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Technology Stocks : Intel Strategy for Achieving Wealth and Off Topic -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ann Janssen who wrote (17704)	2/21/1998 6:06:00 PM
From: TechnoWiz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27012

Wow Ann: Great post! You should apply for a position as quantitative analyst with one of those big Wall St Houses (with attendant telephone number salary to boot) (gg). You would probably do a lot better job than most of them. You are exactly right about the market being a giant auction. I've heard it said, that once you understand that fact (the auction process), is when you start to make the real money. What continues to amaze me, is how many participants in these markets although relatively new to investing in some cases, appear to have so much knowledge, acumen and apparent success in this new (to them) arena. Most Wall St professionals were as usual caught by surprise especially by the strength of rally over the last six weeks or so. I read an interesting post on another thread last week where people were getting really tired of you know who at the______.com spamming the air and netwaves and proclaiming himself the "Gatekeeper of all knowledge on Wall St" in as many words. I can tell you, there is a lot more knowledge, experience, humility and success in the 17,000 plus posts on this thread than you will ever learn from him. His ego left the planet last week, when he started criticizing the recent promotion of options as an investment tool on the airwaves, saying he would eat these rank amateur option players, who venture into 'his territory', for lunch! The apparent reason for this outrageous statement, is that the only way 'he' makes money is through hard work and not through hunches or other such 'feelings' about stocks. Balderdash! With this dogmatic style and cryptic know-all responses in some recent Yahoo Chat forums that subsequently failed to pan out as 'dictated', it's no wonder that people are tiring of this publicity onslaught. Please note: I am in no way criticizing the overall content which is impressive in its dimension and scope, it's just the manner in which that content is delivered at times that irks. I happen to know some rank amateurs who have pulled off some of the most spectacular trades of all time through hunches and gut feelings. For example: I know of one investor who had never traded in his life, wandered into a broker's office in September 87, plunked down a fistful of dollars and bought a bagful of OEX put options. A few weeks later he walked away with a multi-thousand percentage gain from his first ever trade. Its seems as if our esteemed Wall St. self-styled hedge fund guru is intent upon denying this right to others because it is his 'exclusive territory', inheritable only by experience and Wall St seniority. Talk about 'old school' drivel and the good ol' boys club, I thought we were through with all that claptrap aristocratic nonsense. Look, we all gotta start somewhere, otherwise we will never experience that pain or the gain! So who is he or anyone else to dictate or decree who should and who should not trade options or anything else for that matter! What an attitude! That's the great thing about this business. You can never know how good you might be, until you start in this game. Some people go on to discover that they have an inborn talent for trading and investing that they never knew about until they finally took the plunge. (Sounds like you Ann)! It has become a riveting arena for many, that now consumes our daily lives. After all, if it wasn't this thread and SI would be dead! It is interesting to note that the biggest individual bond trader in the world today started out as a butcher. What set him apart was he spent his first year or so standing in the pit just observing the all the action before he ever made his first trade. After that he never looked back. Now he reputedly trades 10,000 contracts or more per day. As for me I'm lightyears away from anything remotely close to that list you mentioned - no harm in trying though! (gg) Isn't that what we're all trying to do. So what's so wrong with advertising the services of the NYSE and NASDAQ and all the derivative and option opportunities along with it. It's highly educational and serves to make people aware of all the possibilities open to them. It also serves to broaden our markets and deepen their liquidity. That's why the US has by far the largest and most sophisticated markets today and why the US Economy and capital markets are the envy of the World. Sure options can be risky, but if you have a knack for picking trends and winners the resultant performance can be truly spectacular. The point I am trying to make is that everyone has their own style and if it works for them they should stick with it. There is a strong sense of individualism and style prevalent on all these threads, but the real edge available here to all is the near instantaneous explosion of knowledge that is suddenly available to all on a Worldwide basis today. It has most definitely leveled the investment playing field and has made both good tidings and bad news or covering up of same, very difficult to conceal or with-hold for any length of time. As a result these formerly great Wall St Analysts and gurus no longer have that edge and are ending up as toast. As far as the potential for an Intel / IBM merger is concerned and whether the Government would allow it? It seems to me that if they would permit a merger between Boeing and McDonnell Douglas and the other recent defence contractor mergers, they would have a hard time denying and IBM - Intel merger or similar. As I stated in my original post the potential multiplier effect stretches beyond imagination and would undoubtedly lead to an acceleration of breakthroughs through the sharing and exchange of knowledge. In an era when more and more advanced technologies and super-computers are likely to play a major role in defence related areas as well as the maintenance of Superpower status and hopefully in consequence a more peaceful world. I can only conclude that it would have to be a major positive, in any case it seems to be the wave of the moment and of the foreseeable future. Didn't really intend to 'sound off' on all this, just sort of fed on itself. Really just wanted to say thanks for welcoming me back! A great weekend to all Regards Wiz