Long time readers know what "Good Karma" is and have contributed generously over the years.
For those new to the site, here is an overview of "Good Karma":
I freely share my knowledge and materials, and enjoy communicating with all of you through the blog. There are no strings attached, but I do ask that if you receive any benefit from my writing or gain knowledge that helps you make money that you consider giving something back.
Make a donation to "Good Karma", and that money will go to help others. My main focus has been "adopt a family" projects (executed around Thanksgiving and Christmas time) - with the past five years allowing me (through your help and donations) to help numerous families.
The bottom-line is this - if you help others, good things will happen to you. If you don't believe me, then skip this message and go on with your life. If you have experienced the "good karma" that comes from helping others, then you know what I am talking about. If you want to find out if it really exists, then kick in some cash. I guarantee you that good things happen when you help those less fortunate than you. And, no matter what your situation, there are plenty of people less fortunate.
Due to RJ's recent passing, I have decided that all money raised this year will go to his wife to use specifically for his daughter's college education (she is currently a junior in high school).
I never make a hard press for people to contribute - the "Make a Donation" button is there, and if you do you do. But over the past few days I ran through some numbers and I think you will find them compelling:
> There are over 2,400 subscribers to the Trader-X blog (via rss/email). You can easily double that number because more people don't subscribe - they just come and check the site on their own every day (or every few days).
> Using the numbers above, we can assume a [very] conservative estimate of 4,000 regular readers. If everyone contributes just $5 that would pay for the bulk of her college education.
Now obviously that is not going to happen - but if a decent percentage of those 4,000 readers contribute $5 it will still go a long way towards establishing a substantial college fund.
What do we usually spend $5 on? A coffee at Starbucks, a value meal at McDonald's, a magazine? Skip one of those things this week, and you will not miss out on much - in fact, you probably won't even remember you skipped it the next day. But think of the difference you could make to someone else by skipping it and contributing the $5 to "Good Karma" instead.
To get started, I contacted Kernan from TRADEthemove.com and David at "The T.A.D. Principle" (see the links at the top of the page to find out more about their products). They each contributed $200 to the cause, and myself and Tom C. did the same. In addition, there is already close to $500 in "Good Karma" thus far in 2009. So the starting point is $1300.
Again, I am not asking you to give that much - just $5 from a decent percentage of readers will make a difference. And I can't think of a better way to remember RJ than to help his family and provide for his daughter's future.
The button is to the right. And Starbucks and McDonald's are just down the street. Follow your heart.
March 15, 2009 update:
Participation from readers to help create a college fund for RJ's daughter has been strong in the first few days, and I am hoping it will continue in the days ahead.
Thus far, 40 readers have donated at least $5, with many donating more. There are a lot of $10 and $20 donations and two more people (Christopher and Todd) matched the $200 donations noted above.
There are several thousand more readers that can make the minimum contribution and help make a difference - please do so. This is a very worthwhile cause to help someone that helped many.
Also, I am compiling the names of everyone who donates to give to RJ's wife and daughter. Don't worry, I will not give your contact information - I just want to give your names so they can see the magnitude of people who care and the goodwill of others. If you have an issue with this and want your name omitted, send me an email and I will take you off the list. But again, I will not give your contact information.
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Himalayan Skyscape
3 hours ago
14 comments:
Great idea X. I just kicked in $20, $5 each for myself, my wife, my son and my daughter.
I haven't begun trading yet, but am finding this blog very helpful. 5 bucks to a good cause is no problem!
cheers from Canada!
Nice idea. Keep us informed on how much you raise. Some of us might kick in a second round.
Hi Trader-X,
I think your charity work is great. You're setting a great example!
I have been reading your archives for the past several months. Thank you for all your posts. I've found them very helpful and interesting.
I have a bit of a philosophical question though. I'm not saying I think technical analysis is meaningless, but I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the success of your system when it is completely based on technicals. Your success rate of 70-80% must mean that there are significant excess returns remaining uncaptured in the markets everyday that can be found using technical analysis only. The question that is nagging me is how come a bunch of different hedge funds and quants haven't written computer programs to take advantage of this and eliminate this inefficiency in the markets. Yes there will always be inefficient parts to the markets, but in this day and age of advanced computer trading platforms, one would think purely technical trading opportunities would all be quickly found and eliminated. Reading your trading rules/guidelines, I would think one could write code to automate your buys and sells. Please don't take this as a challenge...just wanted to get your thoughts. Thanks!
Thanks for the positive feedback guys (and girls). So far, over 20 people have kicked in at least $5. That number should grow substantially today and in the days/weeks to come.
vp3434 - thanks for your question and the spirit in which it was asked. The short answer for me, at least, is because it is more of an art than a science. I don't think I can write code that would select the setups I trade because so many factors come into play...including the candle formation. There are huge differences between how a candle forms, where it forms in relation to support/resistance, etc. Not to mention the size of the gap, the location of the gap, the price action, the way the stock moves. All things that one picks up after studying hundreds of thousands of charts and trading for years and years.
I try to simplify it as much as possible on the blog and boil it down to a few points. But the reality is it is not always a list of hard rules like "if x, then y". That is why I encourage people to take what I do and incorporate it into their trading and develop their own methods rather than try to mimic me...and why I stress focusing on one or two high-probability setups and getting good at trading them rather than trying to trade every setup and predict the direction and moves of every stock on your screen.
Great idea and cause. I gave 5 dollars for each member of my family.
Nice idea
$5 on its way from England
cheers
Mark
Joshua - good point. I am showing my age as college is almost two decades behind me.
So far, the support is great. I will tell you how many people/how much money over the weekend.
Mark - I owe you an answer to a question in comments a few days back...sorry for the delay, I will get to it this weekend.
Thanks everyone!
I've given to good karma several times over the past 5 years. I appreciate your charitable efforts. RIP RJ and best wishes to his loved ones. I gave 5 dollars for each of my family members as well.
Javier - many thanks. But it is your charitable efforts ("your" being all those who contribute).
We are going to make a real difference here. It is a great feeling.
X,
thanks for remembering, it's much appreciated.
Mark
X,
Thanks for the response. I see your point that trading decisions can go beyond a codeable set of exact rules.
RIP RJ. $20 from my family.
$15 from DEM on its way.
Thanks X.
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