Tough Guys

Robert Conrad was a famous tough guy.

He had boatloads of swagger...and was distinctly American.  He was also entertaining...and reputedly still gets tons of fan-mail, mostly from devotees of The Wild Wild West. 

That’s Hollywood.

Wall Street, too, attracts a lot of tough guys…

and a fair number of gunslingers.

And apparently you don’t need no stinkin’ badges to pitch stocks on television to Main Street…

LENNY DYKSTRA: Yes. I am a good investor. And I’m not afraid to say that. I’m a winning investor. Fox News Channel

At least you can’t accuse Lenny of style drift...

Billy (Beane) remembers sitting with Lenny in a Mets dugout watching the opposing pitcher warm up. Lenny says “So who is that big dumb ass out there on the hill?” And I say, “Lenny, you’re kidding me, right? That’s Steve Carlton. He’s maybe the greatest left-hander in the history of the game. Lenny says, “Oh, yeah I knew that!” He sits there for a minute for a minute and says, “So, what’s he got?” And I say, “Lenny, come on. Steve Carlton. He’s got heat and also maybe the nastiest slider ever.” And Lenny sits there for a while longer as if he’s taking that in. Finally he just says, “Shit, I’ll stick him” Moneyball

Indeed, the ex-baseball player made quite a splash in the financial media this year.

On the afternoon of Nov. 6, 2006, Lenny Dykstra tips the bellman at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City a double sawbuck for a bottle of water. He tips the doorman a double sawbuck for opening the door to his limo.

The 43-year-old retired baseball player tips the limo driver a C-note for taking him three blocks to Ram Capital Resources, where he’ll be trading some options. Fortune

Lenny has proved to be entertaining in his short Wall Street career. He certainly has fire in the belly...the competitive juices flow freely in athletes.

But Wall Street is a different game.

And if you pitch stocks on television someone might hold you accountable.

Lenny piqued our interest a few months ago with this statement:

Dykstra says more than 90 percent of his stock picks are money-makers. And if you don’t believe it, he says with that familiar edge, “go ahead, dude, look it up.” North Jersey.com

So we set up a friendly wager with Lenny.  An internet challenge if you will.  Not completely fair to Lenny, circumstances change. But we tracked five stocks he mentioned on a Saturday morning televison show last October...came up with five of our own...and it was game on through the end of the year.

Lenny was no tough guy. His picks trailed the indices and we spanked him by over 1300 basis points.

Don’t worry. We are not that impressed with ourselves. And Lenny could buy and sell us several times over. We are just a humble family business.

But maybe we made our point.

Lenny probably did not master baseball in a year or two. Mastering Wall Street might take longer than he thinks.

But there are similarities between the two games.

Welcome to Wall Street, Nails.

No positions in any securities mentioned. The content contained in this blog represents the opinions of underthecounter. This commentary in no way constitutes a solicitation of business or investment advice. It is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author.

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