Investing Memes

The mathematical tragedy unfolding here is painfully real. When something decreases by 10% and then increases by 10%, you're actually taking 10% of different values. If $100 drops by 10%, you get $90. Then increasing that $90 by 10% gives you $99, not $100. The missing dollar slipped into the void where mathematicians store their social skills. This is why stock market investors develop eye twitches. Your portfolio isn't "back to normal" after a 10% drop followed by a 10% gain—you're still filling out paperwork for that missing 1%. The mathematical asymmetry of percentages: destroying financial expectations since humans invented counting.