Do you use the opinions of other traders in making trading decisions, or do you operate completely solo? I usually ignore advice from other traders, especially the ones who believe they are on to a "sure thing." The
old-timers, who talk about "maybe there is a chance of so and so," are often right and early.
At what point did you get the confidence that you could keep on winning as a trader? I vacillate between (a) "I can keep on winning," and (b) "I have just been lucky." I sometimes get most
confident of my ability just before a major losing streak.
How similar are the price patterns in different markets? Common patterns transcend individual market behavior. For example, bond prices have a lot in common with
the way cockroaches crawl up and down a wall. Unfortunately for cockroach followers, there is usually no one around
to take the other side of a trade.
Does the stock market behave differently from other markets? The stock market behaves differently from all other markets and it also behaves differently from the stock
market. If this is hard to understand, it is because trying to understand the markets is a bit futile. I don't think it
makes any more sense trying to understand the stock market than trying to understand music. A lot of people would
rather understand the market than make money.
What do you mean, "The stock market behaves differently from the stock market"? The stock market behaves differently from itself in that easily identifiable patterns seldom exactly repeat.
What is your long-term outlook for inflation, the dollar, and gold? Inflation is part of the way societies sweep away the old order. All currencies eventually get debased—like it
or not. Compute one penny invested at the time of Christ, compounded at 3 percent per year. Then consider why
nobody has anywhere near that amount these days.
Gold tends to be dug up, refined, and then buried again. The geographical entropy of all gold on the planet
seems to decrease over time. A lot has been collected in vaults. I project the trend as one toward a central world gold
stash.
