According to Eric Balchunas, he recalls spending a summer chasing an unverified kill-screen rumor after rescuing the princess nine times, only to find no outcome, illustrating the cost of acting on hearsay rather than facts (source: Eric Balchunas on X, Sep 13, 2025). For traders, this supports three concrete rules: verify catalysts before entries, avoid sunk-cost averaging into losing positions, and anchor risk decisions in data not rumors (source: analysis based on Eric Balchunas on X, Sep 13, 2025). These principles are especially critical in crypto where rumor-driven narratives can trigger false breakouts and liquidity traps in BTC and ETH (source: analysis based on Eric Balchunas on X, Sep 13, 2025).