I am a private trader/investor. I have been using inverse and leveraged vehicles for many years in addition to more traditional vehicles. I have both made and lost a huge (for me) amount of money in them, but with time and trading experience I have been able to learn to trade them correctly greatly to my advantage. My issue with the proposed regulations is that the present regulatory attempts I have seen do not address the retail traders' RIGHT AND FREEDOM TO LEARN AND ACQUIRE THE SKILLS TO TRADE THESE VEHICLES BY ACTUALLY USING THEM TO TEST THEIR USEFULNESS FOR THEM AND DEVELOP THE EXPERTISE IN TRADING THEM (AS THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO LEARN TO MAKE REAL MONEY). IF SUCH REGULATIONS WERE IN PLACE WHEN I WAS LEARNING TO TRADE THESE VEHICLES THEN I WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO TRADE THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE, as I did not have experience in them and little net worth, AND THUS WOULD HAVE LOST MY OPPORTUNITY TO EVENTUALLY MAKE A LOT OF MONEY (again, for me). This would be a clear infringement on my right to seek my fortune, to learn and acquire the skills to do it, to try new avenues of success in managing money. I started w $1,200 in my IRA and no knowledge, and I have a nice nest egg now - BECAUSE I WAS FREE TO TRY AND EXPERIMENT, gain and lose money, make my mistakes, lick my wounds and learn better. It would also be arrogant and presumptious on the part of the regulators to legislate rules and restrictions on the basis of who some think may eventually be successful and thus be allowed to use these vehicles and who not, as in managing money it has been proven consistently that no amount of book learning, courses and tests truly predict who may eventually be successful. So while it is true that these vehicles are high-risk trading investments, I am firmly against any additional restrictions on such trading beyond what is being required today (periodic notices that these are high-risk investments, provision of prospectuses w/ the risks described, and individual broker-decided minimum net-worth requirements). Thank you for seriously considering these objections.
Camillo Biener Comment On Regulatory Notice 22-08
I am a private trader/investor. I have been using inverse and leveraged vehicles for many years in addition to more traditional vehicles. I have both made and lost a huge (for me) amount of money in them, but with time and trading experience I have been able to learn to trade them correctly greatly to my advantage. My issue with the proposed regulations is that the present regulatory attempts I have seen do not address the retail traders' RIGHT AND FREEDOM TO LEARN AND ACQUIRE THE SKILLS TO TRADE THESE VEHICLES BY ACTUALLY USING THEM TO TEST THEIR USEFULNESS FOR THEM AND DEVELOP THE EXPERTISE IN TRADING THEM (AS THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO LEARN TO MAKE REAL MONEY). IF SUCH REGULATIONS WERE IN PLACE WHEN I WAS LEARNING TO TRADE THESE VEHICLES THEN I WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO TRADE THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE, as I did not have experience in them and little net worth, AND THUS WOULD HAVE LOST MY OPPORTUNITY TO EVENTUALLY MAKE A LOT OF MONEY (again, for me). This would be a clear infringement on my right to seek my fortune, to learn and acquire the skills to do it, to try new avenues of success in managing money. I started w $1,200 in my IRA and no knowledge, and I have a nice nest egg now - BECAUSE I WAS FREE TO TRY AND EXPERIMENT, gain and lose money, make my mistakes, lick my wounds and learn better. It would also be arrogant and presumptious on the part of the regulators to legislate rules and restrictions on the basis of who some think may eventually be successful and thus be allowed to use these vehicles and who not, as in managing money it has been proven consistently that no amount of book learning, courses and tests truly predict who may eventually be successful. So while it is true that these vehicles are high-risk trading investments, I am firmly against any additional restrictions on such trading beyond what is being required today (periodic notices that these are high-risk investments, provision of prospectuses w/ the risks described, and individual broker-decided minimum net-worth requirements). Thank you for seriously considering these objections.