The Bull

© shoutingforha

The hubby has been a fairly regular visitor to New York over the years. You could say that he has developed sort of ritual... hotels that he frequents, restaurants that he adores and things that he enjoys doing each time he is in town.One of those rituals is a visit to the financial district to see the Charging Bull. Time allowing, the hubby walks up and gives the bull a good smack on it's gigantic testicles, for good luck.

Not that he actually believes in that sort-of thing.

© shoutingforha

As the time for our trip drew near, the hubby began to talk to the boy about all of the exciting things we were going to do, one of which was visiting the bull. The boy was far from thrilled until he heard what the hubby had in mind.

Being granted permission to whack something in the crotch... What eight-year-old boy wouldn't be thrilled at the possibility?

To the hubby's delight, the boy gave the crown jewels an enthusiastic smack. Like father, like son.

© shoutingforha

After molesting the Bull, we headed down the block to the New York Stock Exchange. The boy, although happy to see the NYSE first hand, was a little disappointed. "That's great Dad, but where's the NASDAQ?" he asked.

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Not wanting to disappoint, the hubby pointed out the location of the NASDAQ when we were in Times Square. As the boy peered through the windows, he immediately recognized the MarketSite studio.

I blame it on too many hours spent watching the ticker symbols scroll by on CNBC.

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As a little side note, the boy is fascinated by the stock market. Since trading stocks is near and dear to the hubby's heart, he decided to set up a paper account so that the boy could practice making trades without the risk of losing any money.

The boy made two purchases in his account, Apple and Crocs, based purely on his love for their products. To date, the boy has made a respectable 16% on his investment in Apple. Crocs, however, is a different story. The child up a staggering 112% on his investment.

It makes me wish that we had let him trade with real money.

Check back this afternoon to hear more of our exciting day in Lower Manhattan.