“Tips are for waiters” (Wall Street adage)
"Tips are for waiters" is a stock market adage that dates to at least 1989. The adage holds that one should rely on business fundamentals, not stock tips. If someone is on the inside…
“To Do: 1. Get my finances in order 2. Get finances”
"To Do: 1. Get my finances in order 2. Get finances" was posted on X/Twitter by Gary (Mystic Mac)🍀on November 30, 2023. The joke is that the speaker has not much money to get into…
“To err is human; to hedge divine” (Wall Street proverb)
"To err is human; to forgive, divine" is a famous quotation from the English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744). "To err is human; to hedge (is) divine" (or, "To speculate is…
“To know and not to do is not to know”
"To know and not to do is not to know" has been credited to Chinese philosopher Wang Yangming (1472-1529). The phrase appears cited with frequency in English from 1977, and has been a…
“To speculate in Wall Street when you are no longer an insider, is like buying cows by candlelight”
Bouck White's The book of Daniel Drew (1910) is a semi-fictional biography that is sometimes mistaken for an autobiography of American financier Daniel Drew (1797-1879). The book contains two…
“To the guy who found my empty wallet… I don’t know how to repay you”
People sometimes return empty wallets to their owners; the money is gone, however. "To the guy that returned my empty wallet...I don't know how to repay you. http://bit.ly/1zznTUe via…
“Today a peacock, tomorrow a feather duster” (business axiom)
"Today a peacock, tomorrow a feather duster" is an old reminder that success can be fleeting. A rooster replaces the peacock in some versions of the saying. "Peacock Today,…
“Today is a gift—that’s why it’s called the present”
"Today is a gift -- that's why it's called the present" has been cited in print since at least 1993 and possibly originated on a Hallmark greeting card. The newspaper comic…
“Today, I found a penny. It reminded me of you” (joke)
"Today, I found a penny. It reminded me of you -- worthless and found in everyone's pants" is a joke that has been printed on many images. "Found a penny on the ground today and…
“Too big to comply”
"Too big to comply" is a saying that means a company or a government agency is so big that it must have its own law -- and can't comply with laws that apply to everyone else.…
“Too big to fail” (TBTF)
Entry in progress -- B.P. The Financial Services Roundtable has been called a TBTF lobbying group or the "TBTF Consortium." Similar phrases include "too big to jail," "too…
“Too big to jail”
"Too big to fail" is a philosophy that a private company is too big and too important to be allowed to go bankrupt, and is therefore bailed out by the government. "Too big to…
“Too big to prosecute”
The philosophy of "too big to prosecute" means that some organizations are too important to the economy to completely dismantle. Although "too big to prosecute" has been cited…
“Too small to bail”
"Too small to bail" is the opposite of "too big to fail." A company that is very large is sometimes deemed "too big to fail" because many other companies would fail…
“Took a tip to buy shares in fermented apple juice. Got accused of in cider trading”
"In cider trading" is a pun on "insider trading." "I was thrown out of the London Stock Exchange for standing in a bucket of Scrumpy, apparently there's rules against…
“Tops are a process and bottoms are an event” (Wall Street adage)
"Tops are a process and bottoms are an event" is a Wall Street adage that refers to the top and the bottom of a market (such as the stock market). Mark McMillan wrote in 2012:…
“Trade the first day, and stay away”
"Trade the first day, and stay away" is an investment adage from Jonathan Cheng in the March 1, 2011 Wall Street Journal. The rhyme is similar to the famous Wall Street adage, "Sell…
“Trade what you see, not what you think”
"Trade what you see, not what you think/believe" has been cited in print since at least 1999 and has been credited to trading educator Joe Ross. The adage means to trade on what the…
“Traders drive Chevrolets, investors drive Cadillacs”
"Traders drive Chevrolets, investors drive Cadillacs" means that frequent trading results in a Chevrolet (a common car, or an average reward), but that long-term investing results in a…
“Traders would cut your heart out for an eighth of a point” (Wall Street saying)
Stocks traded in eighths of a point until the 2000s, when stock exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange and American Stock Exchange switched to decimal pricing. A Wall Street saying was that…