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Some Late Night Trading "Buzzkill" From Scopelabs
Gregory Simmons, the energetic force behind Scopelabs, is an unorthodox money manager whose legacy exposure, and subsequent disenchantment, with Wall Street forced him into self-enforced exile (Hawaii is sufficiently far from Wall and Broadway), where he now runs an iconoclast trading operation combining elements of quantitative, technical, fundamental and every other possible analysis. Simmons has been striving to expose the core truths, or flaws depending on perspective, about trading (first and foremost that there is no such thing, especially since the vast majority of market participants end up losing to a few select winners, as a sure thing) which many daytraders simply refuse to accept in their pursuit of gambling nirvana, all the while failing to recognize that perceived skill (especially in our current marketplace) has very little if anything to do with profit. The below video is a suitable introduction for Zero Hedge readers who may not be familiar with Scopelabs: appropriately titled "Buzzkill", in it Simmons debunks several of the key doctrines that dominate the numerous streams of Stocktwits momentum chasers, "theory fitters" and other Koolaid drinkers, all of whom, we have long claimed, have far better odds at success in a rigged casino (and not to mention the downside protection of at least getting comped expenses) than trading in the stock market, absent the "information arbitrage" capabilities of those who, to bastardize Sun Tzu, have made the profit before the initiating trade was ever printed.
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Late, bitchez
buzzkill
bitch
all very very good words of yesterday. sorry i missed the fun.
thanks for all your long hours and work and time spent on the greatest event called zerohedge. i apologize if i said naughty things to any of you. OK
Never have anything other than bitchez to say? what are you 10?
nice chick
http://www.youtube.com/user/walstreetpro2#p/u/0/6-eJ-t_XzOE
This guy has been silent for the last 11 months, WTF?
I think he got a job.
Probably nothing legal. But pretty solid swing.
Captain Crazy has a point though. If he smokes an ounce of marajauna a week that is about all he could buy on a 40 hour week at $8/hr. And job hunting would be pretty much out of the equation. A classic mix-up...
I miss that guy - only guy to talk sense...
I miss that guy - only guy to talk sense...
“Is it OK?”
2008: Why did Charles Schumer, the Wall Street Senator, pre-empt Federal bank regulators and damage Indymac liquidity so that it would be immediately destroyed? Finally, a video reveals who profited from the demise of Indymac. (Hint: Do the name Goldman Sachs ring a familiar note?)
Transcript (mine) of the Video, Indymac Boys Gets Sweetheart Deal*:
Good morning, this is your TBWS Daily for February 8, 2010. You know, does the government really want to clean up this (mortgage fraud) mess?
Consider this! Like many other banks, Indymac Bank closed its doors and was seized by the FDIC in July 2008. The assets of Indymac Bank were sold to OneWest Bank by the FDIC in March 2009.
Well, guess who owns OneWest Bank? That would be Goldman Sachs’ VP Steven Mnuchin and big time Sachs’ investors and billionaires George Soros and John Paulson (of no blood relation to ex-Goldman Sachs CEO Hank Paulson who’d be the ex-secretary of the treasury) …
All current residential mortgages were purchased at 70% of the par value. All HELOC’s were purchased at 58% of the value. But just to make sure these guys remained cozy and warm, the FDIC decided to step up and cover 80% to 95% of the losses they might incur from any of those naughty Indymac mortgage homeowners.
So you’re probably asking yourself why we think you should know this. Well, in the event of a short sale or a foreclosure, the loss is calculated using the original loan balance and not the amount OneWest Bank paid for the loan.
(I feel the plot thickening here, don’t you?)
Here’s an actual example from a client of one of our viewers. Take an actual loan balance of $478,000 plus 6 months’ missed payments for a grand total of $485,200. OneWest Bank paid $334,600 for that loan. Okay. Now, the underwater homeowner has an all cash offer that nets $241,000 for OneWest Bank. Well, according to the FDIC formula, you take the original loan amount, $485,200 minus the amount of the offer $241,000, and that leaves you with $244,200 bucks.
Next, according to the sweetheart deal, the FDIC writes a check to OneWest Bank for 80% of the net loss ($244,200). So in this case, OneWest Bank gets a check from the taxpayer courtesy of the FDIC for $195,360. So, now, add the $195,360 from the government to the $241,000 cash offer and OneWest Bank just made $436,360 on a loan that they bought for only $334,600 and all they had to do is sell it for whatever they wanted to.
Guys, they can’t lose money on this deal. Think about it. So OneWest Bank just profited from the short sale to the tune of $101,760--all thanks to the insane arrangement that they have with the FDIC… Hey, whoever said It’s good to have friends in high places! wasn’t kidding around.
So the next time you ask yourself why is it so hard to get a loan modification, the answer is because there’s too much money to be made with short sales and foreclosures.
Now, are you ready for an encore? Now remember, even though OneWest Bank profited by more than $100,000, the house was still sold for less than the full loan amount. In this actual scenario, the borrower was forced to sign a promissory note for $75,000 with OneWest Bank. So who really pays in the end? … Well, we’ll just let you decide.
Oh, and by the way, the FDIC just announced it’s to start borrowing money from the treasury, the treasury being the place where all those Goldman Sachs guys called home before they called OneWest Bank home. If you’re as mad about this as Frank and I are, share this video with everyone you know. Help us reveal where the real problems lie in the industry that we all care so deeply about. (End)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssl5yb7FewA
*Indymac Boys Gets Sweetheart Deal was produced by TBWS Daily.com, founded by a group of real estate and mortgage industry entrepreneurs to provide tools and industry integrity for their businesses.
FEDbuster introduced this video on ZH today (#521116 ) as just more evidence why the “banksters and government are 99% to blame” for this mess and why they don’t care about “what your house is worth or what houses sell for.” And added: “There will be blood in the streets.”
______________________________________________________________
NOTE: On March 19, 2009, Sard Verbinnen & Co, issued a new releases from Pasadena, California, announcing the acquisition of Indymac by OneWest Bank. Here is an excerpt:“We appreciate the support of the FDIC and the OTS (the Office of Thrift Supervision announced Indymac’s closure and transferred the operations to the FDIC) in completing this transaction, and we are committed to continuing our work with the FDIC and other government agencies to implement programs to help homeowners. We are looking forward to a long and successful relationship with our valued customers, dedicated employees, and the communities we serve,” said Steven Mnuchin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OneWest Bank Group, the holding company that now owns the bank. “OneWest will benefit from a strong capital position and support from a committed group of investors.”
OneWest Bank’s Chief Executive Officer is Terry Laughlin, a veteran banking executive with over 30 years of banking experience who has held senior positions at Merrill Lynch Bank & Trust, FleetBoston and Mellon Bank.
https://www.owb.com/uploadedFiles/Footer/pr_20090319_owb(1).pdf
Remember, it was Senate banking committee member Charles Schumer (D-NY) that expressed concerns about Indymac’s viability. Wrote CBS Money Watch: “Said OTS Director John Reich, the release of Schumer’s letter underminded the public confidence essential for a financial institution and took away the time Indymac needed to pursue a recovery. ‘This insitution failed today due to a liquidity crisis,’ Reich said. ‘Although this institution was already in distress, I am troubled by any interference in the regulatory process.’”
This organized crime makes the mob seem like a bunch of wimps.
This organized crime IS the mob. They are now just operating on the legal side of the law.
yes, when I try to explain the scope and extent of US corruption to foreigners who believe that their 3rd world nation is more corrupt, just trying to grasp the circuitous details and routes monies go thru actually makes them dizzy.
Our elites have shell corporations all over the world, trusts, random vehicles, banking secrecy, co-conspirators in a money laundering lazy susan from here to China.
You really have to have a head for details to even get how you are being robbed blind. When confronted with this, most americans just say "Obama will fix it" or some other party line retreat.
This is an incredible observation, that America’s level of corruption is not only worse than that of the Third World, but its extent cannot be explained.
Last week I listened to an NPR program dealing with Department of Defense spending. None of the panelists, a couple of them experts, could provide any concrete figures on how much money is being spent, where it is allocated, and who is responsible . I’m sure anyone listening, by the end of the program, was mortified at the scope of waste and corruption; billions lost, misplaced or stolen…billions awarded in no-bid private contracts without any accounting.
Bottom line: the war on terror is worth the cost; but no one knows the cost. And that’s just one area of the federal leviathan.
The system is now 100% corrupt JR. It took my becoming a federal whistleblower
(AWOL federal workers) to fully realize this fact...
Jesus, yes. Too bad Mario Puzo is dead. He could write something about this that would make Don Corleone look like a bedtime story for 2-year-olds.
JR it's midnight don't you have something better to do with your frickin fingers. your married and you have time to go off endlessly as above. i just don't get it and you call this happy. i say bored with bed.
bed only takes 90 seconds Velobabe...once a week!
I guessing that either a) you're bothered that his wife doesn't have him wrapped around her little finger the way most wives would, or b) the fact that he's awake and not boning or trolling for porn at 2:26am means that he's quite satisfied by the action he's pulling on the side.
Don't hate
Sleep on me, that pillow is where your head’ll lie
Permanently, bitch, it’s beddy-bye
This world is my Easter egg, yeah, prepare to die
My head is swole, my confidence is up
oh thanks cutey, your reply means so much to me.
It's the beard, isn't it? Works better than Colt 45.
well maybe a little more than the beard big guy, but remember i scare easily.
the survival rate for everyone drops to Ø.
“That’s no human flesh in all creation that’s so partial to home and the family circle, square, kitchen, barn, log-hut, pig-pen or fire-place as a Kentuckian. For my own part, I war in the habit, every morning’, of lightin’ my pipe, and givin’ all my domestic circle -- wimmin, colts, wild cats, and kittens – an all-squeezin’ hug all round; and the way the brute portion of ‘em showed their sharp ivories, and grinned back double extra satisfaction, war indeed upwards of gratifying to my mortal and sympathetic natur.” Davy Crockett ;-)
Nicely done G$. Your whole Buzz Kill series is a must watch for anyone who wants to get a grip and take control. Thanks for the info. You've been calling it solid for a long time now, makes me worry that you may be right about what our nations future holds. Keep up the good work...Aloha
Absolutely! MauiDog.
Digital news, with champion sites such as Zero Hedge, not only better inform audiences with reports such as this, but in polling data continue to outdistance the mainstream.
Gallup.com: “Washington, DC—Americans continue to express near-record-low confidence in newspapers and television news—with no more than 25 percent of Americans saying they have a ‘great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’ of confidence in either. These views have hardly budged since falling more than 10 percentage points from 2003-2007…
“The Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism’s annual report on the State of the News Media, released in March found for a third straight year, only digital and cable news sources growing in popularity, while network news, local news, and newspaper audiences shrink.”
This lack of improvement is bad news for mainstream media as newspaper prospects continue to decline even as major papers fold. When you get down to one-newspaper towns, they’re still declining, even if they have a monopoly.
Homo Hedge
"No matter how cynical I get, I just can't keep up." - Lily Tomlin
Surfin up some truth from the Big Island? Nice work G$!!! Call it straight, catch the curl.
Link below to watch another great video by Greg / Scopelabs:
http://www.itulip.com/forums/showthread.php/11469-Treating-a-hangover-with-heroin.-(9min.)?daysprune=365
I can't do the mirror test. When I look in the mirror, all I can do is flex and mutter, "fabulous...".
Hmm, ask yourself this? Is it okay to waste bandwidth on a video saying everybody who trades is a tool... except you (of course)? Is it okay to pretend to be a sage and mildly rant on things that have been said a million times in better ways? Is it okay for ZH to point us to high bandwidth, narcissistic know-nothing space wasters.
Answer - no it isn't okay, and narcissistic doesn't even begin to describe this tool in the video.
Nonetheless, ZH has no competition in the trading blogosphere and deservedly so.
Thanks for asking if it was “ok”?
I was interested in what this guy had to say about people surrendering their money to these “disruptive experts” who’ve wiped out all their hard-earned money. I mean, I wanted to know what a guy whose burn-rate was over $100,000 a month had to say that might counter what Suze Orman and Barack Obama and the “dedicated financial advisors” at Goldman have been telling these little folk…the losers.
I was interested in a guy with this kind of public stature who’d take on the mainstream bookmakers like Buffett who’re always demonstrating how to come out on the winning (losing) side.
So, yeess, it is ok with me that this guy took on the Fed and the government, even if he had to eschew the mainstream media airwaves, like you say, and “waste bandwidth on a video…to pretend to be a sage” and “rant on things that have been said a million times in better ways.”
It was worth the wasted breath of fresh airwaves, IMHO, to find out why, when it comes to trading and investing and things like that, “90 of the people lose, and so 5 percent break even and 5 percent make all the money…
But, then, I’m not in the top 5 percent of investors making all that money.
Is this guy giving out trading advice here, i.e. dont trade? My granny could have told me that.
Was he OK?
Ya, he was OK
Was the technique OK?
Ya, the technique was OK
Was the implementation OK?
Nein, da implementation was...
..."Top Ten Hilarious April Fool's Day Pranks In The Mafia
10. Tell a guy you're going to shoot him, then kill him with a brick.
9. Tape sign to informant's back that reads: "Whack me."
8. The old "non-drying cement shoes" gag.
7. Put body in big paper bag, place it on somebody's doorstep, light it on fire, ring doorbell, run away.
6. Phone local teamsters office, say, "This is Jimmy Hoffa--any messages for me?"
5. Call up Domino's; order a pizza for Mr. Foghead A. Boutit.
4. The old severed finger in the hot dog bun trick.
3. Replace someone's "Godfather" tape with a Teletubbys video.
2. Instead of horse's head, rig it so somebody wakes up next to Linda Tripp.
1. Three words: squirting pinkie rings."...
...you know...
I like this clip, but can't help thinking, is it ok that guys like Greg Simmons are making money trading from Hawaii while millions are struggling with unemployment? Admittedly, the man kills what he eats, and rightfully deserves the fruits of his labor, but it's more of a philosophical question on income distribution and where our society is heading. Then again, I'm just jealous because deep inside, I'd love to reach his financial independence, trading from my beloved island of Crete, eating incredible food, swimming, suntanning, and reading while enjoying the most amazing beaches in the world! :)
nice beaches L E O,
fine fine water in that videao to watch and enjoy some splendid mental mastarbation. which by the way, a lot of young beautiful woman don't want to realize, is possible. face value with these next to be grace kelly's.
well, your probably busy getting ready to go to church with the family, so i will let you go.
Why is this dude posting his daughter's face on Skynet?
Pedo Hedge
Well that was a total waste of 10 minutes...
Double-Post
Old ideas, boring presentation. Not worthy of ZH.
I ask myself these questions every time I make a trade. How can I be critical when I run my check list before I trade using the same topics? My last trade C Sept. 4$ puts @ .13. Sold @.22, dreaming of the home run of 1.00$ ha! I ask myself the questions and take the not so joyous double instead. When I now make a trade, I used to think other traders were on the other end and now I have to ask where are the computers going to dump on me. I found many of G.S. statements true in my own schooling on trading. After trading a string of gains I used to think, I can do no wrong everything I think is gold! This thinking always lead to faster and higher risk trades at higher volumes with inevitable gains to loses.Now I take 30% of the gains and park it in cash not knowing who will win out in the deflation/inflation war because one thing is clear the middle is dead.
Unlike some commenters, I believe this ZH post is particularly important and illustrates the point that we are becoming complacent with all the malfeasance on Wall St and Capital Hill.
I have to agree 100%! When trading against these computers what have you found that works? I have been buying at the money puts/calls on the other side of high % up/down days. Which is mainly Dow components usually.
What a godawful boring speaker with absolutely nothing worthwhile or relevant to say.
The only thing this guy could be debunking is ZH as a source of good financial information.
A wasted 10 minutes, for sure.
Updated DOW and SP500 charts:
http://stockmarket618.wordpress.com
I like these type alternative thoughts, even if I don't always agree with them. This type stuff, David Rosenberg, Meredith Whitney, and the Scribd downloads is why I really like ZeroHedge blog. Keep it up guys, and next time Jim Cramer takes a hypocritical cheap shot, ignore him. He's minus as useless as the CNBC bimbos.
Resources like the one you mentioned here will be very useful for me! I like to share it with all my friends and hope they will definitely like it.
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Greg Simmons is a class A+ character. I like the themes of his commentary. TD - Is there any way that you can coop G$ to have a semi-regular article on you blog?
Maybe he is too busy doing his own thing...