礼节美语 Business Etiquette 174 Investing (1)

　　Frank: Jerry! My financial counselor¹! Good to see you... as always.
Jerry: Hey Frank, nice to see you, too. How's your stock portfolio² these days?
F: Not that bad. I bought into a hedge fund and it helped minimize my losses.
J: Wise! You seem to beat the market at its own game pretty often. What's your secret?
F: I don't really have a secret. I just read a lot and pay attention to trends.
投资顾问Jerry问Frank投资的股票赚不赚钱，How's your stock portfolio? portfolio is spelled p-o-r-t-f-o-l-i-o, portfolio，是投资组合的意思。Frank说他买 hedge fund，对冲基金，减少了不少损失。Jerry说Frank投资总能赚钱，beat the market at its own game. 这里所说的to beat someone at his own game，意思是以其人之道还治其人之身，在这里意思就是利用市场规则，成为市场投资的赢家。
J: Well, I commend your business sense. You seem to be staying ahead of the curve.
F: You win some and you lose some, that's business. So, I hear you have a sales pitch for me.
J: Well, actually...it's not really a sales pitch...I have a vision I want to share with you! This idea could turn your company into a leader in the industry!
Jerry对Frank的商业头脑business sense，表示赞赏，说Frank 总是stay ahead of the curve, 走在别人前面，stay ahead of the curve，意思是比别人更有远见，更能预见未来走向。Frank则说，You win some and you lose some, that's business，做生意就是有赚有赔。you win some and you lose some，是很常用的一句话，意思是有输有赢，正常现象。Frank问Jerry想向自己推销什么。 A sales pitch，是推销的意思。Jerry说有个投资想法，能让Frank的公司成为行业领军人, turn your company into a leader in the industry。Jerry的想法是什么呢？
F: Ok...you've got me interested. Let's hear the idea.
J: You know that old expression: strike while the iron is hot?
F: Uh huh.
J: Well, it comes from blacksmiths. They would get the iron really hot so they could shape it. But, if the iron cooled
down, the blacksmith couldn't beat it into the shape he needed.
F: Ah...I never thought about where that expression came from...Makes sense: you've got to strike while the iron is hot.
Jerry问Frank听没听说过 strike while the iron is hot，趁热打铁这句话。这句话是从打铁来的，铁匠打铁，一定要趁热，等铁冷却下来，就不行了。可这跟Jerry的投资想法有什么关系呢？我们下次继续听。

1 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

2 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。