I was just kidding my man. I don't know why everyone here gives you so much crap. You did a hell of a thing in the past. Now you got a little fame and the mighty Market has taught you a humbling lesson. If I were you I'd go back and find your edge again. Do it quietly, and if you succeed audit the results and you'll be back in business. Good luck with that book. How about a signed copy to put on my trading desk. Keep your chin up kid. Rennick out ps. The CNBC appearance with the Babes was priceless.
Publicly traded companies file 4 quarterly reports and an annual report with all their stats as required by law. Any publication can talk about a publicly listed stock and many analysts publish their infor. For small-cap stocks you are in an even better situation. Most small-cap fund managers call up management to meet with them and get to hear it straight from the top guys, something large cap stock managers have no time for. Not even insider info, just dicussion of their management plans and growth strategies. Listed firms are required to have transparency, most pink sheets and penny stocks do not have the same levels of transparency because of their small size naturally. I agree it would be nice to get quarterlies from penny stocks with detail but many listed penny stocks do provide a lot of info. But that is the nature of the risk and people blindly speculating do not need to have their stupidity bailed out, they need to do their due diligence like many small-cap fund managers try to do or simply avoid the risks. How in the world are we all to know what each person trading it knows. When a hedge fund goes long RIMM or CSCO do we get a letter in the mail outlining what info they are basing that on? We all have different levels of access to information and that is the nature of the game. It is not prudent to make sure newbie or uninformed investors master penny stock trading. Caveat Emptor. Again I commend you on your book and I am sure it is a great read anecdotally on the many trades and ups an down but you keep acting like you are trying to shine a spotlight on things which are already quite out in the open. You are not exposing anything that is not already know by those in the industry and those who are completely ignorant of it are the exact types of people who should not be in penny stocks. There already is a lot of transparency in listed stocks and the hedge fund industry and as I shown before, a long list of books on hedge funds, how they operate and the strategies they trade. I have met many penny stock investors but never met a rich one outside of the tech boom.
Wait one minute! Are you saying that that there is more transparency in childrens sports that are played by adults than there is in an entire industry where people risk their life savings trying to make enough money so they won't have to eat dog food in their twilight years? A country where more people praise, respect, and try to role-model michael Jordan than Mother Theresa? That can't be America. We are much smarter than that.
Why are you satisfied with 4 quarterly reports and phone calls where management will always BS you? Baseball games are broadcast to millions nightly, every single stat imaginable is analyzed a million times over, people have favorite players and teams, and kids grow up wanting to be these people. Think about the possibilities if we apply some or even all of those qualities to the stock market and hedge funds. Who cares if they publish some sugarcoated lawyered down book about their strategies--I want to know much more, particularly on a personal level. I also want to know individual trade screw ups so I can know what to avoid. No, nobody but me publishes all their greatest success and failures and that's sad.
Are you saying that companies should report financial data more often than quarterly? And comparing investing to baseball shows where your mindset is. You run a $100 million dollar company and try to report financial data weekly or monthly. It is useless to see weekly fluctuations and quarterly is a good frequency to get a sense of the business. You are just waving your hands screaming give me data daily or monthly and you have to realize whether it is practical or feasible. Do you know the cost and time to produce reliable weekly or monthly data? This is the first I have heard that you want companies to report more frequently than quarterly. And I don't remember a catalyst of your failure was not having enough financial date. I never remember you looking at anything but a chart and the news anyway. None of the books I am referring to are lawyered down books about strategies. Please stop making GENERAL statements. Did you even look at the list I produced of over 10 hedge fund books, some of which are quantitivate discussions of strategies. You tell people here to not say anything without reading your book first and you are doing the same thing. You never read any of the books I put on the list which describe different trading strategies. I bet I can find a number of people who can step in here right now and describe merger-arbitrage, long-short strategies, natural gas calendar spreads, etc... If you want to know much more than go out there and look for the information, it is out there. I not only disagree with your assertion that hedge funds do not talk about their strategies or that the practices are shielded from the public I have proven that you can find this information on the web or in books. Hedge funds did not INVENT new trading strategies, they merely employ them with more flexibility and leverage. As always congrats on the book, but you need to realize something when considering how you are marketing yourself. Yours is a story about you but not based on an original premise. It is worthwhile given your intersting story, but it is far from an expose because you were never in the Hedge Fund industry as you admitted this was mostly your money. When Genius Failed gave unique insight into a truly original gathering of minds and strategies and details the hubris that led to their fall. So I hope your book does really well but it does not look good when you are calling for certain things that already exists. It makes it look like YOU missed the boat and explains some of the failings. So the books should be changed to include how little prepared you were to take on this kind of investing role without first doing your homework or due diligence. EDIT: Honestly I am not looking for an argument and I repeatedly say I wish you success in the book because people like reading stories of trades so it should do well. I am just focusing on the point that a lot of info you decry as not being available is out there.
Sorry I don't even remember what books were on your list, too many messages! Do you have it handy? The point I'm trying to make is that there hasn't been any detailed personal stories out there from people in finance, such as on this day I made $x because....and on this day I lost $x because.... I go into all of that because I think people need to be able to relate the person with their specific investments and strategies. I relate everything to baseball because it has a massive worldwide audience whereas hedge funds, traders, and financial speculators do not. I want to open this game to the general public because even though many will fail, some will succeed, and it is that possibility of success that people need to be made aware of and industry insiders and reporters need to understand this. In time, with enough transparency and learning, who knows how much money will be saved
I think people want to see set ups and methods and some examples, but not want to read every single trade ever day since it just gets repetitive. Hedge funds are not a form of entertainment that is available to all regardless of wealth and financial savvy. Hedge Funds should not be broadcasted everynight like baseball and you are being financially negligent by trying to make hedge funds available and accessible for the average person, they are kept out for obvious reasons. Here is the list of books whihc give a lot of detailed information on hedge funds and trading strategies, and I could nto include all of them: Hedge Fund for Dummies by Ann C. Logue The Fundamentals of Hedge Fund Management by Strachman All About Hedge Funds by Jaeger Investment Strategies of Hedge Funds by Stefanini Handbook of Hedge Funds by Lhabitant Understanding Hedge Funds by Frush How to Create and Manage a Hedge Fund by McCrary U.S. Regulations of Hedge Funds by Friese Investing in Hedge Funds by Nicholas Hedge Fund of Funds Investing by Nicholas Hedge Funds:Investment and Portfolio Strategies by Lederman The Hedge Fund Edge by Boucher Market-Neutral Investing: Long/Short hedge Fund Strategies by Nicholas Evaluating and Implementing Hedge fund Strategies by Lake Trade Like a Hedge Fund by Altucher
Good list, I've read most of them and been bored to tears by more than just a few. I disagree 1000% that hedge funds are not entertainment and should not accessible to the average? I'm not saying average people should risk all their capital in hedge funds, but it's kinda sad that people are free to invest in their own small businesses, bars, restaurants and movies, all of which have MUCH higher chances of 100% loss on investment. What is it 7 out of 10 startups fail within the first 6 months, 7 out of 10 movies lose money, how many hedge funds really blow up? Again, nod etailed information is available, but my guess is it's around 1 or 2 out of 10, wheras right now people believe it to be 8 out of 10 because thats all they hear about (per industry regulations where managers can't talk to the press I can only talk about personal experience, but you don't use leverage, how risky are Penny Stocks? For all my screw ups, I'm only a third off my highs, highs which never would've been reached for 50 years if I was a value or growth investor. I know more than a few people who have $2-$7k accounts that they'd rather risk losing 50% or more on the chance that they could make $20-$50k. But they just need to be taught how because speculative strategies without detailed personal information (like my book and DVD) are dangerous.
Ok you are set in your ways so no need to belabor the point I have made. People are free to invest in their own business is not the same as people putting money into as hedge fund and most people are aware of the differences. You are makng a big assumption that your book and DVD reduce the speculation and risk in investing in Penny Stocks. And you are also wrong that fund managers are handcuffed to talking, they are prevented from promoting or advertising because they wish to avoid SEC regulation. If they do not mind being regulated by the SEC they are more than welcome to advertise and promote themselves. Seriously, you have to learn the difference. A hedge fund manager does not need publicity except towards prospective clients. If you say you have a hegde fund then you should know all too well the benefits of NON-SEC regulation is so much better than whatever restrictions there are on advertising. Every hedge fund manager I spoke with all told me the same thing. Get a few good years of performance, put it in Barclays or other soucres where performance is tracked and you can use that to find the right clients. It is not easy but it should not be easy. But very possible. EDIT: Again sorry if it seems argumentative, best of luck.