Obviously satan uses the name of God to deceive and to cheat as in Genesis 3; and Goldman and the Fed is doing quite well. Goldman greed, deception, traitor -- there is no hope with demonic power.
http://beautifulbible.blogspot.com/2009/08/rothschild-secret-financial-market.html
This world is possessed by the satan in Genesis 3. The Goldman makes deceptive statements to millions of Americans, and still is doing so without remorse -- eternal death is waiting for all greedy -- greed which is the root of all evil.
This is exactly the damnation of the material promise of Abraham without Jesus that, with greedy human nature, they fall into satanic power doing the work of satan like Goldman. What Blankfein is saying, "I know I could slit my wrists and people would cheer", is that he'd rather die than being a normal human being without so much greed. No one would be cheering when he slit his wrists, but would feel pity toward his lost soul. Saying such thing just shows how his mentality is corrupted and greedy. He is given every opportunity to repent for his greed, but he is refusing to see reality as he hardens his heart choosing money above all. His mind is completely corrupt as the greed is doing the God's work -- when the reality says that he is doing satan's work as greed is the root of all evil. Most of all, in the name of greed, the Fed/Goldman corrupt and defiles the world with materialism deception.
- Goldman Sachs Head Says Banks Do 'God's Work'
The dominant Wall Street bank posted third-quarter earnings of $3 billion and plans to hand out more than $20 billion in year-end bonuses.
11/8/2009
Astonishing - only God knows all the details, however, it is certainly astonishing to hear such story. Obviously Tim Knight is chosen for reasons -- hopefully, it is for a good reason, not for worshiping mammon. Many Christians have fallen into hands of mammon as we can see that many in America have walked away from churches or are professing to be Christians with lip-services.
Our lives on this earth are like dews under blazing sun evaporating in a few minutes compared to Eternity. I wouldn't want to fail in Eternity. Through faith in God.... starving and dying in God is better than glutten greed money and pleasure ultimately leading to eternal death.
In that regard, just as Jesus said, the material blessing to Abraham is curse under the law, as Jesus said that it is hard for riches to enter Heaven. In Old Testaments also said that "Greed" is the root of evil -- and we can see how the Greed defiled the United States and many around the world.
Ecclesiastes 1 The Futility of All Endeavor
God will return as Jesus said in Matthew 24 and as we read in the book of Revelation. Those who sold their soul to mammon will end up in eternal hell after defiling the world with earthly pleasure and enjoying what this world has to offer. Repent! mammon, Repent!Thank God that we will be with Him through Jesus and our faith in Him.
Praise God for sending Jesus as our Savior, and through Him, we can live with Him in eternal Heaven.
11/6/2009 I noticed Tim Knight's writing on Good and Evil. Not sure why he is writing on the subject other than what he expressed, but he is missing the most important issue with the financial markets which is "satanic deception" inherently involved in the markets, and especially when markets are driven by "Greed". Note that he completely omits "Greed" which is the root of all evil as the Bible states and as our common sense tells the same as well.
Tim is either simply ignorant about the fundamental issue or simply ignoring the most important part of issues concerning the topic. His view is quite biased and misleading lacking objectivity and validity especially he often claims himself as a Christian even though he is better than other traders. The fact that he is discussing the Good and Evil issues is subjecting himself how biased his views are.
Let's be realistic and use discernment - Tim Knight's writing on "Good and Evil". At the start of his post, it is a well-written argument; however, it is based on incorrect discernment of fundamentally misaligned basis of what is good or evil. The definitions which he noted are acceptable however as he progresses his writing, he is totally off-course where he is misleading the core issue which is financial markets are based on speculation and deception just as stated on the Genesis 3 when satan appeared to Eve with the similar tactics which financial markets are using.
Noted that satan started out with a question creating a doubt (Genesis 3:1). Then satan defied what God said (Genesis 3:4). After satan created a doubt, then satan defied God. The next step which satan took was a temptation to go against the will of God (Genesis 3:5). These satanic steps are exactly what markets are using to swindle, to scam, to steal, and to defraud millions and billions out of Americans and the United States.
When we see speculations of the markets, most of speculators are driven by the noted three steps. Those who have the power to move markets are being satanic as they continue to lure market participants to take their baits as their profit is coming from the participants.
Obviously Tim Knight is either ignorant of the facts or lying to others so that he can continue to be a part of satanic lure and practices or so that he can continue to deceive others using the Name of God and self-professed Christian. No one is perfect, however, with the level of he pretends to be, as noted, he is lacking discernment or satanic as in Genesis 3.
Readdressing the fundamental issues of "Good and Evil", the results of financial markets are "Greed", "Power-seeking", "Deception", "Killing", etc. as we can see those results in our daily lives. In our world, we do not need Financial Market deception to promote better society or culture as "China", "South Korea," or "Western World" were not really relied on the financial markets to progress technologically. We can not equate or credit "Technological Advancement" to capitalism for Russia or China were not "Capitalistic Society", but their technology would have advanced even though it was not as superior as Western's.
Because of Greed seeded in financial markets, it is evident that those who manipulate markets can easily become evil and corrupt. However, Cain killed Abel out of greed, so, it is the human nature to be greedy. Only Spirit of God truly can regenerate human hearts, minds, and spirit.
http://slopeofhope.com/2009/11/good-and-evil.htmlBut my perception that this country is going very bad places doesn't make me un-American. If anything, my willingness to perceive and talk about these concerns makes me that much more of an American. I would like to see this country come out on the other side of this mess in one piece. I would say blind optimists who figure things will get better just because they ought to get better are unpatriotic by way of their apathy.
As for corporations: if you really want to destroy a company - - - if that's your fondest wish - - - then create a better competitor!
Who do you think had a more destructive effect on Yahoo.............(a) short sellers, or (b) the founders of Google? I think even 2 million short-sellers couldn't even approach the damage that the 2 co-founders of Google created. So Joseph Schumpeter's notion of "Creative Destruction" wins the day.
Performing Technical Analysis is indeed nothing to do with "Good or Evil" as it is mechanical analysis based on a set of rules; however, considering how market prices are manipulated as well as technical signals to lure, to attack, to mislead, to signal, and other purposes by market makers; there are always consequences of decision making process. Nevertheless, performing and trading based on technical analysis is the simplest part of various aspects of financial markets. Even though, we can view it as a part of criminal activities such as a driver in a bank rubbery is also a part of bank robbery even though he did not directly rob a bank.
An objective technical trader does the following:
- Examines a chart;
- Reaches a conclusion;
- Acts upon that conclusion.
There is nothing malevolent in the above. Nothing. If I believe the stock BIDU is going to fall, and I short it, then I am taking actions that I hope will be profitable for me. I am taking a risk. Yes, I am hoping the stock will fall, because that benefits me and aligns with my analysis. It feels good to be right, and it feels good to take a profit. But this "hope" has nothing to do with wishing ill on others; it is simply a supposition made based on analysis.
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Good and Evil
The nature, definition, and manifestation of good and evil are subjects I have pondered many times in my life. All cultures, philosophies, and religions have their own views on these subjects. Some of them dismiss the idea that evil even exists. This is something with which I disagree.
The best definition of evil I remember reading was this: "That which destroys life and liveliness."
But how does one comprehend goodness? Do we simply invert the aforementioned definition, yielding "That which creates life and liveliness."?
I think that is a step in the right direction. But the thought of goodness conjure up, for me, a variety of other properties. In no particular order - and surely this list is incomplete - I think of:
* Balance
* Harmony
* Order
* Love
* Faith
* Compassion
* Generosity
* Kindness
* Honesty
* Bravery
* Moderation
None of this is terribly controversial. But there are some subtleties in human nature and behavior that make the topic less simple.
Self-Perception
The mass of individuals on Earth don't align themselves to a standard yardstick of principles and behaviors in order to present themselves as being on a particular point on the continuum of good and evil. People are, in my view, self-interested creatures, and it is tempting for a person to consider someone "evil" who is simply dissimilar to themselves (or whose world-view differs from their own).
I seriously doubt Osama bin Laden stares at his fragment of a mirror hanging in the cave wall, cackles mischievously to himself, and declares, "Oh, what a fine life it is to be evil. I shall crush all those goody-two shoes that oppose me!" Nor do I think the likes of Hitler or Stalin considered themselves to be evil. They were consumed with their own motives, and those in opposition to those motives were going to either get out of the way or be destroyed.
I think the vast majority of humanity would agree that such individuals were, in fact, evil. But what's required to make this sort of assertion is some perspective.
Is Heroism Chosen?
What constitutes a hero?
On a regular basis, the newspapers and television shows have stories of individuals who, in the face of danger to themselves or loved ones, decided to act with remarkable courage and strength in order to attempt a positive outcome. A man runs into a burning building to save the life of a stranger; a woman dives into a frozen lake to rescue someone who fell in; a dog drags an injured dog off a road to prevent it from being killed.
These are all heartwarming, and as sentimental as I am, I'm probably even more affected and moved by these stories than most others. But do heroes choose to be good, or are they simply "wired" that way? And if they are wired that way, are they any more deserving of our praise as anyone else blessed by other genetic dispositions, such as having blonde hair or a nice singing voice?
In the end, I don't think anyone really cares if it was a person's conscious choice or not to behave heroically. The fact is that they did, and the action itself gives that person heroic attributes. It is all the more alluring and praiseworthy to the public that these decisions are usually made in a split-second, because deep inside we're all wondering if we would have done the same thing; we ponder, no matter what our self-image, if we have that goodness within us that we so admire in others.
What Does This Have to do with Trading?
The reason I bring this subject up on a trading blog is because I believe there is a big misunderstanding about the actions of traders and what those actions represent. Specifically, the notion that buying stocks (and being bullish) is "good" whereas selling or shorting stocks (and being bearish) is "bad."
Let's start with a few basic facts:
1. Unless one's trading size is so gigantic compared to a given security's volume that you are going to push the market substantially up or down, your actions are immaterial to the market as a whole;
2. Unless you are actively and effectively spreading malicious untruths about a given organization or security, you are trading morally
3. Your participation in an aftermarket does nothing to help or hinder a public company.
Let's focus on that last point. If you buy 5,000 shares of AAPL, the company Apple doesn't care. You're not helping them, or their employees, or their sales, or their customers, or their management of expenses. If you short 5,000 shares of AAPL, likewise, the company doesn't care.
Now, if it were 1976, and Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak came to you for startup funding, and you gave it to them, Apple would care very much. Because you are providing them what they need to create a business. And if, in 1980, you as an investment bank agree to underwrite their public offering, Apple again cares, because you are providing them with a source of financing that will help them grow as a business.
But once a company's public, your actions as a trader really have nothing to do with them. Sure, a company (and more particularly, its shareholding employees) like to have a stock bid up to higher prices. But your actions as a trader aren't creating any good (or evil) for that organization. You are operating in a realm outside the bounds of that enterprise.
Seven Years Ago
The very first page of my charting book has just one line on it:
To Alexander Dobrovolski, who made it all possible.
Even with all the copies of the book that have been sold, no one has ever asked me what this dedication meant, or who Alex was. Today, I'd like to tell you a little about Alex.
From Ukraine via Boston
In early 1999, I had already been running Prophet for six and a half years. But most of that "running" was me operating out of a spare bedroom in my house with the help of a couple of folks operating out of their spare bedrooms. We never had any money.
But due to a surprising windfall, I was in a position to make Prophet a real business, with a real office, and actual employees who came in every morning and left every night - it was going to be quite a change.
But what we needed most was talented engineers. And, let me assure you, finding a good software engineer in 1999 was no easy task. All the talent started getting sucked up once the Internet craze started four years earlier, and the talent that was left was (a) really expensive and (b) not at all talented.
So we scoured, as best we could, to find someone - anyone - decent. By chance we located a consulting firm in Boston that had some engineers from the former Soviet bloc, and they were more than glad to pimp them out (this is, in fact, the term we used).
Now, I don't know how many of you have looked at the resumes of software engineers, but 98% of them look identical; I actually got pretty good at just eyeballing a resume and seeing who was decent and who wasn't. One person in particular, Alex, stood out as quite promising. I noticed that he even had taken the 2nd place prize in a nationwide contest in mathematics back in the Ukraine, so apparently he was awfully smart.
So we asked to speak with Alex. It was a difficult conversation, because his English was pretty limited, but even over the phone he seemed smart and likable, so we decided to take a chance and devote some of our modest cash to this new engineer.
"He's going to cut my balls off."
Like many transplanted engineers from the former Soviet Union, Alex was in this country without his family. He came here because he could earn much better money and, hopefully, eventually bring his family over. As I got to know Alex, he told me he had a wife, Eugenia, and a son of about twelve years.
It was rapidly apparent that Alex wasn't just bright - he was brilliant. Prophet had very, very little when he started, and our charting code - God help us - was written by me (this is the equivalent of having an ambitious eight year old boy construct a house for you to live in). Even over a period of months, our communication remained difficult since we didn't speak the same language, although using the written word, he did just fine. So there were dozens of instances where I'd come over to his desk, start to explain something, and then just fire up Notepad on his computer and type to him what I was trying to say. I could type English much faster than I could get him to understand the spoken word, so we had this curiously silent way of communicating. And, yes, he would type right back, with me right next to him.
We didn't want to keep Alex as a consultant, though. It was apparent to us this guy was a gem, and we wanted him to work for us - - forever, if possible. So we contacted his pimp - - err, consulting firm - - and told him of our intent.
The pimp was none too thrilled to hear this, because he was getting a handsome cut of Alex's pay. But our contract with the firm gave us the permission to hire him away, and we told him that's what we were going to do. So he asked to speak to Alex to say his farewells. I handed Alex the phone and he spoke to his guy in Russian for a couple of minutes. He finally said, "Da." and hung up the phone.
"What did he say?"
"He said he's going to cut my balls off."
"So are you going to stay?"
"Yes."
JavaCharts then Kandinsky
Alex worked in 1999, 2000, and 2001 on just about all the web-facing products that Prophet had. His principal creation was JavaCharts, which was a full-blown charting applet that put Prophet on the map.
This one creation absolutely made the company, because it gave us something that brokerages were actually interested in licensing. So over twenty different firms licensed the product, and it gave us a steady, hearty stream of recurring revenue.
Those were insane years in the valley, because in the span of months, the entire area went from insane booming bubble to collapse. Because Prophet had never had a "boom" period (or venture capital), we didn't have a "bust" either. We were actually a sea of calm amidst a huge storm, and a lot of our would-be competitors simply blew up.
As JavaCharts usage grew from the thousands to the millions of tens of millions of hits every month, the pressure was always on to improve both it and its underlying infrastructure. But, as with any software product, JavaCharts was starting to show its age, and Alex wanted to created something completely new to replace it.
In 2002, he embarked on a new project called Kandinsky (which ultimately would become the ProphetCharts we know and love today). Even though JavaCharts was a really good product, we knew that Alex's experience with it would provide him the knowledge to create something truly amazing as its successor. So his long days at the office continued - - - and his life was all the more complete now that his wife and son had joined him (equipped, as he was, with a fresh green card) in the United States.
The Phone Call
At 8:16 p.m. on November 8, 2002, Alex was - as was often the case - the last one at the office. He wrote himself an email of sites he wanted to check first thing on Monday morning. The subject line, in typical Alex fashion, was humorously meaningless. He even signed it.
From: Alex Dobrovolskiy
To: ADobrov@usa.net
Sent: Friday, November 08, 2002 8:16 PM
Subject: ssssssss
http://clearstation.etrade.com/rfcs_thetrade.html
http://www.devx.com/getHelpOn/Article/9915/
http://www.devx.com/java/article/9856
http://archive.devx.com/free/tips/tipview.asp?content_id=4153
http://www.developer.com/java/other/article.php/1495061
Alex Dobrovolskiy
I imagine at this point he shut down his computer, locked the door, and started to walk across the street to get into his car.
The next morning, I was sitting in the restaurant Fu Lam Mum in Mountain View with my family, and my cell phone rang. It was Alex's wife, Eugenia, whose English was more limited than her husband's.
"Hello. I'm sorry to bother you."
"It's no bother. Is something wrong?"
"Alex was hit by a car. I thought you should know. He's at Stanford Hospital."
She wasn't crying; she wasn't hysterical; and she seemed to feel genuinely bad about calling me on a Saturday morning. Needless to say, we all left immediately for the hospital, not knowing what had happened or how bad it was.
One by One
We met Eugenia at the hospital, and she remained very composed - stoic, even. My wife asked to see Alex, whom she adored, even in his horribly damaged condition. I couldn't bear to go in there; he wasn't conscious, and he was being kept alive by machines.
According to the police, a hit and run driver mowed Alex down as he was crossing Alma. He was thrown at least forty feet. He was as good as dead at that point, and once they turned the machines off, at Eugenia's request, he was gone.
So this brilliant man - - the man who had made everything we succeeded at in our company possible - - and whose wife and child had joined him in a new land - - was dead. Killed by someone with probably half his IQ and one-fiftieth of his morals. Because somewhere, out there, is the slob who ran him over and didn't have the courage to face the consequences of his actions. A coward killed him.
As we told our employees that Monday morning, privately, one by one, the reactions were understandable - shock, grief, and a fear of what was going to happen. After all, we were all, to a degree, riding on Alex's coattails. This was the brain behind our creations.
I was particularly moved by the outpouring of support we received from the community. Both strangers and friends poured money into his memorial fund in order to support his survivors. And, of course, people were outraged that the wrongdoer got away with it.
Obviously I wish he was still here - - he had just started doing some amazing things. But he was formative in a company that created employment, customers, and a lot of happy users. I miss you, Alex, and I'm sorry that this happened. http://slopeofhope.com/2009/11/seven-years-ago.html
Amazing -- our lives on this earth is infinitesimal to the Eternity, and I asked GOD that I choose HIM if having money hinders me.
Based on my past experience like majority of people, having money will weaken faith in God. Obviously less reliant on the Lord if not plainly one walks away from doing the Will of God in our daily lives -- as well as just doing the faithful lip service to the Lord.
Reading the painful experience and the astonishing event, now I can somewhat understand a part of Tim even though I distantly read his posts.
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