How did you get into being an AP?

[halcyon1234]

It's like do I HONESTLY NEED to go to college?

Quick answer: need, no. Should, hell yeah! Take a 60% course load. That will leave you with more than enough time to party, gamble, relax, etc. Take 8 years to get a degree in business or something. Chances are, you won't go broke in 8 years, so you don't have to worry about running out of tuition money. But think about the long term:

1) Your money holds up. You now have the education to invest that money for yourself, and the money will grow.
2) Your money doesn't hold up. You have the education to get a high paying job or something.

If you don't go to college, and #2 happens, you'll suddenly be stuck with no cash and no education. You'll have to spend 4 years and get into debt to get an education. (In other words, the 'normal' route). It's a pain in the ass. Get your college now while it's still fun and you can afford it. It's a +EV move.

 

[Montreal Casino]

The movie "Casino"??? It was about a sports handicapper who ran a casino and is a line maker in real life these days. Not trying to pick an arguement, but if you meant a different movie, I was interested in which one you meant.

I know to which movie your referring to, and i have it also. However, the "Casino" i had watched was in french, and was different from the one your referring to.

 

[sagefr0g]

.... It's like do I HONESTLY NEED to go to college? I know it would be a smart idea, but ....

yep.... find something your truly interested in. college is where it's happening dude!
your well set financially. you can follow your dreams in college. you are a lucky guy take advantage of it.

 

[CaseyCat]

yep.... find something your truly interested in. college is where it's happening dude!
your well set financially. you can follow your dreams in college. you are a lucky guy take advantage of it.

Well said, Sage!

Rspeirsmlb: hard to see it when you are young, but there are many reason's for college besides career and making a better living. Study something you love and it will be with you and enhance you the rest of your life. You could even take some math, probability and theory of gambling at some universities to help your BJ. Maybe become the next Stanford Wong.

I was lucky enough to be able to go back for my MS degree at age 37, really loved the experience and it worked out very well. I am now retired almost two years at age 57. Not rich, but with a decent enough standard of living so I can do stuff like play blackjack as long as I don't get hammered.

 

[shadroch]

What you're saying is partially correct, that a fund manager has restrictions placed on him by higher-ups, but those restrictions are there for a reason. If any one of your stocks crashed (and eventually, one or several of them will) you will probably be taking a loss for the year. Day-trading is much like progression betting in that you can make small profits for a long time, just hope the Big One doesn't hit, and we all know it eventually will. Brokerage fees are significant for small investors too, much like the rake in a low stakes poker game.

Your paradigm of investing is a legitimate one, however I think you might have the advantage miscalculated relative to the volatility (think bet sizing as a function of advantage and variance.) In contrast my fixed income portfolio steams along and pays me hard cash every quarter which doesn't require me to do any selling and is mine to keep forever even if the issuer goes bankrupt. Plus preferred stock investors get generous margin terms, and margin + fixed income = arbitrage... free money.

While I appreciate your postion,let me clarify a few things.
I don't day-trade.In fact I can't. Both of my trading accounts are set so I'm getting information twenty minutes behind,just to avoid such temptation.
My account gives me 6 free purchases a month and cost me $12.95 to sell a stock.Most of my activity is in my IRA so no taxes are due,and every stock I own has a stop-loss on it.Much of my growth comes from reinvesting divedends-I was given shares of Pepsi,Sears and Xerox in 1965 and have been reinvesting since then,although I am no longer holding any Pepsi,just its Yum offshoot.
While my advice wouldn't fit everyone,remember it was offered to a 20 year old that has a long,long way until retirement and can easily recover from the occasional stumble.No way in the world should someone with 40 years to go be buying any sort of bonds.
First you build the nest,then you protect it.

 

[PokerJunky]

While I appreciate your postion,let me clarify a few things.
I don't day-trade.In fact I can't. Both of my trading accounts are set so I'm getting information twenty minutes behind,just to avoid such temptation.
My account gives me 6 free purchases a month and cost me $12.95 to sell a stock.Most of my activity is in my IRA so no taxes are due,and every stock I own has a stop-loss on it.Much of my growth comes from reinvesting divedends-I was given shares of Pepsi,Sears and Xerox in 1965 and have been reinvesting since then,although I am no longer holding any Pepsi,just its Yum offshoot.
While my advice wouldn't fit everyone,remember it was offered to a 20 year old that has a long,long way until retirement and can easily recover from the occasional stumble.No way in the world should someone with 40 years to go be buying any sort of bonds.
First you build the nest,then you protect it.

Each investor has his/her own investment strategy(bottom up, top down, growth, value, relataive valuation, etc). Make sure you're measuring your profolio's relatative volatility (a method is Sharpe ratio) and use the other financial tool's to analyze your investments. I've picked stocks this past year that have returned 33, 100, 35, 40, & -33%, but they call come w/ a price due to their high volatiliy. The bulk if the money has been invested in a protfolio that has easily beaten the market the past four years with much less volatility through the use of derivatives. good luck.

 

[ihate17]

Lefty Rosenthal and the Stardust

The movie "Casino"??? It was about a sports handicapper who ran a casino and is a line maker in real life these days. Not trying to pick an arguement, but if you meant a different movie, I was interested in which one you meant.

For the few that might not know this. The hotel was the Stardust and Ace was really Lefty Rosenthal who has a website. An old friend, Dick Odeski (spelling?) has written a book called "Fly on the Wall" about his days as a reporter for a Vegas paper and the publicist for the Stardust and other Vegas hotels during those times.

ihate17