$PIPPIN

Cresus, the king of Lydia, was famous for his immense wealth and was confident that gold made him invincible. Before the war with the Persian king Cyrus, he decided to seek advice from the gods and sent envoys to the Delphic oracle. Pythia replied mysteriously: "If Cresus crosses the Halys River, he will ruin a great kingdom." Hearing this, Cresus was overjoyed: he was sure that it referred to Cyrus's kingdom.

Inspired by the prophecy and his treasury, Cresus began the war. But fate proved ironic. The Persian army crushed the Lydians, the capital Sardis fell, and Cresus himself was taken captive. Only then did he understand the meaning of Pythia's words: it was not Cyrus's kingdom that was destroyed, but his own.

According to legend, Cyrus spared Cresus, and the former king, having experienced the downfall, acknowledged: the oracle did not lie — he lied to himself, hearing in the prophecy only what he wanted to hear.

The moral about the market: the market, like the Delphic oracle, rarely lies, but often speaks ambiguously. Those who hear only confirmation of their confidence in forecasts risk one day realizing that the "great kingdom" is their own portfolio.