2010-05-10

The Game of Risk - You can only win if you understand how to play

The goal of the game is simple: world domination.

It’s a game without mercy and requires high intelligence and much planning. It’s not a game for suckers.

Over last decade, Wall Street has been playing their own version of the game RISK—and though the stakes are higher, the strategies are the same.

The source of all this risk? Trading.

Those who invest for their retirement in the stock market and financial vehicles made by Wall Street firms are betting on the market rising in value. They are investing for capital gains instead of cash flow.

The problem is that the true money is made in trading—in the sell, not the hold.

In fact, traders need the middle class to invest for the long term so that they can cash in on their financial ignorance through trades—often highly complex trades that take advantage of market swings and that require a high financial intelligence.

All the major Wall Street financial firms understand that the real money is made in short-term trading, not in long-term investment.

"With a trader, the goal of every minute of every day is to make money,So if running the economy off the cliff makes you money, you will do it, and you will do it every day of every week." ~ TIME Magazine, The Case Against Goldman Sachs

Of course, when I say that big firms like Goldman are willing to risk it all to make a killing in trading, I don’t mean they were willing to risk all they have…I mean they’re willing to risk all you have.

These big firms are not just experts in trading, but they’re also experts in hedging those trades. The true victims are rarely the firms themselves—or the executives and traders collecting big bonuses—but rather good, hard-working investors with little intelligence.

The recent lawsuit against Goldman only exists because the SEC thinks that Goldman hedged unfairly—not because they wiped others out. In reality, most people and organizations are just pawns for the big Wall Street firms in a much larger game of RISK—trading edition. I’m not saying that is right or wrong, but it is reality.

Some suggested strategies to be a winner at the board game of RISK

1. Focus on the goal and the objective

This is not a charity game. It’s a chew ‘em up and spit ‘em out, high stakes game where the winners win big and losers are toast.

2. You must grow to win

By doing so, you earn friends in the government who will overlook your unfair advantage, and you gain insider access to make smart financial moves powered by knowledge while the little guys go down in flames.

3. Make large attacks

The risk is higher, but the payoff is worth it. Small trades with little risk are worthless. Why? Because traders make money in the form of bonuses based on the size of the trade.

As the Time article states: “As with everything else on Wall Street, the rise of the CDO had to do with bonus checks. Traders' pay was based not just on how much money they made for the firm but on the size of the bet.” In other words, traders have financial incentive to take bigger risks and are discouraged from playing it safe.


4. Don’t hesitate to eliminate a player from the game

As the old adage goes, “There are no victims on Wall Street, just fools.” Traders are merciless and will sacrifice you, me, the whole economy to make a buck for themselves and for their firm. They don’t have your best interests at heart—they have theirs.

5. Know the map

“New players are fresh meat with huge egos.” I translate that as, “People who don’t know the rules of the game will be eaten alive.”

I want to see you win. In order to do so, you must understand the rules of the game. The only way to understand the rules is to increase your financial IQ.

Understand that the only person who can save you financially—is you. You can’t rely on the other players because their objective is to win—at the cost of you losing. You must rely on yourself and your mind. Knowledge is the New Money. You can only win if you understand how to play.


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