9/8/10

Day-traders are greedy bloodsucking scum?

Day-traders are greedy bloodsucking scum

(I feel strongly about this so I am re-posting)

Government has an obligation to establish the best conditions for a successful and productive business environment. There are some
improvements that the United States Government can take to improve the current business situation.
I am a long-term investor. The day-traders are my enemy. I see day-traders as culprits that cause markets to swing up and down needlessly. The day-traders suck gains out of the market before the long-term guys ever see the profits to their investments. For sure.
The day-traders do what is termed "taking profits". If a stock goes up, they sell, and thus cause a drop in the stock price. The long-term guy suffers with this drop. Happens daily, hourly. Day traders harm the market, the economy and the country. I repeat, day traders harm the United States with their greed. There is no benefit to the larger "macro" economy. The long-term investor is the economy builder, and is vital to the companies that he or she owns.
The day-trader, with his quick buy and sell, is of no benefit to any company in which he or she deals. And this destructive effect is amplified by computer automation.
In my humble opinion, the current recession was not caused by the "mortgage crisis" which is relatively minor in relation to the whole economy. I blame it on day-traders who exaggerated the mortgage event into a real recession.
Government can alleviate some of this day-trader churn by imposing a sales tax on these quick stock sales. Put a five percent tax on stock sales. Then, remove this tax over five years, pro rated. Real
investors will have no tax, because they buy and hold.

Anonymous said...
How can u say day traders a greedy scum when you invest for the same damn greedy reason: to make money. Learn to get in and out at the right time, don't blame others if they know better.

BaruchAttta said...
Ahh...seems that i struck a nerve with this guy.
No, I don't INVEST for any "damn greedy reason". That is not how it works. Read the post.
In short - investors finance production and construction, and share in the profits. That's why they are called "shares". That is a productive use of my money. Does everyone good.
You, you day trader damn greedy scum, you suck value out of the market for yourself, and do no one else any good. You are a legal thief.
I challenge you to defend yourself, and find any good that your greed does for anyone else in this world. Scum.

Anthony said...
I too dislike day traders, but there really isn't too much we can do about it except for making wise decisions. Remember that they can cause a stock to shoot down, they can also cause a stock to skyrocket. So it works both ways.
However we still have to respect them because they are risking their own money in their trades.

Anonymous said...
No they dont invest own money they get stock where no money exchanges they get stuck when market go down but they can also buy insurance so they win both ways short selling should be outlawed.

Anonymous said...
Really? Clearly you are not qualified in finance at all. I'll leave you be with your strange misconceptions.
But I'll also leave you with 3 questions. Who do you think provides liquidity in the market? Who do you think helps EMH (Efficient Market Hypothesis)? What do you think will happen in an illiquid market?
Hint: Think about why arbitrages are so hard to come by nowadays.
Enough Said.

BaruchAttta said...
Ok, another comment. Friendly sort, this chap.
First, about "qualifications". I assume that this chap has the same qualifications that drove the US economy into the worst recession since the 1930's depression. I don't have these kind of "qualifications" but I know a little something about money and investing.
And the chap's three questions.
Liquidity? That means that the money that I have saved up and invested can be liquidly poured down the drain. I don't need as much liquidity as this chap imagines. A real investor who invests for the long term, years and years, can wait for the investment to sell. Houses and other real estate are not "liquid" and yet are fine investments (not counting bubbles, and I dont). I would rather not have such good "liquidity" and have a better return on investment.
EMH is a bluff. It is just an excuse for the day traders. Anyone who was in the market in October 2008 knows about that. I was watching while the market dropped like a rock. For no apparent reason other than everyone else was selling and no one was buying.
Day traders watch the daily and hourly news, not to know about any market trends, but to get ahead of the next guy. If some unimportant but bad sounding news is broadcast, affecting almost no one, but the one day trader will think that the others now will sell so the whole gang sells short and ofcourse the stock price drops. The economy may be strong, long term outlook good, yet the price drops because everyone wants to sell before the other guy.
And what will happen in an illiquid market? Let's say a less liquid market? Because all markets have a certain amount of liquidity. That is the reason for the existence of the market in the first place, to sell. But with the less liquid market, then it takes longer to sell. But the long term investor is not worried about that. Buy a stock, hold for ten years, sell.
Hint: arbitrages? A good arbitrage is better for the long term investor than the sucky day traders. Arbitrage is buying in one market and selling for a better price in another. It evens out the values in markets in different places. The long term investor doesn't care.

9/2/10

Diet. A four letter word.

Diet.  A four letter word.
It means to mentally control one's desire to eat.  Which is impossible. 
The key is the word "desire".  There are different levels of desire, and hunger is one of them. 
What we see is that there are those people who can seemingly eat all that they want, and there are those who, if they eat all that they want, will be very fat.
And the key here is also the work "want".
I find personally that I "want" more food than I need.  I know that a certain portion will satisfy my hunger.  But after eating that portion, I still have a desire to eat more.  Not hunger to eat more, just a desire.  I want to pack it in, as much as I can.  I say "well, I still have room for that", and then I eat that.  Until I am fully stuffed, way past being hungry. 
So, there is a desire for food that is a desire past hunger and is not hunger.
It must be an addiction. 
It may be a throwback to evolution, where those that ate more than they needed, survived the coming famine.  Being fat in good times helped one survive the lean times.
Again, it is a matter of desire.  My thin friends eat all they want and are still thin because when they eat enough, they dont want any more. 
So dieting, that is controlling mentally your eating desires, is doomed to failure.
The trick must be to either fool your desires, or never to develop the desires. 
To fool the desire, you eat things that make you feel full, and satisfy.
To never develop the desires, that has to start as a child and continue as an adult.