Hundreds of years ago Kings and Queens where captivated by Alchemists who claimed to be able to turn ordinary metal into gold. Alchemist preyed on the wealthy to pay for their lifestyle and experimentation into this so called science of the time. By all accounts some alchemists where true believers, but more were just looking to dupe the wealthy out of their riches.
Today most of us view Alchemy as ridiculous and wonder how so many people in such great power could believe in it. Although today most of us think that the so called science of Alchemy is ludicrous, for some reason we still seem to believe that it is possible to turn ordinary metal into gold, figuratively.
This association was never more obvious than during the technology bubble 10 years ago. A person or group with just an idea was able to solicit millions from investors, before there was even a product. Most of Wall Street made speculations of wealth on the notion of near limitless growth which we now view as absurd. Even after those failed speculations we continue to put faith in Wall Street.
Looking at today it is understandable how the practice of Alchemy had captured the minds of yesterday for so long. As yesterday, on Wall Street there seems to be true believers and frauds (i.e. Bernie Madoff) in the art of turning ordinary metal into gold.
I do not believe all investment advice is the practice of alchemy. I will say though that the use of speculation in investment advice does seem to prey on mans’ fascination of turning ordinary metal into gold.
The mystery and lure of Alchemy was spread by stories from witnesses to this incredible act of turning ordinary metal into gold. It was not until the late 1700’s that this art of deception was revealed. A book was published on how these alchemists deceived witnesses. How many stories have you heard of someone who invested in a stock that made them extremely wealthy (i.e. Microsoft)?
Tags: bubble, stock market history, wall street
