You know who I don’t like? eTrade. Let me tell you about an episode many years ago when on-line trading was brand new. I was one of a few hundred people in America who was sufficiently suspicious of Internet companies that demanded too much personal information. I tested the eTrade system by logging on with a “random identity”. Now remember, eTrade is not, repeat not, anybody special. [The are] just bastards who figured out early in the Internet game that many people thought they were obligated to fill out text boxes with asterisks.
So what happened? Well, I had corrected surmised that eTrade was up to something and would use the data to snoop, which they promptly did. Within 24 hours, I received a phone call from eTrade “security”. They were, what can I say, ballistically furious that they did not have my real name. It was like listening to insane people on the other end. They were threatening to prosecute me if I didn’t tell them who I really was, duh. Shortly afterward, I called back their office, but this time pretending to be the other me. I said I wanted to “cancel my new account and would they be kind enough to erase all the information” I had given them.
These eTrade jerkfaces just about lost it. They shrieked that the information was “theirs” and they would never erase it and that they had taped all our phone calls. I’m not exaggerating, they shrieked. When I told them I had done the same, they said that was illegal and hung up. Now remember, this is just some two-bit Seattle broker. As far as I’m concerned eTrade is a marketing agency with a hidden agenda.
[Author's note 2015-08-30: what I'm saying here is that eTrade was an early purveyor of on-line data collection. Most of what I'm saying here is that if you contact eTrade, they want all manner of personal, private information that they will keep and use even if you change your mind and decide NOT to open an account. This incident happened many years ago but I'm pointing out how early and how naturally I spotted a pack of assholes when I saw them. They are after your information as much as your business.]
I was reminded of eTrade because, you guessed it, I was again examining segments of the international investment community. Last day, I talked of exchange rates which could have given the wrong impression. I have no intention entering “forex” trading. That is a quick road to poverty. Foreign exchange is people who gamble on currency fluctuations, and just so you know, the brokers don’t make a commission on the sales. They make money on what is called the “spread”, the difference between buying and selling.
What I was really examining were the possibilities of trading in real money. Many years ago I worked near the Canadian border and had emergency bank accounts on both sides. I saw that the amounts would not stay equal due to exchange rates. A few years later I returned to night school and money was tight, so instead of “topping up” the account that got lower, I began to withdraw enough from the bigger account to equalize the other. Hence, “spinning”, which is normally associated with gold and silver, but six years later, I had nearly doubled my money without adding a cent. (I promptly lost all that money investing in a taxi company in Venezuela, but that is another story.)
The spin was made possible because I [once had a job where I] crossed the border every other day and there were banks nearby that bought foreign currency. This is not always the case, which is important. You walk up to the counter, claim you just returned from holidays, and cash in up to $2,000 without any questions asked, and anonymously walk out of the bank. I always wondered what [would happen] if this was done with enough money. Seems if anybody knows, they are not saying. I admit this is not an original idea, but if you try to figure it out, I’ll wager you get it exactly backwards the first few times. It is the way banks do business.
You won’t make money at it (the stock market, in the long run). Like coin and stamp collectors, only the traders make any money--and the speculators. Trust me, you are not a speculator. If you want to make money, stand-up comedians make $5,000 per week. Weather forecaster make around the same. I’m just looking to revive an old hobby. (This refers to my old hobby of finding the highest priced historical stock that is selling at the cheapest price once a week and buying 100 shares. I never did get lucky.)
Eddie made it over for rehearsal, and as is becoming usual, we lost track of time. This is because these sessions are very productive musically. I judging that by the amount of “musical mileage” we cover. By comparison, other guitar players can be a waste of time. If only Eddie could practice three times per week. It is moving along well enough and soon we will practice at Jimbos. He has also taken quickly to my lessons about syncopating the basic beat of most songs so heavily that neither of us is playing the actual progression. Disturbingly, he seems to lose the lesson if there is too long a break between sessions.
It melds amazingly well, sounding like more than two instruments. The trick (to how I arrange the music) is that only rarely are the drums, bass and guitar playing at the same instant. This is the opposite of the guitarist who tries to solo all the time. I notice Eddie no longer minds making errors because it means we get to repeat the song from the beginning one more time. That is, he's concluded it is better to learn the material than endure another repetition. Not exactly the best learning technique, I say.
Our song list is heavy with old Creedance Clearwater material. Side message to Wallace: Eddie doesn’t like the new bow-legged James Bond either.
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