While tragic, it is even sadder that you miss the point of life also. It is not about how much money that you have, it's about the enjoyment that you bring and get from others. It's about the ups and downs and sailing and muddling through them to grow from the experiences. The fact that she believed that she had nothing left to live for is HER CHOICE of answering the call. That being the case I can only assume that she never earned her millionaire status. You see to get there one usually has more downs than ups. And many who have done that can share many tragic stories of occurrences that would make most stop and go another way. Perseverance is a necessary quality even amongst the well-to-do. The $200k remainder of her inheritance could have been better spent finding happiness rather than paying for the funeral. Seems as though she was truly surrounded by incompetence at many levels of her existence. From associates through business partners and with your description, I'd wager that most of her friends would have been consistent with the model. Now I would not go as far as blaming her friends for her death, I will not excuse her from her own tragic decision. But those closest to her should be asking the questions of, "Am I approachable by those close to me when they feel they need to shout? And am I listening with my heart?" But even then, she would have to make the first move (sounds as though she did when she told your friend of her thoughts). I am sorry, but this IS/WAS her poor decision!
Don't blame it on the PDT rule. But it demonstrates that small account size and number of daytrades are not meaningful parameters to limiting the serious risks present in the market. I'm guessing from the sketchy information about why she took such a desperate measure, that she had gone deeply into debt, so that the $200,000 she had left was not enough to pay it off. Maybe she thought disguising her own suicide would allow her father to be supported by her life insurance, rather than have him starve if she declared bankruptcy. Or maybe he had always told her she was worthless and would end up in ruin, and she preferred to disguise her suicide rather than let him gloat over her failure. Without knowing whether her intention was to limit her father's pain, or to limit her pain from him, I'd rather not comment further.
>>The fact that she believed that she had nothing left to live for is HER CHOICE of answering the call. << Gee, many of you guys are very sympathetic and understanding. You are all so selfrighteous, always acting in rational manner. I don't think. If you want to know what I am talking about just ask yourself whether it was YOUR choice when you kept holding that losing trade and let it run against you so much that it all but wiped you out. Whatever beliefs we have gathered throughout our life is what really governs how we act. Rational decisions are few and far between. As long as we are so self deluded as to believe that we are different from those misguided fools we are in exactly the same boat. Only once one becomes REALLY aware what unfortunate situation we are in, in not being able to make rational decisions, only then is there perhaps a chance of being able to learn to act from a common sense point of view. Jack
Of course it's OUR choice. I've been hearing this boo-hoo for more than two years now from people who think they ought to get their money back just because they were too lazy or too stupid to perform even the most superficial investigation. Anyone who understands the risks involved in the market is in no position to complain when they lose. Anyone who loses without even being aware of the risks has even less right to complain. --Db
We make decisions based on what we think is best. Sometime's what we think is best is wrong. People who commit suicide are, in essence, taking the easy way out or aborting life prematurely. Nobody ever said life is fair. I learned the hard way when my father had his first heart attack, when my girlfriend for 2 years cheated on me, when I got screwed over for trying to be an "ethically aware" person. Then I had a best friend from high school get cancer and then I realized the people of my generation, as young as they are, are vulnerable to death. So when I hear someone bitch and moan about their life and how unfair it is, I can relate to the pain but I can't relate to pressing the "reset" button. You live your life with the cards you were dealt. You do the best you can with the hand you hold. You don't fold until it is time to fold. That is life -- that's why you're alive. You're hear to learn something. If you fuck up, you learn from it and you learn not to get screwed the same way again. I've fucked up too many times to count, but that's why I'm a lot more resilient today than I was before I made all those mistakes. The market doesn't give a shit what you do -- if you make a mistake, don't blame the market -- blame yourself. The biggest problem in today's society is people looking to offset responsibility onto someone else. You are you, and it isn't anyone's fault but your own when you fuck up. So learn from it, move on, and be a better person tomorrow than you are today. There are people who are young and about to die who would give anything to live just a little longer. So when someone throws away their life, how am I supposed to sympathize with that? If you have a problem, go see a therapist or doctor -- but don't offset all your problems -- DEAL WITH THE SITUATION.
DB, it looks as if you are missing the point I was trying to make i.e. the inability of people to make rational decisions because of habits, fears, desires, greed etc. installed in us by either other people or circumstances beyond our control. Jack
Yes. Ever hear of soilders crying for their mommies in the battlefield when their guts are hanging out? nitro
I understand your point. I disagree with it. The refusal to assume responsibility for one's own behavior and the consequences of it - including decisions - is the disease of the age. Read qdz' posts. He's an outstanding example of the victim mentality. --Db
Life is pretty cheap in places where there's very little if any material wealth at all. Do those who value power above life deserve to die? How 'bout death for those who don't follow a particular religion? --Db