00:00:00 --- log: started retro/10.07.01 01:35:01 --- join: virl (~virl__@chello062178085149.1.12.vie.surfer.at) joined #retro 03:18:54 --- quit: virl (Remote host closed the connection) 03:55:59 --- quit: yiyus (Ping timeout: 240 seconds) 04:11:37 --- join: yiyus (~124271242@je.je.je) joined #retro 05:43:44 --- join: docl (~luke@216-161-87-126.ptld.qwest.net) joined #retro 07:53:09 --- quit: docl (Ping timeout: 265 seconds) 10:32:57 --- quit: crc (Ping timeout: 240 seconds) 10:35:03 --- join: crc (~charlesch@184.77.185.20) joined #retro 11:55:50 --- quit: crc (Remote host closed the connection) 11:56:05 --- join: crc (~charlesch@184.77.185.20) joined #retro 14:24:39 --- join: docl (~luke@75-175-34-97.ptld.qwest.net) joined #retro 15:32:23 --- quit: docl (Ping timeout: 240 seconds) 17:40:32 --- join: docl (~luke@75-175-34-97.ptld.qwest.net) joined #retro 17:40:55 howdy 17:59:04 hi 18:15:08 hey 18:37:02 * docl is thinking of prospecting for a startup co-founder 19:01:23 ok now I'm on a different topic. how would one calculate a way to win at stocks/commodities? 19:02:09 I hate commodities (we deal with some commodity items, mainly wire and pipe at work) :) 19:02:16 if the market is purely random, but within a certain range you could just buy at the average price and wait for it to go up 19:02:19 :) 19:02:57 my dad once made $20k in commodities, but lost it in the following week because he got carried away 19:03:46 re the markets, you could also sell short at the average price and wait for it to go down. 19:03:52 in our market, we compete against home depot, lowes, etc on these. The most common stuff they tend to sell for less than we pay, mostly because they can buy huge quantities when costs are down and don't raise prices to be consistent with current costs 19:04:18 oooh 19:04:24 economies of scale 19:04:33 so that's how that works 19:04:59 yup. good if you have the resources, bad for the smaller companies trying to compete 19:05:09 yeah 19:14:30 the advantage to being smaller is trying something noone has tried before. 19:14:49 if it is well established how to do it, you are better off scaling up 19:15:34 but if there are customers who cannot possibly get what you have any other way, being small is not as big of a hardship 19:17:28 actually, when it pays to be small is when there are rapidly changing conditions 19:17:39 true 19:17:53 you can adapt to them more easily than a big company which must manage lots of assets 19:18:12 or when it is not yet established how to do something optimally 19:20:24 when you are a small startup you can optimize for scalability, *then* scale up and be big, and dominate the niche using economies of scale. 19:26:59 so... if markets are random, as long as you buy or sell short towards the middle you should be able to make money. 19:27:30 but if they trend up or down significantly that could cause trouble if you invest in the wrong direction 19:28:05 * crc is wondering if wikireader would be an good platform for hacking into an ebook reading device 19:31:20 I should start studying the market more. next year I'll get more control over my retirement fund investments at work 19:31:52 nice 19:45:48 ok. maybe we could write a forth program that monitors financial markets and see if it can make money on paper :) 19:49:27 I've thought about doing that 21:35:15 --- quit: crc (Ping timeout: 240 seconds) 21:36:19 --- join: crc (~charlesch@184.77.185.20) joined #retro 21:56:52 here's a sample algorithm to start with: 21:56:52 if price is half average, buy. 21:56:52 wait for price to go to 1.25 times average to sell. 21:56:52 if price is 1.5 average, sell short 21:56:54 wait for price to go to .75 average to buy back. 22:00:07 in a randomized situation, it should work... right? 22:00:48 of course, if trading futures there's a time limit. you might have to make do with smaller margins as you get closer to it. 22:03:39 is there a place to download charts in csv format or something? 22:25:10 http://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/links/data_free.htm 23:35:13 --- quit: docl (Ping timeout: 245 seconds) 23:59:59 --- log: ended retro/10.07.01