The Five Car Parking Lot

OMG… it’s not only a new week, but a New Year! Before I get into my ‘this year’s going to be so different’ thing, I want to talk about The Five Car Parking Lot. My trip to NYC was mostly a disappointment, but I had a bit of fun attempting to get myself into a more positive frame of mind for the New Year.

Some of my best moments were spent window shopping. And by that, I mean researching luxury retailers, of course. I went to Tiffany to try out some diamond earrings that were 1.7 carats each. They looked nice enough, but I actually thought they could have been slightly bigger and preferred my pair for now, which I daresay is much more sparkly. I told the sales representative I’ll call him when I make a ton of money in the stock market this year, which I am totally going to do for the price tag on those was a good five figures. I’ve decided this is the year I am going to break out of my five figure mode and become six figures. I’ve been five figures for the past three years, so as I move out of this PDO phase, I’m going to go into my PPT phase (premeditated profit taking). I could say I’d like to become a millionaire straight away, but that would probably require winning the lottery.

I also visited lovely Harry Winston. I had the audacity to step in there this time and at least get myself a preview of what’s to come. I loved their window displays. They created a beautiful winter wonderland with snow and tree branches and of course fabulous diamond jewellery and it was all so magical. I thought to myself: this is why we do marketing – to bring consumers beautiful experiences if only for a second or two. When I was in the boutique, I experienced the premeditated snobbishness that luxury retailers are known for. Quite frankly, if those sales representatives were making so much money, they wouldn’t be trying to sell me stuff now would they? So what’s up with the nose up in the air bit? We’re going to try to sell you, but you’re going to have to work for it? Trading ego at its finest. I digress. I think I missed out big time. I should have invested in TIF. I have no regrets investing in HWD, but I should have bought up TIF when I had a chance to. So, I’m going to look for opportunities in TIF.

In any case, I also nearly got myself murdered by some psycho bitch in the SoHo area. My sister has a penchant for choosing off-beat, quirky eateries and found a Thai place on Christopher Street. As I was walking to this place, I encountered this woman nearly twice my height who out of left field pointed her cane at me and yelled out: “Get out of my way.” It nearly left me in tears because though I am a diva, I cannot compete with a screaming woman who is twice my size carrying a cane. It definitely reminded me NYC is full of psychos. No offense. I loved the smokin’ hot ultra spicy Thai food and the jaywalking though. Next time, I’m choosing the restaurant!

Anyway, I’m going to now get to the moral of the story. I saw a five car parking lot whilst I was in SoHo. This isn’t the type that is part of another business, but a real self-sustaining five car parking lot. And it made me think… how do they even make money? And, then I thought, hey isn’t that a bit like our portfolios? We’ve only got a limited amount of trading capital, i.e. parking space. Once we’re in a position, we’re kind of stuck for a while. So the only way we could be making money is to decrease our rent and charge more for the cars that park in our Five Car Parking Lot. Ultimately, though, we’re going to have to find a bigger parking lot!

This year, I hope everyone breaks out of their Five Car Parking Lots and adds a few more zeros to their accounts!