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Pastimes : The Justa & Lars Honors Bob Brinker Investment Club -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (10001)	11/20/1999 7:36:00 PM
From: Lars	Respond to of 15132

MrGreenJeans, >>> My apologies to everyone on the board... >>> None needed. That is one of the best posts I have seen lately. How about this one too. If you think you are a guru because you bought Qualcomm in the $250 range in the past month or so. I seem to hear many people at work talking about this one. Or, if you think you can finance your annual vacations via Mr. Market. I have never, ever heard so many people speak so easy of 20%+ per annum returns. I think Disney World is in for a surprise if the market corrects.

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (10001)	11/20/1999 8:05:00 PM
From: Kirk ©	Respond to of 15132

Anyone else want to add to the list? Good list. What about If you don't ask "when is this amazing market ever going to end?" If you think a stock is a good buy because it has gone up 4 times as fast as the rest. It just amazes me the gains that have been possible year, after year, after year and how Some STILL manage to lose money! BTW, if you have a business that depends on traffic you should do some advertising of how well your stock picks have done... otherwise why should anyone pay attention to you? I am sure you do not consider Peter Lynch an amateur or the mutual funds that tout their records in the magazine advertisements. One last item... IF you feel the urge to make lists to show how smart you are (or add to them in my case) ! 8) Kirk out

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (10001)	11/20/1999 10:42:00 PM
From: Rock Fish	Respond to of 15132

>My apologies to everyone on the board... > but I am on a roll at the moment: > > If you have bought the QQQ in the past few days. > If you just discovered we are in a bull market. > If you think stocks are dirt cheap. I don't care much about labels, but as an amateur, I think one of the more personally rewarding aspects of this activity is earning more than 5 times my annual professional salary in a single year. In long-term investing, it is pretty easy (and typical) to get professional results while still being a smart amateur enthusiast. Many areas aren't nearly so easy: Writing syndicated newspaper columns. Designing internet routers. Jet engine design. Installing swimming pools. -- Rock Fish

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (10001)	11/21/1999 10:45:00 AM
From: Allan Harris	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15132

Anyone else want to add to the list? How about people who get their investment advice from the radio? I suppose you would first have to ask, "Which radio show?". That is why your thesis is rubbish. You have presumed to identify Professionals from Amateurs by asking if they invest the way you invest, if they consider the same things important that you consider important and by whether you agree with their last trade, i.e. buying the QQQ in the past few days. This is my favorite though: by the fact that amateur investors will always assume prices are rising and the downside risk is limited In reality, a very good overall strategy over my lifetime and most of the lifetimes represented on this board. It's all so relative. Sure hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and even some annual perspectives have seen major retracements, bear markets and such. But imagine at a 20 year chart, where the closing price of the US equity market on December 31 is plotted for 20 year intervals. What do you see. A line that goes for the most part straight up. So thinking that the general trend of prices is up and downside risk limited is simply a reflection of simple observation of price behavior over time. The observation of a professional or amateur? You came close here and get partial credit, but again, had to inject irrelevant criteria to muddy the definition: If you are well versed in the markets, well versed in economics and finance, have extensive knowledge of trading, and have the consistent results to prove it as measured by your gains in up and down markets, and the major portion of the money you make is from the markets you are a professional. If you make all your income from the market, but use only astrological criteria to make investment decisions, are you a professional or amateur? For me, this is a no-brainer, you are a professional. Why? Because your vocation is the market. How you implement and carry out that vocation has nothing to do with your status as a professional. I suppose it may provide some psychological comfort to draw a line in the sand to distinguish investors as professionals who think like you do, from amateurs who think differently. It is the same destructive us versus them mentality that seems so pervasive in our society. The only label that counts in this profession is whether you are a Buyer or a Seller. The market neither knows nor cares why you are buying or selling, whether you do it for a living, for a hobby, or as an addiction, nor what radio show you listen to. A PS: It might care though, that we are very overbought and the full moon is Monday.

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (10001)	11/21/1999 11:53:00 AM
From: mister topes	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15132

You are so right! You can always find the rank amateur investor by the way they brag about their personal portfolio performance. This is the most obvious trait of all. All they do is toot their own horn about how smart they are. Quite the joke.