Personally I care about the tape and controling downside only. I don't understand why this should bother me!
I could be wrong, but from what I've read not too many of you folks understand the game. No one is out to fleece you, you have just made bad decisions. You are not "investors" - you are speculators. And if you are getting burned, it is because you are not listening to what the market is telling you. Your bellyaching is pitiful, and embarrassing.
tampa, Please, elaborate and expand upon: 1) How we have misunderstood the "game." 2) Where is your evidence that no on is out to fleece us, and what decisions, from any of these posts, would lead you to believe that we made bad decisions. 3) Please give us your definition of a speculator and investor so that we can make sure that we are on the same wavelength. 4) What, from the above posts, would cause you to believe that we have not heard what the market is telling us. We may be pitiful, but why would you be embarrased nitro
"Pitiful and embarrassing"? Rather arrogant to insult people because they argue for fairness and equity in the accounting system. Can you please enlighten us plebeians on why an expectation that auditors, CEOs, and brokerage houses follow the law is "pitiful"? And I apologize on behalf of all the unwitting pensioners suckered by Enron executives for having embarrassed you.
funny when I hear that accounting in US is the best in the world. repeating something over and over again, does not make it true (no it doesn't!). when no one really checks and punish, yes, scandals will come and go, as they always do. the markets are a pyramid scheme of course. always has been, always will be. that's why it has cycles (an auction system where you keep selling back what you bought has to be a pyramid scheme otherwise it is not sustainable. well, the pyramid is not sustainable either). my comments are not meant to be negative. It is just the way it is. the dishonest thing is to advertise everywhere the markets are fair and good for the masses and so on. Indeed there are no 'they'. Everyone helps in this scheme. Eventually, as per cycle, the majority suffers greatly, then it starts up again (eventually) and the mass benefits again for a while. I should stop right there, it does sound so negative. the markets are just the way they are. If you want to make money there, you'd better look at reality not the fantasy of the markets. tntneo
tampa, Speculator or not, I agree with Campaque that if we have any minimal decency as citizens of a free market economy, we cannot but be enraged by what's going on with Enron and the like. Not everyone has the same timeframe. Some invest for the longer term; others go for short-term. Perhaps some of us who trade short-term also have money in funds. You can't ask everybody to be scalpers or daytraders. (Nor can you ever ask everybody to be long-term investors exclusively.) Besides, NEVER forget that much of the success of short-term individual traders like you depends upon the big funds' lack of ability to move large sums of money quickly in and out. stockopt.
tampa, Speculator or not, I agree with Campaque that if we have any minimal decency as citizens of a free market economy, we cannot but be enraged by what's going on with Enron and the like. Not everyone has the same timeframe. Some invest for the longer term; others go for short-term. Perhaps some of us who trade short-term also have money in funds. You can't ask everybody to be scalpers or daytraders. (Nor can you ever ask everybody to be long-term investors exclusively.) Besides, NEVER forget that much of the success of short-term individual traders like you depends upon the big funds' lack of ability to move large sums of money quickly in and out. stockopt.
Please, Note that this is not _ONLY_ an Enron thing - it is just the tip of the iceberg! Please, read the link that prompted me to initiate this post! http://www.smartstockinvestor.com/commentary.html nitro
My two cents on Financial Auditors (like Arthur Andersen) are they're a bunch of sheep following management's whims for the most part. Who pays their $25 million auditing and consulting bill each year? What do you need to do to keep this $25 million account? How often is there any repercussion for misleading the public to please management (like bankruptcy of a fortune 500 company)? Not very often! Its all a game of risks and keeping clients. Sure they audit according to GAAP, but just like in tax law there are gray areas everywhere, and the materiality of an issue can be subjective. Remember ZZZBest, and their financial audit? They didn't even exist but were audited 15 years ago or so and traded on the exchange, until it was discovered it was all a scam. After that incident they required auditors to "Visually Inspect" assets they were claiming existed on the balance sheet (neat concept!). I wouldn't put a lot of faith in those financial's you read, especially in regards to sales and year-end cutoffs. Many companies cram future sales into prior quarters to keep things rolling, but in the downturns this all comes to light. Another good reason to stick to charts and the Tape and avoid fundamentals IMO.