The financial news networks were busy yesterday covering the sentencing of convicted fraudster Bernard Madoff. Madoff was given the harshest penalty possible; 150 years in prison for defrauding thousands of his investors.

Luckily I was not a Madoff investor. But from what I have learned about his investors, I would not have been one of them. There was a guest on CNBC that said out loud what I was thinking.

From CNBC.com

People who invested with Bernard Madoff were greedy and happy to accept high returns without probing too much in the way these were achieved, Hugh Hendry, chief investment officer at hedge fund Eclectica, told CNBC Tuesday.

“I’m sympathetic for people losing money but I think this pejorative term of being greedy still applies,” Hendry told CNBC.com. “There was an implicit greed in not questioning and just accepting unnatural returns.”

“They didn’t show the requisite amount of fear that would have generated the curiosity [...]

I like to think of myself as an honest, giving person. But then we probably all do.

And as the research shows more than 60% of all drivers think their driving skills are above average.

Ever since I started optiongenius.com, 99% of the emails and comments have been favorable. Even the people who become members and drop out, tell me it is because it is something on their end and not because of the service.

But then again, there are those that do not believe me or question my motives. Which is fine. In fact, I say people should not believe me when they sign up for my site. Heck, I wouldn’t believe it if someone told me they could make 100% a year with low risk – until I saw it for myself.

That’s why I offer the first 30 days of membership for just $1. I think that is a fair price [...]

Every once in a while I get an email from a prospective member who asks me why I lost money in September 2008. I did have a large loss compared to my prior losses and they want an explanation.  Here is one such email:

First of all, thank you for your free e-mail lessons.  In the lessons, you mention that losses can be kept to a minimum….could you explain the circumstances in Sept. 08 that didn’t allow you keep losses down to near the 10% level?  Was it the market itself or did you not follow your rules properly?  Thank you very much in advance for your reply.

My reply:

Mike,
 
In Sept 08, the market tanked very rapidly. You never expect it to drop so far so fast. I was caught off guard as was just about the entire investing community. We always have protection to protect us from a complete loss, but [...]

For the month of May, my results were a nice gain of 11.71%!

This is following a nice double digit gain last month.

We had four trades this month:

SPX, the S&P 500 index
RUT, the Russell 200 Index
 AAPL, Apple Computer
 WMT, Wal-Mart.

I recorded double digit gains on three of these and a 9.5% gain on the SPX position.

Just another day at the office.

OptionGenius.com members can see each trade and any adjustments on the Past Trades page in the membership section of the site. If you are looking for double digit monthly returns, what are you waiting for? Sign up today. I already have one trade for June underway and I am looking for more.

One of my favorite habits is to reward myself after a positive month. To treat myself,  my wife and I go out to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants. Normally it is my favorite, On The Border. But this [...]