Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Gorilla and King Portfolio Candidates -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StockHawk who wrote (24824)	5/16/2000 2:18:00 AM
From: Seeker of Truth	Respond to of 54805

"In the metals market, ... playing shorter term rises and falls was the only possible way to make decent money." Conversations with people in the metal trading business have led me to understand that the large sophisticated metal traders simply don't expect to make money. They are either big users trying to guarantee themselves the supply of metal that they need for their manufacturing operations or else they are mining companies trying to guarantee the money is there before they have dug the metal out of the mine. Occasionally one sees the unusual person with a "system" like the man at Sumitomo Trading Corp. This company buys raw materials for the Sumitomo group of companies. If he wanted to buy, which was the usual case, he would first sell in substantial quantity to see the effect on the market. If he could push the price down then he would continue until there was a mini panic at which point he would do his really large buying. If he had excess inventory he would do the opposite. His system worked well at first but afterwards it didn't and his final losses were 2.6 billion U.S. dollars. If you are like me then you wonder sometimes how it is possible to carry on with a job and yet make a pile of money from passive investment in company shares; I pinch myself to make sure this isn't some dream. The wise choice of a gorilla is one reason. The other reason is that there are so many traders on the opposite side. Half a century of investing has mainly taught me one thing, i.e. long term buy and hold,making sure the company is still great etc. is the only way. If we could convince everybody of this the gorillas would be priced too high for unusual profit and the gorilla game would be over. A curious moral dilemma.