Not sure of that - you spend $0.44 today and you can use it for $0.45 worth of value in the near future Who knows, the way their finances are going, it might be worth even more late in 2012.
Well, he did step up to the plate & MAKE a prediction.
Even if there is no way to make any money off it. >>
au contraire but there is
I can use $.44 stamps forever even when they go up to $.50 for the rest of the unwashed masses
I may even sell them on the BST for $.49
Postage arbitrage
MJ
Walker Proof Digital Album Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
How many forever's can I buy to make a difference? A trip to the P.O. in time and gas negates the savings. A $100 worth? OK, I save $10 on that if they raise rates to 50cents by next december. My needs are more than $10 Actually, her needs are more. Mine are modest.
You have to think bigger streeter! volume,volume, volume..........I pick forever stamps every year in any investment challenge as part of the port. One of the few lay ups out there and they never go down. Guaranteed.
MJ
Walker Proof Digital Album Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
<< <i>CMG Jan 2013 250 puts for $17. Target $60-$120. >>
there will be a large fiesta in upstate NY if this comes to fruition. I like this trade a lot. MJ
Walker Proof Digital Album Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
<< <i>You have to think bigger streeter! volume,volume, volume..........I pick forever stamps every year in any investment challenge as part of the port. One of the few lay ups out there and they never go down. Guaranteed.
MJ >>
WELL.....you might have a layup there ole boy...kind of like Don Johnson hitting the 7iron down the street in Tin Cup.
but it's cheating and we all know it _____________________________________________________________________
I notice quite a few of the PM blowhards are absent from this thread spread sheet. WASSA matta....arthritis in the typing finger?
edit....WINGSRULE: I get my dividends thrown back in on Essex. Capische?
How about collecting deposit bottles for in a 5 cent state and taking them to a 10 cent state (Hello Michigan!) for a cool 100%
Over the years, several groups have done just that, but instead of being discrete, they would pull up to a store with multiple VANS full of empties. And of course, the vans all had out of state plates. And most would just hop over the state line to do it.
It is now a felony in MI.
And yes - derryb is already kicking everyone's a$$ I knew I should have had USLV in there!
the very best investment idea is to get out of high interest debt such as credit cards, then think of making other investments.
"Interest rates, the price of money, are the most important market. And, perversely, they’re the market that’s most manipulated by the Fed." - Doug Casey
<< <i>Even if there is no way to make any money off it.
Not sure of that - you spend $0.44 today and you can use it for $0.45 worth of value in the near future Who knows, the way their finances are going, it might be worth even more late in 2012. >>
Better than the bank's "high interest savings accounts"!
I bought a roll of 100 Canadian domestic stamps before the cutoff when they were 59 cents each. Come January 16th I believe, they'll be worth 61 cents. 3.4% return in less than a month!
Search kicked back nothing, figured this would be a good place to ask. Anybody using iPad tracking apps for stocks/pm? Recommendations or stay-away-froms?
You know, if there is a glimmer of light in this economy, BAC will hit 10-12+. INSTANTLY. Actually 15-20. Not bad for a troubled bank.
I made money on BAC in 1982, just wish I would have held on for the whole ride. And threw more money at them. IMHO, they will never be allowed to fail. They took the rap on Merrill. I just think there has to be an unwritten understanding on that deal. They passed on Lehman at the same time and Lehman had more core assets than Merrill. Something was going on in Charlotte. BAC wouldn't take Fuld's calls at home and Fuld was basically begging for help. Look at the 'help' BAC has gotten since they blended Merrill into themselves. WOW.
Don't ask me what but something was cooked. I can smell the odor on that deal in L.A.
I wouldn't touch BAC with Baley's money. It's insolvency can only be kept hidden for so long.
"Interest rates, the price of money, are the most important market. And, perversely, they’re the market that’s most manipulated by the Fed." - Doug Casey
tydye (and others) please feel free to post your picks now (the sooner the better) then refrain in the future from editing the post with the picks.
then, later in the year, if your pick is performing well (or not) versus "the box of 19", you (we) can compare your 51 week or 50 week performance to the full year, perhaps pro-rata. In other words, everyone else can be the 20th entrant
This is going to be a fun thread to follow.. it's not too late to join in, just too late to keep from asking too much from the very kind Wingsrule. Although he updates at his own discretion, and can add anything he wants to the tracking spreadsheet (or take them off, for that matter). And if anything gets out of hand, the mods will lock it up for us.
My backup picks were ILMN, DNDN, IPXL, a few others ... Stocks (companies) are far more interesting to me than metals (although I like metals too)
We'll see how often it gets updated if my picks start to tank
Mnay years ago, my buddy and I joined a work golf league in a newly formed company. The guy running it had been doing so for 15+ years for his various employers. After week #1, I was in first place (luck, mostly). After the season ended, he informed me that I was the first person ever to hold first AND last place within the same season.
<< <i>tydye (and others) please feel free to post your picks now (the sooner the better) then refrain in the future from editing the post with the picks.
then, later in the year, if your pick is performing well (or not) versus "the box of 19", you (we) can compare your 51 week or 50 week performance to the full year, perhaps pro-rata. In other words, everyone else can be the 20th entrant
This is going to be a fun thread to follow.. it's not too late to join in, just too late to keep from asking too much from the very kind Wingsrule >>
There's nothing more exciting than starting a race near the back of the pack and making dramatic passes on the outside. Not much in life is absolutely guaranteed, but this current order is almost certainly NOT how this thing will finish in 51 weeks
What's more surprising than anything is the number of prominent posters who have chosen to sit it out.
Is it a case of "Thems that knows, don't tell, and thems that tell, dont know?"
Isn't it amazing at the number of BIG OPINION PEOPLE who COULDN'T step up? May be they like to write long winded dissertations but are a little weak in the practical sense. Or maybe they were on vacation in Belize with no IT when this started
I bought a ms62 2 1/2 lib OGH that really is a 63 for $540 from a retailer. Those PCGS guides MIGHT be off a little... .
The only reason I picked ESSEX is because I hold it and used to work with G.M. who founded it. Not the greatest pick for an investment challange.
If SPRINT can keep Clearwire financially sound, IF IF IF: It'll be a winner. Does anybody realize that SPRINT owns more bandwidth than ATT & VERIZON combined. Bandwidth is the only reason ATT made a play for TMOB. If Sprint can get their stuff together...watch out.
If I advocate selling something short the return can only be 100% max but since you asked, sell the bejeebers out of Dec '12 GC 5000 calls (but cover yourself from a risk & margin standpoint just in case the worst happens).
What's more surprising than anything is the number of prominent posters who have chosen to sit it out.
Is it a case of "Thems that knows, don't tell, and thems that tell, dont know?" >>
Contests and predictions are for entertainment. Most folks with serious money don't spend much time or energy on either. There is also usually a very wide gap between contest picks, or hot money picks in a small trading account, vs. where real people put real money.
I will add that for short term traders, spending time on trade planning, risk management, right sizing of positions, is at least as important as picking a good trading vehicle, or picking stocks. For novice would-be traders just starting out, finding a trading style that works for that particular person's personality and intellectual and emotional strengths, is much more important than following hot tips from any Internet forum, or reading through a contest thread looking for investment ideas. I will again repeat that keeping a trading journal is a good way for a novice trader to learn what works for them.
I hesitate to give "specific" picks for various reasons. In this contest I did so for fun so to speak. Milk, wood and stamps. Obviously each one was designed as an euphemism or metaphor if you will. Each represented an asset class. MJ
Walker Proof Digital Album Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Baley posted a pic of his two kids. I suggest that each of them do a three stock portfolio using darts or some other random method such as drawing letters out of a hat for ticker symbols. See how the little kids do. There is the famous book "A Random Walk down Wall Street" and the story of the coin flippers. In the book there is a theoretical nationwide coin flipping contest, and at the end of each round about half are eliminated. After umpteen rounds, there are a few left, and they are considered master coin flippers, with vast skill. Many become coin flipper advisers at high pay. The point of the author is that is how Wall Street and investments sometimes work, that there is an equal chance, a cut, and at the end of many rounds, a few with extreme luck. For most of these kinds of contests the analogy of the coin flippers is apt. Especially for those that picked a single volatile stock or trading vehicle, winning or losing would prove nothing, and mean little, except some forum bragging rights or shame and cheap entertainment.
The random walk theory has some merit. However, in my experience, while there is some luck involved, there are also losing habits and winning habits. I recently spent some time mentoring two young people interested in investments. One had winning habits, hard work, paying attention, taking notes, asking difficult questions, a real thirst for more information and knowledge. The other had losing habits, impulsive trading, rapidly switching trading methodologies, lame excuses for not doing the work that I told him was vital, learning nothing from his mistakes except that he bet wrong, believing he understood a complex subject when he only had learned a very basic outline of the subject. Unfortunately, contest threads tend to reinforce losing habits.
A footnote for the guy selling the GC 5000 calls, you do understand the exchange minimum margin requirements for such a trade limit your overall account upside to approximately 0.5%, don't you? The $9000 contest money might just cover the minimum margin for selling one call for $50 credit, but probably does not at most futures brokers. $9000 to $9050 in year hardly seems worth anyone's time. If you are thinking you can sell unlimited calls with $9000 in an account, you must have government bailout money backing you
RedTiger makes good points. This is for fun and entertainment ONLY, and maybe as a byproduct, will have some educational value (as in RT's thoughtful post)
Standard disclaimers apply! Do your own due diligence, do NOT rely on internet chat boards for investment advice, everyone has strict personal responsibility for decisions.
NOTHING can take the place of hard work, research, experience, risk management, and people accepting personal responsibility for their own decisions. OK, that said,
My boy threw 3 darts at the stock page: His picks are CHU (China Unicorn), PWR (Quanta Serv.) , and TRIP (Trip Advisor).
My little girl picked LMT (Lockheed Martin), WBC (WABCO Holding), and AKAM (Akamai Tech)
Not sure if im one of the "big opinion people", but yes, I was in Orlando and Miami celebrating the Holiday week, but I did give an idea that will either be a complete loser or a homerun. For full disclosure I did enter into my trade at $16.50.
Comments
<< <i>Forever stamps?
Well, he did step up to the plate & MAKE a prediction.
Even if there is no way to make any money off it.
Not sure of that - you spend $0.44 today and you can use it for $0.45 worth of value in the near future
<< <i>
<< <i>Forever stamps?
Well, he did step up to the plate & MAKE a prediction.
Even if there is no way to make any money off it.
au contraire but there is
I can use $.44 stamps forever even when they go up to $.50 for the rest of the unwashed masses
I may even sell them on the BST for $.49
Postage arbitrage
MJ
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
I can always postage at 90%. Anytime.
How many forever's can I buy to make a difference? A trip to the P.O. in time and gas negates the savings. A $100 worth? OK, I save $10 on that if they raise rates to 50cents by next december.
My needs are more than $10
Actually, her needs are more. Mine are modest.
MJ
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
<< <i>CMG Jan 2013 250 puts for $17. Target $60-$120. >>
there will be a large fiesta in upstate NY if this comes to fruition. I like this trade a lot. MJ
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
<< <i>You have to think bigger streeter! volume,volume, volume..........I pick forever stamps every year in any investment challenge as part of the port. One of the few lay ups out there and they never go down. Guaranteed.
MJ >>
WELL.....you might have a layup there ole boy...kind of like Don Johnson hitting the 7iron down the street in Tin Cup.
but it's cheating and we all know it
_____________________________________________________________________
I notice quite a few of the PM blowhards are absent from this thread spread sheet. WASSA matta....arthritis in the typing finger?
edit....WINGSRULE: I get my dividends thrown back in on Essex. Capische?
How about collecting deposit bottles for in a 5 cent state and taking them to a 10 cent state (Hello Michigan!) for a cool 100%.
Actually, both schemes have scale and liquidity problems.
Lotsa green on the first trading day of 2012!
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Over the years, several groups have done just that, but instead of being discrete, they would pull up to a store with multiple VANS full of empties. And of course, the vans all had out of state plates. And most would just hop over the state line to do it.
It is now a felony in MI.
And yes - derryb is already kicking everyone's a$$
"Interest rates, the price of money, are the most important market. And, perversely, they’re the market that’s most manipulated by the Fed." - Doug Casey
<< <i>Even if there is no way to make any money off it.
Not sure of that - you spend $0.44 today and you can use it for $0.45 worth of value in the near future
Better than the bank's "high interest savings accounts"!
I bought a roll of 100 Canadian domestic stamps before the cutoff when they were 59 cents each. Come January 16th I believe, they'll be worth 61 cents. 3.4% return in less than a month!
BRK.b
XOM
WFC
SHLD
Disclosure, I hold at least this much of each of these securities.
Some interesting picks so far that should provide hours of homework.
How'd I lose a grand over night? Impossible
Essex went X and you didn't count em did you?
I made money on BAC in 1982, just wish I would have held on for the whole ride. And threw more money at them. IMHO, they will never be allowed to fail. They took the rap on Merrill. I just think there has to be an unwritten understanding on that deal. They passed on Lehman at the same time and Lehman had more core assets than Merrill. Something was going on in Charlotte. BAC wouldn't take Fuld's calls at home and Fuld was basically begging for help. Look at the 'help' BAC has gotten since they blended Merrill into themselves. WOW.
Don't ask me what but something was cooked. I can smell the odor on that deal in L.A.
"Interest rates, the price of money, are the most important market. And, perversely, they’re the market that’s most manipulated by the Fed." - Doug Casey
Forever worthless stamps
I did buy a couple extra sheets of the purple heart stamps.
In God We Trust.... all others pay in Gold and Silver!
<< <i>What happens to forever stamps if the Post Office goes into bankrupt?
Forever worthless stamps
I did buy a couple extra sheets of the purple heart stamps. >>
MJ will have to come up with a new way to cheat
Top performing individual pick so far: 66tbird's STEC.
then, later in the year, if your pick is performing well (or not) versus "the box of 19", you (we) can compare your 51 week or 50 week performance to the full year, perhaps pro-rata. In other words, everyone else can be the 20th entrant
This is going to be a fun thread to follow.. it's not too late to join in, just too late to keep from asking too much from the very kind Wingsrule. Although he updates at his own discretion, and can add anything he wants to the tracking spreadsheet (or take them off, for that matter). And if anything gets out of hand, the mods will lock it up for us.
My backup picks were ILMN, DNDN, IPXL, a few others ... Stocks (companies) are far more interesting to me than metals (although I like metals too)
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Mnay years ago, my buddy and I joined a work golf league in a newly formed company. The guy running it had been doing so for 15+ years for his various employers. After week #1, I was in first place (luck, mostly). After the season ended, he informed me that I was the first person ever to hold first AND last place within the same season.
Thanks again Wingsrule.
<< <i>tydye (and others) please feel free to post your picks now (the sooner the better) then refrain in the future from editing the post with the picks.
then, later in the year, if your pick is performing well (or not) versus "the box of 19", you (we) can compare your 51 week or 50 week performance to the full year, perhaps pro-rata. In other words, everyone else can be the 20th entrant
This is going to be a fun thread to follow.. it's not too late to join in, just too late to keep from asking too much from the very kind Wingsrule >>
Can we just ignore the first two weeks?
Call it practice or something?
There's nothing more exciting than starting a race near the back of the pack and making dramatic passes on the outside.
Not much in life is absolutely guaranteed, but this current order is almost certainly NOT how this thing will finish in 51 weeks
What's more surprising than anything is the number of prominent posters who have chosen to sit it out.
Is it a case of "Thems that knows, don't tell, and thems that tell, dont know?"
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
I bought a ms62 2 1/2 lib OGH that really is a 63 for $540 from a retailer. Those PCGS guides MIGHT be off a little... .
The only reason I picked ESSEX is because I hold it and used to work with G.M. who founded it. Not the greatest pick for an investment challange.
If SPRINT can keep Clearwire financially sound, IF IF IF: It'll be a winner. Does anybody realize that SPRINT owns more bandwidth than ATT & VERIZON combined. Bandwidth is the only reason ATT made a play for TMOB. If Sprint can get their stuff together...watch out.
wifi 8.43
apple 422.40
silver 28.75
<< <i>
What's more surprising than anything is the number of prominent posters who have chosen to sit it out.
Is it a case of "Thems that knows, don't tell, and thems that tell, dont know?"
Contests and predictions are for entertainment. Most folks with serious money don't spend much time or energy on either. There is also usually a very wide gap between contest picks, or hot money picks in a small trading account, vs. where real people put real money.
I will add that for short term traders, spending time on trade planning, risk management, right sizing of positions, is at least as important as picking a good trading vehicle, or picking stocks. For novice would-be traders just starting out, finding a trading style that works for that particular person's personality and intellectual and emotional strengths, is much more important than following hot tips from any Internet forum, or reading through a contest thread looking for investment ideas. I will again repeat that keeping a trading journal is a good way for a novice trader to learn what works for them.
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Thats a for sure ride. As an employee I would know!
<< <i>Fun thread, add me in for my one pick of TNA. Expecting the market to be up at least this year as we decouple from Euro weakness temporarily. >>
The random walk theory has some merit. However, in my experience, while there is some luck involved, there are also losing habits and winning habits. I recently spent some time mentoring two young people interested in investments. One had winning habits, hard work, paying attention, taking notes, asking difficult questions, a real thirst for more information and knowledge. The other had losing habits, impulsive trading, rapidly switching trading methodologies, lame excuses for not doing the work that I told him was vital, learning nothing from his mistakes except that he bet wrong, believing he understood a complex subject when he only had learned a very basic outline of the subject. Unfortunately, contest threads tend to reinforce losing habits.
A footnote for the guy selling the GC 5000 calls, you do understand the exchange minimum margin requirements for such a trade limit your overall account upside to approximately 0.5%, don't you? The $9000 contest money might just cover the minimum margin for selling one call for $50 credit, but probably does not at most futures brokers. $9000 to $9050 in year hardly seems worth anyone's time. If you are thinking you can sell unlimited calls with $9000 in an account, you must have government bailout money backing you
And the problem here is what?
Standard disclaimers apply! Do your own due diligence, do NOT rely on internet chat boards for investment advice, everyone has strict personal responsibility for decisions.
NOTHING can take the place of hard work, research, experience, risk management, and people accepting personal responsibility for their own decisions. OK, that said,
My boy threw 3 darts at the stock page: His picks are CHU (China Unicorn), PWR (Quanta Serv.) , and TRIP (Trip Advisor).
My little girl picked LMT (Lockheed Martin), WBC (WABCO Holding), and AKAM (Akamai Tech)
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
My apologies for the oversight. You have been added in based on your original post.
Mark
This includes cohodk's picks which I overlooked on previous versions. Silver looking strong so far this morning, up 1.5% as I type.
Here are the current rankings. The group at the bottom will be ranked separately, since their picks came after the original deadline.
Spelling edit.