For centuries, it has been customary to personify certain inanimate objects and attribute them characteristics particular to living creatures.  Some objects are regarded as masculine such as the sun, winter (old man winter), and death (the grim reaper is a guy!).  Other objects are referred to as feminine (Mother Earth and Mother Nature), boats, ships, and vehicles.  The stock market, like a woman, is never static emotionally and physically.  Men would get along better with the market if they understood “her” as a woman who embodies the following:

1. Hot flashes and teeth-chattering chills – Sometimes the market spikes to all-time highs.  Traders work fast and furiously to sell holdings at the greatest possible profit.  At times, the market plunges into icy depths and shutters after the fall. However, as women know, these pass eventually, and sometimes as quickly as they appear, so we grin and bear it. One should do likewise with the market.  It’s not a time to panic.
2. Menopausal mood swings – We’re up, we’re down, we do a turn around and for no apparent reasons.  Men have had to deal with this emotional hokey-pokey dance we do for centuries. From day to day, we’re not sure whether we will be euphoric or in the dumps. So, if we can’t predict our highs and lows, why do men expect to?  The best they can do is watch for the telltale signs that the emotional roller coaster is climbing the hill or cresting to begin its decent.  At times, they are going to guess wrong.  So it is with the stock market.
3. Efficiency – Give a working woman an hour for lunch and chances are she’ll eat in ten minutes or less (if she eats at all). With her remaining time, she’ll perhaps run errands, answer personal email, call her child’s teacher, make doctor/dentist appointments, and a host of other activities that need to be done even though her personal time is short.  Watch the stock market for a week, paying particular attention to the activity between the hours of 11 AM and 1 PM.  Those hours are busy ones.
4. Flexibility – Women are far better at being flexible than men.  Studies indicate that working women will choose job flexibility over higher pay, and corporate America needs to offer it to keep their brightest and best females.  Men say, “Show me the money!”  Women aren’t significantly better at multi-tasking, but studies show they make fewer mistakes than men.  The stock market adjusts, readjusts, and tweaks in regard to the nation’s economic conditions, world events, and even the nightly news headlines.
5. Unpredictability – Live with a woman long enough and just when you think you understand her, she plops your theories into the crapper.  Admit it, that’s what makes us endearing.  We add the pizzazz, the color, the romance, and sometimes the specks of danger and daring to life.  Just when my husband thinks I’m predictable, I purposely do something “out of character.”  It causes him to reevaluate what he thinks he knows about me and helps me evolve into a better person.  The stock market is a mysterious lady that acts and reacts continually.  So much so, that colleges and universities offer degree programs aimed at predicting her moods and moves.  Even the “aces” in the financial field have been fooled by her at least once.

For those people who entertain the idea of dabbling in the stock market: Men, if you are adept at living among and interacting with a variety of women, you might want to enter the arena.  Just don’t get too cocky!  Need I say anything to the men that want to turn to the excitement of the market because their love-lives always crash and burn?  Ladies, get into the market and make a difference.  Who better to know and understand her!