Investing Adventures - Latest Comments

Re: Art *&@(#& Cashin

charlierotario — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:44:34 -0000

I think he just cook that up :) That's not a big problem for him to do, Pling :)

Charlie R
What to Expect When Quitting Smoking Blog

Re: Art *&@(#& Cashin

Pling — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:07:16 -0000

Is that a real name at UBS or did Stewart just cook that up? :)

Re: Watchlist for 10/22/08

Pling — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:47:52 -0000

Don't have much to say about the list, cause I hardly recognize any. But with the markets going down long-term, is it wise to be bullish? Or are there things we don't know about these companies that you know?

Re: Online Brokerage Review - OptionsXpress

OptionsxpressNO — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 08:06:07 -0000

Optionsxpress sent me an email and told me via phone not to take action on my account to avoid a margin call. They stated that they would tell me in a following email if there was going to be a margin call. I called to confirm this information because I've been told the wrong thing several times by optionsxpress an been misled too many times to count. This time optionsxpress has cost me dearly. They told me there was no immediate need to add money to my account to avoid a margin call. About an hour after that conversation, they liquidated my stock when it was at its lowest point. Optionsxpress defrauded me out of $35,000 in seconds. About 6 hours later that same day I recieved an email warning me that there would be a margin call on the stock if I didn't add $1,500 to my account within 3 days. The problem is, they had already liquidated my stock positions. I've spoken with several representatives and managers and they agree that they made a mistake yet they do not wish to fix it. They told me that they were even willing to put me back in the stock position I had with margin and then said they couldn't because my account didn't have the same money in it. I wonder why. I invite anyone who has gone through the same thing to contact me. Any actions taken by optionsxpress that violate the laws of the federal government and/or state are illegal and unacceptable. I hope this helps others to avoid doing business with this kind of company. Please share your story so that others don't get ripped off by optionsxpress.

Re: The Economy Must Be Bad When..

JDSalinger — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:21:56 -0000

Our banking institutions are in trouble. When the big banks suffer, we all suffer. Everyone should start looking for ways to protect their money. This basically comes down to either taking your money out of the market and cutting discretionary spending or diversifying and investing some overseas preferably in Asia or parts of Europe. I personally use offshore bank accounts and they have helped me with diversification and asset protection. If you want to read more on why offshore investing is smarter, feel free to visit my website.

Best,
Frank Miller
http://www.theoffshorebankaccount.com

Re: SEC Intends to Temporarily Ban Short-Selling

Pling — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:21:51 -0000

Seems like a bad deja vu... I think they tried this out a couple of months back, right?

Re: The Economy Must Be Bad When..

Pling — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:56:53 -0000

Yeah, well. You think this might be an indication that we've hit bottom? I mean, you can't possibly fall any lower after being ripped apart on the Daily Show. :)

Re: Lehman Brothers Filing For Bankruptcy; Bank of America Purchases Merrill Lynch

Pling — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:56:24 -0000

So what's going to happen now? I have been reading about Lehman being about to take a fall for months now. Who's next? Or are we on an upswing now?

Re: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Taken over by Regulators

Ling — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:13:30 -0000

I'm pretty sure the day when student loans will be written off ain't far off, judging by the way things are going. :)

Re: Another New Design

Ling — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:32:23 -0000

Career first. You can always blog for the rest of your life. Hope you ace whatever it is you're working on with the PhD.

Re: FOMC Leaves Rates Unchanged

Ling — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:30:57 -0000

So basically, Bernanke and Co. are fiddling while Wall Street and Main Street burn. I mean, they reduced rates like there was no tomorrow earlier this year. And now they're twiddling their thumbs. Maybe this is a bit harsh, but it is true.

Re: SEC Emergency Order Extended

Options Strategery — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:46:36 -0000

Naked shorting without intent to borrow has always been illegal. They should clarify the rules and remove things like 'intent'.

Re: SEC Emergency Order Extended

Ling — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 06:03:24 -0000

They're stating clearly that it won't be extended beyond Aug 12. Why would they do that? Kinda like cops announcing they won't be on the streets after midnight... And what the rulemaking part? I mean, does the SEC intend to come out with some kind of a permanent rule barring naked shorts against institutions which are borrowing from the Fed's emergency window?

Re: 5 Reasons Every Investor Should Use Iron Condors

Arno — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:13:09 -0000

I do like Iron Condors as well, but they do carry significant risk and you will need to have a strategy in place for when and how you will adjust:
http://www.geldpress.com/2008/07/us-budget-repo...

Re: FOMC Meeting Today; How to Read Fed Funds 30 Day Futures

AW Filife — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:09:57 -0000

Does this work in the other direction?

AW Filifes last blog post..1

Re: Unexpected Job Loss in August

Randi — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:18:06 -0000

Jorge, i agree with you about "Go with your first instinct"

Randis last blog post..Tips and Advice Before You Donate A Car

Re: Getting Close…

Ling — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:54:37 -0000

LOL! If you're that eager for home food, then your wife must be one heck of a cook.

Re: Daily Update - July 7, 2008

Jimy Wong — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:17:31 -0000

It means we still can make money in market going down?

Re: Waiting to Board…

Jorge — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:47:57 -0000

Heh, from what I noticed, they're hurting with fuel and reduced passenger numbers. First class yesterday was half empty. I was tempted to ask the stewardess if I could move to first-class but I figured it wasn't a good time to remind them that they're all in trouble.

Re: Waiting to Board…

Ling — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:00:32 -0000

Look on the bright side. At least the airlines are still alive and kicking. From the way their financial condition is going down the tube, you'll be lucky to get a plane after six months or so.

Re: I am a Trend Trader

Jillian Sands — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:20:56 -0000

Being this type of trader is probably the best kind to be in the type of market we are and have been in for the last 7 years.

Jillian Sandss last blog post..Gas Prices are Hurting Us

Re: Daily Update - July 8-9, 2008

Jorge — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:18:33 -0000

Wild,

Thanks. I'm hoping this is more than just luck. We'll see lol.

Ling,

I wish I was doing this full time. I'm trying to wrap up my PhD over the next year so being a college student excess funds are low. With what I'm working with, it seems like I'm not doing a bad job.

With regards to hedging, see how the markets are down a ton so far? I'm inclined to take out some calls on the DIA / SPY *just* in case. Never know what happens over the weekend. But like insurance, it may or may not be needed. Let's see what happens over the weekend.

Re: Daily Update - July 8-9, 2008

Ling — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:26:20 -0000

You seem to know what you're doing, so hopefully, you will make it to 10K before the year end. BTW, thanks for the lesson in the previous post. I think I understand hedging better now. You do this full time?

Re: Daily Update - July 8-9, 2008

theWild1 — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:22:46 -0000

Seems like you have really hit your groove. I want to see $20k by the end of the summer.

Re: Daily Update - July 7, 2008

Jorge — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:15:46 -0000

Ling,

Any and all questions I can and try to answer are always free :)

Let's start off with delta. Delta is roughly the amount you'll make/lose with a contract for every $1 the underlying stock moves. Example:

Let's say my XL contract has a delta of -0.50 (negative .50). For every $1 XL moves down (in the same direction as delta), I gain $50. If XL moves up $1, I lose $50.

Delta negative means you're net short the market while delta positive means you're net positive. Over the past couple of weeks, I've been shorting everything I can in the market, so my portfolio has more negative deltas than positive deltas.

Now, what happens if the market rallies like it did yesterday? Well if you're short everything and the market moves higher, you're going to be hurt :) Some traders "hedge" or buy insurance on their positions.

Example: I'm currently delta negative by 1000, i.e. my portfolio has -1000 deltas. If I feel I need insurance, or a hedge, I can purchase something that follows the entire market, like the SPY or DIA. Let's say I purchase 500 positive deltas worth of the SPY or DIA. Now, my portfolio is net negative 500 deltas. If the market goes up, sure, I'll hurt. But I won't hurt as bad as if I didn't have insurance.

Hedging is a way that can help soften your losses should the need arise. Today I hedge myself a bit just in case we bounce tomorrow.