***Official*** 2019 Stock Market Thread

[s0me0nesmind1]

I think you're making this more complicated than it is.

A covered call is the safest investment vehicle you can use. You can't lose money you already have. You can only lose potential profits.

You have 500 shares of AMD. You'd be willing to sell at $27 a share.

Instead you sell an agreement to someone that allows them to purchase the shares at $28 a share on May the 3rd, and they pay you $655 for that agreement. If the stock is below $28 on that date you keep the $655.

I'm in the same boat as Cepak.

It's not that we're making it complicated - it's just that from the looks of it this type of action takes a lot more thought process and paying attention to the market.

I prefer to invest like Cepak - it's a much more passive way to make some investment money on the side without much time dedication while still doing our normal jobs (9-5, being a parent, etc)

 

[dasherHampton]

You're right, of course. It does take a fair amount of stock watching. And I certainly don't mean to denigrate anyone who follows buy and hold. My success rate has skyrocketed since I got back into almost full time day trading a few months ago.

But blind buy and hold is rarely the best path to the greatest return. You have to to have a plan. Options can help maximize your gain on a particular stock.

 

[dasherHampton]

I'l give you an example from my own portfolio: I have a sizable amount of EPD in two of my accounts at a basis of around 26 that I don't trade. It's for dividends only.

Since I don't intend to sell it I instead sold options for someone to buy my holdings if it's over 30 next Jan. The profit on those calls was pretty good. Could it go to 32, or 33, or even higher? Possibly.

But I set my plan on the profit I would accept and whatever happens I can live with.

 

[zinfamous]

I'm in the same boat as Cepak.

It's not that we're making it complicated - it's just that from the looks of it this type of action takes a lot more thought process and paying attention to the market.

I prefer to invest like Cepak - it's a much more passive way to make some investment money on the side without much time dedication while still doing our normal jobs (9-5, being a parent, etc)

Yeah, I have tried to understand calls, puts, shorts whatever...but eventually came to the conclusion that it's really for dedicated, full time traders. If that is your income, then it makes sense because it really takes a lot of daily time and effort to keep up with it. It all sounds very simple, but is so deceptively confusing. ...it's like chemistry. I hate chemistry, but I have to do a decent amount of it at work. The equations I use are all pretty simple, so I keep them in my head and it usually isn't a big deal, but you often second-guess yourself and have to sit down and rethink the same damn thing all over again, that you've been doing for 15 or more years on a regular basis. Simple dilutions and molarity and all that can be made complicated all over again just by spending more than a few minutes doubting and asking yourself new questions.

Such I interpret complex stock trades, and so I just buy and hold.

 

[zinfamous]

I'l give you an example from my own portfolio: I have a sizable amount of EPD in two of my accounts at a basis of around 26 that I don't trade. It's for dividends only.

Since I don't intend to sell it I instead sold options for someone to buy my holdings if it's over 30 next Jan. The profit on those calls was pretty good. Could it go to 32, or 33, or even higher? Possibly.

But I set my plan on the profit I would accept and whatever happens I can live with.

By the way, AMD popping pretty seriously now because Intel ...kinda sorta pooped the bed today.
That's how investors are interpreting Cascade Lake announcement, anyway, in comparison to what is already known about Rome.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

By the way, AMD popping pretty seriously now because Intel ...kinda sorta pooped the bed today.
That's how investors are interpreting Cascade Lake announcement, anyway, in comparison to what is already known about Rome.

Saw that. Up to 27.15 after hours.

My finger is itching to hit the sell button.

 

[zinfamous]

Saw that. Up to 27.15 after hours.

My finger is itching to hit the sell button.

Yeah I think I'm gonna set another sell for $35 (no, I don't think that will happen very soon...rationally, anyway)

 

[dasherHampton]

Yeah, I should have bought AMD outright. Hindsight is 20/20.

It still could drop under 26 by close on Friday. I sort of hope it does.

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah, I should have bought AMD outright. Hindsight is 20/20.

It still could drop under 26 by close on Friday. I sort of hope it does.

Over the last ~2.5 years, I tried to re-up @ $7, $9, and $15, when it was hovering ~30cents or so above those prices pre-market on those specific order days. Well, those open prices on those days happen to be the year-long lows at each point since then, always hovering above my buy prices by a couple of cents, lol.

I keep all of this stuff away from me when at work on my day job (I only purchase through my Vanguard brokerage account), so I can't really make any adjustments during the day. Yeah, I guess I should have set market price at open, but hindsight and all.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Over the last ~2.5 years, I tried to re-up @ $7, $9, and $15, when it was hovering ~30cents or so above those prices pre-market on those specific order days. Well, those open prices on those days happen to be the year-long lows at each point since then, always hovering above my buy prices by a couple of cents, lol.

I keep all of this stuff away from me when at work on my day job (I only purchase through my Vanguard brokerage account), so I can't really make any adjustments during the day. Yeah, I guess I should have set market price at open, but hindsight and all.

Curious: Why buy through Vanguard brokerage? Maybe it's just the fact that I don't have 200k lying around to invest and only use an overall small amount ($10-20k) so when it comes to things like buying I presume you still have to pay Vanguard for each trade? Unless you have some kind of special status from high baller investor status that waives all the fees?

I've only been using Robinhood because of this.

 

[zinfamous]

Curious: Why buy through Vanguard brokerage? Maybe it's just the fact that I don't have 200k lying around to invest and only use an overall small amount ($10-20k) so when it comes to things like buying I presume you still have to pay Vanguard for each trade? Unless you have some kind of special status from high baller investor status that waives all the fees?

I've only been using Robinhood because of this.

oh yes, there are fees. I only use it because that is where I hold my IRA and my brokerage/savings/investment account. I don't really trade stocks, so the fees for doing this are basically a one-time thing that I barely see. I think I get 25 monthly (yearly?) reduced fee trades, at $7 each. ...I could make 25 trades last a dozen years at my current rate.

also of course because I am lazy and really don't want to juggle money around between various accounts.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Hot damn, AMD up 7.72% to open this morning @ 28.86.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

oh yes, there are fees. I only use it because that is where I hold my IRA and my brokerage/savings/investment account. I don't really trade stocks, so the fees for doing this are basically a one-time thing that I barely see. I think I get 25 monthly (yearly?) reduced fee trades, at $7 each. ...I could make 25 trades last a dozen years at my current rate.

also of course because I am lazy and really don't want to juggle money around between various accounts.

Yeah I guess I understand if buying in mass amounts - instead I'm buying 10 stocks here, 50 there, maybe the next day another 20.... so all those fees add up for me. I've actually really liked using Robinhood personally.

I also have a Vangaurd brokerage (after tax) but I mainly just use that for their no-fee Index funds to continue retirement funding.

 

[DietDrThunder]

oh yes, there are fees. I only use it because that is where I hold my IRA and my brokerage/savings/investment account. I don't really trade stocks, so the fees for doing this are basically a one-time thing that I barely see. I think I get 25 monthly (yearly?) reduced fee trades, at $7 each. ...I could make 25 trades last a dozen years at my current rate.

also of course because I am lazy and really don't want to juggle money around between various accounts.

My accounts are like zinfamous'. When I opened my Schwab account, I got something like 500 free trades. I've had the account for several years and I think I still have over 400 left.

I looked online and they still have this deal, but now they have limited it to two years. I logged on and looked and my free trade count remaining is 387, so I guess they changed the rules at some point, but my account hasn't changed.

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah I guess I understand if buying in mass amounts - instead I'm buying 10 stocks here, 50 there, maybe the next day another 20.... so all those fees add up for me. I've actually really liked using Robinhood personally.

I also have a Vangaurd brokerage (after tax) but I mainly just use that for their no-fee Index funds to continue retirement funding.

I did look into Robinhood and others briefly, a few years ago, when I thought I wanted to set aside that "fun" money to start some lazy trading, but as several of us mentioned the other day, the more I looked into the complex trading tools, I decided that I don't want to spend the time to figure this all out, so there went the need to look into more efficient (smart) trading platforms.

Oh, and if AMD doesn't hit $35 today, I might up my sell order to $40 after market closes.

....bad idea, right?

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I did look into Robinhood and others briefly, a few years ago, when I thought I wanted to set aside that "fun" money to start some lazy trading, but as several of us mentioned the other day, the more I looked into the complex trading tools, I decided that I don't want to spend the time to figure this all out, so there went the need to look into more efficient (smart) trading platforms.

Oh, and if AMD doesn't hit $35 today, I might up my sell order to $40 after market closes.

....bad idea, right?

Yeah, you're nuts. Like I said, I'm itching to sell right this second.

I mean.. come on... the price has more than quadrupled in the last year or so practically.

With no dividend or anything, I just don't see a reason to hold this long term. It's overall pretty volatile.

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah, you're nuts. Like I said, I'm itching to sell right this second.

I mean.. come on... the price has more than quadrupled in the last year or so practically.

With no dividend or anything, I just don't see a reason to hold this long term. It's overall pretty volatile.

Yeah, I'm stupid. I'm up ~600% right now. ....I just need some more spending cash for that stupid GTI that I want to buy this year, for some reason.

(of course, then I would have to report this trade as income for the year, right? FML. Also why I don't trade. I have to think about things like that)

 

[DietDrThunder]

Yeah, I'm stupid. I'm up ~600% right now. ....I just need some more spending cash for that stupid GTI that I want to buy this year, for some reason.

(of course, then I would have to report this trade as income for the year, right? FML. Also why I don't trade. I have to think about things like that)

If it hits $35 a share, that will double my money and I will sell.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Ugh. I really wanted to sell when it was near 30 earlier today. Now it's back down to 29 and I've held off.

Something tells me I will regret this tomorrow.

 

[zinfamous]

Ugh. I really wanted to sell when it was near 30 earlier today. Now it's back down to 29 and I've held off.

Something tells me I will regret this tomorrow.

If I were a guessing man, as anyone can only ever be here, it will probably carry this "good" news for a few weeks yet, hover around this $26-29 range, then get a nice pre-earnings boost on the...20th? 21st? I forget when they report. Sometime around then.

I have no idea how to interpret post-earnings AMD market movement. It pretty much tends to respond in any possible way after any type of news (good, bad, mediocre). Though, it's really just been either good or mediocre ever since Su took over, and if you convince yourself that mediocre for AMD is actually really quite good in comparison, it's actually just been pretty good news. Still, the share price either seems to go bonkers or just shit the bed, regardless.

...I guess these are in repsonse to algorithms and people covering shorts/calls/puts whathaveyou, which we've already established that I simply don't understand.

 

[DietDrThunder]

My technique of luck plays a big part in my portfolio. Back in '92/93 when I worked at General Dynamics, the company went to a $1 per $1 matching into our 401Ks if you elected to purchase GD stock. So I was putting in the maximum 8% and getting an 8% match. I did this for 2 years until Lockheed decided to buy the Fort Worth Division of GD, then that program ended. Lockheed then made an offer of I think $66 a share to purchase our stock. Needless to say, life was busy and I forgot to submit the paperwork on the sale of stock. So instead, I got snail mailed a stock certificate with the number of shares listed on it, and instructions that I had 30 days to put it into an IRA account or I'd be penalized and taxed. So I put it in an IRA, kind of forgot about it again, and then looked at the statement toward the end of the year. On the statement the GD stock had gone to $97 a share, so I called the brokerage company the next day and ended up selling it at 102 a share.

So the moral of this story is that sometimes if you are not paying attention, you get lucky.

Don't ask me about the 3DFX stock I bought and didn't watch.

 

[FelixDeCat]

I love how they pump up stocks this time of year then pull the rug out in the next few months. Dont think we wont see AMD sub $20 again? Think again. Way overbought IMO.

 

[FelixDeCat]

My technique of luck plays a big part in my portfolio. Back in '92/93 when I worked at General Dynamics, the company went to a $1 per $1 matching into our 401Ks if you elected to purchase GD stock. So I was putting in the maximum 8% and getting an 8% match. I did this for 2 years until Lockheed decided to buy the Fort Worth Division of GD, then that program ended. Lockheed then made an offer of I think $66 a share to purchase our stock. Needless to say, life was busy and I forgot to submit the paperwork on the sale of stock. So instead, I got snail mailed a stock certificate with the number of shares listed on it, and instructions that I had 30 days to put it into an IRA account or I'd be penalized and taxed. So I put it in an IRA, kind of forgot about it again, and then looked at the statement toward the end of the year. On the statement the GD stock had gone to $97 a share, so I called the brokerage company the next day and ended up selling it at 102 a share.

So the moral of this story is that sometimes if you are not paying attention, you get lucky.

Don't ask me about the 3DFX stock I bought and didn't watch.

I remember GD in FW. Back in the 80s and early 90s I used to hang out at GDRA (General Dynamics Recreation Area) off of Bryant Irvin. They had a gigantic pool with a monster concrete 20 foot diving board. This was the good old days when nobody cared about liability.

Now the pool is gone and all you have the same mixed development crap you see all over Earth:

The circle area was the pool and the X area was all picnic area and woods for hiking / exploring.

 

[DietDrThunder]

I remember GD in FW. Back in the 80s and early 90s I used to hang out at GDRA (General Dynamics Recreation Area) off of Bryant Irvin. They had a gigantic pool with a monster concrete 20 foot diving board. This was the good old days when nobody cared about liability.

Now the pool is gone and all you have the same mixed development crap you see all over Earth:

The circle area was the pool and the X area was all picnic area and woods for hiking / exploring.

Yeah, it was really nice. I'm glad my daughter got to enjoy going there when growing up. It also had a nice, small amusement park for the kids as well. It is sad that corporate greed takes over. Lockheed Martin owned the land, and it was still in wide use by the employees. They made major $$$ when they sold the land. If I were an individual owning the land, for the amount of money for that prime real estate that was offered, I'd probably would have taken the money as well.

 

[dasherHampton]

OK, trade news looks positive and premarket has jumped on that.

I starting to get anxious for tomorrow. In a good way. But who knows - it's still early.

I think the jobs report comes out tomorrow and a lot will depend on that.