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the tradgedy of the commons [0612.1999] posted to mindlist: The tradgedy of the commons... Once upon a time there was a little farm town. In the center of town was an area called the commons, and everyone was free to use it as they saw fit. Because it was so grassy, many of the farmers brought their cows and horses there to graze. Because everyone respected the commons, and everyone shared, the commons were a wonderful resource for everyone involved. Well, one day a farmer got to thinking.. "You know, I could let my cows graze here all day, and then I could use more of my own land for growing crops. And why not? The commons are big enough to feed my two cows and plenty more" ... And so, he brought his two little cows into the commons and let them graze all day. The other farmers saw what was going on, and realized instantly the logic of it. Each of them only had a cow or two, so they each reasoned that their little cows would leave plenty left over for everyone else. Well, the days went on, and soon there were twenty cows all living on the commons. Soon there just wasn't enough grass to go around. Not only that, there were piles of cow dung everywhere, and quite frankly, the commons started to stink. In fact, the cows all died of methane poisoning, the farmers all went bankrupt and some slick looking corporate types bought all the land and built a giant shopping mall right on top of the commons. the end. . 0612.1999b friends and personal change posted to mindlist: I noticed a couple people here mentioning their concern over the way their friends would react if they made a particular change. Don Juan (of Castaneda fame) went so far as to suggest that you leave all your friends behind, because their way of thinking about you would hold you back from changing. (whether it's actually something the friends do, or just strong anchors.. who knows?) I think that's silly. Are these people friends or straight jackets? I have one friend who makes a big deal out of anything I do differently. Two friends, actually. One goes nuts and tells me how impressed and amazed she is. She exaggerates immensely but it's all in fun, and because I know her, I find it supporting. The other friend.. doesn't do anything specific, but I often feel like I'm on trial or being regarded as a freak. So I just don't talk to this person anymore. :) Some people aren't going to like the changes you make. You just have to ask yourself whether their opinion is more important than the change. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn't. Decide, and act accordingly. .
0621.1999a traderbot advantages I just recently got back to toying with automated trading ideas. My latest thought was inspired by Wade Cook's "Wall Street Money Machine" ... I wouldn't trust my money to his philosophy, but he did have at least one interesting point: some stocks "roll" over and over between two price points every few weeks or so... The only problem is that those stocks are hard to find.... For the average investor. But it shouldn't be any problem at all for a bot.. So that's a fifth bot advantage to add to the list:
Wade Cook had another point... You don't always have to monitor the price.. You can just buy, and put in an immediate sell order for the price you want.. and when the stock hits that price, the broker's computers will make the trade.. Finally, the more you distribute intelligence (it seems to me), the dumber (and simpler) each individual piece becomes... This makes it easier to program, but it would also (I'd suspect) increase the robustness of the system as a whole. . |