Seems we’ve covered about every possible non fly fishing interest except the investments in the stock or commodity markets. As currently stands, pundits , Kramer, Buffett etc., feel it’s a great opportunity.They feel the markets have reached or are very near their bottoms. The next direction is UP. One of them states, “Now is the time to invest and get rich”.
If one has the aforementioned “BRASS cajones” and some RISK capital, it’s TIME to “dive” in. Of course, the operative term here is “RISK capital” since there are NO guarantees of a profit and a better than 50/50 possibility of loss. It is said, however, that the greater the risk, the greater the profit. The following is not always true BUT many have turned “chump change” into fortunes: “Buy when others FEAR and FEAR when others BUY”
I am going to play “pretend” investing today with a starting cash portfolio of $50,000, buy Gold $20,000 ( @787.50) ,Target -TGT $20,000 (@37.89), $10,000 Sirius Radio SIRI (@$0.3697).
I plan to watch these for a week and check the wisdom of my trades. Under current volatile market conditions, I would not declare a time period but just for fun, I will.
Feel free to pick YOUR $50,000 and report YOUR profit/loss in one week ( or in five consecutive market trading days).
Good Luck $$$$$$
Betty,
Actually you make a GREAT point. Cash in a pillow case may not be the the “shrewdest” investment BUT it’s ALWAYS there and has NO possibility of loss ( except for inflation).
Currently there is an e-mail circulation labeled :" Investment Strategies" wherein several investments of $1000 in particular stocks are cited ( mostly financials) and their current values of about $50.00 or less. The conclusion was the if one bought $1000 worth of BEER, the scrap value of the aluminum cans would be about $240 today ( not verified),therefore a wiser strategy. Factoring in the derived satisfaction of consuming, I somewhat concur.
Based on closing prices today, I have increased my portfolio by $975.00 . Just under 2%. Not a bad day but 2% was below my expectation. My bets were on GOLD and Sirius and both disappointed.
Hey there ET,
We also own one of those “101k"s. Smart money dictates " hold em” . I’ve postponed my retirement somewhat unless I find a fool who would work 75 hrs a week to buy my business. I almost had one about a year ago ( a California GC) but his first question to me was “how are the golf courses around here”. I’ve built my business for 35 years. Many of my clients are " no bid necessary". I wasn’t going to sell my integrity to this fool. I must admit, however, second thoughts HAVE crossed my mind.
Mark
PS: Buy Gold and RIMM (he says with crossed fingers)
I think silver has a lot more potential than gold right now. All highs will be revisited and gold is only 20% or so off its high. Silver is nearly 50% off its high and is more valuable as an industrial metal with a lot more used regularly in industry.
Gold is mostly jewelry and almost all gold ever mined is still around.
But the clincher is Pebble… Let’s hope the price of gold stays low enough to keep them from insisting on cyanide heap leach mining… Demand drives production…
art
Hey there Hap,
Thanks for your most logical input. I have saved silver coinage but never purchased for investment. When investing in precious metals, I tend to buy bullion or coin instead of mining stocks. Bullion/coin buying , for the most part, is just shuffling existing inventory from buyer to seller ad infinitum as opposed to mining stocks which create an incentive to dig for more and cause the potential pollution you site.
Betty
Tough call these days for retirees depending/stuck on dwindling value 401Ks. Hold is the advice I hear most often.
When I was in the Navy, I suddenly gained an interest in precious metals while I was deployed to Sicily and making more money than I knew what to do with. I did a little research on precious metals and began buying American Eagle coins (Gold, Silver and Platinum) and Silver bullion bars from Sunshine mint. Since I didn’t really know any better, I bought most of this from the US Mint and off Ebay. This was just before America decided to go into Iraq and take out Hussein.
The silver is what impressed me most. I overpaid for it on Ebay since I did not check the spot prices first. It was just a little over $5 an ounce when it should have been about $4.20 per ounce. Regardless of this mistake, the price of precious metals jumped up considerably when we went into Iraq and for the first time in quite a few years, Gold had jumped to over $350/oz. (I think) It was the war in Iraq that caused this. Actually it was the investors’ fears that caused it.
So had I known what was going to happen in the future, I wouldn’t have sold my silver when I did at close to $8/oz. Later on down the road, the price tripled from what I paid for it.
Equities market and I had a REALLY BAD DAY today. To end it all, I tried jumping out of my basement window. Skinned my knee terribly and am now in intensive care complete with a Glenmorangie IV drip ( one litre). I’m told, I will make it ( darn) .
Another reason to, perhaps, listen to Betty H’s sound investment strategy.
I am just gonna leave mine in the G fund for now. Mine is through the FERS (Federal Employees Retirement System) Thrift Savings Plan. Not going to monkey with it until I feel these markets have bottomed out.
Marco,
At the prices you started with you should have been able to get:
Gold 25.5 oz
SIRI 27,049 shares
TGT 528 shares
looking at today’s closing prices:
SIRI@ .31
TGT@ 33.41
Gold@ 722.34
Ray,
Your calculations are correct. And your ultimate bottom line results for me are exactly my reason for my (failed ) attempt to “end it all”. Hopefully tomorrow…
Mark
PS: Of course under normal conditions, I would have dumped all with a profit of $1005 AND started to think “short” ( no longer available unfortunately).
