Serious question: why are you here? Do you trade a "gambling" type structure (iron condor, etc.)? Do you day trade? If not, and if you think it's all a waste of time, why are you here?
Learn how to read a balance sheet and listen to a conference call... You SHOULD feel like a fool for recommending companies that are not financially sound. A simple accounting course will enable you to identify companies in financial stress.
do you think a millionaire investor would give you $475/share for google or $275/share for apple. the answer is NO! cause it's a rip off price okay. public companies are either worthless or overpriced...ripoffs. only dumb money would give you the asking price. retirement funds and pension funds. etc. they have too much money that they have to invest in equities. t-bills or REIT only and you won't get rich with 5% ROI okay..5% and pay 2% management fee is a joke to me or any seriouis investors which is a measely 3% b.s. return--it's joke return. i laugh at any business man making less than 5% ROC and when you buy these stocks you are not buying the shares you are buying more likely naked shares and the market makers keeps the money and never have to deliver the shares. do you think a 'broker' like goldman sachs made billions in profits in 'commissions' goldman sachs made billions in shorting stocks and shorting worthless CDO etc. market makers don't have to deliver stocks and can naked short any stock. and have no margins in shorting stocks. they have an advantage in shorting unlike retail traders who short. my negative suspicions about people are always correct. frontrunning, insider trading, running stops, market manipulation, naked shorting, HFT machines program to trade against clients etc. is goldman sachs etc is their dirty secrets. wall street is scam is the dirty secret.
Valid question Trefoil. I was trading in 99, with Schonfeld Securities....I traded with Mr Rearden Metal, who was a proto of the "RUSSIAN" who started BAM. I left Schonfeld in 2004 to join a Options Group, where I traded in Chicago and the Bahamas, freeport. I left that group to team up with the "RUSSIANS' number one options guy, who brokeway on his own. In 05 he decided to move to Hong Kong, I passed. I did make great money, overall...but decided to leave the world as I saw the writting on the wall. I now raise Millions for projects world wide...but got my start in the Private Equity world via Oil Drilling projects. I do trade my own money..but not day trade...position trade. How I trade is my own personal way...I do not "Write" books to explain. So there is my resume in a nutshell. ET has some serious members, of whom we all started on here in 99/2000. Good guys who do make a great living. So, I am on here. If your looking to make this your "Trading" grail...your mistaken. If your hear to possible network and meet some serious players on all levels...you may. The ball is in your court. You just gota find out who is real and whois full of shit.
businessstaxes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I agree with you on most points.
Your pessimism is waranted. However, exiting compleletely is shooting yourself in the foot. These threads could help you, imo: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=180234 http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=175250
Scott Adams' reply to the OP. <a href="http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-09-16/" title="Dilbert.com"><img src="http://dilbert.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/100000/00000/0000/100/100158/100158.strip.gif" border="0" alt="Dilbert.com" /></a>
NITRO! How the hell are ya up there in that Crime City of Chicago? You gona run for MAYOR! How is the Machine you have.....not a female but your "System" treating you?
EMRGLOBAL, my whole family is here. I avoid the city Chicago like the plague these days. Cops everywhere trying to catch you speeding, cameras everywhere trying to see you taking right on red or other innocent mistakes, parking costs out of control, L trains packed wall to wall, gasoline taxes that are insane, endless advertising lining walls everywhere you look, the list of annoyances is endless. The outlying areas are very comfortable. Lots of green, beaches that are not crowded, plenty of parks and trails, nice people. I have lots of systems Eric. My latest one is in a bad sequence of trades, but it has been doing spectacularly otherwise. You can follow it here (the last six months or so - the whole thread is not about NFV): http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2956267#post2956267