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<P>RTers,</P>
<P>While we’re talking about book vendors, allow me to share my own
experience with one in particular, in hope of helping others avoid the same
fate, and also depriving the guilty party of deriving the same financial
gratification.</P>
<P>In a nutshell: If you do business with </FONT><A
href="http://www.buybooks.com/";><FONT size=2>www.buybooks.com</FONT></A><FONT
size=2> , you’re asking for a frustrating experience. Their advertised
prices appear to be the lowest; however, both Traders Library (</FONT><A
href="http://www.traderslibrary.com/";><FONT
size=2>www.traderslibrary.com</FONT></A><FONT size=2>) & Traders Press
(</FONT><A href="http://www.traderspressbookstore.com/";><FONT
size=2>www.traderspressbookstore.com</FONT></A><FONT size=2>) <I>will match any
price on the net</I>, with far superior service.</P>
<P>The details, for those interested: Earlier this year on this forum,
buybooks.com was recommended as a good cut rate source for trading books –
and it was. I ordered on several different occasions, and had little to complain
about. Recently, I ordered again – on Friday at mid day. The book was in
stock. Admittedly it was a holiday weekend, but, after a substantial delay I was
told that the book had not shipped until the following <I>Wednesday</I>. In
order to get this news, I was forced to wade through what is now commonly known
as "voice mail hell", navigating through multiple levels of recordings
and a forced to listen to and choose from total of <I>15 options.
</I>Furthermore, I was informed that the book was shipped parcel post. The USPS
does a great job with letters, usually, but they are one of the slowest in the
known universe when it comes to packages. Additionally, there was no way to
trace the package. After further delay, and several more inescapable trips
through the voice mail maze, I requested that the package be considered lost,
and my credit card account be credited. This would require "approval",
I was informed, and to call back again in a few days for the decision –
and no, there was no way around the voice mail guard at the door. All of this
nonsense went on, becoming more and more Byzantine, until the book finally
arrived, almost 4 weeks (and literally hours on the phone) after it was ordered.
When I requested (at the cost of another descent into voice mail hell) the email
address of someone at the VP level, who might be interested in why their company
was losing a proven customer, I was informed that these addresses are
proprietary, unavailable to the mere mortal, and that I should forward my
comments to the same customer service department that had been so very helpful
in straightening out the above mess. I can just see it now – the whole
gang sitting around laughing so hard that they pee their collective pants as
they read the above account and hit the delete key.</P>
<P>Anyhow, more recently, I was in the market for another book. Buybooks once
again had the best price. This time I called Traders Press, got a real person on
the phone in 2 rings, and had the Buybooks price matched in a few minutes. In
point of comparison, Traders Press also screwed up my order, and neglected to
ship it out promptly. When I called, again getting a real person within a few
rings, they agreed to ship it </P>
<P>DHL overnight at no additional expense to me. End of story. Everbody makes
mistakes – it’s how you handle them.</P>
<P>Who would you do business with next time?</P>
<P>In conclusion: Sorry for the rambling nature of the above account, but I will
probably reuse it in a snail mail communication to Buybooks, internet business
rating sights, and other egroups. As a good net citizen, I feel it is our
responsibility, now that we have this incredible communication tool and leveling
device called the internet, to invest a little our time to give our colleagues
the benefit of our experiences. Furthermore, companies like Buybooks have too
long had the ability to behave as they have above, knowing that they may have
pissed off a single customer, but the cost benefits of dehumanizing the rest of
their customers, those who will put up with the nonsense, more than make up for
the loss. I would personally like to do my own litlle part in seeing that these
types of companies, who hide behind a barrier of electronic isolation, be driven
toward extinction by the very same technology.</P>
<P>Best regards,</P>
<P>Michael Spencer</P>
<P>P.S. I think it would be a nice touch if Buybooks received a few emails from
folks not ordering from them. The only email address I can get from them is
</FONT><A href="mailto:peterh@xxxxxxx";><FONT
size=2>peterh@xxxxxxx</FONT></A><B><FONT size=2>. </B>Please feel free to snip
from the above info if you like.</P></FONT><FONT size=1>
<P> </P></FONT><FONT size=2>
<P> </P>
<P> </P>
<P> </P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
</x-html>From ???@??? Sat Nov 27 16:49:54 1999
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From: gary@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Gary Funck)
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Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1999 16:17:58 -0800
In-Reply-To: "Dr. John Cappello" <jvc689@xxxxxxxxxxx>
"[realtraders] Cappello Strangles Follow-Up {02}" (Nov 27, 3:29pm)
References: <19991127202930.61797.qmail@xxxxxxxxxxx>
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Subject: [realtraders] Cappello Strangles Follow-Up {03}
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Status:
To give an idea of how volatilities change over time,
attached is a chart that shows the log(close today/close 20
trading days ago). This approximates percent changes
experienced with a 20 day hold, measured on a
close-to-close basis. I used SPY as a proxy for the S&P
500. If I used OEX or the SPX cash index, the results would
have been similar.
As you can see, volatility has steadily increased from very
low levels in 1993 until now. The effect of the LTCM
crisis put 1998 into a category all its own.
Below, is the distribution of 20 (trading) day (log)
changes in SPY for 1999 only:
0% -7.65
10% -3.97
20% -2.63
30% -0.69
40% 0.70
50% 1.92
60% 2.82
70% 3.94
80% 5.09
90% 6.70
100% 11.30
At the low end, a -7.65 move was the biggest downside
close-to-close change, and +11.30 was the largest upside
move. The median monthly move was 1.92, which corresponds
roughly to a 2%/month underlying up-trend. To be right 80%
of the time, on not having a hypothetical 20 trading day
strangle go in the money, you'd have to have sold puts
-3.97(%) out of the money and calls roughtly +6.70(%) out
of the money. Of course, if you knew in the first place
that this year would exhibit such a strong upward bias,
you'd have been better off buying a straight long position
outright. The numbers above just give an idea of the range.
They don't take into account actual expiration dates and
such. Take a look at the chart, and you can see how
difficult it would be to find the "right" strikes that
offered a good return and a reasonable amount of safety.
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