Daily Speculations The Web Site of Victor Niederhoffer and Laurel Kenner

27-Mar-2006
Russell Sears on Weak vs. Strong

Confession of a 98 pound weakling.

It is common western folklore that the weak died. I would suggest that in real life, the weak adapt. It is wound that does not recover and die.

Training or trying is not enough. Training is a given for the competitor, training hard. The recovery is what separates strengthening from simply tearing apart. For a runner, the first signs of overtraining are higher resting heart rate, loss of sleep/restless sleep, sudden weight loss, loss of sex drive, and mood swings. Counting this is more important than keeping a log of your training. The log of training is simply to motivate you. The counting/observation of your recovery is science in training.

Alcoholics and addicts never recover, hence the high death rate of strong minds, and creative genius. Yet, it is the alcoholic that adapts, such as Ken, that can still be a strong mind.

I think of my friends a deaf married couple. One deaf by damaging disease of specific nerves, has adapted to a great cook. The other has adapted to a great photographer.

But weakness does not always search for a path to strength. Bluffing, cheating, and con-men are on display this week in the Enron courts.

The strong have a much harder path to adaptation.

Besides large/bureaucratic and small/adaptable stocks. What are the signs that a company is focusing on adaptation rather than bluffing or simply giving up?