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Non-Tech : Tulipomania Blowoff Contest: Why and When will it end? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CoffeePot who wrote (1086)	3/3/1999 11:32:00 PM
From: Bear Down	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3543

Your comparison reminds me of all the BRE-X wannabee junior mining companies in Canada in 1996. They were all gonna be the next BRE-X . Not too many want to be BRE-X today, although most are pretty similar... Now everyone is going to be the next EBAY or YAHOO or AMZN....... Remember companies that perform like those are 1 in 1000 ....... not every 4 letter combo that comes down the pike

To: CoffeePot who wrote (1086)	3/3/1999 11:57:00 PM
From: EL KABONG!!!	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3543

Coffee Pot, If you're a student at UC-Pepperdine, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and presume that you're considerably younger than I am. You may have heard this adage before, but with age comes experience, and with experience comes a form of wisdom not available in books. I have heard these arguments over and over again. "It's a new paradigm." "Things are different now." "The speed and information accessibility of the computers make this a level playing field for the individual investor now." "This isn't 1929." "Traditional methods of valuation make no difference for the stocks traded in today's markets." "Look at what's happened over the past year. How can you still cling to your traditional methods? They don't work anymore." "Benjamin Graham was writing about the ways things used to be." The funny thing is, I heard these very same arguments way back in 1987 when biotechs were all the rage. I've read about the same arguments being used even further back in 1973-74, the last really true bear market that most of us can remember. If you read and study market history, then you'll also know that many of these same arguments were presented way back in 1929. Those that cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Do yourself a favor and go to your college library and read the book "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham. He wrote it in about 1948, and the principals of value investing that he so dearly espoused are still valid even in today's fast paced, volatile market. It really doesn't matter that you're a day-trader or a short term trader, an options player or a buy-and-hold investor (this best describes me). If you can understand what he wrote, and more importantly the reasoning behind his principals, then you'll be a much better informed investor that the average Joe on the street. Again, I'm presuming that you're much younger than I, and if true, you have never seen a real bear market. Worse yet, most of the young men and women managing the vast majority of today's mutual funds have never seen the ravages of a savage bear market. I'm talking a market so bad that in many cases you can't unload even quality paper at a 10% discount to the ask. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing if you don't need the cash today. But suppose that you need the cash that's locked up in that stock cert to feed your family or pay your tuition? Maybe lose your home because you can't make the payments? Lose your job because your company's market valuation is in the crapper? Can't get a job because no one's hiring during the bear market? Can't get at your retirement monies? Can't afford to sell your holdings at these prices? I think that you get the point. I don't know you, and you may or may not be smarter than the average bear (pun intended!). But my experience shows that the people that are most in trouble are the same people that think they've got this investing thing licked and can beat the market averages consistently. Good luck to you in your investing. KJC