Why did I build this site?

I never thought I'd be a blogger. Considering the amount of time and dedication that it takes to maintain a blog, I thought that I was way too busy. But then I realized something -- writing this is more important and more fun than sleeping! Here's why:

One thing that I have learned in college is that there is a huge difference between recalling something and knowing something. I am guilty of exploiting this fact many times to cram for multiple-choice exams. I think that these tests should be banned, because they are worthless. When I started working at a hedge fund, I quickly learned that my method of studying and understanding companies doesn't work so well... I could easily recognize facts and figures if someone else was talking about a stock, but I wasn't so good at talking about the things that I was supposed to know.

That is when I learned that the key to knowledge is being able to talk or write about something. It keeps you accountable. It is easy to think that you know something, or think that you have an opinion about something, but unless you can express it in words, it is an illusion.

So here I am, writing daily to substantiate and reinforce what I think I know, and at the same time gaining a record of what I learn and providing a forum for us to help each other on this quest for knowledge.

Oh wait, you want to know why this is called skeedaddy.com?

That would be Jordan Kahn's fault. I worked in his office some days between 3-4 pm PCT, so Jim Cramer's new show MAD MONEY would be on CNBC. We found amusement in Cramer's vocabulary, and eventually Jordan began to call me Skeedaddy.

Then I took the joke too far. I bought the domain name, made skeedaddy my web handle, and even began to use the skeedaddy persona with some of my friends (it is rapidly becoming a nickname).

What? You just wanted to know why you are here?

Well, that is a tough one -- you may want to seek the opinion of a professional. Just kidding! The information on this site will hopefully be helpful to you, no matter who you are, in some way or another. I try to maintain a wholistic perspective, so their should be something that anyone could potentially find interesting. Keep in mind though that the financial markets are unfathomably complex and broad, so it is incredibly difficult to do this. My goal, then, is to write about what I think is relevant at the time.

Be sure to check out the features of this site -- the investing techniques and investing lessons are ones that I have learned and used myself. I will be using these archives to find the right type of investment for a given situation. I invite you to do the same.

The very first post explains it all:

'Are you ready Skeedaddy?'
-Jim Cramer

No, I am not a Cramer fanatic. I don't even consider myself a fan. However, he and I do have something in common -- a passion for the market.

You may recognize the name of this blog from Cramer's new show on CNBC. I chose one of Cramer's idioms to remind me that this stuff is exciting and fun.

Making money is fun. Learning is fun. These are my goals for starting this site. I hope to have some kind of comment about what is going on in the market to discuss here everyday, but I'll also put anything related to investing that comes to mind up here. I'll try to maintain an irreverent feel to go along with my serious thoughts. Warning: I may be sarcastic sometimes. Above all else, I invite your interesting, stimulating, and provocative comments.

One last note, a disclaimer: I consider myself a novice investor. This blog is designed to help me learn, and to share some ideas for the sake of investing education and entertainment. I am not a broker or investment advisor. I am not responsible for any bad investments you make... but I will take some of the credit for the good ones :-).

Deep breath. Alright, I'm ready. Are you?