buy straw hats in winter
Of stocks, to buy when both demand and price are low, so as to sell when demand and price are high.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Smart investors buy straw hats in winter.”
“He always buys straw hats in winter, then sells them for double the price in summer.”
“While others panicked and sold, she quietly bought straw hats in winter, trusting that patience would reward her when the market inevitably turned.”
- 01
all hat and no cattle
Full of big talk but lacking action, power, or substance; pretentious.
- 02
all hat and no cowboy
Full of big talk but lacking action, power, or substance; pretentious.
- 03
bang straw
A farmer's servant, especially a thresher.
- 04
been there, done that, bought the T-shirt
Expresses the speaker's complete familiarity with a situation, with overtones of cynicism or exhaustion.
- 05
black hat
A villain in a story, especially in a Western (a film or other work of the Western genre).
- 06
brick in one's hat
Drunkenness.
- 07
buy a dog and bark oneself
To do something that one has hired someone else to do.
- 08
buy a ticket to
Used to indicate that someone is in agreement with an assertion, statement, or suggestion.
Last updated August 10, 2026