Jim Cramer on financial manipulation | 45 comments (45 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Short term speculation is a board game (none / 1)

there are rules, and there are cheaters. No reason not to be pissed off at cheaters. the trick is catching them. I got $10 bucks says Cramer knows the statute of limitations to the minute...

But if you are truly an investor, the price of XYZ corp gyrating around the line fundamentals would generate doesn't matter a whit. This is just one set of aholes ripping off others. In the meantime they provide liquidity you might need and narrow the trading spread.

Now if you have money invested in a hedge fund and these dicks are spoofing their report cards to generate larger bonus payments than reality would give, you are being robbed. But if you are a hedge fund investor, then you should know the people you are dealing with are probably dicks and factor that into your decision to invest money with them. And this is why to get into a hedge fund you have to prove you are a sophisticated investor.

You can't cheat an honest man very easily. Reaching for well above market returns is a sure sign of greed. Risk/Reward. there are no free lunches.

by HiD on Thu Mar 22nd, 2007 at 06:56:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Short term speculation is a board game (none / 0)

I am an investor, so I have not been damaged by the manipulation.

Aren't you pissed off by watching Cramer on the You tube clip. I am.

Personally it does not undermine my confidence in the markets--but i just don't like the image it gives to others. It's a market confidence thing , isn't it.?

by wchurchill on Thu Mar 22nd, 2007 at 07:11:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]

only at how matter of fact he is (none / 0)

about it. I worked on Wall Street in the commods area which makes equity trading look like a tea party.

Google Vitol, Trafigura, Marc Rich, Clarendon, Vanol and see the kind of crap these people are accused of around the world. These were my counterparties.

by HiD on Thu Mar 22nd, 2007 at 07:15:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: only at how matter of fact he is (none / 0)

well I'm a CEO type, and I'm really pissed off at this. Big time pissed off.

by wchurchill on Thu Mar 22nd, 2007 at 07:52:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: only at how matter of fact he is (none / 1)

wc, maybe you were not around at the time, but there have been various diaries about stuff like this which you did not comment on...

Acceptable Market Manipulation by ChrisCook on November 9th, 2006
Pulling Keynes' teeth by Migeru on September 10th, 2006

"It's the statue, man, The Statue."

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Mar 22nd, 2007 at 07:58:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Short term speculation is a board game (none / 1)

Why is it that every kind of player in the financial markets thinks that the other kinds are either assholes or suckers? That makes me think of the milieu of scam artists, where everyone thinks nobody else is trustworthy but they pretend to trust each other so they can scam others and hopefully scam each other at the end.

"It's the statue, man, The Statue."

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Mar 22nd, 2007 at 07:23:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Short term speculation is a board game (none / 1)

It seems like these people are in a constant state of insecurity and that they are overcompensating. I know that's cliché, but this is all about bluster and bluffing and lying to get what you want. Money! Yes! Power! I'm a real man!

by andrethegiant on Thu Mar 22nd, 2007 at 08:11:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

the bluffing is part of the game (none / 0)

old trader saw:

"never let them see you sweat"

and it's true. If the others smell weakness they gain the confidence needed to perhaps break you. No single player is bigger than the markets as the Hunts found out.

by HiD on Thu Mar 22nd, 2007 at 08:35:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: the bluffing is part of the game (none / 1)

Another saw:

Bulls make money, bears make money, pigs get slaughtered.

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.

by metavision on Thu Mar 22nd, 2007 at 07:02:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Hmm (none / 1)

First does every kind of player actually think all the others are suckers or assholes? I rather doubt it. Bit of a strawman to feed into the value judgement that follows.

If you have ever had to be around the real Cramer type speculators you'll find that most of the truly successful ones will gamble on anything, are utterly amoral about how they make money and really don't much care if others get hurt. That's my experience.

I admit I've never dealt with people at pure quant shops -- since they don't deal with people and let the models do the talking. The truly successful ones there just keep their mouths shut and hope no one notices their actions and succeeds in reverse engineering their models. The best geek on our desk was one of the nicest humans you could ever meet. Incredibly smart and grounded. Made partner and therefore got extremely rich. Well deserved compared to some of his peers.

As for long term investors, they are neither suckers nor aholes. Just folks put some assets at risk in hopes of a return.

Day traders who think they can beat the system operating from home? 80%+ suckers. And these are Cramer's Cramerica.

by HiD on Thu Mar 22nd, 2007 at 08:33:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hmm (none / 0)

Well put. I should have been more restrictive in my comments. I was referring to the residents of Cramerica, the day-trader types who combine sociopathic social skills with knowledge of the markets. The more scientific types might sometimes be sociopathic, but they do not rely merely on that asset to get them by.

by andrethegiant on Thu Mar 22nd, 2007 at 10:33:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Jim Cramer on financial manipulation | 45 comments (45 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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