A little investment fun
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Check out UMRX.....ironically, they make the chemo drug that I take as a maintenance dose. I figure they can help pay my bills, because I help them pay their bills.......up about 25% YTD. Currently trading at .97 and analysts expect it to hit $10.00.
AnonymousDog
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Did you get a drop last July? My IRA did and I'm still trying to recover it.
AnonymousDog
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I'm betting everyone in the market has taken a big hit. I know my IRA has.
My 401K is down about 14%, but I have playing with small pharmceutical stocks that are Covid19 related....buying in the dips, and selling on the spikes, I have made 50% in the last week or so...NASDAQ IBIO.
mpruet
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Actually that’s not a bad idea.Cammalu said:
Personally I wouldn’t ‘play’ the market. I tried to time it many years ago and generally ended up being a loser. Instead I would come up with a general investing strategy that I felt I would be comfortable with in good times as well as bad. When I was younger it was 15%+ into retirement accounts, turn on automatic dividend reinvesting, and whenever my bank account reached a certain level 1/2 would go to purchasing additional dividend oriented companies such as Verizon, ATT, Southern Company, Duke Energy, etc.
When I retired my goal was to maintain a well diversified portfolio along with using a bucket system. I’ve mentioned in the past that I have a bucket of my portfolio in near cash (cash, money market, CDs, and tax-exempt bonds) and this portion is large enough to cover my non-SS expenses for several years. Then I have a bucket of funds, and finally a bucket of well diversified individual holdings. Each bucket has a different risk factor and since my living expenses come from the near cash bucket, I can afford to have other buckets be more risky. Even though the market is currently down almost 30%, I’m able to sleep at night because I know that I’ve got several years to recoup those loses.
It’s far more important to have a good investment strategy than to attempt to play or time the market.
To be fair, you don't know why the OP isn't posting. Maybe he is on BLM land and hasn't been able to respond? But to be honest, the way the OP is day trading, it would be impossible for you to verify anything he claims, anyway. The OP could come and post here this evening that he's up 6,000% due to a few great moves. How would you know the wiser since you don't know the details and timing of his buys/sells as they are happening (like most day traders, he only posts after the fact), nor the composition of his portfolio?
If you want to know how the current market conditions are affecting an investor's portfolio, I can tell you that I am down significantly. I am down something like 25%. Use your imagination about how much money we are talking about for portfolios of different sizes. The bigger your portfolio, the more significant the drop in terms of dollars.
As for how this one investor is handling the extreme market fluctuations, I can tell you that I am watching with great interest, but I am keeping my hands off of the wheel. As Warren Buffet once quipped, "Benign neglect, bordering on sloth, remains the hallmark of our investment process." Why such equanimity? Because, you see, losses aren't losses until you realize those losses, i.e. until you sell your shares. The same goes for gains. If you stay put and do nothing while others are frantically selling off, the market will eventually bottom. And then it will eventually come back.
Day traders (and gamblers in general) try to time this movement in order to make huge profits. The problem is that you have to get two very difficult decisions correct: when to get out, and when to get back in. Day traders mostly get it wrong and mostly lose money. Some lose their shirts.
Investors, on the other hand, ride out the fluctuation. We have seen this movie before. If you had done NOTHING after the drop in 2008 (neither selling nor buying), the market recovery began in earnest in April-ish 2009, and then it was off to the races for a long, sustained bull market run. In other words, investors kept their shirts. They did better than keep their shirts; they enjoyed the whole ride up. It's what allowed me to retire early at 40.
And this current market condition, too, shall pass. And frankly, I am doubly-unconcerned about the current market condition because I am not even tapping into my portfolio for another year or two, as I am living off of cash reserves. That's a loooong time to see how this current condition plays out.
If you want to know how the current market conditions are affecting an investor's portfolio, I can tell you that I am down significantly. I am down something like 25%. Use your imagination about how much money we are talking about for portfolios of different sizes. The bigger your portfolio, the more significant the drop in terms of dollars.
As for how this one investor is handling the extreme market fluctuations, I can tell you that I am watching with great interest, but I am keeping my hands off of the wheel. As Warren Buffet once quipped, "Benign neglect, bordering on sloth, remains the hallmark of our investment process." Why such equanimity? Because, you see, losses aren't losses until you realize those losses, i.e. until you sell your shares. The same goes for gains. If you stay put and do nothing while others are frantically selling off, the market will eventually bottom. And then it will eventually come back.
Day traders (and gamblers in general) try to time this movement in order to make huge profits. The problem is that you have to get two very difficult decisions correct: when to get out, and when to get back in. Day traders mostly get it wrong and mostly lose money. Some lose their shirts.
Investors, on the other hand, ride out the fluctuation. We have seen this movie before. If you had done NOTHING after the drop in 2008 (neither selling nor buying), the market recovery began in earnest in April-ish 2009, and then it was off to the races for a long, sustained bull market run. In other words, investors kept their shirts. They did better than keep their shirts; they enjoyed the whole ride up. It's what allowed me to retire early at 40.
And this current market condition, too, shall pass. And frankly, I am doubly-unconcerned about the current market condition because I am not even tapping into my portfolio for another year or two, as I am living off of cash reserves. That's a loooong time to see how this current condition plays out.
Hi all,
I have not been on the forum for several months. It seemed to be down several times I tried and then with all the virus stuff going on I stopped trying.
I managed to sidestep the virus in some of my accounts and actually made some profit in a couple of IRAs by buying puts (in late Feb when they were dirt cheap on SPY!) but then sold them for a few 10k profit only to see them worth a tad over $1 million when the market really crashed in March. I coulda been a contender!
But my little Robinhood account had no puts and was trashed, dropping as low as $13,000. I had 2000 shares of Stemline (which dropped from $6.50 to $4) and $5,000 in cash. I was scared to trade but refused to sell Stemline as it was trading at cash on hand value and had a marketable drug.
This Monday morning I logged on and saw pre-market Stemline was trading at $12.10. What? I looked for news and found they had gotten bought out by an Italian company. I sold the 2000 shares and now my Robinhood account is at an all time high of $27,900 (all cash now) and a gain of a bit over 1000% in less than 2 years.
I am one lucky S.O.B. with that Stemline. I did this a couple years ago with Endocyte, so I have probably used up all luck.
I don't know what to buy right now so I will probably be in cash until things with the virus settle out a bit.
I have not been on the forum for several months. It seemed to be down several times I tried and then with all the virus stuff going on I stopped trying.
I managed to sidestep the virus in some of my accounts and actually made some profit in a couple of IRAs by buying puts (in late Feb when they were dirt cheap on SPY!) but then sold them for a few 10k profit only to see them worth a tad over $1 million when the market really crashed in March. I coulda been a contender!
But my little Robinhood account had no puts and was trashed, dropping as low as $13,000. I had 2000 shares of Stemline (which dropped from $6.50 to $4) and $5,000 in cash. I was scared to trade but refused to sell Stemline as it was trading at cash on hand value and had a marketable drug.
This Monday morning I logged on and saw pre-market Stemline was trading at $12.10. What? I looked for news and found they had gotten bought out by an Italian company. I sold the 2000 shares and now my Robinhood account is at an all time high of $27,900 (all cash now) and a gain of a bit over 1000% in less than 2 years.
I am one lucky S.O.B. with that Stemline. I did this a couple years ago with Endocyte, so I have probably used up all luck.
I don't know what to buy right now so I will probably be in cash until things with the virus settle out a bit.
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AnonymousDog
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I downloaded the app and have begun playing around with it. I put in $10 and have 3 whole shares now!
Currently nearing $20.
Currently nearing $20.
AnonymousDog
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Yeah my wife and have a little competition going. We invest a little each month ($10 +/-) and see who's doing the best.
I actually have a little experience in this. I rolled over a 401k from a previous job into an IRA and have been managing that myself. That is mainly in mutual funds so this app gives me a way to try my hand at stocks now.
I actually have a little experience in this. I rolled over a 401k from a previous job into an IRA and have been managing that myself. That is mainly in mutual funds so this app gives me a way to try my hand at stocks now.
As they keep saying on the https://www.marketplace.org/ morning report, the market seems to have no relation to reality at large. Since the Fed has been keeping interest rates near zero for so many years since the Crash, investors have had few other options for trying to turn a profit. Right now, the market is booming, so probably a good time to invest. OTOH, at my age, I am more into capital preservation than turning a quick profit, so ....
MG1912 thank you. You’re much more articulate than I am and you simply and perfectly explained what I’ve been trying to tell people for years. I was down almost 1/3 and am almost back to pre-Covid ( not quite but almost-I’m writing this 3 months after your post)
I have used the same company for 30 years but managed my portfolio within the company just watching what was tanking long term and what was doing better and switching funds very occasionally. I have done very well over the years with what my initial investments were. I’m pleased with my returns. I only wish I had had more to invest.
I try and tell all this to young people, even early middle aged but they don’t listen. I will refer people to your post.
I have used the same company for 30 years but managed my portfolio within the company just watching what was tanking long term and what was doing better and switching funds very occasionally. I have done very well over the years with what my initial investments were. I’m pleased with my returns. I only wish I had had more to invest.
I try and tell all this to young people, even early middle aged but they don’t listen. I will refer people to your post.
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