My Goodbye to Wall Street; Winning by Losing

Reminiscent of an action movie in which the hero is chased through a doorway by a spray of machine gun fire, losing his favorite hat, but keeping his life, I bid farewell to Wall Street today. It's too damned crooked and it tarnishes the soul. Here's some other insight, from someone who's confronted the Wall Street wicked. They are as bad as I might have imagined. Here's a quote from Seeking Alpha, posted by Mark Sunshine.

Unfortunately, most of the money managers who were in the business of managing arbitrage CDOs/CLOs were really smart marketing guys but not so smart money managers. While they ripped out of these deals hundreds of billions in fees and expenses, these money managers really added no value, had no real insights into the market and unlocked nothing (other than their fees).

I liked much of what this post had to say. I don't know about closing the markets, but some of the other points were interesting enough. Here's a quote from Seeking Alpha, posted by John Gilluly.

Being "in" the market as a shareholder today is akin to being in a large swimming pool with hundreds of naked people and 4 or 5 very hungry Great White sharks. You can see people being eaten alive, you can hear their screams and see the blood in the water, and yet all's you have to do is hop out of the water and get out at the side of the pool. Then you're safe. Why wouldn't you do this?...

...We no longer have a "market" as you and I have come to know it. We have Saturn eating his children.

Unless you can afford to watch the market constantly, you don't stand a chance. I was lucky today, which is why I can laugh about it. But, I was scrambling for the door or poolside, in the case above. The results could have been catastrophic. It's just not worth it. My advice to anyone considering opening up a brokerage account, don't. Find a reliable Credit Union or some very conservative bank and invest in CDs and savings bonds, treasuries, pay cash for raw land. Even a second job is preferable to gambling at Wall Street. I kept trying to normalize it, but it's nothing but a rigged casino.

So much time wasted on charts, reading, and constantly reviewing a position for the 1000 ways some crook can steal it away from you. It's not a part time job.