Broker's Call

      Mr. D'Antoni was feeling finally, and totally relaxed when the phone rang. He thought of leaving it, as he was so totally relaxed, but he thought he'd at least see who it was. When he saw who it was, he thought of not answering, but he had to. When your broker calls, you answer.

     "Hey Bob," Mr. D'Antoni said.

     "Mr. D'Antoni, hi. How are you today."
     "Fine, fine. What's going on in the world of money?"
     "Well, I won't be coy about it, but we are getting hammered today. We've got some things to discuss."
     "What's the damage?"
     "Well, it's important not to look at things on a one-day or even one-week trend, because if you look at the whole year, we're still in the green. But we've got to reconfigure some things, I think, move some things around."
     "How much did we lose?"
     "You want to raw number from the last week?"
     "Yes."
     "193,484 dollars and some change."

     "This week?"
     "Yes, this week."

     "Wow."
     "But it's important to note, the whole portfolio is still in the green for the year. Not much, and we have to move quickly to shore up further losses. I think you should come into the office later. Is there a good time?"
     "I want to close out."
     "You want to what, Mr. D'Antoni?"
     "I want to close out. I want to get out."
     "You want me to sell everything?"
     "Yes, sell now. Sell everything."

     "Okay. I've got to execute these orders, though, and that takes time, so the portfolio may lose value overall still, just to warn you."
     "Well then get moving!" Mr. D'Antoni said.

     He hung up the phone and almost threw it, but then he decided that was probably not for the best.

     He had felt so relaxed just a second ago! But it was big trouble that was brewing, for so much was reliant on the income from those investments. And if he had to cover positions with other cash, he might not make the payments on some of his properties. He might have to sell some of his portfolio. Wow! What a terrible phone call.

     He tried to settle back into his relaxed state, but it was no use. He paid his bill and left, deciding it was best to go into the office and gauge what the damage could be.

     How much differently he felt driving into the city from the when he last left it! How free he had felt from all of it, and now he felt the work of it all severely, terribly. It had felt like an empire he had built; now it felt more like a house of cards.

     He supposed, it always was.