1. I love answering questions, any and all questions, but if you guys have questions about stuff like my strategy, my book An American Hedge Fund, my instructional DVD PennyStocking, basically anything whatsoever, please, please please post your questions in the FORUMS. Right now, I’m about a week and a half behind on emails and I get too many asking the same damn questions! (want more real-time updates, follow me on Twitter…my book is only sold online…no, I’m not gonna give you free copies just cuz you’re poor…yes, I am available to speak (that you can email me about)…no, I haven’t lost everything, I’m down 30% or 35% off my highs…yes, you can short stocks under $5, read the past 400 blog posts or so!) Forums make it much easier and I like getting all the info out there for everyone to see and debate. So keep ‘em comin’, gratzie.
2. As of April 1, 2008, Covestor shows me up 150% during the five months since TIM inception in November 2007. This is inaccurate. I’m really up 40% since then. Not too shabby, but I get too many emails about this. Covestor is a great great platform that the industry needs, but they only track people’s trades and investments, not their cash positions. Since I only trade 1-2 stocks at a time, leaving the rest in cash—as compared to the popular diversification route/scam involving dozens of positions and very little, if any, cash—my Covestor returns represent what would happen if I used 50-100% of my portfolio each time, instead of the actual 20-40%.
Considering how small dollar-wise my positions currently are and how much better my returns would be if I did go all in—maybe I should??! Nooooooooooooooo—that would be setting a bad example to all the newbies and kids out there. I’m trying to preach conservative (somewhat) short selling/ penny stock trading!
So, please recognize the difference, understand how awesome my strategy is, how not-so-great I am at taking full advantage of it and that my publishing business model is based on brutal honesty. I’m never gonna cheat at ANYTHING because even if it did get me ahead, a.) it’d be wrong and b.) I’d be risking my entire biz model! Get used to me making plenty of mistakes…they make make me just happy because not only can I write about them to help others avoid them later, contrary to the joke that is financial wisdom propagated by generations of snake oil salesman, frauds, liars, marketers and untalented and unintelligent bastards, mistakes are nothing to be ashamed of, the problem is not learning from them!
3. Do not ask me questions about stocks in the comments section of my blog posts—you may have noticed this site’s popularity is on the rise, there’s no way I can keep up with them all, so instead post your questions about chart patterns, stocks, investments, ideas, whatever, in the FORUMS
Am I getting through to you yet?
Post them in the FORUMS, post them in the FORUMS, in the FORUMS, in the FORUMS
How about now?
4. Why am I so obsessively branding ‘TIM’, am I some kind of narcissist?
No, I’m not a narcissist, just a guy who knows he’s gonna succeed because in an industry full of BSers, my claim to fame is being able to the whole truth and nothing but. Tough truths like despite all the news spouted out by the WWF-like financial media circus each day,opportunities for high probability trading profits are rare. Or long-term price targets on momentum plays are akin to guessing the temperature years from today.
Truths like all CEOs are full of BS, in fact they’re professional BSers, that’s how they’ve gotten to the top! And even the toughest—I don’t now what’s gonna happen with xyz stock, most price action is pretty random, there are too many unpredictable variables, better off going to the beach and returning when the variables are predictable.
Remember, besides Transparent Investment Management, TIM also stands for Trust In Me. And that’s exactly what you’re gonna do—in time—because, for better or worse, I’m gonna call it like I see it. Always. And while I’m no industry bigwig, I’ve got a decade of experience under my belt and for all the taxes, my mistakes and going it on my own without any mentors or corporate experience whatsoever, I’ve still got 60x the money I had just a few years ago. Think about how you’d feel if you made 60x your current account within a decade, pretty damn happy, right?
My strategy will never make me or you more than a few million bucks, but you know what, I make money trading—whether it’s a few thousand, tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars per year and I can help make you money trading too. In an industry where 90% of traders fail and NOT ONE OTHER “guru”, “market expert”, “talking head” PUBLICLY DISCLOSES ALL their trades and investments, their ENTIRE track record or is willing to publicly answer ANY question EVERY day.
So, you see, I have a lot to be proud of. It’s not ego, it’s confidence. Confidence in purpose. Confidence in the future.
Posted in Interviews, Q&A, Rants