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To: skinowski who wrote (77512)7/16/2003 10:37:53 PM
From: AllansAlias  Read Replies (5) | Respond to of 209892
 
Every trader... every single one... has ugly setbacks. I think the good ones take some time off, then dig back in and make some adjustments: are my tools OK? are they suited to the timeframe I am trying to trade? is my mental approach proper?

The worst setback I had was the summer of 2000. I had studied manias enough to know damn well we were in the real thing. Even before things got queer I would marvel at the stuff folks said and how it was so similar to what was said in the late 1920's. Uncanny. (Even now that the cat is long out of the bag, I could post quotes and people would guess it's Blodgett or some other latter day fool rather than John Jacob Raskob or Herbert Hoover.)

During those days I felt like I was living in a private sort of world, because all of the people around me seemed to have no notion that anything was wrong. Sometimes I even wondered if I was wrong.

I was waiting for that first big crack in the damn. I saw April 4, 2000 go by and I just knew this was it. The market rebounded some and I bought a shitload of puts toward the end of April; mostly July's and some August's. The market held all the way to Sep 1 if I recall correctly. In any case, I lost a fair bit of money. I was right, but the execution was all wrong. Not only did I not allow for enough time, but I bought the puts during a volatility explosion, paying too much for premium.

Anyway, it taught me a lot. The most important thing I learned was that I had a great desire to get better.

Cheers

ps: I would be interesting to hear about some of the setbacks others have had and how they dealt with them.



To: skinowski who wrote (77512)7/16/2003 11:13:49 PM
From: AllansAlias  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 209892
 
The Industrial Average components in 1927, the year that "United Drug" was substituted for "Remington Typewriter":

Allied Chemical American Locomotive
American Can American Smelting
American Car & Foundry American Sugar
American Tel & Tel Sears, Roebuck
American Tobacco Texas Corp.
General Electric United Drug
General Motors U.S. Rubber
International Harvester U.S. Steel
Mack Trucks Western Union
Paramount Famous Lasky Woolworth

Then, as now, the Dow was behind the times somewhat.

Try to imagine how magical this time must have been.

For the first time, the US was seen by themselves and the world as the new power. It was now a creditor nation that was producing massive quantities to rebuilt Europe.

The airplane had proven itself in the war and promised a bright future for investors.

For the first time ever, folks could get realtime information. The radio was transforming the world.

Modern advertising was born. Image-making was born.

The jazz age.

Skyscrapers.

The automobile was everywhere now. The market for it appeared to have no top.

The railroads were king, but an aging king.

Oil development was booming.

The 19th century passed in the 1920's. The modern world was born then I think.