Looking for an Investments Mentor

Yes, most everything is a gamble. However I'm looking to be in full control over investments I may make in SL. On the contrary I did join WSE and bought a small amount of share in a popular (Not Ginko) company to get my feet wet and become more familiar. I do want to be knowledgeable on all aspects regarding investments and that's why I joined WSE. My goal is to become an investor and be the one in control over my cash flow.

Anyone out there knowledgeable about this?

Just an FYI, I do my own due diligence on people and businesses, so I'd like to join with a Mentor with a positive and provable track record.

Thanks in advance!

Don't invest within SL as there is no contract enforcement, no oversight of anything by anybody, no accountability, no recourse.

My fee is L$10000 in small, unmarked bills please; thanks for your business.

Never-mind, I have a friend who just told me she'd help me for free and she's a successful SL investor.

There is a "risk" in anything we do in world and in rl. I'll take my risk's and refuse to sit in a safety box the rest of my life. Live a little!

Thanks for the smart a$$ post though. Speaks volumes for this section of the forums.

Tami, the reply was smartass, but the poster has a very good point.

It's fine to say "I'm willing to take a risk". Go ahead, and more power to ya!
But be sure that you understand ALL the risks involved. Here are a few things to consider...

- in recent days, two major SL "financial institutions" have had serious problems. Theft on the WSE, and the bankruptcy of Ginko Financial. Some pretty significant amounts of money were involved, up to $USD 750,000 in the case of Ginko.

- The economic situation can change at the whim of Linden Lab. The recent ban on gambling eliminated one of the major portions of the SL "economy" overnight.

- Linden Lab controls the two biggest economic markets of SL...land and the Linden Dollar. They can create more of either one at any time, or they can destroy them at any time. They can change the base price of private islands, the minimum bid on mainland regions, the amount of tier paid. They could impose zoning restrictions. They could set a minimum plot size, eliminating the practice of breaking up lots and selling tiny parcels for ad farms. They could move the roads, or suddenly make oceanfront property an inland desert. I'm not saying they WILL do any of these things. But the markets are not "free markets"...they are completely under the control of a single corporation...and said corporation doesn't have all that great a track record when it comes to making smart decisions.

- For that matter, LL themselves could be bought out tomorrow. Or they could fold up shop and go home. And they've made no promises about redeeming your $L, either.

- No SL bank, stock, investment firm, or stock exchange is insured or regulated. Anyone at all can call themselves a "bank". They can ask for your money, promise outlandish interest rates, and then fold and vanish overnight with your funds...and NOTHING will be done about it. As Malachi points out, there is no recourse.

- You don't know the real name or address of anyone, or any entity, that you deal with. If problems arise, it will take a court order just to find out who it is that stole your money.

- Real world corporations like VISA have found that fraud related to Second Life is so prevalent that many residents have complained of problems when trying to pay Linden Lab via credit card...the card company automatically flags the transaction as "suspicious".

If gambling (excuse me, I mean "investing" is what floats your boat, and you have some $L you don't care if you never ever see again, go ahead. But please do understand that the risks of investing in a virtual world are far, far greater than any RL investment.

actually Ginko Financial are far from bankrupt. by the looks of it they've successfully securitized their outstanding debt to depositors.

and in the WSE situation it was a case of a former employee misusing the trust that WSE management gave him to exploit his access to the ATMs.

Won't debate it with you here, both these events have had far too much said elsewhere.

But I do say that a company that's offering fifteen cents on the dollar for their investors sure sounds bankrupt to me. And the causes of either Ginko's woes or the WSE scandal are irrelevant. The point here is that such things occur with SL financial "institutions" with far greater frequency than in the real world, and that those affected by them have no recourse when things go sour.