Guest Author - Guido Deboeck

With only two weeks before Easter there is an increasing demand for hand painted eggs and especially Pysanky eggs on EBAY as well as in many web stores like e-maginativeGifts . Colorful painted eggs assembled in woven baskets or hanging from branches in a vase (as shown in the images on this page) create wonderful decorations and provide a special atmosphere in the house for starting the Easter holidays.
The Pysanka is a decorated egg, which symbolizes nature's rebirth in the spring, common among all Slavic people. The Pysanky (plural for Pysanka) became a part of the Easter traditions of various nations, including the Ukraine. Here, it underwent the greatest growth and richest ornamentation.

The word ``Pysanky" comes from the Ukrainian verb “pysaty" which means ``to write". The designs are written or drawn on the egg with melted beeswax, which flows from a writing instrument known as a kystka. The writing is done on successively different colored backgrounds. These backgrounds are obtained by dipping the egg in a series of dye-baths, progressing from the lightest to the darkest color. The pattern is revealed when the wax layers are removed. A decorated Ukrainian egg tells a story that can be interpreted by reading the icons and understanding the significance of both the designs and the color.

Pysanky are made in different regions in the Ukraine (Western, Northern, Central, Eastern and Southern Ukraine) with each region having its distinctive characteristics for writing the eggs. No two eggs are exactly alike. The symbolic Pysanky art has been handed down for centuries from mother to daughter as a conscious culture heritage.

There are many lessons on investing in this story about Pysanky eggs. First, no two companies listed on the markets are the same. Each market, each sector, and every part of the country (as well as many countries abroad), have wonderful companies that like Pysanky eggs are treasures to own. These treasures are not always easy to find, but through practice they can be found.

Like the art of writing Pysanky eggs, the art of picking the best companies has been handed down from generation to generation. Few are aware of that. Way back in the 1920’s there was Jesse Livermore, the world’s greatest stock trader. Many of his techniques described in the book The Amazing Life of Jesse Livermore by Richard Smitten (Traders Press, Greenville SC, 1999) were years later adopted by William O’Neil, the founder of Investors Business Daily.

To assemble a portfolio of a few wonderful companies is like collecting and keeping Pysanky eggs in a basket. Popular belief suggests not to put all your eggs in the same basket because the greater the diversification the less the risk. Contrary to popular belief however a portfolio of fewer stocks e.g. five to seven, leveraged higher through accumulation of shares over time, often produces better returns without increased risk...
For example, shares of Apple bought on July 14 at $41.5 per share and held till mid January 2006 (when the Apple dropped below its 10 day moving average) returned close to 90%. Similarly Google bought on October 19, 2005 at $307 and sold January 18th at $437 produced 42% return. These are not fictitious examples. They are the result of searching for the greatest companies, just like hunting for the most wonderful Pysanky eggs.