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

To: Allan Harris who wrote (10014)	11/21/1999 11:10:00 AM
From: Kirk ©	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15132

Good post! (once again) The only label that counts in this profession is whether you are a Buyer or a Seller. I would argue that is not true. Some of us HOLD most of the time and rarely buy and only sell when we want to buy something or generate some cash when overbought so we can buy a bargain later (or take a vacation). Perhaps add "Hold" to your list? Also, I would say the only test that matters is "do you make money?" Why would I bother listening to or reading someone, such as Abelson, who has been wrong for so long (unless I am trying to entertain a radio audience and generate some calls more interesting than "Bob, is this fund any good"?) People can and often do spout off all sorts of great investment strategies and many (most) can't even come close to market performance. Bob has been right for so long on market direction that it is no wonder so many of us listen to him. We don't have to agree with everything, but we do listen. Kirk

To: Allan Harris who wrote (10014)	11/21/1999 9:54:00 PM
From: Justa Werkenstiff	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15132

Allan: Re: "If you make all your income from the market, but use only astrological criteria to make investment decisions, are you a professional or amateur?" I agree. The monkey who throws darts to select stocks is "professional" too unless, of course, he makes some income outside of the market. Some may argue that the monkey is not a professional because he really does not make any income from the markets. But he does get paid in the form of food and shelter, I suppose, for his efforts. But does he have to declare that on a tax return as income in-kind and should that matter? Re: "For me, this is a no-brainer, you are a professional." Monkeys everywhere thank you for coming to their defense. Re: "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." Yeah, the monkey uses some darts as does just fine. Re: "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." And I suppose it creates some psychological comfort for some to distinguish human investors from monkey investors. A monkey thinks quite differently from humans but if he does well in the market he should be treated as a "professional." Re: "It is the same destructive us versus them mentality that seems so pervasive in our society." I agree. That is exactly the attitude that brought us Planet of the Apes.