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Strategies & Market Trends : Rande Is . . . HOME -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: captain_midnite who wrote (55771)	12/12/2002 11:56:48 PM
From: Rande Is	Respond to of 57584

Hi, Cap'. Yes, strange indeed. There is no telling. . the extent of the pressures and stresses that may have piled on Tim Luke all at once. . . not to mention his apparent health issues. I often think about those we never again here from. I remember back during the tech runup, there were several short-sellers telling stories of how they were fully invested on the short-side when this stock or that stock went to the moon. . . .leaving them with margin calls they could not meet. . . . and of course when shorting you can lose MORE than everything. In these cases, the people literally lost their homes and everything they owned. . . .instantly. Can you imagine such a thing. . . or trying to explain to your family that it was your terrible decision making that led to losing your home. Or that you followed someone's lead and traded on cue, but it backfired because they were actually playing against you. That is a tough one to admit to oneself, let alone to try and explain to a loved one. And once you have lost everything. . . and some have. . . . what comes next? Playing too close to the sun, one can get burned to a crisp. And there are VERY many SI'rs that enjoy the thrill of always being on the edge. When the losses pile to such levels, one must either consider they have a gambling problem or that they are simply not as good a trader as they thought. How many have I counseled on turning to gamblers anonymous. . . only to get the inevitable response. . . "no, I know what I am doing". . . "that is not for me" . . . "once I mortgage the house, then I'll have enough money to do really well in the markets." I cannot tell you how many times I have heard these words. I scold, admonish and offer a course of action to get them out of the rut. . . but usually to no avail. They are no longer open to hearing the truth. It is just like any other addiction. Meanwhile. . . . .shorts want to point fingers at longs that tank. . . and longs want to point fingers at shorts that scheme. . . but I say that gambling is the biggest cause of losses. Greed induced devil-may-care attitudes that lead to poor decision-making and a general disregard for prudence and discipline. As far as the stock trading world is concerned. . . prudence is boring. . . and that is where the danger begins. Rande Is