I think a more accurate assessment would be: Imagine your friend gave you $5,000 for lunch, but agreed that he'd take your Apple Newton in exchange for $4,500,

I think a more accurate assessment would be: Imagine your friend gave you $5,000 for lunch, but agreed that he'd take your Apple Newton in exchange for $4,500, in the hopes that some day people would like to buy small parts of the Newton for pennies, even though at the time of purchase the Newton looked downright toxic and hadn't looked attractive in years. Lunch comes to $4,400 so you give him $600 back and immediately spend some of the $4,500 making a commercial talking about how fiscally responsible you are, and in response he issues a press release stating that you have paid him back early, with interest. Meanwhile, the vast majority of people in the world somehow manage to commend both of you for your sound fiscal practices. A small minority of people will say "wait, hang on, HE PAID $5,000 FOR A FUCKING APPLE NEWTON?" They will be ridiculed on message boards. And I didn't bother shoehorning it in, but it's more than a fine point that it's not even your $5k to start with.