Books 02 (Nov 08 - Nov 09)

[Cheng]

:arrow: i received the e-book of Securities Analysis from someone; shall read this as bed-time stories

San jie you confirm sleep haha... It's very dry but the book is full of wisdom.

[kennynah]

yeah...i couldn't get past 2 pages.... like looking at some archived gahmen ministry's typrwriter typed documents.... sian like anything...

[Cheng]

yeah...i couldn't get past 2 pages.... like looking at some archived gahmen ministry's typrwriter typed documents.... sian like anything...

Graham is professor, english very power de. Sometimes I need to reread the chapter again haha...

[millionairemind]

Just finished the book The Complete Turtle Trader by Mike Covel. You may have read his other book Trend Following which is a great read if you want to understand the trend following system.

Mike goes back to profile the start of the experimental program in the 1980s - Nurture vs Nature for Great Trading. It was a bet between Richard Dennis and Bill Eckhardt. Richard was a Prince of the Pits and made a bet with Bill (his partner) that great trading can be taught.

Mike traces the rise of the turtles as a group and how they fared after the experiment ended. Among them is current billionaire trader like Jerry Parker who counts Dennis as his teacher. The rules of the turtle trading were also laid out in plain view.

You may remember one of the original turtle Russell Sands coming to Singapore to do turtle training a few years back and charging something like $10K (?) per person. Heck, you get it free from National Library.

Turns out Sands was kicked out of the program after the first year.

My take away is trading is an extremely stressful occupation (I should know that ). You can have all the rules but two different persons training under the same teacher will have different results, one goes to stratospheric proportion like Jerry Parker and the other into mediocrity.

Here's a summary of the book.
http://www.turtletrader.com/the_complet ... rader.html

This book, together with Trend Following are good reads.

[cif5000]

Title: The Theory of the Leisure Class

The things I find interesting are in bold.

Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article ... 401777.htm


No time-out for big-spending 'leisure class'
Created: 2009-5-23
Author:Wan Lixin


FIRST published in 1899, this is one of the oldest books I have reviewed, but also one of the most engrossing and enlightening.

This classic analysis of leisure in the American context over a century ago is still of compelling relevance today, with minimum revisions needed.

Of particularly value is the description of the role of consumption in the modern era.

According to the book, except for some primitive cultures, most societies distinguish between those who work productively and those who do not, with higher status accorded to the latter.

This distinction is made in societies where there is private ownership of property.

The possession of property, whether acquired by force, fraud, inheritance, purchase, trade or other means, has been considered honorable since feudal times, and is almost the only yardstick of being "successful."

"The thief or swindler who has gained great wealth by his delinquency has a better chance than the small thief of escaping the rigorous penalty of the law ..." the book reads.

This criterion - the possession of wealth and ownership of property - inspires an active emulation among the "inferiors" of society, reducing human existence to cultivation of the art of accumulation.

Unlike other animals who strive for subsistence, modern humans live for "invidious distinction," rooted in envy and the desire to emulate those who have more.

Francis Bacon called riches the "baggage of virtue," comparing it to the baggage of an army and observing: "It cannot be spared, nor left behind, but it hindreth the march."

As the satisfaction of possessing wealth can only be experienced when the possession is known to others, wealth must be visible.

That's why in civilized societies goods are valued by their price, not its usefulness.

Thus, more respect is paid to those who can pay a lot of money for something that doesn't have any practical use, otherwise known as luxuries.

A lady grabbing an LV bag is sending a message: with the item's practical function virtually negligible, she can afford to spend a fortune on a label; and it's easily visible.

Similarly, men still wear watches not because they need to know the time, but because it is the only jewelry for men.

These aspirations develop into tastes, fashions and lifestyles that can be linked to the possession or consumption of some expensive but useless things.

Gradually more prestige is attached to those who can enjoy the advantages of wealth without having to do productive work.

According to the book this taboo on productive work has historical roots, but I believe the modern use of machines and the perfected art of exploitation infinitely increased the potential for getting a lot without having to work.

Consequently, wealth acquired by abstaining from work is deemed more honorable than that obtained the harder way.

Hence the need to demonstrate this abstention from productive work, and this is where leisure comes in.

Leisure demonstrates that you are not, and do not need to be, engaged in productive labor.

According to the book, some unquestionable proofs of leisure include the mastery of useless languages and sciences, grammar, poetry and music.

Today these cultural attainments are no longer held in esteem, and leisure is more connected with consumption in its more explicit forms: travel, pleasure-seeking, golfing, or the use of narcotics.

These consumption has to be conspicuous to bring prestige.

But it is wrong to confine these tendencies to a few snobs.

As a matter of fact, modern society's enshrinement of GDP is based on the concept of standard of living, or the amount of consumption considered decent, which is essentially a constant reminder that you need to consume more stuff to keep up with your superiors.

There is a new development clearly unforeseen by the author.

Generally speaking, true leisure today is scarce across all segments of the population, and more restricted to the underprivileged, because the rest of the species are either busy with production or with consumption.

[winston]

Am trying to read "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius. It's a difficult book to read because of the Olde English..

Meditations (Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν, Ta eis heauton, literally "thoughts/writings addressed to himself") is the title of a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius setting forth his ideas on Stoic philosophy.

Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the Meditations in "highly-educated" Koine Greek[1] as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement. It is possible that large portions of the work were written in Sirmium, where he spent much time planning military campaigns from 170 to 180.

We know that some of it was written while he was positioned at Aquincum on campaign in Pannonia, because internal notes tell us that the second book was written when he was campaigning against the Quadi on the river Granova (modern-day Hron) and the third book was written at Carnuntum. It is not clear that he ever intended the writings to be published, so the title Meditations is but one of several commonly assigned to the collection. These writings take the form of quotations varying in length from one sentence to long paragraphs.

His stoic ideas often revolve around the denial of emotion, a skill which, he says, will free a man from the pains and pleasures of the material world. He claims that the only way a man can be harmed by others is to allow his reaction to overpower him. An order or logos permeates existence. Rationality and clear-mindedness allow one to live in harmony with the logos. This allows one to rise above faulty perceptions of "good" and "bad."

[kennynah]

wealth acquired by abstaining from work is deemed more honorable than that obtained the harder way.

this is what aristocrats would like commoners to believe... utter rubbish...

[winston]

I reread the article by cif5000.

Looks ok lah. In Chinese society, you have the same thing as well. The wealthy would engage their time in art, calligraphy, poems, poetries, martial arts, gossips etc.

[kennynah]

there's nothing dishonourable about making money through sweat and toiling.... our forefathers did that... and some of us are still doing this... neither is it any more honourable acquiring riches without working for it...

[winston]

No lah ... Have a look at the article.

It's talking about how Leisure came about. Not about being more honorable in not working...