Regrets

"Regrets? I've had a few,
But then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption."

I have started reading a book called "Too big to fail." So far it is really good. It deals with the months prior to the collapse of Lehman, AIG and how the other banks were "saved". It is a perfect scary halloween read for people in the investment field. I wonder whether any of them regrets any of the decisions they made.
I do not believe in regrets. So far I do not have any. This includes my divorce. However lately I am starting to regret one episode. This one episode is something I regret professionally and personally. The funny thing is that if I had not taken that business decision then I would not have had the regret in my personally life but that decision was followed by one of the best periods of my life. There is a possibility that in both these cases I acted too fast. I do not know. However that whole episode has made me hesitant and made me less trustful of others. I hope this does not effect me too much but I know that a lot of dreams I had were dashed. Now I am afraid to dream. I do not want to dream because I do not want my hopes to fall like a pack of cards. I am also scared to dream because a lot of my dreams come true. Sometimes I do not want to sleep because of that. The curse of the number 8. A highly spiritualistic number, a number that personifies struggle, a number that can bring success but at a cost. Sometimes the cost can be too great and I know that I may have to pay a high cost. I think right now my life reads more like "When Geniuses Fail." rather than "Too Big to Fail."
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The Doppelgänger

It disheartens me to say this but a lot of private wealth managers and client relationship managers are doppelgängers. Most of them smile when they are in front of you but once they get out of sight then you hear about their evil deeds and see their actions unfold. Most of them do not have their clients interests are at heart. These are times of great opportunity. Those doppelgängers and banks they work for can make a lot of money by offering products that seem secure. However the bankers would never have created the product in the first place if there wasn't a significant profit to be made. The relationship managers would not have pushed those products if it did not fatten their pockets. I am not against bankers getting bonuses but what I do not like and appreciate is selling products which even a lay person can make out will do significantly better than the maximum cieling on the return that can be maintained.It is an insult to my intelligence. Safety is an apparition. Either you believe in an investment and get completely into it or you stay out. Wading in a shallow beach wearing a scuba kit which includes an oxygen tank just because a Tsunami hit the land a year back is stupidity. You end up with a hurt back and the person who sold the gear has more money to fill the tills. Get into your swimming trunks or your 2 piece bikini and enjoy the water. The tsunami may come or you may get stung by a jelly fish but the reward you get for taking that risk is far greater than what you will get if you protect yourself.
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Remembering our soldiers

Veterans day is coming and the poppy has started to accesorize everyones clothing. I hope that what I write today will not come back to bite me in the future.
I admire the soldiers and what they do and did. One of my favourite Indian song is in Kannada and it is called Madikeri Sipahi (Soldier from Madikeri) My favourite hymn is "Glory Glory Hallelujah". My favourite sport anthem is "Jerusalem." All of these are songs dealing with war. I support the poppy appeal. However I also believe that there should be charities for those people who lost their jobs in the financial crisis. In fact I think we should hold a minute silence to mourn the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
I am in no way putting the soldiers down or elevating the status of those that worked in the financial sector. However when you join the armed forces then you know that at some stage you will be sent to the front line and will be killed. The maximum possible loss is your life. When a trader walks onto the floor then you know that your job will be at risk with every trade you make. You don't take sufficient risk then you are fired. You make a huge loss then you are fired. You make a profit then you live to fight another day. Investing is war. You have to form your strategy and hope you are right. You fight the market. You may be able to have a comprehensive victory against human enemies but you can never beat the market. The market will always exist in some form or the other. Spare a thought for the misunderstood warriors. The people who used to work in the square mile.
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The veil of secrecy

This whole Galleon affair has got me nervous. Where do you draw a line on insider trading? Can something I say about a particular hedge fund or share over the phone or a glass of whisky be counted as a recommendation to buy and later on become a candidate for hedge funds? I classify hedge funds into three categories. Funds that potentially can be suited for the family office, funds that I like and funds that I would feel comfortable to invest in. I do not think I have revealed the specific names of funds that the family has invested in. I have told people of funds that I like or do not like. However now I think I will keep that too to myself. Hopefully the lack of a current confidant will not cause me to burst my seams. I do miss the person I used to talk to. In this industry it is very hard to trust people and even harder for someone to understand what you are saying. I hope a quarter century from now my son will share my passion for the markets. I also hope that half a decade from now I will not be a Madoff. The last thing I would want is to spend the last 4 years of my life depending on the hospitality of His Majesty's Prison Guard.
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TV Shows

I have started watching Law & Order: Criminal Intent again after Jeff Goldblum has come into it. Yesterday's episode dealt with Hedge Funds. Somehow even TV shows will not stop in bashing hedge fund managers and investors. Hedge Funds are supposed to be for sophisticated investors. If people don't understand that then they should stick with traditional investments or just buy ETF's. Making money is not a sin even if it is as the expense of another. For the markets to do well a balance has to be maintained. Somehow I cannot escape from the financial markets. "You can get in anytime you like but you can never leave." Getting into Investments is like getting bitten by a vampire. That blood thirst will never leave you. Most of the people will be suspicious of you. Some people will give themselves to you. Finally every vampire will be suspicious of other vampires. Oh and during economic summits it may be best going out during the night.

The online realm

I am an avid online gamer. I started off with Ultima Online and moved on to World of Warcraft (WoW) later. Today World of Warcraft is a behemoth with over 6 million subscribers. The next biggest game is the recently launched Aion. It has about 1 million subscribers but so far has not been able to take a foothold in Europe and North America. It will be very hard to take the marketshare from World of Warcraft and for this reason one of the safest shares right now to buy will be Activision. Electronic Arts would also be another share that might be a good buy. The problem I have with EA is that the success of their games have been rather mixed.
The economics of WoW is fascinating. Money is a necessity if you want to do well. I have been able to transpose my work skills and philosophy to the game and I make a good profit in the market. Buy low and then sell high. Buying things whose demand and purpose I understand is what I do. I take a few high value, high risk investments once in a while. Thankfully most of my trades have been successful. I would be willing to hire a person that has been successful in WoW to trade shares for me because the opportunities to make money are limited and things are extremelly competitive. Apart from that there is no bank system so there is no official leverage. There is no shorting either. The result is that people who become successful and have money in WoW are mostly people who can identify opportunities and capitalize on them or they will be people who buy safe stuff and are willing to hold them until the price is right.
Yes I play WoW to relax from work but the thrill of making a profit is in my blood and try as I may I just cannot escape it. If I was a professor and had to teach students about the markets then I would use WoW as the training ground and the required reading would be "The Merchant Prince" by Raymond E. Feist. Who knows maybe one day I will be able to create a browser based game that incorparates a serious trading and economic system into the game. What better way of incorporating my love for the stock market, hedge funds and gaming?
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