Investing (aka GameStonk and other gambling events)

Not gambling doesn’t mean not invested.

although you might actually get sick in that case

Huh, really wasn’t expecting to end red after the start to the day.

We are like 6 months minimum before there is any chance of returning to a normal functioning economy. The only things holding the market up are the rightful sentiment that the fed government will prop up the stonk market and the misguided belief based on what the admin is saying that this week will be the worst of it.

I wonder who pissed in Microsoft’s corn flakes today.

As I was hoping Quest Diagnostics is getting back into its normal range. I guess Wall St. likes that it furloughed some workers due to lack of demand for non-covid testing. I feel pretty confident it’s a solid company from having worked there, but Wall St. was really down on it for a while.

Yeah there’s absolutely nothing even remotely rational about the current stock market prices. Valuations are ridiculously high, and honestly would be ridiculously high without the coronavirus. They exist only because it’s possible to borrow money at very low rates, and there is spread available between the cost to borrow money and the current prices for equities.

There’s absolutely no relationship between the prices being paid for these instruments and the real world value of the assets they represent. I don’t know what will burst this bubble, but there’s never been a bubble that didn’t eventually burst. This time isn’t different, and everyone telling you it’s different is exactly the same as the people who told us it was different every other time going back several hundred years. People never ever learn.

I’m not saying that the underlying assets have no value, I’m not saying civilization is going to collapse, I’m just saying that at some point the market will realize that the emperor has no clothes, overreact to that news, and offer all of these instruments at prices that are almost as inaccurate as the current ones except cheap instead of overpriced. It’s happened repeatedly in the past and it’ll happen this time too.

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Exactly this. Its why im bigly buying puts for the medium term.

The issue with puts is that you have to be right about the timing, and that being so hard is why all the people telling us not to try to time the market are right. I’ll buy financial products when they are a good deal relative to what they represent, and not before. Until then I’d rather invest any spare money I have into real world stuff with valuations based on real world cash flows.

There are going to be absolutely insane deals on real world stuff long before the financial market crashes I suspect. The government can prop up the paper net worths of stockholders, but real world stuff is MUCH more efficient.

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Quest hasn’t grown their revenues in years, basically flat. Maybe they are operationally sound but if they cannot expand their business the stock is never going to do great things for you.

I’ve usually held it as a hedge in case of bad financial times (everyone needs medical care). Ironically in a financial crisis caused by a health problem - overall demand for medical care is down. P/E was down to like 10 a few days ago. Seems like an ok value.

Its obviously pure gambling on my part. It just allows my to take a hyper leveraged position on a move down from here. If I’m wrong I’m wrong. I’m still long and always have been and always will be in my retirement account.

Companies that make health care products or components should also reopen quickly, while hotels and restaurants would only be allowed to do so in a “very carefully and controlled manner” because it is difficult for people to keep their distance in such establishments. Discos and clubs should remain closed for now, the report says, and events with a large number of spectators should not be held.

The experts say it’s possible that different standards may be set in different regions. Restrictions could be eased first in places with low infection rates or reduced risk of transmission, such as rural communities. As time passes, regions where the population has built up a degree of immunity could be allowed to operate with fewer restrictions.

That, of course, requires coordinated and large scale testing for coronavirus. Comprehensive training on proper hygiene, and new rules mandating the use of personal protective equipment would also be necessary.

The experts also recommend that Germany organize a “massive” increase in the production of protective clothing and masks, boost its production capacity for drugs and vaccines, and establish an information technology platform that allows for strategic planning.

This is basically what I expect them to try here - no bars (or as the Euros call it - “clubbing”), no large gatherings.

You mean in most blue states, right? And not at all in red ones?

Well if red states go back to full normal and start having a huge outbreak it’s going to be hard to hide. So I suspect they would more or less snap in line. They’re not shutting down now because the federal govt is telling them to. They’re shutting down when it becomes obvious they need to.

After a couple of rounds of negotiation, we reached an agreement on the house!

As a first-time buyer, this process feels intense. Like I just made the decision and jumped off a cliff … pretty psyched.

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Congrats!

I loathe the manufactured negotiation so I just told our realtor to tell them our top number, take it or leave it. Waiting on an answer.

Lol realtors, “but they spent 25k updating so they think it’s worth more than the comps” and “they paid x two years ago so assuming y annual appreciation it’s worth z…”

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Sounds like you live in SF/Nashville/Austin?

Sounds like someone needs to read Art of the Deal.

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It wasn’t actually our top number…does that make it any better?

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I think the key as a buyer (in a sane market) is to have a few houses you are happy to end up with. If you have a strong BATNA you can be pretty logical about when and where to draw a firm line and be willing walk away from the deal