Disqus - Latest Comments for adria33

Re: Create the Filter | Dustin Curtis

adria33 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:54:56 -0000

You have to have deep sleep to allow muscles to grow most effectively - in total relaxation. Also the soul - after deep sleep you can wake up and feel like it's the next day. You risk depersonalizing your reality and detaching from people if you go without deep sleep.

Re: Attention: Collectors of Coins, Stamps & Barf bags

j miller — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:25:04 -0000

will trade silver coins for old ball cards

Re: Attention: Collectors of Coins, Stamps & Barf bags

Adrian — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:53:31 -0000

!!!

Re: Make your site faster and cheaper to operate in one easy step

adria33 — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:30:17 -0000

Good point.

Re: HOW TO: Retweet on Twitter

adria33 — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:25:15 -0000

Re: Make your site faster and cheaper to operate in one easy step

adria33 — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:00:26 -0000

Nice little app.

Re: Best Web-Based Twitter Interface: TwitZap

adria33 — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 05:27:12 -0000

Nice write up.

Re: Get The Most Out Of Twitter Email Notifications: Topify and Twimailer

adria33 — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:43:09 -0000

Even more emails.

Re: http://blog.louisgray.com/2009/03/3-twitter-tools-that-enhance-new.html

adria33 — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:40:37 -0000

go topify

Re: The business model begins: Twitter to promote FM and Microsoft-backed ExecTweets

adria33 — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:33:47 -0000

Go Twitter.

Re: Twitter Now Growing at a Staggering 1,382 Percent

adria33 — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:18:57 -0000

Bands on MySpace are starting to open Twitter accounts and embedding their feeds on their homepages. For examples, Ryan Tedder's One Republic, one of MySpace's biggest success stories: http://www.myspace.com/onerepublic

Re: P. Diddy Making a Run on Twitter

adria33 — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:20:53 -0000

Diddy's cool.

Re: The Real Take-away from the Madoff Scandal

adria33 — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 01:17:18 -0000

..envisage changes on the information systems level first and then work backwards.

Re: The Real Take-away from the Madoff Scandal

Dave — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:09:28 -0000

I agree that transparency is important, but how do you have transparent markets if regulations are not effective? Transparency does not arise from nothing; there has to be an effective regulatory structure which creates transparency.

Re: The Real Take-away from the Madoff Scandal

adria33 — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 05:52:39 -0000

To me regulation is not the problem but transparency. On this blog I've advocated for a FriendFeed like feed for brokerage, investment and institutions to provide of their trading activities: http://bit.ly/XfLT Obviously with hedge funds in particular, they'd want their trading activities secret. But with such activities publicized, at least scrutinies could be applied: are trades actually occurring (revealing a Ponzi scheme)? What actual shares and securities are being bought and sold? (to ideally reveal naked shorting) The more detailed the feed the better, so that different behaviors that seriously undermine stability can be revealed.

I have also advocated on this blog a social network of market participants, where ratings, comments and feedback can be applied, whereby the aforementioned feeds can be embedded. Also, a rather experimental idea of allowing business and individuals to swap confidential data in a bid to build trust that would otherwise be hard to find. A centralized system like this one would best receive endorsement from the government as a goto-point - and they could tender it as such.

What do you think Roger?

Re: The Real Take-away from the Madoff Scandal

adria33 — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 18:02:16 -0000

I am amazed that the SEC found nothing criminal in 1992 during their investigations, and despite serious suspicions in parts of the financial community regarding Madoff, nothing ever came about to discover his Ponzi scheme. It's like he was the equivalent to a mafia kingpin, and above the law.

The reason it worked I reckon is because the consistent returns that were reported kept attracting more investors. And, most investors had a lot more money than they'd ever need to live off, so they probably kept it with him, only withdrawing comparatively small amounts needed to support a lifestyle. If the returns stayed good, more money would come. The crash meant that out-of-the-ordinary amounts were being requested and which obviously didn't exist.

Another takeway: to separate asset management with brokerage. Dividing businesses out of compositional units has already occurred in terms of accounting and business consulting firms (eg Arthur Andersen, Deloitte). Now perhaps it should happen with brokerage and asset management?

Re: Social Networks for Stock Picking? - Give me a Break

adria33 — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:57:59 -0000

Does it cater to institutions? Hedge funds, etc? That would be my goal.

Re: Social Networks for Stock Picking? - Give me a Break

infoarbitrage — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:50:46 -0000

This already exists. It's called Covestor, and I'm an investor in it. 100% transparency, directly tapped into a person's individual trading account.

Re: Social Networks for Stock Picking? - Give me a Break

adria33 — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:24:15 -0000

The SOC should produce a site like FriendFeed but tracking an individual or organization's investment activity. All trades are inserted into an InvestmentFeed. In fact the site could mashup friendfeed.com itself.

The issue with these stock sites is one of accuracy. Do they accurately reflect the trades an individual is making - all trades, in all markets at all times without omission or delay. Obviously there's a degree to which being secretive about one's trading decisions is warranted, but in some cases, I think there is a market and need to be open.

Re: Fresh Voices Needed: Fixing the Financial System

adria33 — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 07:25:14 -0000

Correct, even in Australia, where I'm from.

You assume that the government will create their own version of what you're doing, taking your best ideas, but you create a situation where they can connect with yourself and the outside groups also in this realm. There are some things that government cannot replicate, like having member organizations and industry focus groups.

In this respect SOC could become a non-profit, advocacy group and member association. Organizations and individuals pay a small fee to be a part of it and its initiatives in return for some degree of positive influence over government policy, which SOC would advocate on members' behalf.

Here are some examples in Australia regarding Environmental concerns:
http://environmentbusiness.com.au/ - Promoting commercial solutions in sustainability and environmental economics with its members being some of Australia’s leading sustainable organisations.

http://www.agdf.org.au/ - Accelerates the adoption of sustainable practices in the Australian building and development industry. Provides a recognised forum to connect innovators with potential business customers and policy-makers.

Re: Fresh Voices Needed: Fixing the Financial System

adria33 — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:03:08 -0000

To a certain extent, crashes and recessions come part and parcel with market capitalist economies, as do booms and bull markets. And to that extent, one may accept this latest one as normal. The issue in the market right now I think is one of information; in particular, not enough of it. If there are certain behaviors or trades in the market that lead to crashes, and are generally destructive, then they should be visible, and trigger the regulator.

Alternatively or in combination, the SEC itself could be reshaped, after all it is its job to regulate. In this crash it has shown itself to be dysfunctional, at least from a systemic perspective. So to me, the answer is perhaps better and more effective regulation, not just more of it as you rightfully pinpoint.

For example, regarding information, when you buy a share or security, it would be interesting to see from whom you're actually buying it, especially for larger deals. Like on Ebay, you could flag a buyer or seller. In other words, a social network of market participants. I am speaking about the issue of attempting to resolve naked short selling rather than trying to ban it somehow. There should be a way to see if securities actually get delivered or are actually in possession by the seller.

From another perspective, those contributing to the current crisis are as follows: ( http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/opinion/26fri... ) : "People who had no business buying a home, with nothing down and nothing to pay for two years; people who had no business pushing such mortgages, but made fortunes doing so; people who had no business bundling those loans into securities and selling them to third parties, as if they were AAA bonds, but made fortunes doing so; people who had no business rating those loans as AAA, but made fortunes doing so; and people who had no business buying those bonds and putting them on their balance sheets so they could earn a little better yield, but made fortunes doing so."

Also, another idea regarding instilling trust: a way for organizations to quickly and cheaply (that is the key) to be audited with the resulting information and balance sheets available in a social network to others who are also labeled 'transparent' for this purpose. The actually revealing of information is orderly whereby it can only occur in mutual agreement with another party with whom one might want to conduct business, whereby they can be asked to reveal their information at the same time. Once each party agrees, the information is distributed simultaneously and privately. Facebook has very good privacy controls, and otherwise confidential business information should be more available within systems designed to manage it.

Re: Fresh Voices Needed: Fixing the Financial System

infoarbitrage — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:50:28 -0000

Thanks for the ideas, Adrian.

Re: Fresh Voices Needed: Fixing the Financial System

adria33 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:02:46 -0000

Maybe just starting out as an interview blog with each new member as they sign-on regarding their thoughts on what's going on and their proposed fixes and solutions. I would put their photo in the sidebar and invite them to post new articles if and when it seems fit. Also, any MSM attention that SOC attracts should be linked clearly on the site too.

There's a fellow named Patrick Byrne who's the CEO of Overstock and reckons that naked short selling has had a large part to do with the crisis. You could interview him: he created the site businessjive.com and deepcapture.com. patrick@overstock.com

Re: Fresh Voices Needed: Fixing the Financial System

infoarbitrage — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:18:30 -0000

Adrian, that is a fantastic idea. I just bought the urls www.stabilizationoversightcouncil.org and .com. Now I just need to get it going. I appreciate the thought.

Re: Fresh Voices Needed: Fixing the Financial System

adria33 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:01:39 -0000

Setup an SOC website and start gathering names and put them on the site. Generate some media interest and when ready, take it to those who can grant it the power needed. Any new entity with power will need to displace power elsewhere so it is bound to meet resistance.