weekender

I doubt that you're typing on a US made computer either. And this SITE is not hosted in the US. Get off your high horse. Hope you enjoyed your holiday. not sarcasm. i didnt miss you but assume your family and friends might have. (that was) im not on a high horse. i accept the reality that the US is quite advanced technologically and the problem is of implementation based on our size not our lack of knowledge. thats not an arrogant statement at all. im not screaming "merica, love it or leave it." i think its fair to say we know what the problem is but lack the will to implement it because its going to be a complicated, expensive endeavor. its not because we are dumber than Europe. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

the US is by far the largest user of CC's in the world. the article stated 1bill are issued. so its not so easy to just convert everyone, there are cost involved to the vendor, bank and consumer. so far, no one seems to have demanded the change. banks are ok with their level of losses, consumers seem to tolerate it as well, by and large. the US is not dumber than Europe, i really loath those implications from people here. i doubt i need to list all our technical achievements to prove thats not true. i'm not typing on a European computer, didnt find this sight using a European search engine and so on... they need to reissue every card and someone has to pay for it. also, every vendor will have to purchase or lease new machines and someone has to pay for that too. we are a giant country and our problems are bigger and harder to solve. knowing the answer isnt as easy as implementing it. comparing us to Europe is not apples to apples and to imply otherwise is showing ignorance to our size or just plain dislike of our nation. or the US is just a bunch of dolts with no understanding of technology, which im sure many of you believe. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

billions of dollars in transactions is not much and i was not bragging. your reading comprehension is lacking if you thought i was. it was the exact opposite of my point. I would be flattered that you seem to think that makes me an expert, except i am aware of your lack of financial knowledge and experience. so not so much. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck/participation-tsa-precheck Not true anymore (I was surprised, too, as my parents who travel a few times a year but not enough to hit elite levels on any airlines, have been offered TSA Pre on flights recently). See "Other Ways to Experience..." heading on that link. Sounds like that's what kallend got. thanks everyone for clearing that up. when i was young i traveled for work a lot. Pre 9/11. i am not the fancy business traveler anymore. I focus solely on NY accounts. now i consider it travel to go up to midtown, hah. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

you are being dishonest and desperate by taking a quote out of context. my comment was in reference to how large a market is and how small i am in comparison. we were discussing how illiquid Bitcoins were in comparison to the USD and other markets. it was a self deprecating and accurate statement. your lack of financial experience and knowledge lends me to believe you do not even understand my comments. being dishonest is bad, being dishonest and stupid is worse and explains your theories. My full quote: "it is very illiquid by financial standards. You are trading in odd lots( small quantities) when you make a personal trade. im one little trader at one little bank and transact billions in a day. compound that by all the traders in the world and you get a sense of how little Bitcoins are trading in comparison. it has a long way to go before it is not considered illiquid. " "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Just flew to Argentina (and back) and was "TSA Pre-screened" for some unknown reason. Didn't have to remove shoes, belt or sweater, or remove anything from my carry-on bag. No full-body scan either. ????? sarcasm can be hard to read sometimes. i dont understand your post, sorry. as i understand it you need to apply, pay a fee and schedule and interview for the precheck programs. so are you able to bypass the TSA hassle because you went through the precheck program? or are you saying you bypassed the hassle because they mistakenly thought you were a member? those are two very different things. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

I've made no claims to my superior knowledge as you suggest. I've never even denied you cannot make money on Bitcoins. all i have done is try to bring some reason into this discussion so others can see your lack of knowledge and experience on the topic. with every post you make my job easier. i do not have to disprove your silly predictions or conspiracy theories. you are the one making claims. i am not obligated to disprove them anymore than i must disprove Santa Claus because you claim his existence. funny thing is you came here to hype your long position in Bitcoins. i am quite certain you have actually eroded peoples confidence in them. you are not a good hype man. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Please explain, I am simply suggesting that bitcoin is a good investment if you watch the markets. That finance markets are inherently corrupt and that the us financial system is on the verge of collapse. I would like you to explain yourself. broad comments about me with no real explanation are simply ad hominem. If you are so educated on the financial system and my comments are so 'humorous' then please educate us. I would like to believe that the future if the USD is sound... I cannot because printing billions and billions and billions of dollars can only cause inflation... If you hide that inflation then that can only cause a crash. Bitcoin is not subject to such inflation. It does have it's own concerns but hyper inflation is not one of them. You mentioned earlier that you refute that fact that the USD is backed by debt... I would have thought you would understand that. You understand how USD are issued right, of course you do. So explain just this fact that I have wrong. Please! no person could prove to you that the USD's is not doomed to collapse or that the financial markets are not corrupt. you cannot even grasp why a reasonable person would find them arrogant and humorous. but educating you has never been my point. I do not come here to play chess with pigeons. i post here on financial topics to expose people who are financially ignorant and try to stop others from getting hurt by their advice. You have made extreme global macro predictions. you hype the benefit of a very speculative investment without every discussing the obvious risks. I am confident, at a minimum, i have shown those predictions are based on little to no financial experience or education. I do not have to prove that i'm a financial expert, just that you are not. (edited to make a non material change to font) "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

i dont gamble and will pass on your bet. a challenge that makes no sense since i never denied bitcoins profitability. please read my posts. you are completely missing the point. i have never denied you cannot make money. i am criticizing your arrogance and broad macro comments. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

i agree with none of your financial opinions, with the one exception being there is money to be made in Bitcoins. i cannot deny that, its basic math. there is money to be made in a lot of things that are to risky for my taste. the rest of your post is just silly to me and evidence to your lack of financial knowledge or experience. all mockery aside and in all seriousness. i would suggest, before getting too involved in unregulated illiquid instruments like Bitcoin. that you find some humility. ive meet billionaire hedge fund managers with less confidence than you. in my experience, this could end bad. bubbles burst and there is a reason why the "finance guys" are still watching this one. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

How can you declare this? I see a wildly up and down gyration this year, and increasing volumes, so the number of long term holders from 2009 who cashed out are a minority. With the number of bitcoins nearly fixed, it's a zero sum game. I suspect a relatively few are making 80-90% of the gains. outstanding float, zero sum game, realized p&l, beta coefficient. who can be bothered with any of that when EVERYONE who holds it makes money? you are obviously one of the jealous "finance guys". Yea, who's laughing now? its a new world order. you and your worthless USD's and non free markets cannot grasp the wisdom of the cryptocoin axe. (axe is "finance guy" speak for the person who controls a security at a given time. ie "dude dont short bitcoins, you will get caught in a mad squeeze by cyptocoin. he is the AXE in the name.") "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

you speak in such absolutes, its funny. "the finance guys"? i dont even know what the means. ive worked for an investment bank in NYC for 20 years. i know no "finance guys" laughing for the reasons you state. i am laughing at you a bit but its not because i fear anything. its because you seem to be so sure of yourself and the demise of the USD and finance as we know it. its silly and deserving of a chuckle. so is your comment that we dont have free markets. that makes no sense to me and i doubt anyone but you understands that statement. i truly wish i had a smart as response but its nonsensical and im at a loss for words. last time i checked i had no problem transacting any security i wanted in the US. oh, and using USD's to do it. you have some cannabis inspired dream that bankers fear your new world order Bitcoin. its a tiny phenomenon that has no impact other than in blogs and conversations on forums like this. right now its trading volumes are insignificant, as ive explained in earlier posts. ill repeat this in case you missed it. its not a threat to us in anyway. its just one more thing we can make money on. our job is to make money on financial instruments. introduce one more instrument and we will make money on one more instrument. sorry to harsh your mellow, bra. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

I'm very impressed with your confidence. you sound very much like a lot people i knew right up to 2008 with real estate. and in the 90's, firefighters and bartenders who were involved in tech stocks. as i entered the business it was bio tech. going way back to the 20's it was radio. (take some time and read about radio, specifically RCA, real interesting stuff and much similiar to tech today than most realize.) and of course, this post would not be complete without mentioning tulip bulbs in the olden days. my point is this is new. its had major moves and a lot of people with zero to little financial experience or knowledge are telling me EVERYONE is making money. that is a huge red flag. making no predictions, i can tell you might be a little over confident in their success. do you really think you suddenly became a financial genius and found the one new security that you cannot lose money on? are you really that confident? for the record. i have nothing to lose if Bitcoins succeed. the exact opposite. its one more thing my bank can make money on. if anything, im rooting for them. just more realistically. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

My point is that it is no different to the dollar in terms of support. There is nothing but debt holding the worth of the dollar. In fact by rights the dollar should already have crashed and only the signatures of OPEC stop that from happening. Now that Saudi have had to start drilling offshore who knows when Russia will start exploiting the reserves they are sitting on... Personally I do not believe bitcoin will become the global reserve currency. There are too few of them and it is basically an experiment. This experiment is really working and who knows what the future holds. One thing is for sure though, the US$ and the fractional banking system is failing and they can only prop it up for so long... you have a habit of stating your opinions as facts. for instance, the USD's imminent demise, the fact its supported by nothing but debt, the SOLE reason for its value is Saudi oil money and the certainty that our banking system is collapsing. all of which are overly simplistic, extreme and disjointed from the reality of the financial markets, IMO. i'm guessing you do not have a lot of financial industry experience or education. side note, its humorous to me that you gave two singular reasons for the USD's value. one being Saudi Oil, the other being debt. there cannot be two singular reasons for it value. 1+1=2. you are not doing a good job of making reasonable people interested in the validity of Bitcoins. I'm going to continue to ask for payments in USD's, thank you. (edited to correct material spelling error) "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

The USD will crash, that is inevitable, you cannot go on printing money like that (QE1, QE2 etc...) without suffering the consequences. You cannot continue to invade every nation that tries to sell oil in something other than the dollar either... this further increases the chances of the dollar crashing. The US is going through a vicious circle at the moment. The sale of Oil is the only thing keeping it going. How well off is the US financially at the moment? Would you care to remind me? No the dollar is not worth the cost of the paper it is printed on. but the penny is worth less than the copper it takes to make one. Bitcoin is not only worth the energy and equipment it takes to mine one either... It is worth much more. With Bitcoin being finite and decentralised you do not have to worry about hyper inflation. Gold's price is being heavily suppressed at present also. I also have gold and silver in my portfolio. You do not have to lecture me on that, but it has lost 10% of its value on the past 4 months. While Bitcoin has increased by 600-700%. you see why Wall St. are starting to get interested now? That % is taking into account it's very low current price. It is only the panic sellers that are dumping because they are scared of government and bank smear campaigns... All this does is distribute the currency even further. It has happened before. I created this account because I am a skydiver. Not to evangelise. I happen to be very interested in crypto currency and this was the first thing I searched for here to see what people were saying about it. Like all forums there seems to be the few outspoken ones that want to bash it, while the majority seem to agree that bitcoin is a good thing.... Fortunately for me I have profited considerably from crypto, to the point where it is earning me more than my usual job (at present) that is also well paid. Even with the current lows... But what do I know...lol Wall st cares about it because they see that they might make some money and its legal. that is not an endorsement of your ideas. i.e. the inevitable collapse of the USD and Bitcoin becoming a legitimate global currency. I dont know why any particular bank might be involved but it could be as simple as meeting customer demand. their customers ask about it and the figure they can create one and sell it. i dont pretend to know why but i am very certain they do not believe as you do. if so, there would be quite a scare in the markets. im glad you have made money in them. that is not sarcasm. but making money in something does not make it legitimate. it certainly does not make it a currency to be compared to the USD. Trillions of transactions a day take place with USD's, from one gumball to billions worth of bonds all over the world, in every language and at every moment. Bitcoins trade on no recognized exchange and are very illiquid. they trade in odd lots compared to other securities and currencies. they are quite a tiny phenomenon considering how many headlines they grab. also, currencies are meant to be stable. having huge swings make them very impracticable as a currency. by and large most people like to know roughly how much milk they can buy with a paycheck. they dont want a lottery, boom and bust every time they wake up. Bitcoins are interesting and you have proven you can make money. however, i do not see them becoming a competitor to the USD any time soon. as you said, but what do i know? "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

are you in Bergen County? if so, i might be able to refer you to someone. if your in Bergen County or near, PM me some general details of your problem so i can get a sense of who to ask. no need to be too specific but ill need to get the gist of it. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

cmon, how lazy is a fat joke on Christy. you can do better. this is a super minor incidence of corruption in Bergen County. it only made the news because it caused a traffic jam and people will not tolerate that!! it would have gotten less attention if he just had the guy murdered. im not saying it was a minor incident or crime. i am saying by the horribly corrupt standards of NJ politics, this is minor. Bergen County is the most corrupt county in a very corrupt state. there is a senator who got in trouble for bid rigging. didnt lose his job as a senator but got scolded by his friends. he still works in construction and still get gov't contracts. i blame the Irish. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

If there's enough action for JPM to consider creating a new vehicle, then that suggests there's enough action in bitcoin now. If it stays in the 1000$ range rather than the hundred dollar range, with these same wide spreads, then that's decent money. Are they really above making $10M? Something(s) have to fill in for the lost mortgage game. yes, they are really above worry about 10mill. with that said, i dont know why they are creating the currency. perhaps they want to create their own market, similar to what they did with the carbon credits until the market vanished. if you create a market you make money on every trade risk free. i have no idea and can only guess what their motives are though. I'll ask around and see what i can find. should be interesting. as far as making money trading, i can speak intelligently. or so i hope, hah. they cannot prop trade anymore. so chopping for the spread, as you suggest, is off the table. its been against company policy since right after 2008 and is not not permitted under the Volcker rule. since they are so volatile and illiquid, i doubt there would be an interest in market making. not enough of them trading to make it worth their while and would end up a huge distraction from more profitable trades. again, its still tiny by institutional standards. they cannot put together a large block of 100k or so. your dealing in odd lots by block trader standards. there are traders at JPM that gross 150mill a year and trade 20mill shares a day. they do not have time or interest to be involved with trading a few hundred bitcoins. 10mill is small change on their desk and i doubt it could be done anyway. too illiquid and too few of them trading. Market making needs more than volatility. you need the ability to build a book to hedge against the swings. the bitcoin market is too small and fractured for that. and again, we cannot prop trade anymore. so banks trading them are pretty much out for now. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

if their intent is to create another bitcoin, I don't see them succeeding. Why would hippies (crude catch all phrase for those who distrust government and financial institutions) use this one instead? Who exactly would be the customer? Those who trust them are content to use dollars. But when I look at the exchanges and see wide variations in price (5-10% just for the USD exchanges), I'm shocked that someone already hasn't been trying to profit. The liquidity seems sufficient. And here is a place where GSCO should be able to clean up. A more stable bitcoin would also increase its acceptance, I believe. i know no one who is involved with these things outside of their personal account. i know nothing of them other than what ive read here and on the internet. so i dont have an intelligent response as to why anyone would use them or why they are developing them. anything i said would be speculative and based on nothing. i prefer to not sound too ignorant. i am confident there are people smarter than me who do know and eventually i will meet one and then have something to add here. i can speak as to the banks and why they are not widely involved in trading. its just too small. when banks already have well established trading desks that bring in billions and billions of revenue. who cares about tens of millions. it really doesnt move the needle. also, they are very illiquid by an institutional trading desks standard. i need to be able to move several 100 thousand of them in one block for them not to be considered illiquid. they do not have anywhere near that kind of volume. we consider thousands of shares to be oddlots. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

I said it might be, or it might not be, depending on resolution of the ambiguity. i know what you did there. i just was expressing what is truly in your heart. that its not nice to pinch a few peanuts from the old lady. you dont have a monopoly on humor. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

i get you are being mostly humorous with this thread. i am glad that you admitted it is wrong though. for the children. i do agree, she seems to be overacting. but its her home and she can be a cranky old lady if she chooses. a very rich cranky old lady who inherited her money and has no real legislative responsibilities. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

i have no comment on the Queens beaver but can spot a weasel when i see one. i say that smiling,fyi. you started this thread and i think it would be sporting of you to answer the gentleman's question as to where you draw the line. im curious too. you dont like the Queen. got it. that aside, id like to know if you think its appropriate for the officers to take things from her property? albeit they are just peanuts but they are her peanuts and not theirs. you know how i feel. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

I agree. your job is to be in someones private residence. that does not give you the right to take what is not yours. Im a firefighter. would it be appropriate for me to eat your dinner just because you inherited your wealth and my job finds me in your home? of course not. it is inappropriate for them to eat her peanuts no matter how she came to have them. this is kids stuff, its not yours. dont take it. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

that is an excellent post. thank you. i do recognize i have prejudices, fyi. i have many faults and i do my best to better myself. my posts were not holier than though accusations of racism. in no way was i calling him a racist with the belief i am pure at heart. i was basically calling him ill mannered for calling the President a mulatto and negroid. i feel my post were more about manners and behaving like a woman and gentleman in public. no one with class purposely uses an outdated term that is known to be hurtful. even if you feel the word is not offensive to you. it is to others and there are perfectly good phrases that are just as accurate and inoffensive. its not like he called someone a mailman instead of letter carrier. he called the President a mulatto and a negroid. he is rude and i felt it was appropriate to call him out on it. (edited some grammer) "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

no apology needed but i appreciate the sentiment. I am actually not at all a fan of the grievance police. i agree, many people are politically motivated to silence opponents using fake outrage. i assure you that was not my motivation. i felt calling the President of the US a mulatto and negroid was in bad taste. actually calling anyone that in 2013 is in bad taste. i felt it was such an obvious act of overt racism i should comment. when you purposely use a term that is meant to be hurtful, you deserve to be mocked. that was my sole motivation. i doubt any decent person would agree that mulatto or negroid is an acceptable term anymore. at least i would hope so. we agree also that people should be permitted to say what they want. i just feel i also have the right to ridicule them. except for global warming deniers. they need to shut up and go away, obviously. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante