Daily Speculations The Web Site of Victor Niederhoffer & Laurel Kenner Dedicated to the scientific method, free markets, deflating ballyhoo, creating value, and laughter;  a forum for us to use our meager abilities to make the world of specinvestments a better place.

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9/17/04
Important Message from the President, by Jack Tierney

Things I've taught or learned from the member of the Old Speculators Club and/or Vic. Old speculators club --Buy-and-hold is a dated strategy, doomed to underperformance --The vig demanded by a commercial broker is a ticket to the poorhouse --Mutual funds are a sucker's game --Hedge funds are, by and large, inherently unstable and inappropriate for the run-of-the-mill investor (myself) --Day trading is madness...an occupation successfully indulged in by a handful --Investing in commodities or commodity related equities signifies mental impairment and eventual failure --ALL investment advice offered at a price is a sham and any results claimed are suspect if not downright fraudulent --Investment advice offered for free should be shunned under the theory of "you get what you pay for" --Past performance in not only not indicative of future results, but more than likely the result of dumb luck --Stock hunters who regularly bag the limit (e.g., Bill Miller) are chimeras and about as easy to find as continuities in the fossil record...best explained by somebody like Taleb that it's inevitable that, sooner or later, someone will flip heads 13 times in a row --With very few exceptions, brokers, fund managers, floor traders, analysts, hedgers, take-over specialists, and the clean-up staffs of the major exchanges are avaricious, self-dealing pirates --Yet, despite all these caveats, it's not only possible to make money in the market, but essential to play it in order to ensure one's future well-being...go figure.

P.S.: I believe it was Ambrose Bierce who defined success as the "one unforgivable sin a man can commit against his brother."