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Title: Gatlins Stock tips and money advice
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Published: Feb 5, 2018
Author: Hopefully Gatlin
Post Date: 2018-02-05 18:32:47 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 19630
Comments: 167
You wanna get rich? You just might if you follow this advice.
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#11. To: A K A Stone (#0)
(1) Be favored by God. Concretely, this means being part of the "Lucky Sperm Club", by being born with certain attributes, "making the cuts", in descending order: (a) be part of the 85% of the world that is born without a handicap or a disability. (One might call the 15% who are born with debilitating abnormalities the "Unlucky Sperm Club") (b) be born in the First World (that's 8% of the world's population, so to be born unhandicapped in the First World means that you're already in the top 6.8% of the world in terms of "birth luck". (c) be born white and unhandicapped in the first world ("white" in this case also means being more regular Japanese, Ainu Japanese are a minority that is discriminated against in Japan; the Japanese are not discriminated against in the First World). Being part of the dominant racial/ethnic majority in a First World country carries inherent advantages beyond the mere fact of being born in a wealthy place. Within First World countries there are haves and have-nots, ghettos and well-to-do areas, and throughout the First World, the quality of education and childhood care one receives is closely related to where one grows up, which in turn heavily reflects the racial majority. Racially minoritarian individuals succeed throughout the First World, but the otherwise average or below-average person in terms of native intellect still has a better overall chance of success if born part of the racial majority in a First World Country. Overall, the majority population in the First World represents about 75% of these countries. About 5.1% of people are born an unhandicapped, First World part of the ethnic majority. These people do not have physical or social limitations to operating in the most sophisticated and advanced economies in the world. (d) Finally, to be born to a family that is in the middle of the middle class or better in a first world country is a tremendous starting advantage. The reasons for this are simple. Simply by being born in a first world country means that one is lucky enough to be born into a land where there is internal peace, stability, rule of law, property rights and democracy. Sure, half of the First World countries are formally monarchies (Japan, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, Monaco, Spain : all monarchies; the US, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy - these are the First World pure republicans) - but those monarchies are all constitutional, and power is vested in democratically-elected legislatures in all of those countries both at the national and local level. The great virtue of democracy is that the economic policies are tilted to the advantage of the greatest number of voters, which means that the middle class and up in the whole First World have good education (relative to the world standard of ignorance), health care, police protection, etc., available to them. A person born to the poor even in the First World has a lower chance of ever being rich, because the schools are worse in poor areas, medical care is poorer, access to computers and training is poorer. The playing field is not even very close to level for everybody in the first world, but for the top half it is much more so. So, putting that all together, if you're an unhandicapped white born into a middle class family or better in the First World, you have already had most of the work of getting rich in the world done for you by your father's sperm and mother's egg. God saw to it that you were born into the top 2.55% of the world's people, in terms of wealth. You started out wealthy, in terms of all of the benefits of inherited capital, and you are in a place where you will get an education if you just pay attention in class. To get rich, you need to be able to function in a technical, literate society. That takes education. If you were born unhandicapped, middle class white American, you already got, for free (to you)the tools and the background conditions that make it possible for you to get rich through things that you control: your mind and your hands. If you lack and of those things, then the single greatest indicator of whether you will be able to get rich or not depends almost entirely on who your parents were. If you're born in Detroit, you can work to get richer with completely average talents. If you're born in Dakar, you were born wealthy and will stay that way, or you were born poor and will stay that way. To recap: the first piece of advice if you wanna get rich is to choose the right parents. If you're reading this, that choice was already made for you. You're a white male, somewhere between the working class and the upper class, born and raised in America. You can read and write and compute (you're reading this, after all). School is long past, so you got the education you were going to get. The better one you got, the farther you probably got up to this point. Nobody here on LF, reading this, is going to be redoing high school and going to a better college, getting better grades, etc. That's all water under the dam. The past is in the past. With all of those advantages already cooked, the real question is what can you do to get RICHER, starting where you are now. And the answer to that depends mostly on how much money you already have free and clear. There are really only about three ways to make money: (1) Sell your time (i.e.: work) (2) Make money on money (i.e.: invest) (3) Be favored by God (i.e.: win the lottery). The best way to get rich quick is to win the lottery. So buy a ticket. Not 10 or 20 tickets - that's a way to get poor. One ticket gives you a chance. Two individuals both won over $500 million in lotteries in the past couple of years, on single tickets. Chances are, you'll lose. But God favored you once, in your birth circumstances. He could favor you again. Probably won't, but could. That's the best way to get rich. If you're just working, and you're your age, you're probably not going to get rich. You can secure a comfortable middle class existence for the rest of your life if you're diligent about it. If you already have money and you want to invest, you can get richer if you invest wisely. How to do that is a whole separate topic.
I would pay an interest-bearing debt. You will pay more interest on that $1000 owed than you will gain on your investment of $1000, so use the $1000 to get rid of any interest-bearing debt you may have. Once you have no interest- bearing debt that charges more interest than you would earn on a municipal bond, then you could consider investing in something that might produce a return. But you might be better served investing the $1000 on something that will improve your health. For $500 you could buy a Sperti sunlamp and get 100% of your daily Vitamin D requirement (a thing in which almost all Americans are deficient) for about 3 minutes standing in the light with goggles on. When you have $1000 a month to invest, or ten thousand in a lump sum, THEN could consider investing in equities or debt instruments to earn a money return on your money.
First - don't invest in anything you do not understand. You probably do not really understand Bitcoin. Scarcely anybody does. Don't invest in that sort of thing. Second - remember taxes, and remember that the "net gains" tables that are sometimes provided showing you gains net of taxes hardly ever include state taxes, or city taxes, both of which are over and above the federal taxes. Do the calculation yourself of what $100 gain will leave YOU with, after federal, state and local income taxes OR short term or long term capital gains federal, state and local taxes OR federal, state and local taxes on gains on commodities (25% federal tax on gains in gold held, for example) OR taxes on dividends, OR Taxes on interest. However you're going to make money in the investment, you're going to be taxed. To properly compare one investment to another, the number that really matters is what you have left in your hand after taxes. Third - Remember transaction costs. It costs money to sell a security, and more money to buy another one. Every time you change positions, you pay an exit fee and you pay an entrance fee. Fourth - Remember "loads" on mutual funds, and management fees. Understand how the financial manager will pay himself every month out of your money in any managed product. Fifth - Remember tax-advantage investments like IRAs and 401(k)s, but also remember the disadvantages of such structures: you money is trapped, and your options are limited. Example: You're probably better off buying a 4.4% municipal bond and holding it to maturity than you are buy a 7% corporate bond and holding it to maturity.
To try and answer your question ... I have been following bitcoin for some time now, ever since it started its run up and began hitting my news alerts. I was intrigued by it. Not with the working mechanism, because I never get involved with that since I am only looking for momentum....but the increase in price. I can say without a doubt, had there been a day trading mechanism for bitcoin [and a couple of companies have tried to start ETFs] that I could have used to swing trade...I would have proudly added couple hundred thousand dollars to my last years tax return filing. I say that after doing mental gymnastics of “what if trading” as I followed bitcoin’s climb. But as much as I am an optimist, I am also in some ways a pessimist. I saw that bitcoin was moving too rapidly up for no reason I could find but media hype and no support level. I participated in the silver mining stock run up the last two times and made a bunch of money. I used the Stop Loss and was never married to any silver mining stock or fell in love with any one. How do I tie this to bitcoin? To answer your question on why I am pessimistic on bitcoin, it was something I cannot scientifically put my finger. Maybe it was a premonition [although I don’t believe in such a thing] because I could definitely see a parallel to the “Silver Thursday” fiasco as 5 countries and then India stepped in to start “government controls.” I could foresee governments stepping in at anytime and upsetting the apple cart. And it was today that I learned the U.S. Senate is getting into the picture. I hope this makes sense and in some way answers your qustion.....while I ask you to forgive the errors because I did this with bad eyesight and just hitting keys. I will now return to read the rest of your post.
What a silly comment. After reading this one sentence of your entire rant, I decided to comment as you are making HUGE assumptions while simultaneously making reality out of wild hubris. Anyone that takes you for an investment advisor needs a beating.
I have nothing against new tech (bitcoin) and I am for anything (well, with certain exceptions....of course) I can make money from. And I can see the day that if bitcoin survives (as I hope that it does) there will be ways to do 2x and 3x buys and the same with short sells. The market always eventually provides those mechanisms. If you have never seen this, here it is ... Hey, these last couple of exchanges have been good ones....thanks for that. Personal note: This is the second day I am not working 20 to 30 trades. The Friday and Monday dips, which I was prepared for with Stop Losses but did not know when to expect, set me at ease for a couple more days now until trends are again established so I can determine which equities are moving up with a three-day upward progression.
Another good bit of advice: BUY LOW, SELL HIGH LOL !
Si vis pacem, para bellum Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. Never Pick A Fight With An Old Man He Will Just Shoot You He Can't Afford To Get Hurt "If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." (Will Rogers)
I could write a multipage essay on the reason why not to....but in the interest of saving time, I will let Stephan Abraham explain here why it is a much better strategy to: “Buy High, Sell Much Higher.” I am a firm believer in this and have successfully been for many years ...
Anyone that takes you for an investment advisor needs a beating. I was quoting somebody without attribution. I'll give the attribution this time: “Never invest in a business you can’t understand.” - Warren Buffett Pretty sure that bit of common sense from Warren Buffett is not wild hubris. Likewise, pretty sure that anybody who read the moderate language and thoughtful suggestions I put into my series of writings here would not call what I provided a "rant".
“Never invest in a business you can’t understand.” - Warren Buffett It looked like it had to be because it was so beautifully effective. My compliments ...
Depends on what your objective is. For 1000 you could get a nice start in keeping these... Albeit, keeping them does require actual work. Just having the tools doesn't guarantee success.
Obviously Gatlin knows quite a bit about trading, technicals and technicalities. If he has steadily profited over many years then he is obviously an expert at what he does, and good for him! That does not mean that a layman who does not have the knowledge he has can simply go out and replicate what he does by buying the same things and selling the same things. Sure, if individual trading were simply an algorithm, whereby what one person (say Gatlin) does with knowledge, savvy, and understanding not only of why he is doing what he is doing, but also why he is choosing THAT particular path instead of the other universe of possibilities, and what he is thinking of doing next, then it would be possible to replicate what he does in real time. But we're not algorithms. When he is making his decisions in real time, he is doing so based on a whole skein of unseen judgments, considerations, weighings of opportunities and risks. He then casts his line at a certain specific moment, and from the sounds of it, catches some good fish. But all we can do without the expertise is ape the move, at a different moment in time, when the sight picture has changed. Perhaps Gatlin would not have made the same investment at that moment. I will stand by what Warren Buffett said and I paraphrased: don't invest in what you don't understand. Gatlin understands more things than other posters here. HE can do it because he understands the risks. Most of us don't. We can't do it. If we're going to dabble in such markets, we should do so with professional advice - and we should take the price we pay for professional advice into the calculation of what our return will be. Gatlin will take home more on the same trades, because he is doing it himself. Those of us with less experience won't take home as much, because a professional has to be paid a fee for us to do it. Of course we can roll the dice, but that's not the sort of advice I would give. I've had too many disasters and sudden changes of fortune roll through my life to be willing to gamble more than my couple of dollars for a single lottery ticket with a big jackpot. Wealth preservation is more important to me than shoot-the-moon growth. I think that if you "wanna get rich", the question has to be asked "at what risk of losing?" and "how much are you willing to lose?" and "over what time frame?" I certainly skew much more conservative than anybody who invests in Bitcoin. That doesn't mean that it's "wrong" to invest in Bitcoin. It means that it's wrong for somebody like ME to invest in Bitcoin. Knowing yourself well, knowing who you are, what you want, what you need, what the price of things is, and knowing your tolerance for risk and desire to sleep at night is important. And that should be taken into account by anybody giving advice on the Internet, even to strangers. AKA Stone asked an interesting question. Different folks have different views. I admire folks who can do what Gatlin represents himself as doing, and I have no reason to disbelieve him. I do know that that way is not for me - I lack the expertise, the knowledge base, or the desire to acquire knowledge of those skills. I also know there is more than one way to skin a cat, and was giving practical advice that I think should apply to everybody. Don't invest in what you don't understand. Who can reasonably argue with that? Gatlin UNDERSTANDS what he's doing, at least to my eyes. Do you? Do any of us? If yes, then perhaps emulating Gatlin is the best way to get rich fast. If not, then I was suggesting other routes, other ways to look at things. To quote Warren Buffett again: “Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing.” And now to quote Clint Eastwood: "A man's got to know his limitations." I do. And if we're talking about money and investment, I would advise everybody else to know his too, and to not invest in what he doesn't understand. (Yes, I'm still annoyed at having been ridiculed here for having repeated that VERY sound advice). For a single $1000, not part of a broader plan, I suspect that a $500 sunlamp used regularly will probably add a couple of years to most Americans' lives, because as a people we are so deficient in Vitamin D, and Vitamin D is crucial to just about every system in the body. People with high levels of Vitamin D are healthier, happier and longer-lived than people without. That's why I suggested the Sperti sunlamp as an INVESTMENT if one has a mere $1000 to invest. Most busy people cannot go outside and strip to their underpants for 20 minutes in the midday sun. Most people who live north of North Carolina wouldn't want to try that in winter. But 3 minutes in front of a Sperti lamp will get that same amount of Vitamin D, and save tens of thousands in medical bills over time, and is do-able. Lateral thinking about money is important. If you're going to sell a house soon, are you better off spending $1000 to buy a few shares of stock, or $1000 to have a gardener come in and put beds of summer flowers in the backyard? $1000 buys a lot of cheap flowers, and makes the property much more inviting and desirable - and easier to sell, at closer to the posted price. Spending $1000 to get $5000 higher on a home sale is a fantastic investment. Think about what you know. There may be places in life where a $1000 capital investment will produce much more in long-term gains, and you get to actually live with and enjoy the benefits of your investment while you're accumulating the longer-term gains. That's all on-topic. If we JUST want to focus on businesses, then investments in small private businesses that due diligence shows are likely to succeed may bring a much more substantial return than any investment in marketable securities. If we only want to limit our discussion to marketable securities, to wit: stocks and bonds, we can do that too. The subject matter proposed is vast, and all of it is worth talking about, respectfully and thoughtfully, for everybody's mutual benefit. Calling me an idiot, an asshole and mocking what I wrote - even where it came straight from Warren Buffett - would make this thread a waste of time. I'm not trying to waste anybody's time here. I believe I am giving good, pragmatic, conservative advice that anybody can use. And I don't think that trying to have a straight and relatively serious conversation on this topic warrants my being bullied or treated like shit. It makes me think that the people who have done that so far are ignorant shitheads to whom nobody should listen for actual money advice. Listen to anything I have said so far, and you will not get rich quick, or at all, on just $1000. But you won't piss your money down the drain either.
My compliments ... It wasn't intentional. I agree a lot with Buffett, and I've internalized some of his thoughts over the years. I am a conservative and cautious person, in part because when I was young, dumb and full of hubris I invested in things I did not understand and I got lucky, and I also got burnt. I never stop learning. My problem here is that you're trying to impart actual advice - and idiots who apparently know nothing come in and ridicule you out of animus. What a waste. I have less sophisticated advice, but solid advice nevertheless, and assclowns who carry their personal animus against me from thread to thread show up to piss all over it. In that particular case, the monkey who flung poop at me was actually calling the Oracle of Omaha a fool regarding investment. So he made a fool of himself, and I was more than happy to point it out. Wouldn't it be swell if we could just discuss investment and philosophy of money on a thread, without disruption by nasty people? I'm determined to do that, because the subject interests me. Seems like you make a good living doing just this. You yourself know that only Hillary Clinton could really get rich on a mere $1000 - that to go huge with THAT little money takes one of two things: (a) a lottery win (hence my $4 a week on a PowerBall and a MegaMillions ticket, the price of a dream), or (b) Clinton-style corruption. To that I might add (c) Time. With enough time, the skillful investment of $1000 with reinvestment of the gains from the investment could indeed build up to a large pile of wealth. And all of that is worthy of a discussion of the philosophy of money. "You're an idiot for thinking like Warren Buffett" is not helpful. "You're a joke for having an interest-bearing mortgage" is similarly useless. It is difficult for me to be insulted and not respond. But I'm really going to try on this thread, because the subject matter here is vital, and some really good advice can be shared here, I think. If it get buried in bullshit that will be unfortunate. Keep posting your expertise. I'll keep posting my own practical advice. I would advise any young person who is really interested in finance to learn ALL of it, the conservative, "wisdom of the ages", don't forget that your own health and your home are ALSO investments, sort of pragmatism that I provide, and also the trading insight you have. A person who really mastered this subject would never have to have a boss.
LOL. It's called a mortgage. Most people have one. Mine has an effective interest rate of 1.392%, so if I can earn a steady fixed rate of after tax return of greater than 1.392%, it does not make sense for me to pay that particular debt off at any greater speed than I do. As inflation kicks in, the cost of paying back the mortgage over time decreases further and further, because when inflation is above 1.392%, the value of the principal invested in the house shrinks with the 2002 dollars that bought the place, but the eventual resale value of the property rises. I operate on logic.
So much for the subject matter of this thread, eh?
I did find two things that held my interest. The first point ... I have never had a desire to get rich. The idea just simply never occurred to me. My foremost thought from the beginning in 1965 has been to preserve my capital. My motivation was to always to minimize loss. I believe that many investors think investing too aggressively is the way to go. I set each goal low so as to make sure it is attainable and not just a pipe dream. Once I attain that goal....I set the next one a little higher.... but again, also low. I am the proverbial “Old Bull” it this tale. The next point ... My dentist for 38 years is a firm believer in the Warren Buffett principal investment strategy and has been for many years. I paid a visit to his office last week where we always find time between his dental tasks to discuss investments and politics. I learned that his investment profits exceeded mine last year. But we both have two different time constraints....I have none and he can only work on his investments at night or weekends. Both of us are pleased doing what we individually chose to do. I enjoy the daily challenges and he is satisfied with slow progressive stability. Reading your mention of Warren Buffet made me recall this and I felt like sharing the moment and in some way acknowledging Warrant Buffet for his great accomplishments.
I operate on logic. Smart move....my son operates with the same logic on his home mortgage. I have paid no interest on anything since I bought a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham in 1968 and then a mortgage on a home in 1975 which was paid off by 1980. It was a pretty high interest rate as I remember and I wanted to get rid of it just in case my trading headed South and I felt better being totally debt free. My credit cards charge no interest when payed in full each month....as I do with automatic payments. Not bragging....just reinforcing your technique and adding a bit of personal info. Good job posting and you are being most informative....keep it up and let folks take what they will from them.
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Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestYou wanna get rich? You just might if you follow this advice.
#12. To: A K A Stone (#6)
If I had a thousand bucks and I wanted to invest it for a month, what would you buy?
#13. To: Vicomte13 (#12)
(Edited)
#14. To: A K A Stone (#6)
#15. To: VxH (#13)
#16. To: Pinguinite (#10)
... but when cryptos have 6 weeks of losses, you say the party is over for them?
We were good together until here when I stopped to answer your question. I do appreciate your favorable comments on my trading. Sidebar:
I have rambled....something I admit I am good at doing. But to try and summarize with an answer to your question: I just could see no reason for the run up other than hype with everyone jumping on the bandwagon and I fully saw it as a bubble waiting to burst. It may recover, and I sincerely hope for your sake that it does because I get the indication you have a “dog in the fight.” And I am not shorting it, although would have started doing so the second down week if there had been a mechanism for me to do that....so I have no personal reason not to want a recovery for the folks who lost money.
I believe that government controls are necessary evils in some cases....but in other cases, they are fucking power-hungry idiots in government and go overboard. Uh, does this make me a quasi-libertarian?
#17. To: Vicomte13 (#15)
#18. To: Vicomte13 (#15)
(Edited)
#19. To: Vicomte13, A K A Stone, Pinguinite (#14)
First - don't invest in anything you do not understand. You probably do not really understand Bitcoin. Scarcely anybody does. Don't invest in that sort of thing.
#20. To: Vicomte13 (#14)
(Edited)
#21. To: buckeroo (#19)
#22. To: Pinguinite (#10)
Returning to finish my response to your post... So I say you cannot be locked into old tech, refusing to acknowledge the new, which is what you are doing. If you have an actual argument against cryptos, then by all means make it. But it seems you've hardly even tried to even field one. It seems instead your opposition to cryptos is emotionally based and you simply get on the same anti-crypto emotion train as all other naysayers, even though you already know emotions are the bane of any trader. So yes, I proceeded to make my observation about how I thought I knew more about trading than you.
Wow. You and I do have a failure to communicate. I will accept the fault blame for that and try harder to be more detailed in my statements. It's not unlike how pre-WWII, the navy brass refused to believe the battleship could be surpassed in naval supremecy on the high seas, ignoring General Billy Mitchell's warnings about how the airplane was now the superior weapon. He was courtmartialed and forced out of the military but after Pearl Harbor, ended up having an WWII aircraft named after him (and his rank restored).
I find this to be cute, and I am not being sarcastic....you using Billy Mitchell as an analogy to me, a retired U.S. Air Force officer.
#23. To: Gatlin (#22)
#24. To: Vicomte13 (#12)
(Edited)
#25. To: Stoner (#23)
(Edited)
#26. To: Stoner (#23)
Another good bit of advice: BUY LOW, SELL HIGH LOL !
Absolutely NOT.
#27. To: buckeroo (#19)
After reading this one sentence of your entire rant, I decided to comment as you are making HUGE assumptions while simultaneously making reality out of wild hubris.
#28. To: Vicomte13 (#27)
I was quoting somebody without attribution. I'll give the attribution this time:
Tell me, please....was that an intentional setup.
#29. To: Vicomte13 (#27)
#30. To: A K A Stone (#6)
what would you buy?
#31. To: A K A Stone (#0)
#32. To: VxH (#29)
#33. To: Vicomte13 (#32)
#34. To: Vicomte13 (#32)
(Edited)
#35. To: Gatlin (#28)
Tell me, please....was that an intentional setup. It looked like it had to be because it was so beautifully effective.
#36. To: VxH (#33)
(Edited)
I get that you have debt you haven't paid off.
#37. To: VxH (#34)
#38. To: Vicomte13 (#35)
(Edited)
#39. To: Vicomte13 (#37)
(Edited)
#40. To: Vicomte13 (#36)
#41. To: VxH (#38)
(Edited)
#42. To: Vicomte13 (#41)
#43. To: Vicomte13 (#41)
(Edited)
#44. To: Vicomte13 (#35)
#45. To: All (#41)
#46. To: Vicomte13 (#45)
#47. To: A K A Stone (#0)
(Edited)
#48. To: Vicomte13 (#31)
You have made a number of excellent points that should be given due consideration. I find nothing to disagree with in our post. Mainly, I suppose. because I wasn’t looking specifically to find something to disagree with. Which appears to be the main intent and sole reason for the presence by some posters on LF....argumentative disruptions. I think that if you "wanna get rich", the question has to be asked "at what risk of losing?" and "how much are you willing to lose?" and "over what time frame?"
#49. To: Gatlin, Vicomte13 (#48)
(Edited)
#50. To: Vicomte13 (#36)
Mine has an effective interest rate of 1.392%, so if I can earn a steady fixed rate of after tax return of greater than 1.392%, it does not make sense for me to pay that particular debt off at any greater speed than I do.
#51. To: VxH (#49)
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