Inflation spirals out of control. Fannie and Freddie are failing. Global construction bets are on the verge of blowing up.
There. You've got your big, market-moving hard news out of the way. Now let's settle into some real summer silliness. Everyone's favorite penny stock trader and budding internet entrepreneur Tim Sykes is about to leave for an extravagant vacation in Japan. He plans to spend $11,000 in seven days by dining on pricey sushi and staying in Ritzy hotels. Then he's going to climb Mount Fuji, just to say he did it.
We're pretty sure this entire trip has been planned just to anger his critics. So don't take the bait. Instead, in comments below, describe the best vacation you ever took and how much it cost you. Go on, show your baller cred.
How To Spend Trading/Blogging Profits: My 7-Day $11,000 Trip To Japan [TimothySykes.com]
Posted by girl , Aug 19, 2008 3:43PM
the best vacations are the ones other people pay for
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 3:46PM
doesn;t it cost like 11 grand just to there coach?
Posted by TimothySykes , Aug 19, 2008 3:52PM
no 3:46pm, jews plan our vacations well, if u read the article, you'll see how i manage to get the best for less, i should start a travel agency called CheapJew.com, its a talent
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 3:54PM
wow-I'm mildly offended by that and I'm not Jewish. Weird feeling.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 3:54PM
Actually no. There are lots of non stops from NY and airlines try to fill the coach seats with last minute deals. If you avoid eating like an investment banker (that is chowing down faux French food at Gordon Ramsay at the Tokyo Conrad with real French wine pairings) and instead eat like a local (sushi, tonkatsu, tempura) the prices are on par with NY, Paris. Not for everyone, but I found Tokyo with a side trip to Kyoto to be fascinating.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 3:58PM
Took my girlfriend Kristen to Washington, DC. I had to take care of some political work there, so I had her take the train and join me at the hotel there. We drank some champagne and had wild sex. My wife never knew!
Cost me a fortune though.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 4:04PM
Mr. Carney, Your "Vacation" thread is very timely.
I'm back from vacation. My three weeks at sea was quite an enjoyable adventure. Didn't cost much either. Never does when one is aboard a private boat. The most costly things were the shore parties.
While on vacation, I met some of the big cheeses from UBS, Deutche Bank, and Credit Suisse. I also met a big cheese from a certain PE outfit in Boston. We always just talked about boats though. None of that IB/PE stuff.
I know you all missed me. Well, maybe some of you did anyway.
The Guy from Delaware
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 4:12PM
TGFD, your post is very timely. I was just telling a colleague about the recent lack of douchebaggery in the comments!
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 4:15PM
$11K for a week in Japan is neither impressively expensive nor impressively cheap. What's the point in mentioning it?
What we really want to know is, in which gay sex show in Kabukicho will Timmay be acting as a bukkake target to pay for the trip?
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 4:26PM
I remember a little vacation in a Tijuana jail...ahh good times
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 4:28PM
Thailand for two weeks. Airline miles to get me there and then maybe 2gs for the whole time and i lived like a king compared to the backpackers.
Posted by Debter , Aug 19, 2008 4:33PM
So Tim is going to spend basically half of his profit YTD on a trip to Japan. Okay fine. How much did it cost in liquidity premiums to cash out (don't forget to take taxes out of that too) of the penny stocks you're invested in? Or are you paying for this some other way (credit card)?? Just curious.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 4:37PM
TGFD,
Get back on the boat and leave this state for good.
The Other Guy From Delaware
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 4:39PM
india, 4 months, 8K.
3.5K all-in expenses, the rest to build a school and feed like 300 kids forever.
that's new-school balling.
enjoy your sushi.
-retail
Posted by TimothySykes , Aug 19, 2008 4:42PM
Debter, r u serious or just inbred? my trading is simply to prove i'm not a BSer and %-wise better than most, especially for those with similar sized accounts...the real $ is in the books/DVDs/subscriptions, u forget 90% of traders lose $, all i gotta do is be right 51% of the time and i beat 99% of the BSers out there...me, I'm a perfectionist, I'm very satisfied with my 90% win ratio, even when detailing all my mistakes, even when telegraphing my trades ahead of time, suck on that piggie
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 4:45PM
maybe Spain...leaving the clubs every morning when the sun's been out for hours...or maybe it was Panama, and waking up from being blackout in a jungle on an island
Posted by Debter , Aug 19, 2008 4:46PM
Still weak.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 4:52PM
TOGFD @#13...
Why are you on my Case?
Did you really write #13, or did some mystery TOGFD impersonator write it?
The Guy from Delaware
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 4:56PM
Carney, Bess,
Poll on DB's biggest DB?
TGFD? Mayo guy/gal (although they do make me laugh sometimes)? Too Long Didn't Read person?
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 5:19PM
After further consideration, I now believe that the clown at #8 impersonated TOGFD at #13.
@#8...You asked for "douchebaggery in the comments", and you gave us one in your #13 post. Did you write @19 too?
You are right about that "Too Long Didn't Read" nutcase. Does that goon ever read anything? My vote is for him/her to be the biggest DB on DB.
The Guy from Delaware
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 5:24PM
I wrote 8 and 8 only. And I wrote it because your post made you sound like a DB, which apparently is a sentiment that is shared by at least a few others.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 5:26PM
10 days in Europe total 2k all in...won the flight at a METS game(they were stuffed in a t-shirt shot out of an air cannon), Amsterdam, Paris, Rome. Majority spent in Amsterdam...I can't remember why...majority spent in amsterdam...I can't remember why. Paris(blah), and Rome was awesome. Saw all the sights, museums, bars, all while getting raped with the exchange rate.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 5:27PM
TGFD 19 here (not one in the same as real or fake TOGFD), One caveat...you can't vote for a DB if you are nominated. This is where keeping the "Guest" handle proves useful. Unless group us all as a class I guess.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 5:30PM
3 weeks in a certain western african nation with friends from college - one of which was the son of the leader of the country's security forces and best friend of the "president". very interesting...i saw things i never thought i would witness.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 5:38PM
TGFD -
where did you go to high school?
Posted by TimothySykes , Aug 19, 2008 5:40PM
children, children, your mindless bickering leads me to believe none of u have ever gone on a nice vacation. cublicle monkeys, just as i expected
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 5:44PM
Partially true. I've never spent $11,000 on a vacation, but if I did I would expect a nice amount of hookers and blow to be involved. I would party like NPH in a stolen car.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 5:57PM
@27
I agree 100%
Posted by a dead horse , Aug 19, 2008 5:59PM
Suite at the Intercontinental in London for a week. Great trip, saw Rent in the West End, got hooked up with a tour of Parliament, plenty of good food.
I didn't quite spend $11,000 though...but that was just the airfare.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 6:16PM
@ 13 - You suck a**hole. I'd never say that to my homie! TGFD - Sorry. My lack of retort was due to a longer than average commute today. Hope you enjoyed your vacation.
The *REAL* Other Guy from Delaware...You retards.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 6:28PM
Northern Vietnam hands down.
Sweet unspoiled paradise if you are coming from China (trip to China is strongly recommended just so you can appreciate Vietnam better).
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 6:29PM
Oh yes, and Vietnam is like $15 a day for hotel, food and lots of lovely ladies.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 8:49PM
Sykes, I hope the SEC locks you up and throws away the key.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 9:14PM
I don't know whats funnier - the fact that this thread, like far too many others, has been hijacked by "TGFD" and
"TOGFD" (who both are assuredly the same person) or that Timmah is angry about this and trying to flame back at everybody who questions the awesomeness of his vacation. I feel proud of these boards for no longer allowing Sykes posts to become the usual 150 pointless comment nightmares, but when are the admins going to step in and stop this Delaware nonsense?
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 9:42PM
this my first blog ever and you guys are scaring me.
these are grown men working in finance? Hookers, cheating blow, balling, homophobic name calling - how wonderful to be a part of that.
now, wwos
(what would obama say?)
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 9:50PM
My boyfriend took me to Italy and it cost 11,000. We went first class all the way for 10 days.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 9:53PM
@36- you sound like a materialistic twat.
Posted by I am a Dude , Aug 19, 2008 9:54PM
Carney, why do you give TS time of day? we dont care for him, his penny stock trading, his homemade mtv movie on sat morn, or his 11k trip to to wherever his dick is dragged.
he has his own blog, please leave him out of DB.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 10:25PM
Did what #36 did, only on honeymoon, 29 days, spent less than $3K including RT airfare from Santiago, Chile.
Excellent time. Got so bored in some little villages we left just to head to the next little village, eat some profiterol, watch people.
A whole freakin month wasting time in Italy. Yee!
-DK
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 10:33PM
Hey asslicker @ #34...
I would hardly call my (3) posts(#7,18,20) & TOGFD's (1) post (#30) "hijacking" this thread.
The thread is about vacations, and my recent vacation was the subject of my initial post. WTF is wrong with that?
I don't think that DB admin will "step in and stop" TOGFD's or my innocuous postings. After all, our posts sometimes get clowns like you all worked up. Worked up and tuned in to DB. I would think admin likes that.
BTW, @#37...I agree with you. @36 is either "a materialistic twat" or a materialistic fag.
The Guy from Delaware
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 10:36PM
"or a materialistic fag."
way to reinforce the stereotype that people from your state are ignorant hicks.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 10:57PM
Clown@#41...
I guess that using "twat" to describe a woman is perfectly acceptable speech, and it does not make a person an "ignorant hick". Using "fag" to describe a gay dude...well now, that's pretty serious, and it's not acceptable at all, and it does make one an "ignorant hick". Huh?
You're a f'n idiot.
The Guy from Delaware
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 11:13PM
TGFD-- the fact that i didn't chastise that other poster for using the word 'twat' doesn't cancel out your use of 'fag,' which, if you weren't an ignorant hick, you would know is like using the n-word when talking about a black person.
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 11:51PM
43. Twat you talk'n bout Willis?
Posted by guest , Aug 19, 2008 11:51PM
43. Twat you talk'n bout Willis?
SPODE
Posted by guest , Aug 20, 2008 12:25AM
TGFD/TOGFD. You hijack threads all the fucking time, and you know you do.
Posted by guest , Aug 20, 2008 12:28AM
Best vacation: can't decide which vacation to Santa Fe was the best. Staying in a cabin without electricity or running water in the Sangre de Cristo mountains and learning about the timelessness of the region?
Striking out on my own on a hike up a mesa in the old Ghost Ranch territory?
Seeing the red cliffs that Georgia O'Keefe painted and realizing that they actually were red?
Exploring Galisteo Street for the first time?
Looking into the faces of the Native Americans in the centuries old concession under the portal of the Governor's Palace?
Seeing the ancient adobe church at Las Truchas? Or the one atop the Acoma mesa?
Posted by guest , Aug 20, 2008 4:59AM
45k for 10 days in the Seychelles.
it fucking rained, the (private) island was covered in giant tortoise shit, and my wife got the shits.
The high sea fishing was ok, landed 5 tuna, a white marlin and a couple of wahoo. Ate sushi on the beach that night, and got bit to shit by mosquitoes.
Crashed the fucking golf cart and twisted my ankle on the steps to the private beach.
Bloody glad to get home to work.
Posted by guest , Aug 20, 2008 9:07AM
Is $11k really all that much? I spent about $10k on my honeymoon in Spain/France/Italy, all-in, and I don't think it was extravagant in any way. We stayed at nice hotels and went out for nice dinners, but that's it. No crazy luxury.
I think Timmay is overcompensating for a small weiner and a tiny sense of self worth. Bragging about how you spend your money is so very tacky.
Posted by guest , Aug 20, 2008 9:24AM
@37 – LMAO
New Zealand is spectacular, sans all that hobbit BS. Absolutely beautiful scenery. Great food and drink – those kiwis are great people.
Posted by guest , Aug 20, 2008 12:38PM
I want to add something to this Vacation thread:
On July 25th, right before I left for vacation, one of you wrote the following:
"Let's hope he dies on vacation."
Thankfully, I didn't die, but I did think about that comment, and I'm saddened by it.
I hope that the person who wrote it didn't seriously mean it.
The Guy from Delaware
Posted by guest , Aug 20, 2008 1:12PM
I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster and drank pina coladas. At sunset we made love like sea otters. *That* was a pretty good day. Why couldn't I get that day over and over and over...
Posted by guest , Aug 20, 2008 2:03PM
TGFD. I think the person doesn't seriously want you to die. I think he or she just wants you to go away from this site forever. How about it?
By the way, your posts aren't "innocuous." They're "obnoxious."
Go away.