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Strategies & Market Trends : Trend Setters and Range Riders -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dr.MensaWannabe who wrote (5701)	6/17/2001 9:06:49 AM
From: lee kramer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 5732

Doc Mensa: My best friend is a bookmaker named Barney Bufflekarp. Growing up he had an affinity for numbers, a quick mind and an ability to quickly size up a situation. He was a good athlete and quite a good poker player...this may take a while so please bear with me. Anyway, he got into bookmaking. And, because he was good, took care that his customers didn't get into trouble by wagering more than they could lose...he prospered.(The notion of some goon breaking legs to get money that was owed may have been true once, but mostly it was myth; if someone took a "run" at the Bufflekarp and lost, Barney would set up a payment plan that the fellow could meet. the debt would be repaid...banks and the IRS do the same. It was just good business. The Bufflekarp prospered. There were two keys to his success; he worked a 16-18 hour day seven days a week, knew all that was happening in the sporting world. And he was a master at setting "lines." When Bufflekarp set a line, it was solid. So solid, he'd often get calls from some of the line-setters in Vegas and books in other cities seeking his lines, which he gave freely. A guy would bet a "dime" on a two-team tease, see he wasn't doing so good at the half, call the Bufflekarp to get a line on for the second-half of the game. Within seconds Bufflekarp would offer a line, a fair line. More often than not the bettor would take the play. Bufflekarp might win or lose that bet...but over the course of the season his solid lines, his growing customer base and the 10% vig on all losing bets made him a lot of money. He was a good businessman who worked hard, and dealt honestly. But he had some flaws. He could be quick-tempered at times and sometimes showed an abrasive personality. He had a lot of respect for the 3-5% of his customers who year in and year out were successful. He was often annoyed, silently, with many of his costumers who'd bet 10 or 12 of the 16 games on the board. He'd tell them "Pick one or two games you like, forget the rest." He'd try to tell them why a "tease" was a very poor bet. He'd explain it to them, show then that the extra points they got were two points less than they thought because of the "ties lose" factor. But it didn't matter, they'd usually bet the teases anyway. Jenna reminds me a lot of the Bufflekarp. She's very good, works 16-18 hour days, she's all "market." She loves to teach, loves to help traders do well. I've been around the Street for quite a while. I can't say she's the best trader I've seen, perhaps I will in another five or ten years. I've seen her do well when the bull was roaring. And then I saw her do well when the bear took over. She's often wrong, as all traders are at times, but she's very pragmatic and can reverse course instantly when the market internals dictate; a stock she thinks is a good short at 10:00 a.m. may be a "cover and go long" at 10:35. And, like the Bufflekarp, (and you and I) she has some flaws. She can be a bit testy at times; she can respond with a sharp tongue...but usually this seems to be reserved for a handful of folks...and I must include you here...who hold some kind of grudge and have clearly demonstrated by their posts that they have no interest in the market. But, having known Jenna for several years and having worked with her I can say without reservation that I respect her; that I've found her to be scrupulously honest; that her mistakes and any confusion with "calls" she's made have never been prompted by malice. I'm proud to call Jenna a friend and trading colleague. She's a straight-shooter and very good at what she does. I respect that, a lot. You and a few others are clearly trying to cause trouble. I have no respect for that. I might, if you knew Jenna, were acting on accurate information and...and if your arguments were valid and not so nit-pickingly shallow. I find that responding to you and the others is distasteful, a true waste of time. You're far from the village-idiot...why not talk market? To finish...if you persist, I will respond, but not on a public thread. Tell me how to PM you or post you phone number and I'll call you.