An old Wall Street saying has it that when everybody’s getting into the market and even the shoeshine boy is giving stock tips (or the barber/hairdresser or the taxi driver or the waiter or the bartender), then it’s time to sell. Supposedly, Joseph P. Kennedy (1888-1969) knew that it was time to get out of the market in 1929 when his shoeshine boy began giving him stock tips. The shoeshine boy, presumably not knowing who Rockefeller was, started giving him stock tips.

Joseph P Kennedy is quoted as saying that he knew in 1929 that Wall Street was overly optimistic and a crash was on its way when he started to get stock tips from his shoeshine boy. The shoeshine boy could give you a summary of the day's financial news as he worked with rag and polish. Along with the paperboys, the shoeshine boys have been replaced by grownups who have moved the business indoors. Melanie tracked down a group of them who work the stirrups in a shoe repair shop. Rockefeller took his shoeshine boy’s advice, but not in the way you would expect. By Pater Tenebrarum Anecdotal Flags are Waved If a shoeshine boy can predict where this market is going to go, then it's no place for a man with a lot of money Finding a shoeshine boy on a corner proved impossible. Pinning hopes for a double on Apple TV, a product that has not yet been introduced is at best highly speculative. An old beggar who regularly patrolled the street in front of my office now gave me tips … As the tale goes, Joseph Kennedy decided to get out of stocks when he started getting stock tips from a shoeshine boy. They had no stock tips.

He decided that if a shoeshine boy, making a penny a shine, was giving stock tips, it was time to get out of the market.