The stock market

[Mike Sixel]

12 minutes ago, Danchat said:

What did you invest in? I'm doing decently well so far.

My investments are mostly fine....the day trading is NOT......

[gunnarthor]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

My investments are mostly fine....the day trading is NOT......

Oh, yeah. Don't do that. No one can time the market.

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, gunnarthor said:

Oh, yeah. Don't do that. No one can time the market.

 theoretically this is money I can lose....last year I did 125%....this year I'm down 60%....mostly one stock. 

[gunnarthor]

Three weeks ago, I was kicking around buying AMD at 87 and decided not to. Dang it.

[Mike Sixel]

21 minutes ago, gunnarthor said:

Three weeks ago, I was kicking around buying AMD at 87 and decided not to. Dang it.

I almost bought Atlassian two weeks ago.....sigh.

[glunn]

On 7/30/2021 at 7:16 PM, Mike Sixel said:

 theoretically this is money I can lose....last year I did 125%....this year I'm down 60%....mostly one stock. 

Which stock?

[Mike Sixel]

6 hours ago, glunn said:

Which stock?

Cytodyn. I rode it up... Bought more.... And somehow it keeps going down ...

[gunnarthor]

4 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Cytodyn. I rode it up... Bought more.... And somehow it keeps going down ...

Sorry. Maybe it'll go back up.

[glunn]

On 8/5/2021 at 6:57 PM, Mike Sixel said:

Cytodyn. I rode it up... Bought more.... And somehow it keeps going down ...

It looks like they have had some litigation and the company has not yet generated any revenue. It would be nice if you could sell some calls to hedge, but options don't see to be available for this one. I hope for your sake that they can get one of their drugs approved.

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, glunn said:

It looks like they have had some litigation and the company has not yet generated any revenue. It would be nice if you could sell some calls to hedge, but options don't see to be available for this one. I hope for your sake that they can get one of their drugs approved.

Ya. It was great going up from the bottom....oh well. Just need one drug....

[gunnarthor]

I thought this was a decent article on investing v. paying off debt that might be a useful read to some. My wife and I got drubbed pretty hard in 08-09 so we don't carry much debt anymore. It's amazing how much better not having a mortgage made us feel.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pay-off-mortgage-invest-210000675.html

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, gunnarthor said:

I thought this was a decent article on investing v. paying off debt that might be a useful read to some. My wife and I got drubbed pretty hard in 08-09 so we don't carry much debt anymore. It's amazing how much better not having a mortgage made us feel.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pay-off-mortgage-invest-210000675.html

Curt Carlson always said the best way to make money was to use other people's money.....My friends sold their UHG stock to pay off their kids' college costs. We kept ours, and borrowed. We have SO MUCH MORE MONEY now than we would have, it isn't funny. I'd much rather borrow money at 3% and invest my excess cash than not. To each, though, their own, as they say.

[Mike Sixel]

Hey Mike .. All the companies you own have record profits! Let's have the prices plummet.....

[gunnarthor]

5 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Curt Carlson always said the best way to make money was to use other people's money.....My friends sold their UHG stock to pay off their kids' college costs. We kept ours, and borrowed. We have SO MUCH MORE MONEY now than we would have, it isn't funny. I'd much rather borrow money at 3% and invest my excess cash than not. To each, though, their own, as they say.

I'm not sure there is a best answer. We bought a lot of stocks while we still had a lot of debt a lot higher than 3% (both mortgage and school loans) but after the financial crisis hit us (we had one of those bad adjustable-rate mortgages) we were stunned on how exposed we had been. (My wife also got cancer in 2010 which added to our debt significantly). So, for us, there was a lot of relief not having debt and getting that monkey off our backs. The obvious other highlight is that now we save thousands of dollars each month that we are investing because we got insanely good at saving.

The downside is exactly what you and the article reference - missed opportunities.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

On 8/11/2021 at 10:01 PM, gunnarthor said:

I'm not sure there is a best answer. We bought a lot of stocks while we still had a lot of debt a lot higher than 3% (both mortgage and school loans) but after the financial crisis hit us (we had one of those bad adjustable-rate mortgages) we were stunned on how exposed we had been. (My wife also got cancer in 2010 which added to our debt significantly). So, for us, there was a lot of relief not having debt and getting that monkey off our backs. The obvious other highlight is that now we save thousands of dollars each month that we are investing because we got insanely good at saving.

The downside is exactly what you and the article reference - missed opportunities.

my wife got cancer in ‘09, and since IVF  twice, and student loans. Debt got to be out of control.

I’ve done a combo. I paid off credit card and student debt first, then increased 401k, then paid off cars, then refinanced my house, now putting all the old loan payments into investments.

right now I just have a 15 year note on my house (13 to go!) and have maxed out my 401ks and am buying some stocks and index funds 

some debt is good, but too much compounds when you don’t have cash to cover smaller ticket unexpected bills.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

While mowing the lawn… thoughts…

in my youth, I was much more aggressive, and I could still afford to be. I have another 20+ years of work in front of me. 
 

I wonder if the healthcare debt, where no one could tell us what anything cost, and my wife was actively dying with a low chance for survival prognosis (she did indeed survive a very aggressive chemo cocktail, but at the time…) where we had no control, and massive debt at the end…

I wonder if that period influenced my risk tolerance going forward.

 

[gunnarthor]

How is everyone dealing with the economy these last few months?

In the last few months, we've bought a bit more into a few tech stocks as they fell (sq, apple) although they are still falling, made a modest investment into PG, and made a large (for us) buy of AXP.

[Mike Sixel]

Let's just say it's been ugly! But I bought a ton of Nvidia last week.....I made a play on a penny stock that, well, it's bad. But, oh, well.

[gunnarthor]

We haven't done much, investment wise, this last year but it was a decent year. We grabbed some American Express stock and some more proctor and gamble, nothing sexy but hopefully in twenty years we won't regret it. Moving money into our IRAs and will probably make a couple modest buys, maybe Pepsico or more index funds. 

How's everyone else doing?

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, gunnarthor said:

We haven't done much, investment wise, this last year but it was a decent year. We grabbed some American Express stock and some more proctor and gamble, nothing sexy but hopefully in twenty years we won't regret it. Moving money into our IRAs and will probably make a couple modest buys, maybe Pepsico or more index funds. 

How's everyone else doing?

I have more than a few stocks down over 70% from what I paid, so, not great Bob.......

[gunnarthor]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I have more than a few stocks down over 70% from what I paid, so, not great Bob.......

Ouch. I'm not quite that bad but I hung onto square, roku, and fiverr. 

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, gunnarthor said:

Ouch. I'm not quite that bad but I hung onto square, roku, and fiverr. 

I also have a few others that aren't.....but, the two accounts I "play" in killed me last year when I refused to sell at "small" losses. Sigh. Lesson learned.

[gunnarthor]

Circling back to this. We added a bunch of amazon stock to our longterm account and bought more index funds. We've been holding and buying traditionally strong stocks, which seems to be unsexy but working. Will fund our IRAs soon, probably with something like PEP, JNJ, or UNH.

[Original_JB]

25+% overall for me this past year

[Mike Sixel]

I rode Nvidia to a very nice year. Still haven't fully recovered from not cashing out two stocks at their peak.... But closer. 

[Mike Sixel]

On 1/6/2024 at 12:08 PM, gunnarthor said:

Circling back to this. We added a bunch of amazon stock to our longterm account and bought more index funds. We've been holding and buying traditionally strong stocks, which seems to be unsexy but working. Will fund our IRAs soon, probably with something like PEP, JNJ, or UNH.

 Verizon and it's big dividend is where some of my money is going. But I'm older now, so less risk in some areas is important. 

[gunnarthor]

6 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

 Verizon and it's big dividend is where some of my money is going. But I'm older now, so less risk in some areas is important. 

We bought AT&T a while back. One of our worst picks, actually.

[Seth Stohs]

Has anyone else watched "Dumb Money: The Game Stop Story"? It's actually a pretty good movie. Just came out on Netflix a few weeks ago. I mean, it's not like a cinematic work of art, but I thought it was good and kind of told the story such that someone like me could even understand. Also, Seth Rogen is in it... 

 

 

[gunnarthor]

On 2/14/2024 at 9:48 PM, Seth Stohs said:

Has anyone else watched "Dumb Money: The Game Stop Story"? It's actually a pretty good movie. Just came out on Netflix a few weeks ago. I mean, it's not like a cinematic work of art, but I thought it was good and kind of told the story such that someone like me could even understand. Also, Seth Rogen is in it... 

 

 

I enjoyed that movie. I remember when it was happening in real time and how corrupt the system was. 

I've lucked out over the years and had a few stocks that have just shot through the roof and the pressure of "should I sell now or hold" is real. I felt so bad for the nurse in that movie. 

[Mike Sixel]

I almost watched that the other day, I'll add it to the list....thanks!