The DummySpots Project has come to an end, and I've arrived at the answer for my musician friend from a few posts back. As old Kurt would say, that was no musician. That was I. That was me.
This is not a blog post. It's a simple html page, and it won't show up in anyone's RSS reader. That's the way I want it. You had to type something or click something to get here, and I thank you for making the effort.
I've enjoyed writing DummySpots posts more than just about anything in my life. I've met some of the most wonderful and intelligent people. I've also learned some important lessons. I've learned that I could create a website that would get 100,000 page views a month if I wanted (Dummyspots generally only ran about 20-25k). There are specific techniques, and specific ways of writing, that will drive traffic like mad. I've learned which "tricks" work, but I've mostly avoided them, because they didn't suit my purpose. I was looking to share, and learn, information about stock trading, not to create the Next Big Thing on Digg.
The last few months my trading has become embarrassingly successful, especially considering the amount of pure churning I've done in the last 15 years or so. But that success is not due to some magical skill, some new trading "secret." It's simply a combination of the RSI(4) method I've written about for months, leverage via options, and a huge dose of what Nassim Taleb reminds us is pure random luck. The volatile market action since July, for whatever reason, perfectly synchronizes with my trading style. And I'm completely aware that it may all go away tomorrow.
I'm a big fan of what I call "The Real Secret." A more complete discussion is a diatribe for another website (perhaps soon), but one facet of The Real Secret is that answers can come from the most unexpected places, and usually are not found where we're looking for them. Often our job is to be quiet, to be patient, and be open to the answer, and not, as Pirsig said, when the Truth comes knocking at the door to say,"Go away! Can't you see I'm waiting for the Truth!"
So I was waiting, doing my best to be patient, for quite some time. All I had were questions. Then the UPS guy brought some books the other evening. I started reading one of them. Another Vonnegut, as it turns out. In it he says:
Today we have contraptions like nuclear submarines armed with Poseidon missiles that have H-bombs in their warheads. And we have contraptions like computers that cheat you out of becoming. Bill Gates says, "Wait till you see what your computer can become." But it's you who should be doing the becoming, not the damn fool computer.
Ah, that resonates. Getting warm.
Electronic communities build nothing. You wind up with nothing. We are dancing animals. How beautiful it is to get up and go out and do something. We are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different.
Bingo. Red Hot.
And what about writing? Writing, or at least good writing, is an art. I don't claim to be great at it, any more than I'm great at playing the guitar. But I love doing both of them. And so to me, they are my art. What about that?
The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.
Thank you, Kurt. Or Fate. Or God. Or Subconscious. Thank you that these passages filtered through at the right moment in my life.
Also, there's been a continuing dilemma for me, I mean, my friend the musician, between "being popular" and "doing your thing." Sometimes you must choose one over the other. Then Monday on NPR I heard an article about an enigmatic singer called Jandek. Seems he's released about a zillion albums, his name is known worldwide, but never in the context of what would be considered mainstream music. He's even been the subject of a documentary film consisting of "obsessed fans, critics and musicians," but no Jandek. He has no publicist, no website, no major record label. Doesn't do public interviews. Only a P.O. box under the name of an unknown label called Corwood Industries.
Here's what caught my ear: On why Jandek is reclusive when he could be so much more well-known, New York Times and Rolling Stone music critic Douglas Wolk says,
"There's not an obligation to be famous... We live in a culture that has impressed on us the idea that everybody not only can be famous, but should or must be famous, and if you're not famous, you've failed, and if you're making art and the world doesn't cheer you, then it's a failure, and that's just a lie."
And there it was.
I've had a wonderful time with DummySpots. I'm grateful for every visitor, particularly the ones who were generous enough to share their thoughts.
I'll no doubt have more web projects in the future. I may do a stock site geared towards high traffic. (Hint: bikinis and titles that start with "Top Ten").
Or I may do a site built around country-gone-city, redneck trailer-park philosophy, a subject for which I am uniquely qualified.
Hell, I may do both.
For now, I'm taking a break, devoting more time to my trading (I've got another massive backtesting project waiting for my attention), and getting that remodeling project finished.
But most importantly, I plan to listen to Kurt, and do some serious farting around.
Best wishes to all, in your trading and in your life. And Cheers.
- Will