Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

Get Adobe Flash player

A Reluctant Investor's Lament

I hesitate to make a list of all the countless deals I've missed;

Bonanzas that were in my grip - I watched them through my fingers slip;

The windfalls which I should have bought were lost because I overthought;

I though of this, I thought of that, I could have sworn I smelled a rat,

And while I thought things over twice, another grabbed them at the price.

It seems I always hesitate, then make my mind up much too late.

A very cautious man am I, and that is why I never buy.

 

When banks rose high on Shirley and Bay, the prices asked I felt dismay;

Whole blockfronts - bleak and black with soot - were priced at thirty bucks a foot!

I wouldent even make a bid, but others did - yes others did!

When Treasure Cay was deserted land, I would have had a heap of sand;

When Cable Beach was the place to buy, I thought the West was much too dry;

Invest in Winton - thats the spot, my sixth sense warned me I should not.

A very prudent man am I and that is why I never buy.

 

How Nassau and how Freeport grew! Abaco and Harbour Island too!

When others culled those sprawling feilds, and with open arms did welcome deals -

A corner here, ten acres there, compounding values year by year,

I chose to think and as I thought, they bought the deals I should have bought.

The golden chances I had then, were lost and will not come again.

Today I cannot be enticed, for everything's so overpriced!

The deals of yesteryear are dead, the market's soft and so's my head.

 

Last night I had a fearful dream, I know I wakened with a scream;

Harold Christie approached my bed, and with a smile he softly said -

For what seemed like an enourmous sum, A private city could be done.

I said it was but swamp and bush, and in this deal I would not rush.

E.P. Taylor he then searched out, and Lyford Cay did come about.

 

At times a teardrop drowns my eye, For deals I had but did not buy.

And now lifes saddest words I pen - "If only I'd invested then!"

 

Don Weill

The Reluctant Investor