Author Topic: Investment Culture  (Read 1324 times)

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Offline msj

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Investment Culture
« on: February 05, 2017, 12:16:39 pm »
I usually don't let politics or even ethics influence my investing but I will confess that I am feeling dirty right now.

With a Goldman Sachs guy standing over Trump's left shoulder the other day we have seen the gutting of the Dodd's -Frank Act.  https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/02/trump-dodd-frank/515646/

Not that I'm necessarily a fan of the act but this is a thread about investing.

The reason I feel dirty is because I have been profiting off of Trump.

I own XLF with 10% of its holdings in JP Morgan and 3% in the devil, er, I mean Goldman Sachs.

At any rate, I have been slowly moving my US positions to cash and I am now thinking this:

Since the US is clearly moving from a developed nation with respect for law and order for all, to a developing nation / banana republic status would I not be better off to simply move my US investments into cheaper emerging market investments?

But if the EM do turn out to be the better performing invesments over the next 10 or 15 years then was it because of the changing political climates or because they were the cheaper invesments.

Meh, whatever.  Think I will buy some cigarrette peddlers instead. 

With this BS preamble now over, what are you investing in?
« Last Edit: June 19, 2017, 03:00:27 pm by msj »
I've gotta have more cow bell! -Bruce Dickinson

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Re: Investments
« Reply #1 on: February 05, 2017, 12:28:57 pm »


At any rate, I have been slowly moving my US positions to cash and I am now thinking this:

Since the US is clearly moving from a developed nation with respect for law and order for all, to a developing nation / banana republic status would I not be better off to simply move my US investments into cheaper emerging market investments?


My income is such that I invest in my mortgage and food, plus transit to get to work.   But for you who know what you are talking about, the Mexican peso might be worthwhile:  https://www.fxstreet.com/news/usd-mxn-mexican-peso-rises-to-the-highest-since-december-201702021938

Help Mexico resist Trump, and make money at the same time.  Win/Win, right?   :)

(Yeah, you are no doubt ROFL'ing at my investment advice)

Offline msj

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Re: Investments
« Reply #2 on: February 05, 2017, 01:09:40 pm »
I do have Mexico on my watchlist. EWW is an ETF that invests in Mexico: https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239670/ishares-msci-mexico-capped-etf

Currency investing is not my thing but if this goes cheapish then I will begin to accumulate. 

I've gotta have more cow bell! -Bruce Dickinson

Offline msj

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Re: Investments
« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2017, 03:22:44 pm »
I will mention TimeWarner.

Back in October (I think) AT&T indicated they wanted to buy TWX for $107.50.

So, I picked up some shares at $87 after thinking things through.

As the stock went up I decided to raise a stop limit.

Sure enough, I raised my limit to $96 and the price fell below that so my shares were sold -10% profit in 3 months. 

This is one of those stocks where politics plays a role: will the regulators allow AT&T to buy out TWX?

CNN is owned by TWX so how does that play out with Trump?

I can see it selling, or not, under many different scenarios.

But it is one invesment that is out there for the picking.
I've gotta have more cow bell! -Bruce Dickinson

Offline cybercoma

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Re: Investments
« Reply #4 on: February 05, 2017, 03:43:25 pm »
Investments!? Let the bourgeois parasites raise their own damn money.

Offline SirJohn

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Re: Investments
« Reply #5 on: February 05, 2017, 06:43:04 pm »
I usually don't let politics or even ethics influence my investing but I will confess that I am feeling dirty right now.

With a Goldman Sachs guy standing over Trump's left shoulder the other day we have seen the gutting of the Dodd's -Frank Act.  https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/02/trump-dodd-frank/515646/
Not that I'm necessarily a fan of the act but this is a thread about investing.
The reason I feel dirty is because I have been profiting off of Trump.
I own XLF with 10% of its holdings in JP Morgan and 3% in the devil, er, I mean Goldman Sachs.

I'll do you better. I own actual stock in Goldman Sachs, along with Bank of America and JP Morgan. I admit that I've been moving money into relatively secure areas like real estate investment trusts and Canadian restaurant investment trusts like A&W and Pizza Pizza over the past month as the instability of the Trump government becomes more obvious. There is no way of knowing when he'll do something like attack Iran or North Korea, which makes me consider getting out of the market entirely. On the other hand, there's no other game in town. You can't even make enough on bonds to cover inflation, assuming bonds don't lose value,  and standing on the sidelines out of fear of something happening isn't my  thing.
« Last Edit: February 05, 2017, 06:45:08 pm by SirJohn »
"When liberals insist that only fascists will defend borders then voters will hire fascists to do the job liberals won't do." David Frum
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Offline msj

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Re: Investments
« Reply #6 on: February 08, 2017, 11:20:33 pm »
Trump tweets to whine about Nordstrom dropping Ivanka's fashion line (and the. retweets it usong the POTUS account which should be an impeachable offence) and the stock drops 2% before going up 4%.

Ugh. I cannot stand Trump and all his BS.

Leave the market alone, do your **** job, and stop giving the graft to US taxpayers.

The markets will thank you for this. 
I've gotta have more cow bell! -Bruce Dickinson

Offline BC_cheque

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Re: Investments
« Reply #7 on: February 09, 2017, 12:42:25 am »
I'll do you better. I own actual stock in Goldman Sachs, along with Bank of America and JP Morgan. I admit that I've been moving money into relatively secure areas like real estate investment trusts and Canadian restaurant investment trusts like A&W and Pizza Pizza over the past month as the instability of the Trump government becomes more obvious. There is no way of knowing when he'll do something like attack Iran or North Korea, which makes me consider getting out of the market entirely. On the other hand, there's no other game in town. You can't even make enough on bonds to cover inflation, assuming bonds don't lose value,  and standing on the sidelines out of fear of something happening isn't my  thing.

I don't claim to know who you are... but if you are who I think you are, didn't you make a boatload of money from Brexit?  Granted the referendum had an actual date, but this is Trump we're talking about and he's surrounded by deregulating republicans and war-mongers. 

It's not really an if, it's a when. 

I was gonna invest in WEED but seeing JT's promise-keeping, that's looking like a bad decision too.  Sad! (as trump would say)

Startups in renewable energy.  That's where the smart money is right now.  Trump-proof and depending on the company you can get CRCE tax credits.

ETA - without giving away too much information, let's say I've had clients in the industry and I've seen their company performances and who their investors are.  This is the future folks.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2017, 01:18:59 am by BC_cheque »

Offline Queefer Sutherland

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Re: Investments
« Reply #8 on: February 09, 2017, 10:38:22 pm »
It would seem like a pretty safe bet to invest money into businesses directly linked to the higher ups in Trump's cabinet.  I would think Goldman Sachs is the safest bet in the world right now.

That said, I try not to invest in individual stocks since I'm not smart enough nor have the time to try and beat the market.
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Offline wilber

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Re: Investments
« Reply #9 on: February 10, 2017, 12:05:14 am »
It would seem like a pretty safe bet to invest money into businesses directly linked to the higher ups in Trump's cabinet.  I would think Goldman Sachs is the safest bet in the world right now.

That said, I try not to invest in individual stocks since I'm not smart enough nor have the time to try and beat the market.

Hard to say, Nordstrom closed up three bucks after the Trump tweet. His policies will probably be good for some sectors while getting trashed by him may become a badge of honour for some others.
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC

Offline msj

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Re: Investments
« Reply #10 on: February 10, 2017, 12:58:52 am »
This tool: http://etfdb.com/tool/etf-stock-exposure-tool/

I use this from time to time.

When I am too chicken to buy a single stock but want exposure to it and others like it.






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Offline Manob

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Re: Investments
« Reply #11 on: February 10, 2017, 02:00:11 am »
I am sticking with the same old, about 60% in the S&P500, 30% in other ETFs that track major markets around the world, and 10% random stocks and options that I pick for fun and learning.

Offline Super Colin Blow

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Re: Investments
« Reply #12 on: February 10, 2017, 03:54:52 pm »
I used to own about 15 shares of Lockheed-Martin.  I sold out around $90.  Imagine my embarrassment now.
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Offline msj

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Re: Investments
« Reply #13 on: February 11, 2017, 10:39:29 am »
Startups in renewable energy.  That's where the smart money is right now.  Trump-proof and depending on the company you can get CRCE tax credits.

ETA - without giving away too much information, let's say I've had clients in the industry and I've seen their company performances and who their investors are.  This is the future folks.

Maybe.

I think you are just one of those extreme "regression to the mean" types.

TAN, a solar/renewable energy ETF, is down over 90% since April, 2008. $10,000 invested then would be worth about $900 today.

The S&P 500?  $10,000 then would be worth over $20,000 today (plus dividends).

TAN may revert to the mean and become great again.

But most people do not have the stomach for it.

Reminds me of the URA ETF (uranium companies): classic definition of - what is a 90% loss? When an investment drops 80% and then goes down another 50%. [For a 90% total decrease - $100 to $20 is 80% then from $20 to $10 is another 50%]. 

I invested at the $20 point and it dropped to the equivalent of $10 and now is back to about $13 or so.

Regression to the mean, if/when it happens, can take a long time.

I've gotta have more cow bell! -Bruce Dickinson

Offline SirJohn

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Re: Investments
« Reply #14 on: February 11, 2017, 12:16:19 pm »
Sometimes when investing or saving comes up in the conversation with people I know I am amazed at how little familiarity they have with anything related to it. For example, a friend mentioned giving money to his RRSP. I asked, what is it in? He answered, his RRSP. But what is in the RRSP, I asked. He seemed confused. He's not alone. A surprising number of people seem to think an RRSP is some kind of savings investment. It's just an account. You can put money into it, or mutual funds (if you're an idiot) or ETFs or stocks or just about anything.

If you go to a bank, like most Canadians, and ask them to set up an RRSP they will almost certainly set one up with their own mutual funds, and your donations every month or once a year, will automatically go into those mutual funds. Banks love mutual funds. They get a huge share of any profit, but take no risks. Canadians pay higher mutual fund fees than anyone on Earth, way higher. That's partly why the banks are so rich. Never let a bank set up your RRSP without clear instructions on where your money goes, instructions based on the advice of someone whose own self interest isn't impacted by the decisions you make.
"When liberals insist that only fascists will defend borders then voters will hire fascists to do the job liberals won't do." David Frum