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Does anyone here actively play the market?

Discussion in 'Tilted Philosophy, Politics, and Economics' started by Borla, May 27, 2014.

  1. omega

    omega Very Tilted

    ExxonMobil at 77.50 a share, give or take a few cents. Dividends still holding steady. I think I will hold on to it still, because I think the company is still solid and oil is not going away. I did expect the stock price to increase before now, but with trump and the Republicans in charge things will eventually crash and oil prices will skyrocket. Also treasury notes and bonds interest rates will also dramatically increase in the next few years due to the Republicans intentionally wrecking the economy to allow the ultra wealthy to buy our debt at higher interest rates. So that is why they are increasing our debt load by massively increasing spending and cutting taxes on the wealthy. Buy out some congressmen and a president for a few hundred million to get trillions of new US debt released at high interest rates. What not to like for them?
     
  2. ralphie250

    ralphie250 Fully Erect Donor

    Location:
    At work..
    I used to dabble in penny stocks. I make about $4 on a 0.02 investment which was great, but that was years ago. im considering trying it again
     
  3. Lindy

    Lindy Moderator Staff Member

    Location:
    Nebraska
    I'm getting ready to attend the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in a couple of weeks.

    HOW TO ATTEND THE BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER'S MEETING (2019)

    My investing mentor/guru (I worked for him when I lived in Boston and I'm still on his company's payroll as an occasional "consultant") is flying in and has reserved rooms at the Lied Lodge at Arbor Day Farms in Nebraska City. No hotel rooms to be had in Omaha. Will be nice seeing him and his wife and picking his brain a little bit.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  4. Lindy

    Lindy Moderator Staff Member

    Location:
    Nebraska
    Heading of tomorrow morning to the Lied Lodge in Nebraska City.
    Lied Lodge & Conference Center | Nebraska City Vacation
    I'm going to relax with a massage and sauna and jacuzzi, maybe a little swimming. And head up to Omaha (by limo!) early Saturday to the Berkshire Shareholder's meeting.
    Then back to the Arbor Day Farm for more relaxation, good food and conversation, and hopefully some good old fashioned hotel room sex.
     
  5. rogue49

    rogue49 Tech Kung Fu Artist Staff Member

    Location:
    Baltimore/DC
    I'm actually finally thinking of diving in deep.
    Beyond the standard 401K and Mutual funds

    Or advising my friends and family on their own investments.
    (I've always kept track of the market and the trends...and companies of interest, just from my own interest and curiosity)

    It's been a long time coming...it will be interesting.
     
  6. Lindy

    Lindy Moderator Staff Member

    Location:
    Nebraska
    Two years ago my mentor said that I had too many different stocks for my level of investment. I had 13 stocks and 3 index funds.

    I am now down to 5 stocks and one index fund.
    AAPL
    BKH
    BRK-B
    CASY
    UNP
    and a junior partner in a Sandhills cattle ranch.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  7. omega

    omega Very Tilted

    Finally sold exxon at around 70 a share. Down from 84 when I bought it. Stupid exxon. Dividends were good, but what an underperformer. Of course now the stock market is going to finally crash and then it will skyrocket. I did immediately put my little bit of money in a midcap etf. So at least I won't be looking at a small pile of cash months from now wondering why the hell I did not invest it.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  8. ralphie250

    ralphie250 Fully Erect Donor

    Location:
    At work..
    havent played the market in a few years, but thinking about dabbling in it again....
     
  9. Lindy

    Lindy Moderator Staff Member

    Location:
    Nebraska
    I never "play" the market, although investing is what I do for a living. I've done quite well at it from back in the nineties when I bought a hundred shares of Apple instead of a car. When corona virus first hit the news back in January I started to do some research on the economic consequences of pandemics. Going on back to the Plague epidemics of 16th Century England, the Cocoliztli epidemic in Mexico which devastated the Aztecs, killing over half the population, the Italian Plague starting 1n 1628 which claimed over a million lives and wreck the previously robust economy and caused great damage to the Catholic Church, as well.
    Dozens of others on down to the well known "Spanish" Flu epidemic started in 1918 and beyond.

    My academic field is econometrics, not business.
    I saw this coming.
    I wish I had been more decisive sooner, but, oh well.
    I'll have more to say on this, but suffice to say that on Febr 20, I bailed out of the market, selling off about 75% of my book.
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2020
    • Informative Informative x 1
  10. ralphie250

    ralphie250 Fully Erect Donor

    Location:
    At work..
    ive been watching ford stock (since i work here) and it plummeted. considering buying some of that. at some point it will come back up. it shows daily on the website that i use here at work. its currently $4.50 i remember a few months ago it was $20.00 guess ill just pay attention to it
     
  11. fflowley

    fflowley Don't just do something, stand there!

    Keep an eye on it but don't rush to buy.
    On another site I frequent I have been repeating the same thing over an dover for the last 3 weeks:

    Not every dip in the market is a buying opportunity.

    Be patient.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
    • Informative Informative x 1
  12. Lindy

    Lindy Moderator Staff Member

    Location:
    Nebraska
    Oops!!:oops: Typo alert. I sold stocks on Febr 27th and 28th NOT Febr 20th. I wish I'd bailed on the 20th, but was hesitant to do so and it cost me about 300k.:( I guess that I was subconsciously trying to make myself look smarter than I really was...
    A couple of my limited partners want to cash in their shares, but at least I've got enough COH to handle that without a further sell-off.:)

    I'll make a couple calls to confirm their intentions, but I don't think the market has hit bottom yet.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  13. omega

    omega Very Tilted

    I think if the trump administration sends out it's democrat socialist UBI checks, I will try to be disciplined and drop it in the market. My wife and I are both fully employed so we don't necessarily need the money.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  14. ralphie250

    ralphie250 Fully Erect Donor

    Location:
    At work..
    i will have to agree with you. i think it will be a few weeks before its at the bottom
     
  15. ralphie250

    ralphie250 Fully Erect Donor

    Location:
    At work..
    but extra money never hurt anyone
     
  16. Lindy

    Lindy Moderator Staff Member

    Location:
    Nebraska
    In my opinion, holding cash is the best "investment" right now. That's what I'm doing. I'm even going to withdraw a bunch in greenbacks. just for opportunities sake. Not that I don't trust the Fed and the banks.;)
     
  17. omega

    omega Very Tilted

    Has anyone used options before? I get the general concept but I am fuzzy on the details like reading and understanding the actual quotes. The market is completely ignoring all the bad news, and at some point it's going to actually crash. I'd like a put option to hedge my s&p 500 and russell midcap etfs. Eventually people are going to run out of money to shove in the market and the short term seekers are going to panic. Meanwhile, I increased my 401k contributions from 6% to 8% last week so I can buy as the market plummets.
     
  18. Lindy

    Lindy Moderator Staff Member

    Location:
    Nebraska
    I consider options more of a spec than an investment, but that's just me. I'll admit to an incomplete understanding of options. Lots of things can go wrong, and an option is not something you can just sit on like an equity. Unless you have a wide spread (or lots of shares) the premium and sales loading could eat up any potential profit.

    Is your employer still matching your 401k contributions at 8%?

    If your etfs are part of your 401k then you may face a penalty if you sell. But no penalty if you sell the put option rather than the equities themselves. If there's really a crash your potential buyers for the put may also run out of money.

    I'm looking for investments that might actually benefit from the disorder and disruptions we are experiencing. The book Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a good read on the subject.

    Meanwhile, I'll just sit on my hoard of cash from what I cashed in back at the end of February.

    I have bought a few, I guess you could call them collectibles from sellers in distress. But only tangibles that also have a use as well as a value.

    I like Warren Buffett's idea that "Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful." But, it makes me feel like a vulture to take advantage of others' distress.:(
    On the other hand, a lot of folks got very over-extended (greedy) thinking the economy was bullet-proof and that the good times would last forever. The guy down the street with four Harleys, a big boat, and an Escalade comes to mind.:rolleyes:

    He big time violated Lindy's First Financial Law: Never borrow money to buy a depreciating asset.:eek: He won't get much sympathy from me.
    --- Double Post Merged, May 1, 2020, Original Post Date: May 1, 2020 ---
    Berkshire Shareholder's meeting was to be this Saturday. I've enjoyed it for the last several years.

    Now only virtual.:(
     
  19. fflowley

    fflowley Don't just do something, stand there!

    I have been trading options for a long time.
    Interestingly I was a very active trader years ago and then did almost nothing for the last 10 years, but now we are again in the sweet spot for options trading.
    We have a churning, volatile market now and that offers lots of opportunity.

    I doubt you will be able to buy and sell options in your retirement account.
    You would have to do it in a separate taxable account to try and hedge changes in your retirement index funds.
    With no experience I would not recommend trying it. On second thought make that strongly recommend not trying it.

    Get a good options book or take some online lessons.
    See what ThinkorSwim has available. They are now part of TD Ameritrade and always had good lessons for beginners available at no charge.
    I still use their trading platform which is outstanding. You can also trade with pretend funds there.

    If you do some reading, and haven't run off screaming, then try pretend trading for a little while. You will need to get a feel for volatility and the effects of time on options positions.
    Once you have a grasp of delta, gamma and theta, then you can try some small trades for fun and see what happens.
    You never know.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  20. omega

    omega Very Tilted

    I write on my phone, which tends to leave my thoughts and writing slightly cramped. One IRA has roughly 16k. Another has around 40k. My 401k has around 10k, with a small 4k pension tied to it. I had left my state pension alone because the cash value was guaranteed 3% a year, and I have been waiting for Trump to derail the economy. Americans are surprisingly resilient, even with a significantly stupid section of the population. Now that things are tanking, it's time to screw my fellow pension holders and grab my cash value (I don't have enough years to be vested and I am 20 years from retirement). That's another 30k or so. I have around 5k in my etrade account, and that's what I want to play with. While having a couple ETFs is nice, I can afford to play a little. Believe it or not, I do have my series 6 and 63 through work, but I do not work on the investment side. I do referrals to the wealth management advisors, and of course they tend to do safe plays for customers and the one that covers my branch has probably less knowledge than I do. She has been taight to use the company software for a holistic picture. For me, I'm not afraid of investing. Very aware of risk, have had money in a few individual stocks or retirement accounts continuously since 1997. Never panicked through multiple recessions and recoveries.
     
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