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Betting on the Engineers

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Re: Betting on the Engineers

#31

Post by scott_s »

jbooth wrote: post #11

Note to self : don't take anyone who makes throwaway comments about the "liberal media" seriously. It didn't add to his argument at all, and subtracted by implying that he's doing this more as an "f you" to liberals than out of any rational thought process. EDIT: /me watches the downvotes prove his point about how some people's thought process can be entirely hijacked. Yes guys, the apparent devastation of the Gulf i…

You're probably unfamiliar with Scott Adams. From reading his comic and his blog, I think he's actually liberal. His comment was probably tongue-in-cheek. It's also worth remembering that he loves pushing people's buttons. Remember that this guy makes jokes for a living.

Re: Betting on the Engineers

#32

Post by sliverstorm »

blehn wrote: post #27

...my theory that you should buy stocks in the companies that you hate the most Wow, that's a pretty sad statement. No wonder our economic system is so fucked up. We've got people out there investing in companies they'd otherwise prefer never existed. Then, of course, there are machines making billions of transactions a day in an effort to game the system. Unless people start investing in companies that they truly be…

It has always been very American to love the underdog (maybe it's human, not American, but I myself am not in a position to vouch for the rest of the globe). So, the companies that we like and want to succeed are almost invariably the smaller companies, and the companies we hate are the successful ones.

Re: Betting on the Engineers

#33

Post by jbooth »

scott_s wrote: post #31
jbooth wrote: post #11

Note to self : don't take anyone who makes throwaway comments about the "liberal media" seriously. It didn't add to his argument at all, and subtracted by implying that he's doing this more as an "f you" to liberals than out of any rational thought process. EDIT: /me watches the downvotes prove his point about how some people's thought process can be entirely hijacked. Yes guys, the apparent devastation of the Gulf i…

You're probably unfamiliar with Scott Adams. From reading his comic and his blog, I think he's actually liberal. His comment was probably tongue-in-cheek. It's also worth remembering that he loves pushing people's buttons. Remember that this guy makes jokes for a living.

Well, ok, he's trolling and I was successfully trolled :) Good for him, I guess :)

Re: Betting on the Engineers

#35

Post by sliverstorm »

jbooth wrote: post #26
ube wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come on - you haven't seen Dexter? That's an ethical serial killer show. Your points are all well stated but he is quite funny ("nerdgasm"...come on). Otherwise - just add healthcare reform and Wallstreet debacle to your list and then build a bunker and never come out.

He's cheering for someone who's ripping us all off. That is just plain messed up. Also, you're totally missing the point of Dexter - it's about addiction and powerlessness.

> a company rips us off to the tune of hundreds of billions that don't even feed any children and he admires it

You seem to think only the 'good guys' are worthy of admiration. Ethics and self-interest aside, I think it's perfectly acceptable to admire an impressive feat or trait, regardless whether it negatively or positively impacts you. Notice, he was not admiring the theft of billions of dollars, but the character trait behind the action.

My favorite quote on the subject is funnily enough thanks to J.K. Rowling; "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things. Terrible! Yes. But great" -Ollivander

Re: Betting on the Engineers

#36

Post by yummyfajitas »

blehn wrote: post #27

...my theory that you should buy stocks in the companies that you hate the most Wow, that's a pretty sad statement. No wonder our economic system is so fucked up. We've got people out there investing in companies they'd otherwise prefer never existed. Then, of course, there are machines making billions of transactions a day in an effort to game the system. Unless people start investing in companies that they truly be…

Suppose you want to invest in a company you truly believe in. Where will you get the shares from? Unless someone else thinks it's crap and wants to unload it, there will be no one to buy it from.

Luckily, there is a machine out there willing to sell it to you. An evil evil machine.

Re: Betting on the Engineers

#37

Post by mileszs »

blehn wrote: post #27

...my theory that you should buy stocks in the companies that you hate the most Wow, that's a pretty sad statement. No wonder our economic system is so fucked up. We've got people out there investing in companies they'd otherwise prefer never existed. Then, of course, there are machines making billions of transactions a day in an effort to game the system. Unless people start investing in companies that they truly be…

Smart, greedy people are never going to let emotion get in the way of making money. That's just the way it is. We're never going to return to an era where a significant amount of people make investment choices with a significant basis on how they feel about the company. It's not a rational way to meet the end goal of making money.

Sad, though, yes.

Re: Betting on the Engineers

#39

Post by stcredzero »

Bet on engineers? Do that one better and bet on something even more powerful and absolutely amoral: Bet on basic physics, biology, and math. (Yes, there are ways you can do this in the stock market.)

Re: Betting on the Engineers

#40

Post by Tuna-Fish »

blehn wrote: post #27

...my theory that you should buy stocks in the companies that you hate the most Wow, that's a pretty sad statement. No wonder our economic system is so fucked up. We've got people out there investing in companies they'd otherwise prefer never existed. Then, of course, there are machines making billions of transactions a day in an effort to game the system. Unless people start investing in companies that they truly be…

This reminds me of an investment strategy Iain Banks described in his novel Complicity: Leverage yourself and load up on the most unethical companies you can find.

This is because there is a lot of money that seeks to invest only in ethical business, so the prices of unethical companies are permanently depressed from their true value, and in the long term the return from their dividends should thus beat the average of the market.

It's scary how it almost made sense.

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