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does anyone else feel bad from profiting at the expense of others? I think there's still alot of money to be made shorting financials, housing, and the airlines, but it just doesn't seem right. what do yall think about shorting in general?
Last edited by Philosophizer; 06-03-2008 at 10:51 PM..
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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You need to know the game to play, so... those who are buying your stuff need to know the game (and quite often they may know it better than you). It is not BAD, as you are offering your option and someone else thinks its worth buying. It is no worse than buying 'distressed' properties, or buying 'loss leaders' at the food market.
Know your price, don't burn people intentionally, you will get 'adjusted' periodically yourself...
Do you really feel bad for the banks that you are shorting? Didn't they dig their own grave?
I might feel bad shorting a stock of small company that was doing something that would help humanity, but a builder or a bank? Nah.
Shorting doesn't mean I'm rooting for the company to fail or anything like that. It just means I expect demand for shares to cool down for a bit. I don't feel any worse shorting than I do selling shares after making a profit--it's basically the same thing, just in reverse order.
Location: Sitting on a bar stool. Guinness in hand.
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wallstreet 1987
From the movie Wall street
Quote:
Bud Fox: How much is enough?
Gordon Gekko: It's not a question of enough, pal. It's a zero sum game, somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn't lost or made, it's simply transferred from one perception to another.
Look making money on stocks is not for nice guys. There's plenty of people out there that will eat your lunch if they get a chance. Think back to a point if your when you got burned on something. Do you really think that guy/gal that bought your shares really felt bad? I have to say I very much doubt it.
I keep and hold. I am investing. You are gambling. You are damaging the system.
I have never shorted but I wonder how someone that does is damaging the system? Basically, the companies operations and profits etc. should be what they are over the long haul and while short term speculation may temporarily impact stock prices they will return to their fundamentals.
I always felt that the gamblers generally were just making side-bets (with a house rake in transaction costs and taxes etc.) that didn't really effect the main "game" itself.
Perhaps I'm wrong, I'm open to hearing a different explanation.
does anyone else feel bad from profiting at the expense of others? I think there's still alot of money to be made shorting financials, housing, and the airlines, but it just doesn't seem right. what do yall think about shorting in general?
How is shorting any different then buying? (I know the difference, I just mean at the feeling bad from profiting). Dont you feel bad when you buy a stock and it goes up? Some other fool could have held onto it and not sold it to you.
No, I dont feel bad.. The stock market is legal gambling.. everyone involved is aware of it and takes the risk.
I keep and hold. I am investing. You are gambling. You are damaging the system.
I disagree. I believe shorts help to self-regulate the markets. Doom and gloomers like myself can find comfort knowing that we're preventing a stock from rising too quickly.
Then again, shorting BZH and making 10x was really really cool!
Shorting helps keep a lid on this stupid market right now. I hedge my long term retirement investments by holding some shorts. If this market heats up and signals puppy dogs and everything nice is going to happen with the economy and prosperity, then I can handle a some of my shorts getting creamed if I choose not to dump them.
What I can not do is liquidate my retirement holdings willy nilly if the market dips alot. The shorts are in place to bridge/hedge a market that is volatile at points. I am counting on this market to keep playing games by the way. There is a stalemate going on IMHO where each side is waiting to see the other side blink.
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wallstreet 1987
