One solution for bachelorhood

As a bachelor I have nobody to impress with my money. The months and years went by before I finally found a solution to boring solitude in Springfield; trading stocks online.

I've been looking enviously at other people's belongings, other people's junk, stuff they don't need, wondering if they derive happiness from possession, or the act of possessing. Some research shows that more perceived value in an object is created from the effort and expense of attaining it than its actual extrinsic value.

I had my fair share of junk over the years. Getting laid-off, selling my house, then selling most of my possessions on Ebay and garage sale was a depressing experience. Later I wondered what got into me, to want such things as I had in the first place.

Today I'm bent toward utilitarian minimalism but the boredom is excruciating. I was about to lose my mind because I was torn between consumerism as a medication and the disdain for the very act of purchasing something I know I do not need.

Driving around Springfield, swimming in shear boredom and irritating consumer messages, it finally dawned on me that I can actually do something that actually builds wealth and provides a modicum of excitement in the process. Building a stock portfolio and trading stocks gives me something to look forward to each day.

The secret was laid out before me over the course of attaining my degree in communication. The underlying messages that came with it were cultural conditioning, consumer behavior, and the frailty of the human mind. Weaknesses the marketplace has taken advantage of for generations.

Warning! There are two sets of consumer messages involved with the world of finance, a multi-layered consumer paradigm. You must be careful not to rely on information gathered for you by your online trading host.

Always keep in mind that any single source of information was generated to serve the source. It's a natural rule of behavior. If you get your business news from one source, you might as well quit while you can. Keep in mind that most of the business news on the main-stream media has been distilled for public consumption, it will be to your advantage, especially when panic sets in and some controversy is aired about a business and its stock price plummets.

So now, boredom temporarily averted. I only wish I thought of this last weekend, because today's Saturday and I have to wait probably until next Tuesday or Wednesday to hear back from my trade branch about getting money into my account. Meanwhile, do the research. Pick some stocks, go to www.sec.gov and check out the company's annual statements. If you have an email account with Google, Yahoo or MSN, you can set up a fake stock portfolio and watch your stocks until you get your online account set up.