And Now For the News...

[Shapley]

Perhaps. What I was trying to say is that, for a given a period of time, the law would indicate that all investors will not pick upward performing stocks. There will be those who will pick losers.

V/R
Shapley

[BigJon@Work]

BigJon, you're getting a little nasty-edged in your discussion. I'd not call you on it, except you've called a few folks in that arena yourself, opening yourself up to a return of serve.

"Your analogy is busted beyond repair, because you have apparently been trained by the very folks who want to take your money"

"does your hatred of the free market system make you incapable"

Perhaps. The first one was an opinion on the argument's source based on the arguments proffered. Not a direct attack on GC. Remember attack the ideas. These are the very same arguments that the gambling houses make to justify their existence. The second was definitely a dig at GCs posts in other threads, now withdrawn.

On another topic -
Why do you find dictionary.com to be an invalid source of definitions?

No weighting for correctness, scholarship or authority.

Back to gambling:
anyone thought of buying puts? Care to differentiate them from anteing into the pot? Care to explain how they create wealth? I can see an argument that buying stock in Pfizer helps PFizer pay for the next round of drug development and manufacture, hence creating wealth, but buying the right to make money if the stock value of a company drops seems completely unlinked from creating wealth as BigJon and Shap have been defining it.

Puts have a legit purpose in reducing risk if you already own the stock and want to protect yourself from a drop in price. They are wealth insurance. A naked put is no different than any other gamble.

[BenODen]

Puts have a legit purpose in reducing risk if you already own the stock and want to protect yourself from a drop in price. They are wealth insurance. A naked put is no different than any other gamble.

Wait a minute here! Doesn't covering a stock ownership with a put mean that if the stock price goes up or down, you don't make any money, since they balance eachother? Isn't a savings account a better vehicle at that point?

[BigJon@Work]

Like any insurance, it should only be purchased for catastrophes. You shouldn't buy puts to protect yourself from the day to day variations in a stock price, only to protect yourself from the bottom dropping out. And in general puts and calls are not for the typical investor, only for those who have a very specific reason for believing they are needed. If you are concerned about the volatility of a particular stock you own, most people would be better off just dumping the stock and getting onto something more stable.

[piqaboo]

Dictionary.com's source for:

"put": The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

"gamble":
1) The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company
2)Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
3)WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University

You have a problem with these sources?

[GreatCarouser]

...The second was definitely a dig at GCs posts in other threads which expressed hatred towards the free market.

I'd be interested in seeing those.....

[OperaTenor]

Dictionary.com's source for:

"put": The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

"gamble":
1) The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company
2)Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
3)WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University

You have a problem with these sources?

Obviously weightless sources.

[BigJon@Work]

...The second was definitely a dig at GCs posts in other threads which expressed hatred towards the free market.

I'd be interested in seeing those.....

Dig withdrawn for rudeness and lack of time to research.

[barfle]

(Quit hoggin' the board Shap)

He's got that PW lust, now that he's taken over second place.

[Haggis@wk]

Following the devastating Galveston Hurricane of 1900, rescue workers had a somewhat different approach to photographers seeking to take pictures of dead bodies:

"Looters found despoiling the dead were summarily executed by the militia - stood against the nearest wall or pile of debris and shot without the hindrance of a trial. The same brutal justice was delivered to amateur photographers. “Word received from Galveston today indicates that Kodak fiends are being shot down like thieves. Two, it is stated, were killed yesterday while taking pictures of nude female bodies.”

— Dallas News, September 14, 1900

Consider that they breed like rabbits this seems to be a good solution for keeping the population in check

[BigJon@Work]

Ah, the death penalty for reporters who got the Katrina reports wrong. I like it. Do you think they would work harder at checking the reports before broadcasting them if they had that penalty hanging over them?

[Shapley]

Pluto Could Be Booted From The Solar System

Firesign Theatre once released an album called Everything You Know Is Wrong. Perhaps they were more accurate than they knew...

[jamiebk]

(Quit hoggin' the board Shap)

He's got that PW lust, now that he's taken over second place.

Perhaps the award should be for quality over quantity...

[Shapley]

Then again, Pluto could be retained as a planet, and have some company.

[Shapley]

Workers discover Chocolate Virgin Mary

I would have at least expected her to appear in white chocolate....

[barfle]

Looks more like the Maltese Falcon to me.

[jamiebk]

I know someone who has a grilled cheese sandwich that they will sell you...

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

And isn't there a cinnamon bun?

And a potato chip?

And I know there's a Jesus in a screen door somewhere in New Jersey.

[Shapley]

'Xena' Discoverer Weighs In On Planet Controversy

[Shapley]

India's Hitler-Themed Restaurant Stirs Controversy

I found this quote interesting:

“We are not promoting Hitler. But we want to tell people we are different in the way he was different.”