Currency Trading Replaces Stock Trading?

A headline on MarketWatch yesterday morning stated that the lost decade in investing has caused higher interest in currency trading.  That’s an interesting thought, since currency trading isn’t for everyone, and most firms might warn against placing much of a portfolio in currency hedging.  As a business owner, how does this even matter?

It matters because it measures how much money will be headed towards corporate and business investing in the future, and that may not be a whole lot.  If business owners would put their heads down and ignore the trend but focus on business, this could all be past us a little quicker.  We’ve gotten used to the idea of going to the bank every time we want to start, expand, or purchase a business.  Little kids do the same thing, asking for money when they want candy… “Please?”  At some point, don’t we want our kids to grow up?  So let’s do the same, when it comes to business and banking.

If you really have a good idea, won’t it fly without the bank?  Two days ago I was walking downtown and I passed a guy on a park bench who asked me for money because he lost his job.  He had a cardboard sign which stated the same.  I asked him what kind of work he does.  He said landscaping.  My reply was that if he couldn’t find work, nobody could.  He looked stunned.  My next comment was to tell him that he didn’t lose his job, he had only lost an employer!  Now his mind started working.  You could see his face change as he realized he should be working rather than hoping for a job.  I gave him some ideas on how to start his own business, where to start, what he needed, and most of all how much he could earn.  He looked like a different man.

I know not everyone is up to the task but this guy looked and acted fully capable.  He was suffering from the belief that someone needed to hire him or he couldn’t survive.  I don’t know how cowboys and Indians lived in the old days but I don’t think they always had jobs, instead they worked, regardless of for whom.  This is the great mistake of today, believing you need a job when in fact you just need to work, and there is a difference.   Business owners get trapped into the same mentality, believing they need the bank to be in business when the opposite it true.

Business owners need to work, keep on working, keep on growing, but don’t depend so much on the pockets of finance.  If you have a good business idea, it will fly if you work hard.  Yes, I know that your business may grow at a slower pace then if you borrow money.  I’m really speaking to those who can’t borrow or can’t borrow as much.  In the meantime we all need to get the work done so we can be prepared for better times ahead.