I've thought the very same thing many times. I'm constantly amazed at the socialist rhetoric coming from people who consider themselves traders.
daytraders are essentially skimming money from large corporations, not pumping prices like idiot investors... why the surprise that same group of people has a robin hood mentality?
The big corporations/hedge funds/etc are the ones who move the market, if you're trying to take money from them you are most likely getting run over. The robin hood analogy DOES NOT apply.
"In 1931, the Pecora Commission was established to study the causes of the stock market crash. Based in part on the Commission's findings, the United States Congress, Richard Whitney (president of the New York Stock Exchange 1930-1935) was the first to be called to testify and he and his powerful colleagues in the Wall Street financial community resisted any suggestion for new regulatory changes. In his testimony before the Commission, Whitney declared that 'The Exchange's refusal to pay heed to popular demand for reform was simply a manifestation of courage to do those things which are right, regardless of how unpopular they may be for the time being.' However, the Pecora Commission uncovered a wide range of abusive practices on the part of banks and bank affiliates and initiated a major process for reform of the American financial system that saw the U.S. Congress pass the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as well as the 1935 formation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a mechanism to enforce the provisions of the new Acts." -source Mr. Whitney went to prison for embezzlement. Some "manifestation of courage" he's got there. Ken Lay should use that as a defense in court. I wonder why I don't see the German drug giant Bayer release a drug that knows it's side effects can kill (Merck's Vioxx) and not warn anyone. And Enron wasn't manipulating the energy market by creating fictitious shortages to drive up energy costs because capitalists say that could never happen. And of course for traders, Regulation FD. Think there are more lawsuits/legal actions in a capitalist society or a socialist society? Seems like capitalism is an incubator of fraud.
States are immune from lawsuits. Otherwise the entire US house and Senate would be sued for stealing the social security funds after having "fixed" the under funding problem by raising the tax rate in the rearly '80's I would guess that would make a financial scandal many times greater than Enron, Worldcom, & Refco put together.
--------------------------------------------- Quote from Hydroblunt: The system is not sick, it is simply human nature and there are no ideals & morals in true capitalism ------------------------------------------------- In my opinion, this is Capitalism's greatest strength. Even when business owners are greedy and desire purely to make more money for themselves, they end up helping society, whether they realize it or not. -Taric --------------------------------------------- Taric, I totally agree with all your posts. This one is the best. I think that Bill Gates is a great example here.
The robin hood analogy does apply to successful daytraders who profit from the movement generated by big corporations/hedge funds/etc. We are ready in the wait when they want to buy and when they want to sell. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote from bellman: daytraders are essentially skimming money from large corporations, not pumping prices like idiot investors... why the surprise that same group of people has a robin hood mentality? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you profit from the movement then your on the same side of the market. If your bidding for a 10-lot and a hedge fund comes in and wipes the book with an market offer of 5000 contracts you are underwater after trading with them. If you were short before the order, then they helped you make money. A better trading analogy is that of the warriors arena where only the best are left standing at the end of the day.
In truth, Capitalism is an invention of Socialism. Prior to the French revolution, nobody ever thought about Capitalism. Things started to turn sour and blood started to flow like never before in Europe, from that time on. In fact this societal illness has completely ruined Europe, now only waiting to undergo its historical destiny. The aim of the socialist slave masters is to attract and reign over hordes of what Lenin called "useful idiots" promising these wretched souls heaven on earth. The socialists continuously preach envy to the masses by making them believe that human misery is due to the exploitation by capitalists. George Orwell, a well pedigreed socialist, in fact a Trotskyite, gives an breathtaking description of the socialist folly and the dumb credulous masses fooled by it in his last and immortal work: "Animal Farm".
The aim of the socialist slave masters is to attract and reign over hordes of what Lenin called "useful idiots" promising these wretched souls heaven on earth. Masses were called proletariat. The term "useful idiots" was coined for members of Western academia subscribing to socialist crap. Hollywood is full of useful idiots, for example. They were useful idiots because, basically, they were free propaganda in the West.