The Finance/Retirement Thread

macNcheese said:
Check out Sky View Trading on YouTube.
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I would under no circumstances in any lifetime ever tell someone purchase a subscription to any of those groups. The suggestion you have if meant to learn about different option trading strategies is perfectly fine for learning, but it should be supplemented with better, more in depth resources.

If you could print money, would you ever tell anyone? No. These guys at best are charging a subscription model taking advantage of those hoping to make it big and at worst are doing the Najarian scam of "Here are all my trades that I just executed". Once the follow along happens the position gets inflated and the liquidity allows them an exit point at a profit, amplified in options trading.

If someone wants to get involved in options trading, I would suggest A LOT of reading, I would suggest A LOT (years) of trading vanilla equities to understand how moves and news in the underlying coupled with the greeks will move things. I would suggest a solid understanding of the math behind the options.

I can't say this enough, do not just jump into option trading. The stakes are higher, the capital you are up against can move names like you can't believe. The things done at the institutional level especially in illiquid securities makes it ripe to lose money for an average retail investor.
 
Isiah6:8 said:
I can't say this enough, do not just jump into option trading. The stakes are higher, the capital you are up against can move names like you can't believe. The things done at the institutional level especially in illiquid securities makes it ripe to lose money for an average retail investor.
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Agreed! Options are risky, that's why the big trading platforms require you to be approved to trade them. Right now, 90% of the youtube "how to make a steady income" people are dying a quick financial death. Especially the ones that were writing puts.
 
Have a question for those more versed in the stock market, as stock prices plummet right now. Wouldn't now be the best time to buy up or just keep waiting until the knife stops falling? Why hold purchases when you can get a good price on certain shares?

I don't imagine the market would crash out completely, recession sure. But the market will have to take an upswing at some point?
 
SaintKP said:
Have a question for those more versed in the stock market, as stock prices plummet right now. Wouldn't now be the best time to buy up or just keep waiting until the knife stops falling? Why hold purchases when you can get a good price on certain shares?

I don't imagine the market would crash out completely, recession sure. But the market will have to take an upswing at some point?
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Long hold isn't the way to go now unless something bottoms completely out. For example, Cisco (CSCO) is getting crushed right now due to their dependence on Chinese manufacturing. Fundamentally they are a very sound company. If they were to drop to say 20 (they were in the low 30's today) you might think of them as a bargain that you buy and just hold because you know they will go back into the 40's at some point. BUT you would only do that if you had money that you knew you wouldn't need before 2021. It's an election year with a pandemic, anything can happen between now and the end of the year. Basically it would be a pure gamble and too risky to lock that money up when there will likely be upswing opportunities that you could take advantage of when the market turns.

With the current volatility, I really like basic options long calls and long puts as pure leveraged gambles in very short terms (1-3 months). I also like very short term (less than 3 day) shorts, but you better know what you are doing if you go that route. That way be dragons.

Just remember that the little guys like us are cannon fodder for the institutional moves. You have to think 3 steps ahead if you want to do anything other than gamble. You have to think about what the market is doing, what the machines are going to predict the market will do next, how the small guys will try to follow the institutions and how the institutions will try to pull the rug out from under the small investors. Once you have that, you place your bet to coincide with however they are going to screw the small guy. If you can do that, you can win consistently. If you can't do that, you are just gambling.
 
oh, side note, Investopedia is a great resource for learning how options, derivatives, futures and various other types of instruments work and also has paper trading on a delay so you can "try" your idea for free to see how it would have worked out if you had really invested. It simulates the trade platforms as far as fees and charges as well so you can come out profitable on a trade, but end up in the red from fees just like the real world.

Investopedia
 
I’m planning on getting things in Cisco, airlines, vehicles, retail. Will hold for a year and see where it goes so I can learn some things.
 
With oil at $28, I‘m looking hard at Exxon and their 9% yield as a long term buy. Sure that will drop as they decrease dividends and sell assets but a ~65-70 stock at half price?
 
Negative bonds here in the US. Whew.

U.S. bond yields go negative again as investors seek coronavirus safety

Investors don’t physically pay the issuer when yields are negative. Instead, the bond’s new issue price trades at a high premium to par, which results in a negative yield. For example, in May, the German government issued a 2-year bond with a 0% coupon and an issue price of €101.33. Over the course of the bond’s life it will not distribute any coupons payments but will payout a final maturity of €100. Consequently, this bond has a yield of -0.65% at issuance because an investor paid €101.33 to receive €100 two years later.
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Should you care about negative bond yields?
 
I tried gaining as much information as I could lurking in this thread but had some questions.

Recently had a catastrophic event and at first thought I would have to cash out my 401k to help cover but luckily was able to work things out without touching it. However, this was the wake up call I needed to start thinking about my financial future and the need to start saving/investing.

Right now my only real 'savings' I have is my 401k through work and if I remember currently its they match my contribution and I have it setup to take out $55 each check (but I'm looking at changing it to take out more). Currently the total balance is 5,200 after about 2-3 years of having it. Should I see if I can move it to a different 'portfolio' (?) to see if I can get greater returns on it or?

Also aside from just stuffing 100 each check into a savings account what else can I look at to start building up my savings as fast as possible? Would it be prudent checking out companies like Robinhood or Vanguard to start investing?

I guess what are some of the best choices I can make right now at 25 to start generating and saving as much as possible to retire at (hopefully) 60?
 
digrar said:
What do they match your contribution up to, something like 10%? If that's the case, how much are you letting your employer off by not maximising your own contribution?
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I believe it's currently 5% matched but waiting on them to get back to me to be sure. Right now I'm basically a 1k above a tax bracket. Would it be prudent to increase my contribution so I can get taxed at a lower bracket?

Right now doing the math I'm contributing around 2.5% so I can definitely increase that.. I feel honestly pretty dumb not looking at all of this stuff sooner and getting a headstart.
 

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