Fortune Favors the Drunk… and the Bold

Andy Snyder|January 31, 2022

Some days, we just need a good story… and an even better drink.

We’re not sure Thomas Fitzpatrick would have been a good investor. But we’d bet he sure would have liked to take advantage of a time like this one.

If you’re a pilot (or maybe a drunk), you may have heard of the man. He’s a legend.

At the age of 15, Fitzpatrick left his home in New York City to go to war. He lied about his age so he could join the Marine Corps. The Marines liked him. They taught him how to fly spy planes.

But they forgot to teach him when not to fly a plane.

That’s what put him in jail.

You see, well after closing time on September 30, 1956, Fitzpatrick made a bit of a drunken bet with a fellow bar patron. Looking for a good time, he wagered he could get from New Jersey to New York City in less than 15 minutes.

With a money-doubling plan in mind, the 26-year-old snuck into Teterboro Airport and grabbed himself a plane.

Since it was too dark to land sensibly in a park, he put the thing down on the street… right in front of the Manhattan bar that had just served him the fuel to do such a thing.

The war vet won the bet… but was quickly arrested, though even the cops were envious of the feat. A sergeant from New York’s aviation squad said the odds of sticking a landing like that were 100,000-to-1.

They fined him $100 and let him go.

But this is where we begin to question whether Fitzpatrick would have been a good investor.

The daredevil did it again… two years later, after another bubbled-up bar patron wouldn’t believe the story. “Fitz,” as they called him, went back to the airport, stole a Cessna 120 and landed it right on the street.

Another wage won.

But this time, he didn’t stick around to collect his winnings. He ran from the scene.

It didn’t take long for the cops to find out who to look for. And, what a coincidence, Fitzpatrick just happened to be drunk and in the neighborhood.

He blamed the “lousy drink” as the judge tossed him in jail for half a year.

We tell the story this morning simply because it reminds us of something we told our subscribers during an important “emergency bear market meeting” last week.

p>We told them to act like they’ve been here before.

This isn’t the first time markets have dared us to be bold. And it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve taken a big dip and then – as we’ve said will happen – roared back.

The timid will never have much of a tale to write about. But the bold, oh my, these are the times when the bold get a round of applause from the surprised neighbors.

Fitzpatrick paid for his crime. But he died a good man with a heck of a tale. No regrets.

Today’s buyers, we’re convinced, won’t have to pay. They’ll be rewarded handsomely for doing something others would doubt.

And to help celebrate a pending victory… we’ve included the recipe for the “Late-Night Flight” – the drink named after Fitzpatrick’s feat – below.

Be bold. Act like you’ve been here before. And enjoy.