I spent a lot of time today thinking about money — cash, investments, goals, values, etc. Also a very large amount of spreadsheeting related to the above.

(L and I have had many discussions about how I try to solve every problem by putting it into a spreadsheet, and whether it would be better to track at least some of this data in a database.)

(This is how we flirt.)

Anyway, what I was thinking about was how, during the hour it took me to write yesterday’s post, Facebook stock had the largest single-day drop in history.

And how all of that value was extracted out of the market — by bots, right? — before any of us had a chance to redeem it for ourselves. We would only have been able to redeem our accumulated value if we’d sold our Facebook shares on Wednesday, or — better still — at the beginning of January.

So now we not only have to beat the market, we also have to beat the bots?

(Who are the bots buying for? I don’t understand when people say oh, it’s the bots, because the bots have to be doing all of this for someone. Who’s buying the shares the bots are selling? Are those also bots? Whose bots are they? Can I get a bot?)

(Also, I cannot believe I’ve been writing about personal finance for ten years and I don’t know who the bots belong to.)

Of course, the Invisible Hands of the Market giveth nearly as often as they taketh away (and “nearly as often” is, shall we say, the point). During the hour it took me to spreadsheet, the market apparently rallied to the point at which it had its best week of the year so far. Once again, you and I were not invited to play the real game; we can watch, and execute our own side bets (because that’s what they appear to be, unless I’m completely missing the analogy) and watch the value of our investments go up and down.

I have a “win condition” in mind, of course, with a specific number attached. That’s the easy part. If WIN, then SELL and PAY THE TAXES.

The harder part is determining the “minimum loss condition.”

It always is. ❤️

Here’s where I got published this week!

• Bankrate

  • What happens to your student credit card after you graduate?

  • How long should I wait between credit card applications?

• CreditCards.com

  • How to use your Amex Platinum airline fee credit in 2022

  • Is the Citi Premier Card worth it?

  • Wells Fargo Reflect benefits guide

• Haven Life

  • What millennials should do about inflation, according to the experts