If you are interested in investing/pledging as always send me an email (link on the website, upper right margin) or attach a comment to this post or one of the previous monthly updates. The original post on the purpose of the blog can be found here [Jan 7: Readers 'Pledges' Towards Mutual Fund Launch] Any time day or night, you can see how I am doing by verified independent 3rd party metric here: 'Rising Tide Growth' performance
Frequently Asked Questions can be found here.
With the pledges coming in well ahead of plan, we can now give a more firm update on launch date - at this time we are now shooting for "around" New Year's day - SEC approvals will determine the actual date. I know many people pledged (some a long time ago) without a firm date in mind and simply said "let me know when you are ready to go" with a very open ended commitment, so hopefully that gives you a better idea. We'll be working on the prospectus and N1-A (massive paperwork) with lawyers in the coming 3-4 weeks and then have everything off to the SEC by some point in September. From there you simply wait for comments/requests from SEC and eventually get your approval, generally 90-115 days from sending in the paperwork. What we'll do is have our new website up and have applications and prospectuses up by pdf file as soon as possible when the time comes, and be "open" at concurrent time frame of approval. And then it's for real.
A few more updates on the actual website - there is an open question of what exactly I can or can not do. The SEC has very strict regulations and you do not want to run afoul or essentially the fines levied would put one out of business. So as stated in the past, I plan to be as transparent as possible while staying within the rules. From feedback from countless readers that is a huge selling point for people and one of the main reasons for interest - we generally attract a hands on (not passive) investing group and instead of flying blind they like to know what is going on with their money. So it's a lot of extra work on this end to convey the thought processes, but it will differentiate us from the pack. And hopefully over the long run, performance will be the other differentiator. With that said, and this is subject to approvals as lawyers are still working through it, but our general plan now is a weekly update of all holdings posted after the close Friday of each week. The #1 rule in this sort of venture is no forward looking statements. Period. Hence some things I do today i.e. "I'd like to buy if/when it hits $XX" won't be allowed. Everything has to be historical. The #2 rule is I can't talk about a position until holdings have been updated. So if I make a transaction, it will be reported after the fact and after the week is over so I don't make a mistake in communication that puts me out of business. Meaning, trades won't be posted "within a day" like they are now, but more like our end of week summary where I review the top transactions of the week, ONCE the holdings are updated. So those are the 2 main differences I see from the current format, but it's still developing... even with those caveats I cannot imagine anyone else having a more transparent platform. As for economic commentary, mocking misleading government reports, pointing you to interesting stories from other blogs - all that will stay in real time. So hopefully that gives you a better idea of what the vision is for the future. The more detail the lawyers give - I'll pass along as we move forward.
Blog readership continues to grow but the market (and most likely the performance chasing nature of investors) has slowed us down recently - now we're averaging about 3200-3400 visits a weekday, and email readership consistent in the mid 600s range from last month. Obviously I sound a lot smarter when I'm beating the indexes by 20%+ than when I'm lagging so that is to be expected. But just like Ken Heebner or T Boone Pickens didn't suddenly turn stupid, I believe my brain is still intact - it's just a quite different market than any of us have seen. So adjustments are critical until we return to normal, whatever the new normal might be. There might be entire quarters I lag the market, or heck a year or two but hopefully the long term metrics are top notch and our first year, relative to the market was still excellent even if we hit a major slump at the end. ['Rising Tide' Performance Year 1] The market will return to quasi normal at some point in the future - we just picked a very interesting time to start up; it's certainly been an epic test to actually make a profit in this time frame. And frankly when I have bad spells, you will see why - as opposed to just watching a NAV fall on a daily basis without any idea what is going on behind the scenes. With that said I believe my thesis (plural?) have been on and economic calls made last year better than 99% of "famous" pundits paraded on TV on a daily basis [Jul 14: Reviewing December 2007's Roadmap & Views] but the market has eventually punished all sectors, and all stocks at one point or another - so making money on a consistent basis, even with the correct economic views has been a tough slog. But at least we've been in the positive column, unlike most peers.
I'm updating things on a state by state basis each month, as I outlined in [Investment Pledges by State] As we wrote, to make it cost effective to register in any state we need about $40-$45K coming in from that state. The good news is if you are not in a registered state, once the amount is breached, its a matter of 24 hours, and a fund can be open for business in any state. So if someone shows up in 6 months from a state that is not registered, they can be added almost instantly. I don't have the state by state data with me when I type this post so I'll update it at a later date - below is last month's "standings" if you will. I know a few of the 8 states that were "close" now are moved up to the top group but I don't recall which off the top of my head.
We now have 15 states (up from 12 last month) where the threshold is met and we'll be registered if we started today: WA, CA, MI, AR, NJ, TX, GA, IL, NY, MA, OH, FL, VA, NV, and AZ
Another 8 states we are well on the way and hopefully get a bit more before end of the year to get them registered ($20K+ pledged): CT, NE, KS, TN, MD, IA, NC, PA
Just getting started in these states with first pledges: MN, WI, LA, OR, NH, AL, KY
1 state TBD: SC
In addition to investors from Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, New Zealand, Singapore, and Uruguay we've now added Slovenia.
To future investors, as always, if you change your mind and want to rescind an investment pledge and/or change (up or down) the amount, please let me know since I simply want know where I stand in this process.
As always, thanks for the trust in investing.
Totals
January 7, 2008 = $75K total raised
February 19, 2008 (click here for full post): $766K total raised
March 18, 2008 (click here for full post): $994K raised
April 16, 2008 (click here for full post): $1.2M raised
May 15, 2008 (click here for full post): $1.6M raised
June 17, 2008 (click here for full post): $2.5M raised
mid July, 2008 (click here for full post): $3.3M raised
mid August, 2008 $3.9M raised
(there is a big gap here I cannot seem to erase - so scroll down for the list - sorry for the formatting)
| Amount | Who | Where |
| $75,000 | Self | MI |
| $2,500 | Michael D | Oceanside, CA |
| $7,500 | Oth | Parts Unknown |
| $10,000 | Dean D | San Jose, CA |
| $2,500 | Oza P | MA |
| $20,000 | Oren L | Chicago |
| $10,000 | Rob T | NYC |
| $5,000 | Ryan | Seattle, WA |
| $7,500 | Ted | Sunnyvale, CA |
| $2,500 | Brian P | Cerritos, CA |
| $50,000 | David B | Middlesex, NJ |
| $50,000 | Ian M | San Antonio, TX |
| $40,000 | "LiquidWindows" | Deep in heart of TX |
| $5,000 | Jonson | LA, CA |
| $5,000 | Jimidean | Birmingham, AL |
| $5,000 | Brooks R | Baton Rouge, LA |
| $50,000 | Zlatanscores | New Jersey |
| $3,000 | Ben S | Portland, OR |
| $20,000 | Sheng S | Omaha, NE |
| $10,000 | msuberri | NJ |
| $5,000 | David W | Houston, TX |
| $10,000 | Ryan T | NJ |
| $3,000 | NandaK | Nashua, NH |
| $50,000 | WaltF | Louisberg, KS |
| $2,500 | Joe | Scranton, PA (email) |
| $2,500 | Todd | Nashville, TN (email) |
| $250,000 | David R | South Carolina (email) |
| $100,000 | A.F. | Los Altos, CA (email) |
| $50,000 | Satya | Temple City, CA (email) |
| $15,000 | Bobby L | San Jose, CA |
| $200,000 | Ganesh S | Bellevue, WA |
| $2,500 | Michael A | Charleston, SC (email) |
| $2,500 | TJP | Sterling, IL (email) |
| $75,000 | Bob B | VanBuren, AR (email) |
| $10,000 | Pat L | Tuscon, AZ (email) |
| $37,500 | Art H | Auburn, CA (email) |
| $5,000 | Dan D | Augusta, GA (email) |
| $5,000 | Jeffrey H | Greensboro, NC (email) |
| $37,500 | Tom L | San Fran, CA (email) |
| $10,000 | Wesley W | San Jose, CA (email) |
| $25,000 | Tom S (daKat) | Minneapolis, MN |
| $5,000 | Dan W | Mentor, OH (email) |
| $10,000 | Jim G | Marana, AZ (email) |
| $5,000 | Andrey G | Baltimore, MD |
| $20,000 | Doug M | San Fran, CA (email) |
| $75,000 | "Skooker" | moving (email) |
| $3,750 | Brian C | Milwaukee, WI (email) |
| $2,500 | Jason F | Big Apple, NY |
| $3,000 | Chung W | San Jose, CA (email) |
| $3,000 | Mac | Bellevue, WA |
| $10,000 | BMW | Bay Area, CA (email) |
| $10,000 | "steelelana" | NY |
| $10,000 | "Jpassana" | TX |
| $5,000 | Brian J | Racine, WI (email) |
| $5,000 | Ceferino J | Parts Unknown (email) |
| $10,000 | Link M | Knoxville, TN |
| $5,000 | Pankaj | Forest Park, OH |
| $20,000 | Alex A | Big Apple, NY |
| $100,000 | D.K. | Los Altos Hills, CA (email) |
| $20,000 | Roger B | Arlington TX |
| $20,000 | Rohit S | Chicago, IL |
| $5,000 | Praveen K | Atchison, KS |
| $25,000 | Robert D | Niantic, CT (email - IRA) |
| $100,000 | Scott R | Longbranch, WA (email) |
| $20,000 | Roy S | Knoxville, TN (email) |
| $50,000 | Douglas D | Atlanta, GA (email) |
| $20,000 | Mahender B | Crofton, MD (email) |
| $15,000 | Joon K | NYC (email) |
| $15,000 | Linda A | Houston, TX (email) |
| $5,000 | Bob M | Atlanta, GA |
| $3,000 | Kiran A | Atlanta, GA (email) |
| $5,000 | Alven | LA, CA (email) |
| $75,000 | Vijay K | New Jersey (email) |
| $3,000 | Tyler | CA (email) |
| $20,000 | Jeff M | Cedar Rapids, IA (email) |
| $50,000 | Will W | CA (email) |
| $10,000 | Burt B | Venica, CA (email) |
| $4,000 | Kathy A | Deland, FL (email) |
| $10,000 | Nate W | Novi, MI |
| $5,000 | Tom R | Canada (email) |
| $20,000 | Anurag V | Germany (email) |
| $200,000 | S.D. | Costa Rica (email) |
| $5,000 | Behrouz F | Ottawa, Canada (email) |
| $20,000 | Hong H | Hamilton, Canada |
| $15,000 | Jeff F | Calgary, Canada (email) |
| $2,500 | Hamish E | Queenstown, New Zealand |
| $25,000 | George L | North Carolina (email) |
| $4,500 | Satyakee S | Houston, TX |
| $2,500 | "j/marketfolly" | TX (email) |
| $30,000 | Rich P | Concord, CA (email) |
| $50,000 | Rich T | S. Yarmouth, MA (email) |
| $5,000 | Xiang X | Salem, MA |
| $25,000 | Shane V | Houston, TX |
| $100,000 | Dave K | Downey, CA (email) |
| $10,000 | Bill H | Boston, MA (email) |
| $20,000 | Kurt C | LA, CA (email) |
| $20,000 | Charles L | San Mateo, CA (email) |
| $5,000 | Troyhouse | Chicago, IL |
| $10,000 | Darin P | Corvallis, OR |
| $10,000 | Adam M | Columbus, OH (email) |
| $15,000 | Justin K | Columbus, OH |
| $5,000 | Adam S | CA (email) |
| $5,000 | Mike M | Atlanta, GA |
| $25,000 | Darius K (Asterix) | VA |
| $20,000 | Arun | Sunnyvale, CA |
| $20,000 | Tao Z | New York, NY |
| $48,000 | Ghassan G | CA (email) |
| $25,000 | Greg B | CA (email) |
| $100,000 | Frank G | NJ (email) |
| $5,000 | Bill G | PA (email) |
| $5,000 | Jayson E | WI (email) |
| $20,000 | V.K. | Amber, PA (email) |
| $3,000 | Steven H | CA (email) |
| $10,000 | Mark M | PA |
| $6,000 | Gavin W | Canada (email) |
| $20,000 | Alan N | Scottsdale, AZ (email) |
| $30,000 | Bruce C | Lake Stevens, WA (email) |
| $2,500 | Junyuan | Singapore (email) |
| $10,000 | Trieu | Texas |
| $30,000 | Nestor T | Uruguay (email) |
| $20,000 | Dave B | Palo Alto (email) |
| $10,000 | Adrian B | Canada (email) |
| $3,750 | Rajesh S | Florida (email) |
| $2,500 | Shelley G | LA, CA (email) |
| $2,500 | Sachin S | Chicago, IL (email) |
| $3,000 | Bob H | FL (email) |
| $15,000 | Stanley T | Canada (email) |
| $10,000 | Ron S | Florida (email) |
| $3,000 | Scott H | Westlake, OH (email) |
| $10,000 | Bruce L | Kentucky (email) |
| $15,000 | BD | San Diego, CA |
| $10,000 | Zhong L | McLean, VA (email) |
| $100,000 | Andrew H | Reno, NV (email) |
| $40,000 | Glenn E | Tampa, FL (email) |
| $5,000 | Dennis B | Chicago, IL (email) |
| $10,000 | Patrick G | Buffalo, NY (email) |
| $5,000 | Peter M | Hubbardston, MA |
| $10,000 | Karen K | VA (email) |
| $5,000 | Jake M | Madison, WI |
| $5,000 | Martin T | New York (email) |
| $5,000 | Bob B | Merrimack, NH (email) |
| $10,000 | Matthew L | South Carolina (email) |
| $10,000 | Ed S | Arizona (email) |
| $60,000 | Jason N | NY, NY (email) |
| $25,000 | Richard D | Fairfield, CT |
| $2,500 | Wei Z | Fairfax, VA (email) |
| $25,000 | KB | Texas |
| $5,000 | Carter W | Seattle, WA |
| $4,000 | YJ | Brentwood, CA |
| $5,000 | Bill H | Boston, MA (email) |
| $20,000 | Tomaz K | Slovenia |
| $25,000 | CS | Texas |
| $10,000 | Olivier | Florida (email) |
| $100,000 | Jake L | NJ (email) |
| $2,000 | Marshall | St Charles, MO (email) |
| $5,000 | Greg R | Florida (email) |
| $10,000 | Rohit | CA |
| $2,500 | Bruce W | Nortborough, MA |
| $10,000 | Robert V | Doylestown, PA (email) |
| $25,000 | Eugene/Wei L | NY (email) |
| $2,500 | Gary F | Chicago, IL (email) |
| $6,000 | Gramlich W | Laguna Beach, CA (email) |
| $25,000 | Ron W | Carlsbad, CA (email) |
| $2,500 | James S | San Fran, CA (email) |
| $50,000 | Armour B | Phoenix, AZ (email) |
| $2,500 | Mike H | Bothell, WA |
| $25,000 | Dave C | Clearwater, FL (email) |
| $12,500 | Song H | Singapore (email) |
| $10,000 | Jatinder M | Elkins Park, PA (email) |
| $10,000 | Victor C | Melbourne, FL (email) |
| $20,000 | Jerry H | CA (email) |
| $20,000 | Andy S | Mt Dora, FL (email) |
| $2,500 | Dale Z | New Jersey (email) |
| $20,000 | Ralph B | Bay City, MI (email) |
| $10,000 | Kirk T | Fort Worth, TX (email) |
| $2,500 | John C | Philadelphia, PA |
| $7,000 | Lisa | Leesburg, VA (email) |
| $2,500 | B M | Charlotte, NC (email) |
| $10,000 | Jim F | New York (email) |
| $10,000 | Ben | Indiana (email) |
| $2,500 | Albert W | New Jersey (email) |
| $5,000 | Steven M | West Virginia (email) |
| $10,000 | Robert T | Houston, TX (email) |
| $3,958,500 | Total |
2 comments:
Love what your doing Mark. Great commentary and articles. I haven't made a pledge....yet, but will, assuming you get hooked up with places like Ameritrade. I work in the industry, in compliance actually. I can help if you need any advice in that area.
Name is Mike
email: mtv@socal.rr.com
I hate compliance already! :) It is like auditing. Yuck.
I won't be in Ameritrade off the bat. Hopefully within a year of launch though. Getting into brokerages requires some track record, and then you need to pay to get onto a platform and then their needs to be a demand (for a smaller fund) from investors for the brokerage to put you on. AMTD is a little different due to the supermarket mutual fund aspect so it might be a little different there but all will take some track record.
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