The Stock Market Thread (no politics)

[a Mad Cow]

Please no politics in this thread of any sort.

Anyone here investing? Just started this year right before the crash. Was lucky enough to not be all in feb and decided to short the market due to covid - made a pretty good ROI (around 500%). then lost a bunch of it when the market reversed.

Luckily I adapted and started going long on stocks on the upturn - giving me a really really nice gain that stabilized my financial life.

Looks like the market should go up from here - or so I'm hoping. I have some stock call options open and I am collecting shares like a squirrel collects his nuts.

I'm long on mostly Tech - AMD , NVDA, TESLA, NIO, WMT, PLUG and a few others.

Anyone else into this stuff maybe we can discuss here.

 

[meatball]

Getting ready to retire in 2021 so I am hoping my 401K stays at its peak ,,,

 

[MikeyV]

IMO, as long as you're going long, it's always a good tie to buy.

I have a hard time buying when the market is peaked out, but I usually regret not buying when it just goes up after that.
IMO again, if you're long, trying to time the market is for the birds. It's bit me more than helped so I try to not do it.

I read a piece that compared a portfolio that only bought at the peaks to one that only bought at the troughs, and they were like 5% apart after 30 years.

My stuff is made up of almost all Vanguard ETFs (US large and small, Foreign large and small, Emerging, Real estate in the appropriate percentages). I go long and I go broad. I don't have the stomach or the time to research and buy individual stocks.

Looking pretty right now despite everything. So I'm happy about that.

 

[a Mad Cow]

Getting ready to retire in 2021 so I am hoping my 401K stays at its peak ,,,

As bullish as I am, if I was a year out, I would probably be moving to cash. Upside not worth the potential downside. But I'm young and dumb...take it with a grain of salt.

 

[electric head]

I have my 401k through work and have been putting money into it for over 30 years. Some quarters I do not even look and some I do. I did look at the one that came last April and was shocked but not really at how much I had lost but looked again in October and it was almost all back. I know this is not the way most people handle it but I just let it ride until I actually retire.

 

[a Mad Cow]

As you get closer to your cash out on 401ks and roths be careful 5 years out. Crash cycles seem to come every 10 years... 1987, 2000, 2008, 2020

Luckily we recovered from this crash very quickly - not out of the woods yet though. If this was the 2008 crash it almost took 7 years to get your money back so be careful.

I think we go up from here but ya never know.

 

[MikeyTheCat]

In before the lock.

 

[fett]

Time to lock in your Prophets.

 

[PeteK]

I took a chance on Moderna (MRNA) and bought some shares a while back. Then I sold it when it started to tank. Now they announced a 94% effective Covid vaccine and they are way up. So I lost about 10%. Would have been up 90% if I held it.

But I have others that are doing well. PLUG, STM, NVTA and ZG have all done really well for me this year. My dad convinced me to quit gambling on penny stocks and start following the advice of Paul Mampilly. I've done nothing but make money in the market since following his advice. I probably should pay the $4 a month to subscribe to his news letter, but my dad usually lets me know what he recommends to buy and sell.

 

[DotStudio]

I'm doing quite well. When the market tanked I increased my 401k contributions and started dumping extra cash into an ETF. Once it peaked back out, I lowered my contributions enough to still get the employer match while maxing out for the year.

In the meantime I made some great trades on Docusign, Netflix, Microsoft, Apple, and Roku. I regret not buying into Wayfair or Shopify like I originally planned, but oh well.

With all of that, I'm up over six figures from the pre-pandemic peak. Can't complain.

Now I'm mostly just back to normal with my 401k and dollar cost averaging with ETFs. It was a fun ride though.

 

[SteveC]

I'm actually living, very well, from the dividends that I earn in the market. The monies from the Roth accounts are 100% tax free, too. The IRA's are taxed at the Federal level, but PA has no tax on retirement income. The regular brokerage monies are taxed at cap gain / dividend rates. It's a very sweet deal that I built up over my lifetime.

If you are looking to pick "winners" and time the market for big, quick profits - good luck. Try Vegas instead. You actually may have better LUCK. Unless you are connected, the market is not a game that is easily beat. And, trying to beat it has ruined more than a few lives over the last century.

But, if you start young and invest wisely in solid, growth and dividend payers, over the long haul you could end up with a very nice (deep into 6-figures) annual income, without ever needing to sell off any of your investments.

When the market shit the bed back in the Spring, I was still getting nice checks every month. My net worth took a massive (temporary) hit, but since I didn't need to sell, I did not lose a single dime. Now, it's back up. In fact, my portfolio is worth more today than it was worth back then.... and the checks keep coming every month. And, I have not put a penny in, since I retired.

Play the long game. Don't look for the next "big one". Have a lifetime strategy that gets you set up for when you decide to stop working.

If this doesn't make sense, please go see a good CFP.

 

[PeteK]

I'm actually living, very well, from the dividends that I earn in the market. The monies from the Roth accounts are 100% tax free, too. The IRA's are taxed at the Federal level, but PA has no tax on retirement income. The regular brokerage monies are taxed at cap gain / dividend rates. It's a very sweet deal that I built up over my lifetime.

If you are looking to pick "winners" and time the market for big, quick profits - good luck. Try Vegas instead. You actually may have better LUCK. Unless you are connected, the market is not a game that is easily beat. And, trying to beat it has ruined more than a few lives over the last century.

But, if you start young and invest wisely in solid, growth and dividend payers, over the long haul you could end up with a very nice (deep into 6-figures) annual income, without ever needing to sell off any of your investments.

When the market shit the bed back in the Spring, I was still getting nice checks every month. My net worth took a massive (temporary) hit, but since I didn't need to sell, I did not lose a single dime. Now, it's back up. In fact, my portfolio is worth more today than it was worth back then.... and the checks keep coming every month. And, I have not put a penny in, since I retired.

Play the long game. Don't look for the next "big one". Have a lifetime strategy that gets you set up for when you decide to stop working.

If this doesn't make sense, please go see a good CFP.

I sort of have a duel strategy. I'm for sure playing the long game with my retirement and it is doing quite well. But I've got some fucking around money that I play with individual stocks. Is it gambling? Yes. But I'm not betting the mortgage on it or anything. Sometimes I get a nice little bonus when I pick a winner. Almost makes it worth the previous 10 times when I picked losers.

 

[fett]

In 2000, I had a neighbor who's father was in to buying real estate. I was chatting with him outside my house and offhandedly mentioned that my house may be for sale. He perked up but he wasn't interested. He told me that he had lost $400,000 in the market. Was it a paper loss? Nope. It was real money. At that time, my house would have sold for 400K in a heartbeat. He was a guy that saw easy pickings in the market when he should have stuck with something he knew. BTW, That house is worth about 1.5M. I sold too early.

 

[SteveC]

I sort of have a duel strategy. I'm for sure playing the long game with my retirement and it is doing quite well. But I've got some fucking around money that I play with individual stocks. Is it gambling? Yes. But I'm not betting the mortgage on it or anything. Sometimes I get a nice little bonus when I pick a winner. Almost makes it worth the previous 10 times when I picked losers.

I like games where I have a decided advantage. While my friends in school were "gambling" in the markets, I decided to learn (and master) poker. I still enjoy reminding them that game put both of my girls through undergraduate school, and one of them through her Masters program.

There was a stretch back in the pre-Moneymaker era, where I was making six-figures each year from the game. I toyed with quitting my day-job, but wisdom triumphed over vanity - LOL. So, I just played part-time. After Chris won the series, the game changed significantly.

So, I all but gave it up, and plowed all the remaining money into the markets, using the strategy I mentioned above. As it turned out, that was the right call.

 

[a Mad Cow]

PLUG

Plug is my baby. Up 60% on my shares and up big time on some call options.

I stayed away from the vaccine companies - to me that was "red or black".

 

[Crotch]

Robert Kiyosaki is a pussy.

 

[MikeyV]

I'm actually living, very well, from the dividends that I earn in the market. The monies from the Roth accounts are 100% tax free, too. The IRA's are taxed at the Federal level, but PA has no tax on retirement income. The regular brokerage monies are taxed at cap gain / dividend rates. It's a very sweet deal that I built up over my lifetime.

If you are looking to pick "winners" and time the market for big, quick profits - good luck. Try Vegas instead. You actually may have better LUCK. Unless you are connected, the market is not a game that is easily beat. And, trying to beat it has ruined more than a few lives over the last century.

But, if you start young and invest wisely in solid, growth and dividend payers, over the long haul you could end up with a very nice (deep into 6-figures) annual income, without ever needing to sell off any of your investments.

When the market shit the bed back in the Spring, I was still getting nice checks every month. My net worth took a massive (temporary) hit, but since I didn't need to sell, I did not lose a single dime. Now, it's back up. In fact, my portfolio is worth more today than it was worth back then.... and the checks keep coming every month. And, I have not put a penny in, since I retired.

Play the long game. Don't look for the next "big one". Have a lifetime strategy that gets you set up for when you decide to stop working.

If this doesn't make sense, please go see a good CFP.

Never forget the dividends. If you get nice checks from those, and you're not looking to sell stock, then the market can do what it will, your income is all set.

A cow for her milk,
A hen for her eggs,
And a stock, by heck,
For her dividends.

An orchard for fruit,
Bees for their honey,
And stocks, besides,
For their dividends.

-John Burr Williams, “The Theory of Investment Value” (1938)

 

[a Mad Cow]

Id like to have more dividends coming in but my capital doesn't allow for anything substantial. Also the hard gainers don't always pay dividends - ie tesla, NVDA, AMD (all over 150% past 12 months). I'm going to milk them a bit more in call options before moving the profits (hopefully) into stock.

 

[redcoats1976]

just checked my 401k for two weeks consecutive,went from 131k to 132k in a week.i should be cashing it out very soon as i retire friday,then will be looking to park most of it in a annuity.it is amazing that the market is doing this well,but i dont think it will last forever.

 

[a Mad Cow]

My current holdings in my non-retirement account. My roth is mostly S&p/ DOW/ contrafund. Pretty boring compared.