Wall Street has a way of turning farm metaphors into brutal life lessons. You’ve probably heard it in a smoky bar or a high-rise boardroom. "Bulls make money, bears make money, pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered." It’s a mouthful. It’s also the single most important piece of advice for anyone trying to survive a bull market without losing their shirt.
Greed is weird. It starts as ambition—that's the "pig" phase. You’re eating. You’re growing. You’re hitting your targets. But then something shifts. The line between "enough" and "more" gets blurry. That’s when you become the hog. And in the world of finance, hogs are just walking bacon waiting for the knife.
Where the Hell Did This Phrase Even Come From?
Most people think it’s just a clever line from the 1987 movie Wall Street, but the sentiment is way older than Gordon Gekko. While the exact origin is murky, it’s been a staple of floor traders in Chicago and New York for decades. It’s basically a warning about over-leveraging.
Think about a pig. A pig is efficient. It eats what it needs, grows steadily, and stays mobile. A hog? A hog stays at the trough too long. It gets so heavy it can’t run when the farmer shows up with the blade. In trading terms, the "farmer" is a market correction.
The 1920s Lesson
Jesse Livermore, one of the most famous (and tragic) traders in history, lived this. During the 1929 crash, he made roughly $100 million shorting the market. He was the ultimate pig. But he didn't know when to stop. He kept pushing, kept over-leveraging, and eventually, he lost it all. He died by suicide in 1940, broke. He became the hog.
👉 See also: Why Saying Sorry We Are Closed on Friday is Actually Good for Your Business
Why Pigs Get Fat Hogs Get Slaughtered Matters Right Now
We live in an era of "number go up" culture. From crypto degens to Robinhood traders, the temptation to "let it ride" is everywhere. Social media makes it worse. You see someone post a 1000% gain on a meme coin and suddenly your 10% gain in a boring index fund feels like a failure.
That feeling? That’s the beginning of the hog phase.
The Psychology of "One More Day"
It’s called the Disposition Effect. Basically, humans hate realizing a loss but get addicted to the dopamine of an unrealized gain. You’re up $50,000. You could sell. But you think, "If it goes to $60,000, I can buy the Tesla instead of the Honda."
The market doesn't care about your Tesla.
✨ Don't miss: Why A Force of One Still Matters in 2026: The Truth About Solo Success
When the momentum shifts—and it always does—the people who "got fat" (took their 20% or 30% profit) are out at the beach. The "hogs" are staring at their screens watching their gains evaporate because they didn't have an exit strategy. They were waiting for the moon. Instead, they got the floor.
Real World Hogs: Cases You Should Know
It’s not just about individual traders. Giant corporations fall into this trap constantly. They get greedy, they over-expand, and they stop looking at the risks because the sun is shining too brightly.
- Bernie Madoff: The ultimate hog. He could have run a semi-legit, slightly shady fund and retired a billionaire. But he couldn't stop. He needed to maintain the illusion of perfect returns forever. The slaughter was inevitable.
- The 2008 Housing Crisis: Banks weren't satisfied with standard mortgages. They needed subprime. They needed synthetic CDOs. They stayed at the trough until the entire global economy collapsed.
- The Dot-Com Bubble: In 1999, companies with no revenue were trading at billion-dollar valuations. Investors who stayed in through March 2000 were the hogs. Those who sold in late '99? They got fat and stayed fat.
How to Tell if You’re Becoming a Hog
Honesty time. It's hard to see the hog in the mirror.
Are you checking your portfolio every ten minutes?
Are you using "house money" as an excuse to take massive risks?
Have you moved your "sell" target three times this week because the price keeps rising?
🔗 Read more: Who Bought TikTok After the Ban: What Really Happened
If you answered yes, you’re in the danger zone.
The Rule of Rebalancing
Smart investors like Ray Dalio or Warren Buffett don't play the "one more day" game. They rebalance. If their portfolio is supposed to be 60% stocks and 40% bonds, and the stocks go on a tear and become 80% of the value, they sell the stocks. They take the profit. They "get fat."
They don't wait for the absolute peak because they know the peak is only visible in the rearview mirror.
Risk Management: The Anti-Slaughter Mechanism
You need a system that removes your emotions. Hogs are emotional creatures. They feel "lucky." Markets don't recognize luck; they only recognize math and liquidity.
- Trailing Stop Losses: This is a pig’s best friend. If the price drops by 5% or 10%, you’re out automatically. You lock in the fat.
- The "Sleep Test": If you can't sleep because you're worried about a market move overnight, you're over-leveraged. You’re a hog. Trim the position until you can sleep. It's that simple.
- Fixed Profit Targets: Decide before you buy when you will sell. "I will sell half at a 20% gain." Stick to it. Don't renegotiate with yourself when the green candles start flashing.
Actionable Steps to Stay a Pig (and Keep Your Fat)
Don't wait for a market crash to learn this lesson. The slaughter is loud, messy, and expensive. Here is how you keep your gains without becoming a target.
- Define "Enough" Right Now. Grab a piece of paper. Write down the exact dollar amount or percentage gain that would make you happy for every position you hold. Once it hits that number, sell at least a portion. No excuses.
- Audit Your Leverage. If you are trading on margin, you are a hog by default. You are borrowing someone else's knife to cut your own throat. Reduce your leverage during periods of high volatility.
- Diversify Away from the "Hot" Sector. If all your money is in AI stocks or crypto or Florida real estate, you're standing in a very crowded pen. Move some of that "fat" into boring, unsexy assets like treasury bonds or value stocks.
- Embrace the FOMO. You will see others making more money than you because they stayed in longer. Let them. For every one person who hits the absolute top, a thousand people get slaughtered on the way down. Be okay with leaving the last 10% of a move for someone else.
Greed is a tool when used correctly, but it’s a trap when it takes over. Stay a pig. Grow your wealth. Eat well. But the moment you start feeling invincible, remember: the farmer is sharpening his knife.