a 39% stake in Euro Disney, to say au revoir to $70 million a year in management and royalty payments until 1999.
Even with that, many scoffed at Alwaleed's wisdom in investing in the loss-making park. But with attendance up sharply and the company turning its first profit in the June quarter, Alwaleed's $300 million has doubled in value.
The big hit at Euro Disney could, however, be a trap for Alwaleed. Like many an industrial baron before him, the prince seems to have an itch to get involved in media and showbiz--fields that have already proved treacherous for outsiders.
Over the past two years, the prince and another Saudi tycoon, Salah Kamel, have pumped more than $300 million into launching a five-station chain, Arab Television & Radio (ART). The somewhat starstruck Alwaleed personally runs ART's music channel and seems to relish hobnobbing with the top singers of the Arab world.
Alwaleed says his media operations and his foothold in European TV are the stepping stones to something much bigger. The prince hints he's tempted to enter the frantic bidding wars changing the face of U.S. broadcasting--but finds prices are high. But there's another aspect, one that also explains why Alwaleed has avoided any hostile takeovers in the U.S. ``I don't need people saying the damned Arabs are taking over.'' If he moves in media, he says, it will be with such partners as Italy's Berlusconi and Germany's Leo Kirch.
The prince's Hollywood bent has led to a budding relationship with recording star Michael Jackson. Last December, Alwaleed and Jackson MJJ Productions signed a confidential agreement to set up a joint company to develop movies, animation, resorts--everything but song recording. Gushes Jackson: ``We want to create a new multimedia empire. The prince is sweet and humble but at the same time very daring and wants to do incredible things. Just like I do.''
It sounds a little too ethereal, but with Alwaleed's track record, who can say he won't turn whatever he touches into gold? In the guest book on Alwaleed's yacht, in between flowery thank-yous from scores of guests, one message from a top Citibank executive stands out. ``I've worked with Your Highness for 15 years,'' he writes. ``Now, I look forward to the next 15 years, when you will become the most powerful and influential businessman on earth.'' Obsequious? Certainly. But he's probably not way off the mark.
A Fast Rise From Not-So-Humble Beginnings
1957
Born in Riyadh to Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz and Mona al-Solh, the daughter of Lebanon's first Prime Minister
1960-8
Lives in Beirut with his mother after parents' divorce
1962
His father, Prince Talal, attacks the Saudi system, goes into exile
1979
Gets honors degree in business from Menlo College in California
1980
Sets up Kingdom Establishment, the foundation of his empire
1982
Wins the first of his many lucrative Saudi military construction contracts, representing a South Korean builder
1986
Shakes the Saudi business world by taking over troubled United Saudi Commercial Bank
1991
Comes to the rescue of Citicorp, his biggest deal
1994
Bails out shaky Euro Disney theme park
1995
Buys 50% of New York's Plaza Hotel for $160 million
1995
Negotiates for 10% of London's Canary Wharf with developer Paul Reichmann and others
改變致富的習慣
如果你努力想追求財富，但你還是覺得自己現在很窮。為什麼？
為什麼你會覺得你很窮呢？
元旦休假期間，看了一部影片，裡面有個黑人媽媽鼓起勇氣去尋找多年失散的女兒，並約好在飯店見面。女兒問媽媽：＂為什麼你這麼多年後才想到要來找我？＂
媽媽說：＂因為我最近碰到個算命師，他感應到我的女兒陷入金錢的困擾---努力工作，卻一直缺錢；想要致富，卻沒有機會。＂
黑人女兒愣了三秒鐘後說：＂好準喔！＂＂但是---，每個人不都是這樣嗎？＂
這個電影橋段看來是個笑話，但也點出了每個人經常陷入的煩惱，也就是缺錢---缺錢卻還活得好好的，這才是人生最大的煩惱！為什麼我們不能活著卻馬上變身為有錢人呢？
在元旦休假期間，我也努力思考了這個問題，並覺得思考的習慣是阻礙人們致富的根源。特別是重複舊有的思考模式，卻不願意主動加以改變，是讓人們活得窮困的病根。
如果你努力工作，卻還沒錢，問題出在哪裡呢？可能是你的薪水太低，也可能是你生活超過節制，中間可能還有一些變數，比如家庭橫生波折與生病意外等等，但大致來說，上班族會感覺窮困，不是收入太少，就是支出太多。所以，解決問題的辦法就是就開源或節流。
是的，開源或節流，雙管齊下以後，你就會朝著有錢人俱樂部錢進了。
我相信多數上班族一定都努力做出開源與節流之道了，但不幸的是，我們不必是算命師，都能隨時隨地感應到周遭朋友或自己缺錢的煩惱。為什麼我們努力工作、追求財富，而財富的盡頭卻越來越遙遠呢？
我覺得，陷入重覆且被制約的致富思考習慣，是人們無法致富的關鍵。
對我自己來說，我不太在乎節流工作，也不是很在意開源之道，對我來說，如何活出精彩的人生才是重點。為了活出精彩人生，我必須想盡辦法制定出金錢足夠的財務架構，同時捨棄某些花費以滿足我的某些精彩需求。
舉例來說，喝一杯手工咖啡能讓我人生精彩，則花150元上咖啡店也值得，我不會吝惜於這些小錢。但是，我也不太會為了薪水月光光而感覺煩惱，因為收入月光光不是正常的嗎？不正常的應該是月光之後，卻看不到明天收入的月亮與來源。
金錢有出有入是正常的，不正常的是有出而無入，或有入而無出，讓財帛停止了流動，也讓生命停止了生生不息的流動，這才是不正常的人生。
我不喜歡變守財奴，也不喜歡變成揮霍無度的公子哥兒，但我卻強調一個負責任態度下的喜樂人生。
我用＂喜樂人生＂來代替＂享樂人生＂這字眼，是因為＂享樂＂常被人們直接聯想成是窮奢極慾的奢華生活。但事實上，人生來應當是要享樂的，只是樂的層次有別，有物慾層次之樂，亦有精神之樂。人所追求的樂之層次，影響了他的生活風格；而一個人的生活風格，則影響了他的金錢使用態度。
因此，開源與節流，只是財務的一個基本原則，並不足以說明一個人的金錢使用態度。一個人如何管理金錢，是與其人生觀、生命追求、享樂的層次而有所差別，並沒有標準作業準則。
對我來說，喝一杯奢華的咖啡，卻能產生生生不息的文字靈感來源，這杯咖啡就為我帶來了文字工作的高收入。這個高收入的來源，不是奴役自我去換取金錢，而是享受人生還能賺錢，這才是創造財富的健康之道。
理財不外開源與節流，創造財富也離不開收支平衡的基礎工作。但多數上班族做了這些理財努力，還是感覺很窮，為什麼？
我的答案是---因為他根本沒有一套屬於自己的生命哲學，沒有屬於自己的享樂人生，也沒有屬於自己的生命風格，因此當然會陷入一套被制約出來的財富計算公式之中，很簡單的被劃入家庭年收入屬於最有錢的那25%或最窮的那25%。那剩下來的50%，跟前段班比當然永遠是窮人了！
窮人永遠是最多的，因為大家都習慣向前看，向財富分配曲線上的少數有錢人取法創富之道。
但你怎不換個角度，拿你的家庭年收入跟後半端的低收入戶家庭比較呢？
你對窮與富的想法，是不是經常陷入社會主流思維的制約之中呢？這才是人們難以致富的關鍵問題，因為跟比爾蓋茲比，全世界每個人都是窮光蛋；但跟乞丐、街友比，每個人突然又變成有錢人了。
但人們通常不會向後去看看社會上有哪些需要幫助的人，這才是當代人們瀕臨貧困的主因。（我指的是心靈與物質的雙重窮困！）
請千萬不要忘記，創造財富與機運有很大關係，但創造幸福的機會卻是人人均等的。如果你活得幸福，又能不缺錢，麼你將擁有一個富裕的人生。這才是一個正確的致富思考模式。
下次你在想你努力工作卻缺錢時，不如想想，你是否也因為工作而失去了自我價值？
下次當你埋怨你想創富卻苦無機會時，不如想想，你是否也缺乏幫助別人的機會呢？
用新的致富習慣看富裕，你會發現，處處都有彰顯你人生價值的工作，處處也都有可幫助他人的機會，你也能很快地樂在工作、樂在助人而晉身富裕之林了。新的創富之道，提供您參考，也希望您能擁有幸福且金錢無虞的富裕人生。
為什麼你會覺得你很窮呢？
元旦休假期間，看了一部影片，裡面有個黑人媽媽鼓起勇氣去尋找多年失散的女兒，並約好在飯店見面。女兒問媽媽：＂為什麼你這麼多年後才想到要來找我？＂
媽媽說：＂因為我最近碰到個算命師，他感應到我的女兒陷入金錢的困擾---努力工作，卻一直缺錢；想要致富，卻沒有機會。＂
黑人女兒愣了三秒鐘後說：＂好準喔！＂＂但是---，每個人不都是這樣嗎？＂
這個電影橋段看來是個笑話，但也點出了每個人經常陷入的煩惱，也就是缺錢---缺錢卻還活得好好的，這才是人生最大的煩惱！為什麼我們不能活著卻馬上變身為有錢人呢？
在元旦休假期間，我也努力思考了這個問題，並覺得思考的習慣是阻礙人們致富的根源。特別是重複舊有的思考模式，卻不願意主動加以改變，是讓人們活得窮困的病根。
如果你努力工作，卻還沒錢，問題出在哪裡呢？可能是你的薪水太低，也可能是你生活超過節制，中間可能還有一些變數，比如家庭橫生波折與生病意外等等，但大致來說，上班族會感覺窮困，不是收入太少，就是支出太多。所以，解決問題的辦法就是就開源或節流。
是的，開源或節流，雙管齊下以後，你就會朝著有錢人俱樂部錢進了。
我相信多數上班族一定都努力做出開源與節流之道了，但不幸的是，我們不必是算命師，都能隨時隨地感應到周遭朋友或自己缺錢的煩惱。為什麼我們努力工作、追求財富，而財富的盡頭卻越來越遙遠呢？
我覺得，陷入重覆且被制約的致富思考習慣，是人們無法致富的關鍵。
對我自己來說，我不太在乎節流工作，也不是很在意開源之道，對我來說，如何活出精彩的人生才是重點。為了活出精彩人生，我必須想盡辦法制定出金錢足夠的財務架構，同時捨棄某些花費以滿足我的某些精彩需求。
舉例來說，喝一杯手工咖啡能讓我人生精彩，則花150元上咖啡店也值得，我不會吝惜於這些小錢。但是，我也不太會為了薪水月光光而感覺煩惱，因為收入月光光不是正常的嗎？不正常的應該是月光之後，卻看不到明天收入的月亮與來源。
金錢有出有入是正常的，不正常的是有出而無入，或有入而無出，讓財帛停止了流動，也讓生命停止了生生不息的流動，這才是不正常的人生。
我不喜歡變守財奴，也不喜歡變成揮霍無度的公子哥兒，但我卻強調一個負責任態度下的喜樂人生。
我用＂喜樂人生＂來代替＂享樂人生＂這字眼，是因為＂享樂＂常被人們直接聯想成是窮奢極慾的奢華生活。但事實上，人生來應當是要享樂的，只是樂的層次有別，有物慾層次之樂，亦有精神之樂。人所追求的樂之層次，影響了他的生活風格；而一個人的生活風格，則影響了他的金錢使用態度。
因此，開源與節流，只是財務的一個基本原則，並不足以說明一個人的金錢使用態度。一個人如何管理金錢，是與其人生觀、生命追求、享樂的層次而有所差別，並沒有標準作業準則。
對我來說，喝一杯奢華的咖啡，卻能產生生生不息的文字靈感來源，這杯咖啡就為我帶來了文字工作的高收入。這個高收入的來源，不是奴役自我去換取金錢，而是享受人生還能賺錢，這才是創造財富的健康之道。
理財不外開源與節流，創造財富也離不開收支平衡的基礎工作。但多數上班族做了這些理財努力，還是感覺很窮，為什麼？
我的答案是---因為他根本沒有一套屬於自己的生命哲學，沒有屬於自己的享樂人生，也沒有屬於自己的生命風格，因此當然會陷入一套被制約出來的財富計算公式之中，很簡單的被劃入家庭年收入屬於最有錢的那25%或最窮的那25%。那剩下來的50%，跟前段班比當然永遠是窮人了！
窮人永遠是最多的，因為大家都習慣向前看，向財富分配曲線上的少數有錢人取法創富之道。
但你怎不換個角度，拿你的家庭年收入跟後半端的低收入戶家庭比較呢？
你對窮與富的想法，是不是經常陷入社會主流思維的制約之中呢？這才是人們難以致富的關鍵問題，因為跟比爾蓋茲比，全世界每個人都是窮光蛋；但跟乞丐、街友比，每個人突然又變成有錢人了。
但人們通常不會向後去看看社會上有哪些需要幫助的人，這才是當代人們瀕臨貧困的主因。（我指的是心靈與物質的雙重窮困！）
請千萬不要忘記，創造財富與機運有很大關係，但創造幸福的機會卻是人人均等的。如果你活得幸福，又能不缺錢，麼你將擁有一個富裕的人生。這才是一個正確的致富思考模式。
下次你在想你努力工作卻缺錢時，不如想想，你是否也因為工作而失去了自我價值？
下次當你埋怨你想創富卻苦無機會時，不如想想，你是否也缺乏幫助別人的機會呢？
用新的致富習慣看富裕，你會發現，處處都有彰顯你人生價值的工作，處處也都有可幫助他人的機會，你也能很快地樂在工作、樂在助人而晉身富裕之林了。新的創富之道，提供您參考，也希望您能擁有幸福且金錢無虞的富裕人生。
Saudi Alwaleed upbeat on Citi, own holding co
12 Jan 2010 04:04 PM
RIYADH- Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a top shareholder in Citigroup (C.N), said he expects the troubled U.S. bank to book a profit both this year and next, and gave a bullish outlook for his own investment firm.
Kingdom Holding Co, whose 4.2 percent stake in Citi is its most prized asset, has overcome the worst of the crisis and was set to close 2009 with a profit after an $ 8 billion loss in 2008, he said on Monday in a rare interview.
Sitting on the 66th floor of his Kingdom Tower in the Saudi capital, the royal hammered home a positive message about the recovery of both Citi and Kingdom Holding after unveiling a surprise capital decrease last week for the investment vehicle.
"The turnaround for Citi now is already happening. The shares are up right now so the worst is over," Alwaleed told Reuters.
"In 2010, I'm looking for stabilization and profitability also. I'm expecting 2010 to be profitable for Citi," he said. "We are looking for positive results (also) in ... 2011 for Citi, which will reflect automatically on the results of Kingdom Holding."
Surrounded by female assistants dressed mostly in power suits and shirts -- a far cry from the top-to-toe black robe the conservative kingdom's women wear in public -- the prince said he hoped the first quarter of 2010 would be profitable for Citi too.
In New York, Citigroup spokesman Jon Diat declined to comment.
Prince Alwaleed declined to say whether he would keep his shares in Citi no matter what happens to the bank. At 1638 GMT the bank's stock was trading up 1.4 percent at $3.64.
His first investment in Citi was during troubled times: He injected $590 million into the bank in 1991. Alwaleed told Fortune magazine in 2007 that the price he paid in 1991 for Citi shares was $2.75 each taking into account subsequent share splits.
The investment has played a big role in raising both his personal profile among hundreds of third-generation Saudi princes who are grooming themselves for greater influence in domestic politics and that of Kingdom Holding, which started off as a consulting business.
Asked by Reuters to give a scoop, he said: "You want a scoop? The scoop is sitting with me alone."
BULLISH VIEWS
Prince Alwaleed agreed to an interview following a news conference to counter what he called negative analyst views following the $6.92 billion capital reduction.
"Kingdom Holding stayed profitable in the fourth quarter of 2009," Alwaleed said, after analysts suggested the capital reduction scheme could be aimed at cushioning losses in the fourth quarter of 2009 that could be larger than the $8.3 billion the firm made a year earlier.
"Analysts are human beings, they can get things wrong. You cannot say that losses this year (2009) will be bigger than last year (2008), because it will mean that Kingdom (Holding) will shut down. Bye-bye," he said.
The capital decrease would indeed help Kingdom Holding, in which he owns 95 percent, to get rid of all accumulated losses caused by the global turmoil. Accumulated losses stood at $7.8 billion by end-September.
"We have had a profit in the previous (three) quarters of 2009, I expect us to keep on this trend (in the fourth quarter of 2009)," Prince Alwaleed said.
The company closed 2008 with a net loss close to $8 billion after making the fourth-quarter net loss of $8.3 billion.
Prince Alwaleed said the free-of-charge injection from his own pocket of 180 million Citi shares into Kingdom's balance sheet would reduce the average cost of shares in the bank held by the firm before and which stood at about 3.6 percent of Citi's capital, according the Kingdom's listing prospectus.
"It's wrong to say that (I) raised Kingdom Holding's exposure to Citi. If they bought them from the market for money then yes but they did it for free .. If you buy something for free you don't increase your exposure ... It's a no-brainer".
Analysts have said the two moves indicated that the nephew of Saudi King Abdullah wants to stick by his repeated pledges not to sell his Citi shares, but also that he does not expect the shares to recover quickly.
"The company can now borrow against that (the 180 million Citi shares) 70 percent of their value ... It's good for the company. The Capital Market Authority (Saudi bourse watchdog) loves this," Prince Alwaleed said.
Asked how Kingdom Holding managed to move from a large net loss in the fourth quarter of 2008 to a net profit in the first three quarters of 2009, Prince Alwaleed said: "We are smart people".
He said the holding was in talks to buy into four "global" firms, and that "we are going to make an announcement to make a big investment in Africa." He declined to elaborate.
RIYADH- Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a top shareholder in Citigroup (C.N), said he expects the troubled U.S. bank to book a profit both this year and next, and gave a bullish outlook for his own investment firm.
Kingdom Holding Co, whose 4.2 percent stake in Citi is its most prized asset, has overcome the worst of the crisis and was set to close 2009 with a profit after an $ 8 billion loss in 2008, he said on Monday in a rare interview.
Sitting on the 66th floor of his Kingdom Tower in the Saudi capital, the royal hammered home a positive message about the recovery of both Citi and Kingdom Holding after unveiling a surprise capital decrease last week for the investment vehicle.
"The turnaround for Citi now is already happening. The shares are up right now so the worst is over," Alwaleed told Reuters.
"In 2010, I'm looking for stabilization and profitability also. I'm expecting 2010 to be profitable for Citi," he said. "We are looking for positive results (also) in ... 2011 for Citi, which will reflect automatically on the results of Kingdom Holding."
Surrounded by female assistants dressed mostly in power suits and shirts -- a far cry from the top-to-toe black robe the conservative kingdom's women wear in public -- the prince said he hoped the first quarter of 2010 would be profitable for Citi too.
In New York, Citigroup spokesman Jon Diat declined to comment.
Prince Alwaleed declined to say whether he would keep his shares in Citi no matter what happens to the bank. At 1638 GMT the bank's stock was trading up 1.4 percent at $3.64.
His first investment in Citi was during troubled times: He injected $590 million into the bank in 1991. Alwaleed told Fortune magazine in 2007 that the price he paid in 1991 for Citi shares was $2.75 each taking into account subsequent share splits.
The investment has played a big role in raising both his personal profile among hundreds of third-generation Saudi princes who are grooming themselves for greater influence in domestic politics and that of Kingdom Holding, which started off as a consulting business.
Asked by Reuters to give a scoop, he said: "You want a scoop? The scoop is sitting with me alone."
BULLISH VIEWS
Prince Alwaleed agreed to an interview following a news conference to counter what he called negative analyst views following the $6.92 billion capital reduction.
"Kingdom Holding stayed profitable in the fourth quarter of 2009," Alwaleed said, after analysts suggested the capital reduction scheme could be aimed at cushioning losses in the fourth quarter of 2009 that could be larger than the $8.3 billion the firm made a year earlier.
"Analysts are human beings, they can get things wrong. You cannot say that losses this year (2009) will be bigger than last year (2008), because it will mean that Kingdom (Holding) will shut down. Bye-bye," he said.
The capital decrease would indeed help Kingdom Holding, in which he owns 95 percent, to get rid of all accumulated losses caused by the global turmoil. Accumulated losses stood at $7.8 billion by end-September.
"We have had a profit in the previous (three) quarters of 2009, I expect us to keep on this trend (in the fourth quarter of 2009)," Prince Alwaleed said.
The company closed 2008 with a net loss close to $8 billion after making the fourth-quarter net loss of $8.3 billion.
Prince Alwaleed said the free-of-charge injection from his own pocket of 180 million Citi shares into Kingdom's balance sheet would reduce the average cost of shares in the bank held by the firm before and which stood at about 3.6 percent of Citi's capital, according the Kingdom's listing prospectus.
"It's wrong to say that (I) raised Kingdom Holding's exposure to Citi. If they bought them from the market for money then yes but they did it for free .. If you buy something for free you don't increase your exposure ... It's a no-brainer".
Analysts have said the two moves indicated that the nephew of Saudi King Abdullah wants to stick by his repeated pledges not to sell his Citi shares, but also that he does not expect the shares to recover quickly.
"The company can now borrow against that (the 180 million Citi shares) 70 percent of their value ... It's good for the company. The Capital Market Authority (Saudi bourse watchdog) loves this," Prince Alwaleed said.
Asked how Kingdom Holding managed to move from a large net loss in the fourth quarter of 2008 to a net profit in the first three quarters of 2009, Prince Alwaleed said: "We are smart people".
He said the holding was in talks to buy into four "global" firms, and that "we are going to make an announcement to make a big investment in Africa." He declined to elaborate.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
永远的警钟---伟大投机家的辉煌一生
杰西.利物莫（Jesse Livermore）是美国最伟大的投机家，即使那么伟大，最终也难逃悲惨的宿命，破产与自杀。恐惧与贪婪是背在股市上的两把利剑，她时刻在斩杀超越红线的大胆者与胆小鬼。
1877年7月26日，杰西.利物莫（Jesse Livermore）生于麻州，家境穷困，父亲在新英格兰与天争地，务农为生。生活现状不能满足年幼的杰西。父亲要他辍学，子承父业，才十四岁的他，毅然离家远走高飞。他启程前往波士顿，口袋里只装着母亲给的几块钱。他在潘伟伯公司（Payne Webber）找到一份抄黑板的差事，工资微薄，每个星期才领六美元。潘伟伯雇有行情收报员，坐在营业厅，行情收报机的股票报价一进来，就得尽快扯开嗓门大喊。利物莫的新工作，是一听到报价喊出，赶紧将数字抄写在大黑板上。黑板盖满了这家经纪公司的整个墙面。
利物莫在学校数学本来就很好，华尔街的报价行情，正好投其所好，尽可发挥所长。他天赋异禀，数字过目不忘，有如相片般牢记脑海里。其实，小时候在学校，他一年就念完三年的数学课程。他趁在潘伟伯上班之便，记住各种股票的价格和代号。他像渴马奔泉般，贪婪地研读行情，全神贯注紧盯着报价纸带。他也开始作笔记，把抄黑板时抄到的数字记下来，而且很快就发现，里面有一些型态跃然纸上。他在像日记般的笔记簿里记下几千笔价格变动，埋首研读它们，寻找那些特殊的型态。可见，利物莫才十五岁，已经十分认真地研究股票型态和价格变化。「在职训练」让他亲眼目睹股市里面的交投活动，以及人们如何参与市场。他注意到，大部分人的行为举止乱无章法，不照一定的规则或既定的计划去做，也不肯下工夫研究股市和它的走势，所以投资股市稳赔不赚。
他的第一笔交易，是和朋友一起做的。他们凑了五美元，买百灵顿（Burlington）的股票，因为利物莫的朋友认为这支股票会涨。他们在一家空壳证券商（bucket shop，译注：空壳证券商是指不诚实且未登记的证券经纪商，利用客户的资金，投机性买卖股票和商品，或者接受客户下单买卖，却未透过交易所进行交易）下单买卖。空壳证券商很适合拿小钱去投机。投机客基本上是赌股价下一步往哪里走。也就是说，这是非常短线的操作。你也不必真的拥有股票，才能放手一搏，但是万一股价走势对你不利，赔掉10%之后，你会遭到断头的噩运。这等于是实施10%保证金的规定。利物莫因此养成习惯，在操作生涯的大部分时候，恪遵严格的认赔出场守则。随着时间的流逝和经验的累积，他更上一层楼，能在损失不到10%的时候，就断然认赔出场。 投资百灵顿之前，利物莫查了他的笔记簿，看了它最近的交易型态，相信价格一定上涨。所以说，他在十五岁的时候第一次买卖股票，而且最后分到3o12美元的利润。
他继续在空壳证券商交易。十六岁时，靠交易股票赚到的钱，已经多于潘伟伯给他的工资。等到赚进一千美元，他辞掉工作，全心全力在空壳证券商交易股票。
利物莫赚进很多钱，损害到空壳证券商的利润，二十岁那年，波士顿和纽约两地的空壳证券商都下达禁足令，不准他进场买卖（但他依然来回涉足两地的空壳证券商，如果在某座城市被发现，就跳到另一座城市去操作）。由于操作十分成功，有人称他是「拼命三郎」（The Boy Plunger）。空壳证券商不想和他扯上关系，更不希望看到他用赢钱的操作手法，从他们的号子不断把钱掏走。
利物莫踌躇满志，决定前往纽约，操作纽约证券交易所（New York Stock Exchange）挂牌交易的股票。毕竟，那里是群英荟萃之地，他准备在这个广阔的天地里一试身手。他选了一家经纪公司开立账户，用2,500美元当本钱。以前在空壳证券商操作股票，账户里的资金一度高达一万美元。好不容易赚来的利润慢慢赔掉，利物莫尝到苦头，终于晓得操作不见得一直那么容易。因此，他开始分析自己犯下哪些错误，造成亏损。详细分析过去的错误，成了利物莫日后十分重要的成功特质。这也是他最佳的学习工具之一。
详细分析过去犯下的错误，是利物莫十分重要的成功特质
利物莫在第一阶段的分析期间，学到一个教训，那就是他性子急，老是认为非进场操作不可。急性子到了市场，往往一时冲动就操作，却很少能够获利。他因为这个错误，付出惨痛的代价；但是直到今天，许多交易人还在犯相同的错误。
利物莫并没有在纽约扬名立万。六个月内，不但赔个精光，还向经纪公司告贷500美元。他带着这笔钱重作回到空壳证券商捞取赌本。他发现，空壳证券商一向立即报价，纽约则延后报价。他那时的作法，是根据实时报价，迅速交易。两天后，他抱着2,800美元回到纽约，并将500美元还给经纪公司。
不过，回到纽约后，他发现操作起来还是比他想象困难得多，依旧只能勉强打平，只好最后一次重回空壳证券商。利物莫掩饰身分进场操作，账户里面的钱果然很快增加到一万美元。就在这个时候，空壳证券商的老板终于又逮到他，永远禁止他进门。
1901年，股市展开强劲的多头行情，利物莫在纽约操作纽约证交所挂牌的股票，作多北太平洋（Northern Pacific）公司的股票，一万美元转眼间变成五万美元。接着，他认为股市就要短暂回档，于是建立两个空头部位（先向经纪商借股票卖出，再以较低的价格买回，赚取其中的差价），想不到已经到手的利润很快全吐了回去。这两笔操作虽然赔钱，但他原来的看法是对的，可惜因为成交量庞大，造成延误，股价一反转，马上就赔钱。
这次的经验，让他体会到在纽约证交所执行非常短线的交易十分困难。利物莫晓得，组织化的交易，过程比较复杂，不同于空壳证券商实时进行的交易环境，所以必须学习如何适应。1901年春，利物莫再次赔个精光。不久，他发现一家交易混合式证券、新开张的空壳证券商。他想，进场交易这些混合式证券，也许很快又能捞到一笔本钱。前后约一年的时间内，他真的赚进不少，直到也被这些空壳证券商发现，并且谢绝往来。利物莫一而再，再而三赔损，这教会他一件事：人必须赔上白花花的银子，才会弄懂市场的运作方式。为了成功，他不到黄河心不死，并且继续从本身的错误和经验中学习。
这个时候，他也发现了时间要素。股票交易的时间要素，是指操作时务必保持耐性，时日一久，一定有所获。这和人生中大部分的努力没有两样。它的另一层意思，是指了解股票是怎么交易的。空壳证券商的时间要素非常短暂且紧迫，因为它们的设立和经营方式，赌博成分比较浓厚。纽约证交所的时间要素，则延迟较多，不是立即成交。另外，在纽约证交所买进股票，真的就持有一家公司的股份。纽约证交所的运作方式和空壳证券商的经营方式，有时间上的差异，所以市场参与者必须对未来的时间做出更多的反应。这便需要保持耐性。多年后，耐性成了利物莫的一大特质，好几次操作更因此而大赚特赚。时间要素也向他证明：股票投机成功之路，得走一段相当长的时间。市场参与者不会一夕致富。
交易股票务必保持耐性，时间一久，定有所获。
他对这件事深信不疑，因为他手上的资金，已经上下来回好几趟。年纪轻轻，他已经创下多项纪录。十五岁那年，他赚到第一个一千美元。不到二十一岁，赚进第一个一万美元。账户里的资金，曾经上升到五万美元，两天后，又全部还给了市场。他尝尽市场上的酸甜苦辣，却依然锲而不舍，因为他知道得很清楚，他将靠市场过生活。
就在此时，利物莫定义了一件事。他把事前分析市场动向的行为，定义为赌博。尤其分析市场将往哪里走，是很难做到的事，而且他发现机率对散户交易人不利。他把「投机」定义为能够保持耐性，而且只在市场状况发出适合投机的信号时才有所动作。他很早就不断学习超群出众所需的新技能，也严以律己、坚持不懈，时时改进本身的操作守则。
这时的利物莫，称不上是专家。他听信别人所说的话和他们所谓的「小道消息」。他的操作次数也太过频繁。他犯下的另一个错误，是太早获利了结，尤其是在多头市场中。这段时期，他也发现大盘的重要性，认清和了解市场整体的表现，以及大盘如何影响大部分的股票，是很重要的事情。他必须学习如何解读市场目前的所作所为，以及现在处于什么阶段，而不是尝试去预测它将来会做出什么事。
早年的利物莫懂得不断学习。他发现，在股票市场中失去耐性，是一个人所能犯的最大错误之一。经由经验，他学会对自己的判断信之不疑。他用心观察，所以对自己的判断满怀信心，也不会因为市场经常发生的小波动而分心。
经验日积月累，他的策略开始开花结果，到了三十岁，操作起来更为得心应手。这时，他发展出试探性操作策略（probing strategy，本章后面会谈得更详细）。另一个他实行的重要策略，则是金字塔操作策略(pyramiding strategy）。金字塔操作策略，也是本书介绍的其它所有杰出交易人遵循不悖的重要操作守则。金字塔操作法是指在股票上涨途中加码经营。不妨想象，这套策略在当时听起来多么背离常理，因为大部分人都认为，要买到便宜货，应该逢低承接，而不是愈买愈高才对。利物莫的想法却不同，他认为，最近买进的股票，如果走势证明你是对的，放手买进更多，这个观念会使你得到的报酬锦上添花。利物莫发现，观察一支股票的价格走势而买进之后，如果价格继续上涨，那么从股价的走势，能够证明他做对了决定。做了正确的决定，这件事获得证实，足以证明他应该继续买进更多的股票。锦上添花的效果，会使股票投资利益更上一层楼。
1906年底，市场的上升趋势难以继续维持，利物莫于是将试探性操作策略和金字塔操作策略用在放空上，随着价格下跌，空头部位的规模愈来愈大。1907年的空头市场初期阶段，他的放空操作获利十分可观，不到三十一岁，已经当上百万富翁。
利物莫看准了1907年的崩盘，10月24日轧平和回补空头部位，一天之内就赚进300万美元。1907年10月，当时最具影响力的金融家摩根（JoPo Morgan）注入必要的流动性到市场，维持市场继续运转不坠，把华尔街从近乎崩溃边缘拯救回来。摩根甚至亲自直接向利物莫致意，请他停止放空。连大名鼎鼎的摩根，也承认利物莫在市场上呼风唤雨的力量，可见利物莫在华尔街的声名和影响力之一斑。
华尔街大空头
到这个时候，利物莫确实成了华尔街上的知名人物。新富利物莫发现，大钱要靠市场大波动来赚取。他的空头部位在1907年的股市崩盘大捞一票，因此赢得「华尔街大空头」（The Great Bear of Wall Street）的称号。在那些赚钱的年头里，利物莫一再表示，他相信股市分析必须一做再做，永不止息；这是操作成功缺之不可的要素。
成功操作股票不可或缺的有利要素：永不止息地做股市分析。
征服股票市场之后，利物莫也挥军直击商品期货市场（commodities market）。他和当时人称棉花大王的帕西.托马斯（Percy Thomas）搭上线。不过，利物莫开始和托马斯往来时，托马斯已经因为几次操作不顺，失去所有的财富。不幸利物莫这时的耳朵是用棉花做，因为他看重托马斯以前操作得很成功，仍然被视为棉花界的传奇人物。托马斯说服利物莫建立棉花部位。利物莫很快就发现，他的棉花多头部位损失惨重。这次棉花交易，赔掉以前获利交易赚进的几百万美元，主要原因是他打破了早年花很多时间好不容易发展出来的许多市场操作守则。
利物莫违反了独自操作，不轻易听信他人之言的守则。他也违背迅速认赔出场的守则，继续死抱赔钱的部位。这次的经验，令他情绪激昂，为了把钱捞回来，不顾一切拼命操作，结果赔得更惨。利物莫现在深陷债务之中，债权人多达好几位。他意气更为消沉，开始失去信心，而这种心理状态，是股票交易人的杀手。
利物莫花了好几年的时间，操作才恢复获利。从1910年到1914年，市场大致平中带软（1914年8月到12月中旬，第一次世界大战爆发，市场关闭）。这时利物莫已经一文不名，抑郁寡欢，积欠债权人100万美元以上。再说，这些平软的年头里，市场也缺乏大好机会。为了让头脑冷静下来，蓄积重回游戏场的实力，1914年他决定宣告破产。不过，他的运气还是相当背。1915年，处于战时的市场涨势中，一家经纪商借他五百股，价格不限。六个星期的时间内，他什么事情也没做，只顾着研究市场和观察行情。他注意到，股票会建立起某些标准价位（par level）。这个古老的操作原则，其实他在空壳证券商操作时曾经用过。所谓标准价位，是指一支股票站上每股100美元或200美元等整数数字后，继续上涨的可能性很高。
他以98美元的价格买进伯利恒钢铁（Bethlehem Steel），看着它涨上100美元后继续上扬。价格涨到每股114美元，再买500股。隔天价格升抵145美元，他出脱手中持有的1,000股股票，获利5万美元。这笔交易有助于他恢复信心，促使他再次遵循自己的操作守则。账户里的资金一度达到50万美元，1915年结束时还剩15万美元。
1916年底，利物莫开始放空。市场很快就转为下滑。当时非常有名的「泄密案」爆发，传说威尔逊总统即将向德国人提出和平计划，导致许多领先股作头反转。华尔街认为这是利空消息，因为会伤害战时供应物资给外国的经济荣景。利物莫的朋友巴鲁克（Bernard Baruch；第二章的主角）也在市场放空，据说靠泄密案赚进300万美元。国会成立一个委员会，调查泄密案，传唤巴鲁克和利物莫作证。巴鲁克坦承那段期间，他的空头部位获利47万美元，但坚决表示，绝不是靠预先取得传言中的信息。不过，纽约证交所还是颁订一条新规定，不准依赖泄密信息进行交易。当然了，这条规定很难执行，却由此可见利物莫和巴鲁克当时在市场上的影响力。利物莫则表示，1916年股市上涨期间他作多，稍后几个月市场重挫时放空，合计赚进约300万美元。1917年4月6日，美国卷进第一次世界大战。利物莫在市场上多次操作都告捷，开始偿还以前积欠的所有债务。不过，从法律面来说，1914年声请破产后，他其实免除了偿债的义务。四十岁那年，他也设立一个信托账户，确保自己不会再次破产。
声誉再起
1917年，利物莫恢复了在华尔街的显赫声誉。1917年5月13日，《纽约时报》的一篇文章说：「华尔街浮夸不实的交易人退场：目前的投机客和以前煽风点火的市场炒手比起来，更像是学生和经济学家。」这篇文章特别提到利物莫和巴鲁克，并且进一步点明他们是市场大户，也是华尔街上深具影响力和成功的股票交易人。
1920年代，利物莫认为，经验是在市场上继续成功的关键要素之一。他身为华尔街最优秀和最成功交易人之一的声誉与日俱隆。他实现了美国人的梦想，因为遵循本身的操作守则而积金累玉。他始终认为自己是市场上的学生，必须持之以恒，不断学习。
利物莫深信，没人能够精通市场。经验是在市场上继续成功的关键要素之一。
大约这个时候，他开始认知到，发掘市场强大走势中的真正领先股，是非常重要的一件事。他持续研究领先股如何脱颖而出，并且绽现强劲的涨势。他下工夫研究行情，提升自己对市场如何运作的认识，进而改善他的行业领先股方法。他发现，市场每次发动新的强劲上升趋势，通常会因为浓厚的获利预期心理，而在新的领先行业中，制造这些新的领先股。他因此一再见到基本面对市场和股价走势十分重要。他也发现，同一股群中的若干股票倾向于齐上齐下，以及领先股群倾向于与大盘亦步亦趋。这些发现，对于他在1929年股市大崩盘中登上更高的巅峰大有帮助。
从1928年冬到1929年春，多头市场全力奔驰。利物莫一路作多，获利可观。他接着开始留意市场的头部是否将形成。1929年夏初，他轧平所有的多头部位，改为逢涨必卖。他也认为市场已经涨过头。他看到市场大涨之后，开始出现横向移动的交易型态，一改原来的激升走势。他开始往空方派出探子，探查情势。
利物莫的试探性操作策略，是在操作之初先建立小部位。如果操作顺利，只要走势往他预期的方向行进，就继续加码买进（或者放空）更多的股票，这即是他的金字塔操作策略。他总是在价格上涨途中，执行逢高摊平操作，而不是下跌时逢低摊平（averaging down）。逢低摊平的操作方法，在他那个时代，以及现在大部分时候，都是比较多人使用的方法。他会向许多不同的营业员下单，以免行踪被华尔街发现，因为金融圈内不少人对他的操作力量和名声很感兴趣。
试探性操作策略如果开始建功，利物莫就能确定市场正要反转向下，因为价格已经以不可思议的速度上涨了一段相当长的时间。这是本书所有杰出交易人运用的重要技巧之一。当一切事情看起来美好得无以复加的时候，他们总会留意市场中的蛛丝马迹，藉以分析是不是就要变盘。
1929年，市场早就发出崩盘在即的许多信号。那时的领先股已经停止再创新高价，走势迟滞不前。「聪明钱」开始逢高抛售。几乎每个人都用10%的保证金买了股票，而且认为自己早就成了股市专家，逢人就高谈阔论股票经。这种热过头的现象，正是一个明显的信号，告诉我们：当每一个人都投入股市，就再也找不到更多的买盘力道，能将市场推得更高。
1929年10月，市场终于崩盘时，利物莫坐拥几个月来陆续建立的庞大空头部位。这些空头部位一经回补，数百万美元的利润应声落袋。许多人因为无力补缴保证金而遭断头，据称也有不少人从办公大楼跳楼自杀，利物莫却大有斩获，获利之高，为历年来难得一见。事实上，由于以前的「华尔街大空头」盛名之累，许多人怪罪他造成股市崩盘，更有人因为失去曾经拥有的一切，扬言取他性命。崩盘后不久，《纽约时报》甚至刊出一篇文章，标题是「利物莫据称带领一群人狂卖高价证券……」。
股市崩盘后，国会通过「证券交易法」（Securities and Exchange Act），成立证券管理委员会（Securities Exchange Commission），希望藉全面改革股票交易法规，把稳定和秩序带进市场。纵使如此，利物莫得到的结论是，他不必改变自己的操作守则，因为人性根本不会改变，而左右股票市场最后的力量，正是人性。
虽然利物莫靠放空赚了好几百万美元（例如1929年），但是放空股票，要取得优异的成绩，通常比较困难，因为承受的潜在亏损无限大。股票可以一直涨上去，但最多只能跌到零。放空操作要成功，也必须用更强的力量去控制你的情绪，而且反应必须更为快速才行，因为价格下跌的驱动力量是恐惧，价格上涨的驱动力量则是希望。由于恐惧激起的反应比希望快，所以你必须能够因应市场整体心理面更快的变化。
利物莫虽然赚得巨额财富，终其一生，却得面对许多私人问题带来的挑战。他历经婚姻不谐、离婚、其它的家庭问题，心如死灰，形如槁木。1930年代，他在操作上的收获，不如从前，因此对自己遭遇的问题更加灰心丧意。1934年，他再度申请破产，市场上传称，他失去仅仅五年前赚进的财富。从他因为私人生活问题而致心灰意冷，可以看出保持心绪平衡十分重要。只有这样，才能在市场上持续获利，并且避免犯下代价惨重的错误。利物莫后来的种种表现，和他如日中天、誉满华尔街时，严以律己的生活风格大相径庭。
成功纪实
1939年底，他决定写一本书，谈他的操作策略。1940年3月，利物莫所著《股票作手杰西.利物莫操盘术》（How to Trade in Stocks，中文版由寰宇出版）一书出版。这本书卖得并不好，主要是因为经济大萧条的阴影挥之不去，人们对股票市场兴趣缺乏。但是这本原创性的著作，对所有渴望有所成的交易人，都是必读好书。
新书出版后才几个月，1940年11月28日，陷入深度抑郁症的利物莫举枪自尽，立时身亡。
在利物莫眼里，股票市场是世界上最巨大、最复杂的挑战。他最渴望和最大的乐趣，是把华尔街的这场游戏玩得出神入化。利物莫相信股票投机不只是纯粹的科学，更是一种艺术形式。
许多人认为利物莫可能是有史以来最杰出的股票交易人。艾德温.拉斐尔（Edwin Lefevre）1923年出版的投资经典之作《股票作手回忆录》（Reminiscences of a Stock operator），以小说体的形式，记述利物莫的一生。直到今天，《股票作手回忆录》仍是最多人阅读和极力推荐的投资著作之一。理查德.怀科夫（Richard Wyckoff）写了一本小书，书名叫《利物莫的股票操作方法》（Jesse Livermore's Methods of Trading in Stocks），详述利物莫许多独特的操作策略。多年来，谈利物莫的其它文章和书籍不胜枚举，这个人传奇性的一生，时至今日仍为人们津津乐道。
利物莫以他的独到创见，发掘在股票市场行得通和行不通的作法，为无数交易人指出一条明路。他孑然一身，注重私密，个人的操作和纪录，不对外揭露。他为人所不敢为，率先买进价格屡创新高和突破阻力点的股票。反观一般人则相信，买得愈低、愈便宜愈好。利物莫常说：每次违背自己的守则，他一定赔钱；遵循守则，就一定赚钱。他投入无数的心力，分析市场和研究投机理论。生活上，则律己甚严，要求时时都能有登峰造极的表现。他犯过大部分人在市场都会犯的所有错误，但是他不但从中学习，更埋首阅读报价行情和研究市场，持续不断学习更多的知识。
多年来，他常被引用的一句名言是：「华尔街不曾变过。口袋变了，股票变了，华尔街却从来没变，因为人性没变。」这句话点出了心理因素在市场上的重要性。他相信，由于希望、恐惧、贪婪和无知，人在市场中的行为和反应方式始终如一。这是无数的股票型态一再重复出现的原因。
利物莫也相信，股市是最难取得成功的地方之一，因为这里牵涉到许多人和许多人性。这是很难一展所长的地方，因为控制和克服人性十分困难。利物莫对市场的心理层面非常感兴趣，曾经去上心理学课程，所花心血不亚于研究证券。从研读这些课程，可以看出利物莫十分热中于了解市场的每一个层面，即使大部分人可能不认为那些领域和证券业搭得上边。利物莫愿意掌握每一个机会，去改善他的操作技巧。
从1892年到1940年，利物莫积极参与股票操作长达四十八年。这么多年的经验，度过无数次的兴衰起伏、破产、惊人的财富，他发展出几套操作获利的策略。
Jesse Livermore大事记
1877年7月26日，Jesse Livermore出生于Massachusetts.
1891年，14岁，在Paine Weber stockbroking offices工作，
15岁，第一次投机获利$3.12美元
15岁，赚得人生中第一个1000美元
20岁，赚得人生中第一个$10,000美元
21岁，搬到纽约，开始在NYSE交易
22岁，亏掉全部资金，不得不带着借来的$500回到对赌行中.
1901年5月9日，23岁，获利$50,000，但是又都输光
1902年，25岁，重新获得成功
1906年春天，29岁， 在对太平洋铁路股票放空中获利$250,000
1906年夏天，29岁， 听信了Ed Harding的消息，而亏损$40,000
1907年10月24日,30岁，Livermore在市场崩溃中放空，赚到人生中第一个一百万美金.
1908年，31岁，Livermore听信了棉花大王Percy Thomas的建议，在棉花投机中失利。
1915年，38岁，在交易中获利$145,000.
1916年，39岁，投机技巧日趋成熟，获利 $3 million .
1917年，40岁，Livermore获利$1.5 million profit 并还清1914年的欠债。他给整个家庭购买了$800,000的信托养老基金.
1922年，45岁， Edwin Lefèvre写出Reminiscences of a Stock Operator一书，成为最经典的投资作品.
1924年，47岁，在小麦中获利$3百万 .
1929年，52岁，达到顶峰，在1929年股市大崩盘中获利$1亿美元.
1934年，56岁，Jesse Livermore破产了，但是没有人知道怎么回事.不过因为信托养老基金，他并没有陷入贫穷.他与妻子到欧洲旅游了20个月。
1939年，62岁，Jesse Livermore写了唯一作品：如何在股市中交易
1940年11月28日，63岁，Jesse Livermore自杀。
1877年7月26日，杰西.利物莫（Jesse Livermore）生于麻州，家境穷困，父亲在新英格兰与天争地，务农为生。生活现状不能满足年幼的杰西。父亲要他辍学，子承父业，才十四岁的他，毅然离家远走高飞。他启程前往波士顿，口袋里只装着母亲给的几块钱。他在潘伟伯公司（Payne Webber）找到一份抄黑板的差事，工资微薄，每个星期才领六美元。潘伟伯雇有行情收报员，坐在营业厅，行情收报机的股票报价一进来，就得尽快扯开嗓门大喊。利物莫的新工作，是一听到报价喊出，赶紧将数字抄写在大黑板上。黑板盖满了这家经纪公司的整个墙面。
利物莫在学校数学本来就很好，华尔街的报价行情，正好投其所好，尽可发挥所长。他天赋异禀，数字过目不忘，有如相片般牢记脑海里。其实，小时候在学校，他一年就念完三年的数学课程。他趁在潘伟伯上班之便，记住各种股票的价格和代号。他像渴马奔泉般，贪婪地研读行情，全神贯注紧盯着报价纸带。他也开始作笔记，把抄黑板时抄到的数字记下来，而且很快就发现，里面有一些型态跃然纸上。他在像日记般的笔记簿里记下几千笔价格变动，埋首研读它们，寻找那些特殊的型态。可见，利物莫才十五岁，已经十分认真地研究股票型态和价格变化。「在职训练」让他亲眼目睹股市里面的交投活动，以及人们如何参与市场。他注意到，大部分人的行为举止乱无章法，不照一定的规则或既定的计划去做，也不肯下工夫研究股市和它的走势，所以投资股市稳赔不赚。
他的第一笔交易，是和朋友一起做的。他们凑了五美元，买百灵顿（Burlington）的股票，因为利物莫的朋友认为这支股票会涨。他们在一家空壳证券商（bucket shop，译注：空壳证券商是指不诚实且未登记的证券经纪商，利用客户的资金，投机性买卖股票和商品，或者接受客户下单买卖，却未透过交易所进行交易）下单买卖。空壳证券商很适合拿小钱去投机。投机客基本上是赌股价下一步往哪里走。也就是说，这是非常短线的操作。你也不必真的拥有股票，才能放手一搏，但是万一股价走势对你不利，赔掉10%之后，你会遭到断头的噩运。这等于是实施10%保证金的规定。利物莫因此养成习惯，在操作生涯的大部分时候，恪遵严格的认赔出场守则。随着时间的流逝和经验的累积，他更上一层楼，能在损失不到10%的时候，就断然认赔出场。 投资百灵顿之前，利物莫查了他的笔记簿，看了它最近的交易型态，相信价格一定上涨。所以说，他在十五岁的时候第一次买卖股票，而且最后分到3o12美元的利润。
他继续在空壳证券商交易。十六岁时，靠交易股票赚到的钱，已经多于潘伟伯给他的工资。等到赚进一千美元，他辞掉工作，全心全力在空壳证券商交易股票。
利物莫赚进很多钱，损害到空壳证券商的利润，二十岁那年，波士顿和纽约两地的空壳证券商都下达禁足令，不准他进场买卖（但他依然来回涉足两地的空壳证券商，如果在某座城市被发现，就跳到另一座城市去操作）。由于操作十分成功，有人称他是「拼命三郎」（The Boy Plunger）。空壳证券商不想和他扯上关系，更不希望看到他用赢钱的操作手法，从他们的号子不断把钱掏走。
利物莫踌躇满志，决定前往纽约，操作纽约证券交易所（New York Stock Exchange）挂牌交易的股票。毕竟，那里是群英荟萃之地，他准备在这个广阔的天地里一试身手。他选了一家经纪公司开立账户，用2,500美元当本钱。以前在空壳证券商操作股票，账户里的资金一度高达一万美元。好不容易赚来的利润慢慢赔掉，利物莫尝到苦头，终于晓得操作不见得一直那么容易。因此，他开始分析自己犯下哪些错误，造成亏损。详细分析过去的错误，成了利物莫日后十分重要的成功特质。这也是他最佳的学习工具之一。
详细分析过去犯下的错误，是利物莫十分重要的成功特质
利物莫在第一阶段的分析期间，学到一个教训，那就是他性子急，老是认为非进场操作不可。急性子到了市场，往往一时冲动就操作，却很少能够获利。他因为这个错误，付出惨痛的代价；但是直到今天，许多交易人还在犯相同的错误。
利物莫并没有在纽约扬名立万。六个月内，不但赔个精光，还向经纪公司告贷500美元。他带着这笔钱重作回到空壳证券商捞取赌本。他发现，空壳证券商一向立即报价，纽约则延后报价。他那时的作法，是根据实时报价，迅速交易。两天后，他抱着2,800美元回到纽约，并将500美元还给经纪公司。
不过，回到纽约后，他发现操作起来还是比他想象困难得多，依旧只能勉强打平，只好最后一次重回空壳证券商。利物莫掩饰身分进场操作，账户里面的钱果然很快增加到一万美元。就在这个时候，空壳证券商的老板终于又逮到他，永远禁止他进门。
1901年，股市展开强劲的多头行情，利物莫在纽约操作纽约证交所挂牌的股票，作多北太平洋（Northern Pacific）公司的股票，一万美元转眼间变成五万美元。接着，他认为股市就要短暂回档，于是建立两个空头部位（先向经纪商借股票卖出，再以较低的价格买回，赚取其中的差价），想不到已经到手的利润很快全吐了回去。这两笔操作虽然赔钱，但他原来的看法是对的，可惜因为成交量庞大，造成延误，股价一反转，马上就赔钱。
这次的经验，让他体会到在纽约证交所执行非常短线的交易十分困难。利物莫晓得，组织化的交易，过程比较复杂，不同于空壳证券商实时进行的交易环境，所以必须学习如何适应。1901年春，利物莫再次赔个精光。不久，他发现一家交易混合式证券、新开张的空壳证券商。他想，进场交易这些混合式证券，也许很快又能捞到一笔本钱。前后约一年的时间内，他真的赚进不少，直到也被这些空壳证券商发现，并且谢绝往来。利物莫一而再，再而三赔损，这教会他一件事：人必须赔上白花花的银子，才会弄懂市场的运作方式。为了成功，他不到黄河心不死，并且继续从本身的错误和经验中学习。
这个时候，他也发现了时间要素。股票交易的时间要素，是指操作时务必保持耐性，时日一久，一定有所获。这和人生中大部分的努力没有两样。它的另一层意思，是指了解股票是怎么交易的。空壳证券商的时间要素非常短暂且紧迫，因为它们的设立和经营方式，赌博成分比较浓厚。纽约证交所的时间要素，则延迟较多，不是立即成交。另外，在纽约证交所买进股票，真的就持有一家公司的股份。纽约证交所的运作方式和空壳证券商的经营方式，有时间上的差异，所以市场参与者必须对未来的时间做出更多的反应。这便需要保持耐性。多年后，耐性成了利物莫的一大特质，好几次操作更因此而大赚特赚。时间要素也向他证明：股票投机成功之路，得走一段相当长的时间。市场参与者不会一夕致富。
交易股票务必保持耐性，时间一久，定有所获。
他对这件事深信不疑，因为他手上的资金，已经上下来回好几趟。年纪轻轻，他已经创下多项纪录。十五岁那年，他赚到第一个一千美元。不到二十一岁，赚进第一个一万美元。账户里的资金，曾经上升到五万美元，两天后，又全部还给了市场。他尝尽市场上的酸甜苦辣，却依然锲而不舍，因为他知道得很清楚，他将靠市场过生活。
就在此时，利物莫定义了一件事。他把事前分析市场动向的行为，定义为赌博。尤其分析市场将往哪里走，是很难做到的事，而且他发现机率对散户交易人不利。他把「投机」定义为能够保持耐性，而且只在市场状况发出适合投机的信号时才有所动作。他很早就不断学习超群出众所需的新技能，也严以律己、坚持不懈，时时改进本身的操作守则。
这时的利物莫，称不上是专家。他听信别人所说的话和他们所谓的「小道消息」。他的操作次数也太过频繁。他犯下的另一个错误，是太早获利了结，尤其是在多头市场中。这段时期，他也发现大盘的重要性，认清和了解市场整体的表现，以及大盘如何影响大部分的股票，是很重要的事情。他必须学习如何解读市场目前的所作所为，以及现在处于什么阶段，而不是尝试去预测它将来会做出什么事。
早年的利物莫懂得不断学习。他发现，在股票市场中失去耐性，是一个人所能犯的最大错误之一。经由经验，他学会对自己的判断信之不疑。他用心观察，所以对自己的判断满怀信心，也不会因为市场经常发生的小波动而分心。
经验日积月累，他的策略开始开花结果，到了三十岁，操作起来更为得心应手。这时，他发展出试探性操作策略（probing strategy，本章后面会谈得更详细）。另一个他实行的重要策略，则是金字塔操作策略(pyramiding strategy）。金字塔操作策略，也是本书介绍的其它所有杰出交易人遵循不悖的重要操作守则。金字塔操作法是指在股票上涨途中加码经营。不妨想象，这套策略在当时听起来多么背离常理，因为大部分人都认为，要买到便宜货，应该逢低承接，而不是愈买愈高才对。利物莫的想法却不同，他认为，最近买进的股票，如果走势证明你是对的，放手买进更多，这个观念会使你得到的报酬锦上添花。利物莫发现，观察一支股票的价格走势而买进之后，如果价格继续上涨，那么从股价的走势，能够证明他做对了决定。做了正确的决定，这件事获得证实，足以证明他应该继续买进更多的股票。锦上添花的效果，会使股票投资利益更上一层楼。
1906年底，市场的上升趋势难以继续维持，利物莫于是将试探性操作策略和金字塔操作策略用在放空上，随着价格下跌，空头部位的规模愈来愈大。1907年的空头市场初期阶段，他的放空操作获利十分可观，不到三十一岁，已经当上百万富翁。
利物莫看准了1907年的崩盘，10月24日轧平和回补空头部位，一天之内就赚进300万美元。1907年10月，当时最具影响力的金融家摩根（JoPo Morgan）注入必要的流动性到市场，维持市场继续运转不坠，把华尔街从近乎崩溃边缘拯救回来。摩根甚至亲自直接向利物莫致意，请他停止放空。连大名鼎鼎的摩根，也承认利物莫在市场上呼风唤雨的力量，可见利物莫在华尔街的声名和影响力之一斑。
华尔街大空头
到这个时候，利物莫确实成了华尔街上的知名人物。新富利物莫发现，大钱要靠市场大波动来赚取。他的空头部位在1907年的股市崩盘大捞一票，因此赢得「华尔街大空头」（The Great Bear of Wall Street）的称号。在那些赚钱的年头里，利物莫一再表示，他相信股市分析必须一做再做，永不止息；这是操作成功缺之不可的要素。
成功操作股票不可或缺的有利要素：永不止息地做股市分析。
征服股票市场之后，利物莫也挥军直击商品期货市场（commodities market）。他和当时人称棉花大王的帕西.托马斯（Percy Thomas）搭上线。不过，利物莫开始和托马斯往来时，托马斯已经因为几次操作不顺，失去所有的财富。不幸利物莫这时的耳朵是用棉花做，因为他看重托马斯以前操作得很成功，仍然被视为棉花界的传奇人物。托马斯说服利物莫建立棉花部位。利物莫很快就发现，他的棉花多头部位损失惨重。这次棉花交易，赔掉以前获利交易赚进的几百万美元，主要原因是他打破了早年花很多时间好不容易发展出来的许多市场操作守则。
利物莫违反了独自操作，不轻易听信他人之言的守则。他也违背迅速认赔出场的守则，继续死抱赔钱的部位。这次的经验，令他情绪激昂，为了把钱捞回来，不顾一切拼命操作，结果赔得更惨。利物莫现在深陷债务之中，债权人多达好几位。他意气更为消沉，开始失去信心，而这种心理状态，是股票交易人的杀手。
利物莫花了好几年的时间，操作才恢复获利。从1910年到1914年，市场大致平中带软（1914年8月到12月中旬，第一次世界大战爆发，市场关闭）。这时利物莫已经一文不名，抑郁寡欢，积欠债权人100万美元以上。再说，这些平软的年头里，市场也缺乏大好机会。为了让头脑冷静下来，蓄积重回游戏场的实力，1914年他决定宣告破产。不过，他的运气还是相当背。1915年，处于战时的市场涨势中，一家经纪商借他五百股，价格不限。六个星期的时间内，他什么事情也没做，只顾着研究市场和观察行情。他注意到，股票会建立起某些标准价位（par level）。这个古老的操作原则，其实他在空壳证券商操作时曾经用过。所谓标准价位，是指一支股票站上每股100美元或200美元等整数数字后，继续上涨的可能性很高。
他以98美元的价格买进伯利恒钢铁（Bethlehem Steel），看着它涨上100美元后继续上扬。价格涨到每股114美元，再买500股。隔天价格升抵145美元，他出脱手中持有的1,000股股票，获利5万美元。这笔交易有助于他恢复信心，促使他再次遵循自己的操作守则。账户里的资金一度达到50万美元，1915年结束时还剩15万美元。
1916年底，利物莫开始放空。市场很快就转为下滑。当时非常有名的「泄密案」爆发，传说威尔逊总统即将向德国人提出和平计划，导致许多领先股作头反转。华尔街认为这是利空消息，因为会伤害战时供应物资给外国的经济荣景。利物莫的朋友巴鲁克（Bernard Baruch；第二章的主角）也在市场放空，据说靠泄密案赚进300万美元。国会成立一个委员会，调查泄密案，传唤巴鲁克和利物莫作证。巴鲁克坦承那段期间，他的空头部位获利47万美元，但坚决表示，绝不是靠预先取得传言中的信息。不过，纽约证交所还是颁订一条新规定，不准依赖泄密信息进行交易。当然了，这条规定很难执行，却由此可见利物莫和巴鲁克当时在市场上的影响力。利物莫则表示，1916年股市上涨期间他作多，稍后几个月市场重挫时放空，合计赚进约300万美元。1917年4月6日，美国卷进第一次世界大战。利物莫在市场上多次操作都告捷，开始偿还以前积欠的所有债务。不过，从法律面来说，1914年声请破产后，他其实免除了偿债的义务。四十岁那年，他也设立一个信托账户，确保自己不会再次破产。
声誉再起
1917年，利物莫恢复了在华尔街的显赫声誉。1917年5月13日，《纽约时报》的一篇文章说：「华尔街浮夸不实的交易人退场：目前的投机客和以前煽风点火的市场炒手比起来，更像是学生和经济学家。」这篇文章特别提到利物莫和巴鲁克，并且进一步点明他们是市场大户，也是华尔街上深具影响力和成功的股票交易人。
1920年代，利物莫认为，经验是在市场上继续成功的关键要素之一。他身为华尔街最优秀和最成功交易人之一的声誉与日俱隆。他实现了美国人的梦想，因为遵循本身的操作守则而积金累玉。他始终认为自己是市场上的学生，必须持之以恒，不断学习。
利物莫深信，没人能够精通市场。经验是在市场上继续成功的关键要素之一。
大约这个时候，他开始认知到，发掘市场强大走势中的真正领先股，是非常重要的一件事。他持续研究领先股如何脱颖而出，并且绽现强劲的涨势。他下工夫研究行情，提升自己对市场如何运作的认识，进而改善他的行业领先股方法。他发现，市场每次发动新的强劲上升趋势，通常会因为浓厚的获利预期心理，而在新的领先行业中，制造这些新的领先股。他因此一再见到基本面对市场和股价走势十分重要。他也发现，同一股群中的若干股票倾向于齐上齐下，以及领先股群倾向于与大盘亦步亦趋。这些发现，对于他在1929年股市大崩盘中登上更高的巅峰大有帮助。
从1928年冬到1929年春，多头市场全力奔驰。利物莫一路作多，获利可观。他接着开始留意市场的头部是否将形成。1929年夏初，他轧平所有的多头部位，改为逢涨必卖。他也认为市场已经涨过头。他看到市场大涨之后，开始出现横向移动的交易型态，一改原来的激升走势。他开始往空方派出探子，探查情势。
利物莫的试探性操作策略，是在操作之初先建立小部位。如果操作顺利，只要走势往他预期的方向行进，就继续加码买进（或者放空）更多的股票，这即是他的金字塔操作策略。他总是在价格上涨途中，执行逢高摊平操作，而不是下跌时逢低摊平（averaging down）。逢低摊平的操作方法，在他那个时代，以及现在大部分时候，都是比较多人使用的方法。他会向许多不同的营业员下单，以免行踪被华尔街发现，因为金融圈内不少人对他的操作力量和名声很感兴趣。
试探性操作策略如果开始建功，利物莫就能确定市场正要反转向下，因为价格已经以不可思议的速度上涨了一段相当长的时间。这是本书所有杰出交易人运用的重要技巧之一。当一切事情看起来美好得无以复加的时候，他们总会留意市场中的蛛丝马迹，藉以分析是不是就要变盘。
1929年，市场早就发出崩盘在即的许多信号。那时的领先股已经停止再创新高价，走势迟滞不前。「聪明钱」开始逢高抛售。几乎每个人都用10%的保证金买了股票，而且认为自己早就成了股市专家，逢人就高谈阔论股票经。这种热过头的现象，正是一个明显的信号，告诉我们：当每一个人都投入股市，就再也找不到更多的买盘力道，能将市场推得更高。
1929年10月，市场终于崩盘时，利物莫坐拥几个月来陆续建立的庞大空头部位。这些空头部位一经回补，数百万美元的利润应声落袋。许多人因为无力补缴保证金而遭断头，据称也有不少人从办公大楼跳楼自杀，利物莫却大有斩获，获利之高，为历年来难得一见。事实上，由于以前的「华尔街大空头」盛名之累，许多人怪罪他造成股市崩盘，更有人因为失去曾经拥有的一切，扬言取他性命。崩盘后不久，《纽约时报》甚至刊出一篇文章，标题是「利物莫据称带领一群人狂卖高价证券……」。
股市崩盘后，国会通过「证券交易法」（Securities and Exchange Act），成立证券管理委员会（Securities Exchange Commission），希望藉全面改革股票交易法规，把稳定和秩序带进市场。纵使如此，利物莫得到的结论是，他不必改变自己的操作守则，因为人性根本不会改变，而左右股票市场最后的力量，正是人性。
虽然利物莫靠放空赚了好几百万美元（例如1929年），但是放空股票，要取得优异的成绩，通常比较困难，因为承受的潜在亏损无限大。股票可以一直涨上去，但最多只能跌到零。放空操作要成功，也必须用更强的力量去控制你的情绪，而且反应必须更为快速才行，因为价格下跌的驱动力量是恐惧，价格上涨的驱动力量则是希望。由于恐惧激起的反应比希望快，所以你必须能够因应市场整体心理面更快的变化。
利物莫虽然赚得巨额财富，终其一生，却得面对许多私人问题带来的挑战。他历经婚姻不谐、离婚、其它的家庭问题，心如死灰，形如槁木。1930年代，他在操作上的收获，不如从前，因此对自己遭遇的问题更加灰心丧意。1934年，他再度申请破产，市场上传称，他失去仅仅五年前赚进的财富。从他因为私人生活问题而致心灰意冷，可以看出保持心绪平衡十分重要。只有这样，才能在市场上持续获利，并且避免犯下代价惨重的错误。利物莫后来的种种表现，和他如日中天、誉满华尔街时，严以律己的生活风格大相径庭。
成功纪实
1939年底，他决定写一本书，谈他的操作策略。1940年3月，利物莫所著《股票作手杰西.利物莫操盘术》（How to Trade in Stocks，中文版由寰宇出版）一书出版。这本书卖得并不好，主要是因为经济大萧条的阴影挥之不去，人们对股票市场兴趣缺乏。但是这本原创性的著作，对所有渴望有所成的交易人，都是必读好书。
新书出版后才几个月，1940年11月28日，陷入深度抑郁症的利物莫举枪自尽，立时身亡。
在利物莫眼里，股票市场是世界上最巨大、最复杂的挑战。他最渴望和最大的乐趣，是把华尔街的这场游戏玩得出神入化。利物莫相信股票投机不只是纯粹的科学，更是一种艺术形式。
许多人认为利物莫可能是有史以来最杰出的股票交易人。艾德温.拉斐尔（Edwin Lefevre）1923年出版的投资经典之作《股票作手回忆录》（Reminiscences of a Stock operator），以小说体的形式，记述利物莫的一生。直到今天，《股票作手回忆录》仍是最多人阅读和极力推荐的投资著作之一。理查德.怀科夫（Richard Wyckoff）写了一本小书，书名叫《利物莫的股票操作方法》（Jesse Livermore's Methods of Trading in Stocks），详述利物莫许多独特的操作策略。多年来，谈利物莫的其它文章和书籍不胜枚举，这个人传奇性的一生，时至今日仍为人们津津乐道。
利物莫以他的独到创见，发掘在股票市场行得通和行不通的作法，为无数交易人指出一条明路。他孑然一身，注重私密，个人的操作和纪录，不对外揭露。他为人所不敢为，率先买进价格屡创新高和突破阻力点的股票。反观一般人则相信，买得愈低、愈便宜愈好。利物莫常说：每次违背自己的守则，他一定赔钱；遵循守则，就一定赚钱。他投入无数的心力，分析市场和研究投机理论。生活上，则律己甚严，要求时时都能有登峰造极的表现。他犯过大部分人在市场都会犯的所有错误，但是他不但从中学习，更埋首阅读报价行情和研究市场，持续不断学习更多的知识。
多年来，他常被引用的一句名言是：「华尔街不曾变过。口袋变了，股票变了，华尔街却从来没变，因为人性没变。」这句话点出了心理因素在市场上的重要性。他相信，由于希望、恐惧、贪婪和无知，人在市场中的行为和反应方式始终如一。这是无数的股票型态一再重复出现的原因。
利物莫也相信，股市是最难取得成功的地方之一，因为这里牵涉到许多人和许多人性。这是很难一展所长的地方，因为控制和克服人性十分困难。利物莫对市场的心理层面非常感兴趣，曾经去上心理学课程，所花心血不亚于研究证券。从研读这些课程，可以看出利物莫十分热中于了解市场的每一个层面，即使大部分人可能不认为那些领域和证券业搭得上边。利物莫愿意掌握每一个机会，去改善他的操作技巧。
从1892年到1940年，利物莫积极参与股票操作长达四十八年。这么多年的经验，度过无数次的兴衰起伏、破产、惊人的财富，他发展出几套操作获利的策略。
Jesse Livermore大事记
1877年7月26日，Jesse Livermore出生于Massachusetts.
1891年，14岁，在Paine Weber stockbroking offices工作，
15岁，第一次投机获利$3.12美元
15岁，赚得人生中第一个1000美元
20岁，赚得人生中第一个$10,000美元
21岁，搬到纽约，开始在NYSE交易
22岁，亏掉全部资金，不得不带着借来的$500回到对赌行中.
1901年5月9日，23岁，获利$50,000，但是又都输光
1902年，25岁，重新获得成功
1906年春天，29岁， 在对太平洋铁路股票放空中获利$250,000
1906年夏天，29岁， 听信了Ed Harding的消息，而亏损$40,000
1907年10月24日,30岁，Livermore在市场崩溃中放空，赚到人生中第一个一百万美金.
1908年，31岁，Livermore听信了棉花大王Percy Thomas的建议，在棉花投机中失利。
1915年，38岁，在交易中获利$145,000.
1916年，39岁，投机技巧日趋成熟，获利 $3 million .
1917年，40岁，Livermore获利$1.5 million profit 并还清1914年的欠债。他给整个家庭购买了$800,000的信托养老基金.
1922年，45岁， Edwin Lefèvre写出Reminiscences of a Stock Operator一书，成为最经典的投资作品.
1924年，47岁，在小麦中获利$3百万 .
1929年，52岁，达到顶峰，在1929年股市大崩盘中获利$1亿美元.
1934年，56岁，Jesse Livermore破产了，但是没有人知道怎么回事.不过因为信托养老基金，他并没有陷入贫穷.他与妻子到欧洲旅游了20个月。
1939年，62岁，Jesse Livermore写了唯一作品：如何在股市中交易
1940年11月28日，63岁，Jesse Livermore自杀。
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