Homer The Odyssey

You must turn a deaf ear to irrationality's siren song

INVESTORS can learn a lot from the self-control Ulysses displays in Homer's "Odyssey," a new report by Barclays Wealth and Ledbury Research shows.

Most human brains aren't hard-wired for investment success, which leads us to irrational decisions such as trading too much, focusing on the short term, buying stocks during times of exuberance and selling in panic.

As a result, the individual results of investors typically lag overall market returns, making a real difference in our net worth.

Investors need to be aware of those human foibles and take steps to protect their portfolios from themselves, states the Barclays/Ledbury report titled "The Role of Control in Financial Decision Making."

The report uses the tale of the Sirens from "The Odyssey" to illustrate the concept.

Knowing that the beauty of the Sirens' songs would tempt himself and his crew to draw closer and wreck their ship on the rocks, Ulysses ordered his crew to stuff their ears with wax and bind him to the mast of the ship ahead of time. The crew was told not to change course. Ulysses was indeed tempted by the songs, but because of the steps he'd taken ahead of time, he was able to save the lives of himself and his crew.

"Ulysses' brilliance lay in having the foresight to recognize his inability to resist temptation and to take steps to counteract it," the Barclays/Ledbury report says.

The authors then set out seven specific strategies that investors can follow to overcome irrational portfolio moves amid the sirens of a volatile stock market.

Buy illiquid investments in order to avoid the urge to sell when the market is falling.

Avoid information about how the market or your portfolio is performing in order to stick to long-term investment strategies.

Use rules to make better financial decisions (for example only spending out of income and never out of capital).

Set financial deadlines for yourself (for example aiming to save a certain amount of money by the end of the year).

Wait a few days after making a big financial decision before executing it.

Delegate financial decisions to others (for example, allow someone else to manage your portfolio).

Use other people to help you reach your financial goals.

Staff reporter Bill Freehling writes this weekly column on business, personal finance and investing. He can be reached at 540/374-5405 or
Email: bfreehling@freelancestar.com .

Journey of Odysseus: Retracing the Odyssey Through the Ancient ...

Through the Ancient Mediterranean...On a Pleasure Cruise" width="400" height="222" />

Dedicated to advancement of field research since 1904, the Explorer’s Club’s members include the first to the North Pole, first to the South Pole, first to the summit of Mount Everest, first to the deepest point in the ocean and first to the surface of the moon.

The cruise was lead by the president of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and professor of Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania, C. Brian Rose.

sets sail from Athens for the nine cities of Troy; one of which Odysseus took from King Priam with the clever Trojan Horse,the place where his adventure started, and where the Trojan War began.

Odysseus then went south on the Aegean Sea to the tiny fruitless and uninhabited Greek island of Delos, where legend has it that the gods Apollo and Artemis were born. Though the island is the home of the shrine and Terrace of the Lions, which was built to protect the Sacred Lake where Apollo was born, the lake has since dried up.

Odyssey Through the Ancient Mediterranean...On a Pleasure Cruise" width="640" height="382" />

The head of Navarino Bay is the village of sandy Pylos, which is in line of sight of the 13th century B.C. Mycenaean ruins of the Palace of King Nestor, whom Telemachus (Odysseus’ son) goes to visit in hopes that he’ll find out his father’s fate and whereabouts.

Crossing into the Ionian Sea, the tour docks in the Grand Harbor of Valletta.  Ruled successively by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, and the Order of the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, there are plenty of ruins from all of these civilizations.

The cruise also skirts Trapani, Sicily, a small fishing port where Odysseus and his company were attacked by Laestrygonians, giant cannibals who ate many of his men and destroyed all but one of his ships.

In Naples, the  Phlegrean Fields are where Odysseus defeated the Cyclops after it had captured he and his crew.

Odyssey Through the Ancient Mediterranean...On a Pleasure Cruise" width="369" height="318" />

Crossing the Straits of Messina Odysseus met the great whirlpool, Charybdis, and the six-headed monster, Scylla; retribution for the Cyclops sent by his father Poseidon.  Odysseus was thereafter cast ashore by a storm in the Kingdom of Helios, where his companions slaughtered and ate a sacred ox.  Helios then sent a lightening bolt to destroy the ship, which only Odysseus survived.

Odyssey

The Odyssey

The Odyssey, The Story of Odysseus

The Odyssey

The Odyssey