by Simon Black
Sovereign Man
There are famous stories that come out of the Great Depression in which very astute financiers sold all of their stocks just before the big crash of 1929.
Joseph Kennedy famously dumped his portfolio after receiving stock tips from a shoeshine boy. And Bernard Baruch, one of the wealthiest financiers on Wall Street, said after the crash,
“Taxi drivers told you what to buy. The shoeshine boy could give you a summary of the day’s financial news as he worked with rag and polish. An old beggar who regularly patrolled the street in front of my office now gave me [stock] tips. . .”
Now, these comments make it seem like taxi drivers and shoeshine boys don’t have financial sense. And that’s wrong.