Can you tell me what is bad about a brainwallet or a paper wallet assuming I am using it offline on tails and creating the key in a much more complicated way than their SHA256(passphrase).

Sorry about the grammar in the title - it was due to space constraints.

Lately I have been creating secure cold storage cold storage wallets using offline key generation and either paper or brain to store the key. It is kind of a scary process because deep down I think there's a chance I might generate an invalid key or mess up somehow and then later I won't be able to retrieve the bitcoins I send to the address. So I go through the tedious process of testing the new address by going through all of the secure/offline methods to send a small amount of coins to and from the address, and verify that it works, before I start sending tons of coins there. Well, as this process is tedious and seems to add an unnecessary layer of risk, I was wondering if it is even necessary.

Is it at all possible to create an invalid private key? Of all 256-bit hex numbers, is each and every one a valid key? Also, is it possible for the algorithm that converts the private key into the public key to mess up somehow? If I wrote down any random 256 bit number, and use (offline) brainwallet to derive the public key, is that sufficient enough and can I start sending my coins to it right away without having to 'test' it first?

I wish I could have a diversified portfolio of religions to make absolutely sure I wasn't going to hell.

I decided that I would start next time I got a good entry opportunity which was either the next high volume drop into the 300s, or on a breakout of the downtrend, whichever came first. Also, I cannot guarantee that I'll stay away an entire 3 months, or that I'll come back at all. It was a rough estimate of an ideal.

It has been my misfortune that since I made my resolution nearly 3 weeks ago, Bitcoin has traded flat.

Let me reprhrase this then... Bitcoin bulls go one step further to tell you not only is Bitcoin risk-free but that if you aren't holding bitcoins, you are taking a risk because holding fiat is risky and bitcoin is clearly the way out of that risk. So bitcoin is not only risk free, but acts as an inverse risk. It is the infallible investment made in heaven and you you need to buy buy buy or die. They are not only going to quell your fears about holding bitcoin but make you fear NOT holding bitcoin. Because bitcoin is the solution for the apocalypse and when the system fails, bitcoiners will become filthy rich. It is the DESTINY. Bitcoin is like a rapture and you need to be on board or be left to perish.

There is no similarity of 2014 to 2013. at all

When I take my 3 month break from bitcoin trading and come back, I bet it'll be exactly $445

Since the government created the internet itself, it is not going to be hard to figure this one out if it comes to that.

That SEC article was warning about people who promote investments as being a gauranteed high return and risk free.  Well bitcoin bulls go even one step further than this, to tell you that holding cash itself is risky.

Good move considering you shouldn't even be trading long during a downtrend. It's not just about a $10 profit but avoiding a $100 loss. As soon the false break happens you realize you are no longer in a good trade but are at a peak during a downtrend, looking downwards from the sky.

During the rally was weird - it seemed like mtgox, bitstamp, and btcchina were all taking turns being leader at times. Bitstamp was more of a leader very early on, and mtgox was a leader during the 'crashes'/corrections.

Sometimes all three exchanges would get in a feedback loop of following eachother's movements, causing the same move to repeat more than once.

The recovery from the silk road bust was actually the start of when China started buying. Who knows what would have happened without China.

lol at the people who were posting their game-plans of how we were breaking out to $600 and then 2 weeks later we'd be at $800 and then 2 weeks later we'd be at $1,000

That is a footnote the reporter added to catch readers up on old news. The real news is about FXBTC.

I don't see anything about PBOC in this article. There is a reporter covering how FXBTC has pulled a gox.

Anyways I read the SEC statement and it doesn't seem any different than risk disclosures about investments involving cash or gold or anything else. They are just giving risk WARNINGS, and it's almost entirely about third party investments involving bitcoin and not about bitcoin itself.

You don't have to take being a bear to the point of being paranoid delusional or spreading misinformation. Charts should be enough.

Bitstamp is like... 'lol what should we do about all this fiat? I guess post some vague tweets about bitcoin going to the moon'