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[ClosingADoor]

Isn't the problem with investing in that 1) that they might make investment decisions you don't agree with and 2) that the stock might be higher then the actual value of their portfolio because people expect them to have better knowledge and make smarter investment decisions.

You'll be adding companies like Kraft, IBM, Coca-Cola, airlines, etc to your portfolio also. Don't know if you want that. If the plan is diversify, a S&P500 tracker will do that also, although Berkshire seems to perform better over the years if I take a quick look at the chart.

 

[BeforeU]

VUN&VUS are very different. VUN is unhedged, VUS is CAD-hedged. So if the CAD goes down compared to the USD, VUN will amplify your profits, VUS will inhibit them. If the CAD goes up, VUN will inhibit your profits, VUS will amplify them.

It's generally, for Canadian investors, recommended not to use currency-hedging or not use it too much, because the Canadian dollar is much less diversified than the USD - the CAD is linked very tightly to the Oil price, so if you try to diversify your portfolio but have them currency-hedged, you essentially have your entire portfolio linked to the oil price.

just some background info. If the CAD tanks a TON it might be a good idea to move some money over the VUS, but given that nobody can really predict how high or low the CAD can and will go, that's risky.

interesting, thanks for the info, very helpful.

Isn't the problem with investing in that 1) that they might make investment decisions you don't agree with and 2) that the stock might be higher then the actual value of their portfolio because people expect them to have better knowledge and make smarter investment decisions.

You'll be adding companies like Kraft, IBM, Coca-Cola, airlines, etc to your portfolio also. Don't know if you want that. If the plan is diversify, a S&P500 tracker will do that also, although Berkshire seems to perform better over the years if I take a quick look at the chart.

exactly

 

[ClosingADoor]

exactly

Might this also be a bit due to dividend? Because with the S&P chart, that is taken off I think? While Berkshire doesn't do dividend, so they reinvest it for you.

 

[SecretMoblin]

I do have a couple retirement saving plans through vanguard and fidelity and a 401k. I'm fairly young as well so I feel like I can take on the additional risk. This is money I'm ready to lose. Going to start with about $2-$3k. My main goal was just finding resources on which kinds of stocks I should be looking at or if there's a guide of some sorts. I saw folks mentioning AMD and First Solar above in the thread for example. Do you guys just like study earning reports or have the news on like CNBC all day or just watch out for key announcements in like politics? I have the basic knowledge for how investing works, just need to know how to focus so I don't end up making avoidable mistakes.

You can certainly examine the publicly-available fundamentals for any companies, but there are lots of individual firms who publish updated ratings or rankings based on their own determinations of the strength of a particular equity. Chicago-based Morningstar is a big one, Credit Suisse, Reuters, etc. also have ratings. Most of the brokerages have their own in-house analyst ratings.

Places like MarketWatch or Yahoo Finance (or even the NASDAQ site) will aggregate news items about a particular company or political news that may affect its share price, and include "analyst" recommendations and charts about the stock.

I think for lots of the regulars here it's just about following companies or sectors that you are interested in or that you think might be valuable in the long term, like biotechnology, computing, renewable energy, or Tesla. Pick a sector or a company that you like (WSJ has a good breakdown), research the companies therein, and go from there. If you don't do this as your main gig, there's next to no chance that you'll discover some incredibly undervalued stock that isn't already being looked at -- at least not through independent research as opposed to random chance.

 

[Barzul]

You can certainly examine the publicly-available fundamentals for any companies, but there are lots of individual firms who publish updated ratings or rankings based on their own determinations of the strength of a particular equity. Chicago-based Morningstar is a big one, Credit Suisse, Reuters, etc. also have ratings. Most of the brokerages have their own in-house analyst ratings.

Places like MarketWatch or Yahoo Finance (or even the NASDAQ site) will aggregate news items about a particular company or political news that may affect its share price, and include "analyst" recommendations and charts about the stock.

I think for lots of the regulars here it's just about following companies or sectors that you are interested in or that you think might be valuable in the long term, like biotechnology, computing, renewable energy, or Tesla. Pick a sector or a company that you like (WSJ has a good breakdown), research the companies therein, and go from there. If you don't do this as your main gig, there's next to no chance that you'll discover some incredibly undervalued stock that isn't already being looked at -- at least not through independent research as opposed to random chance.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[AP90]

AMZN dropped 2.37%.... Now under $997/share

Edit: At the time of my post.

 

[ClosingADoor]

Tencent hitting $40+

 

[Natetan]

AMZN dropped 2.37%.... Now under $997/share

Edit: At the time of my post.

Sigh that's like 10% drop in 2-3 days...

 

[Mrbob]

Amazon is bumping up against it's 50 day moving average right now. Will it hold? Technical move should happen one way or another soon.

 

[BeforeU]

AMZN dropped 2.37%.... Now under $997/share

Edit: At the time of my post.

$987 now

Makes sense though, they missed EPS by one whole $ lol

 

[shockthrill]

Can someone explain to me what this mythical Medallion Fund at Renaissance Technologies is about?

 

[dno_1966]

Shopify up 10% today makes me very happy!

 

[Guevara]

What is going on with Under Armour? I mean besides their shoes sucking.

 

[Zoe]

Phew, sure am glad I got out of AMD when it was $15 and put all of that money into RDFN.

 

[Ashhong]

I asked this before, but I'm actually ready to take action on this, so sorry for asking again. But I received $10,000 from my parents as a loan to start saving for a house, and they plan on giving me another 10k every year (something about a limit to how much they can give a year to me), and I wanted to know the best way to invest it, safely. It's hard to say when I would buy a house, probably whenever it feels right. Could be 2 years, could be 5.

I looked into CDs, which is obviously a safe route but the fact that I get more money every year kind of ruins that option, plus I don't know when I would need it. What are my best options with low risk? Don't want to really play too dangerously with a loan from my parents.

 

[Maybesew]

I asked this before, but I'm actually ready to take action on this, so sorry for asking again. But I received $10,000 from my parents as a loan to start saving for a house, and they plan on giving me another 10k every year (something about a limit to how much they can give a year to me), and I wanted to know the best way to invest it, safely. It's hard to say when I would buy a house, probably whenever it feels right. Could be 2 years, could be 5.

I looked into CDs, which is obviously a safe route but the fact that I get more money every year kind of ruins that option, plus I don't know when I would need it. What are my best options with low risk? Don't want to really play too dangerously with a loan from my parents.

Most of the time the answer would be bonds, but the bond market right now is somewhat uncertain as interest rates are expected to rise over the next few years.

Also, the market is near all time highs, so buying an index fund right now may not be the smartest move since your 10K could be 8K in 6 months. So that comes down to whatever your personal tolerance for risk is, but it sounds like you really want to be safe.

Give your risk profile, I'd never recommend putting it into a single stock, but something like NLY (a 9% dividend stock that historically just hangs out wrapped around $10) might be your best bet.

If all of this sounds too risky, maybe CDs are right for you even though they will likely give you a much lower return than other options.

 

[Mrbob]

What is going on with Under Armour? I mean besides their shoes sucking.

Announced restructuring and lowered guidance.

 

[BeforeU]

woooo Apple delivers big. We looking at new all time high.

How many of you holding it?

 

[Ether_Snake]

Heading for that 1trillion market cap.

 

[Natetan]

woooo Apple delivers big. We looking at new all time high.

How many of you holding it?

Up 5%! I'm out of the red for a little bit.

 

[Morts]

TSLA keeps inching down this week. I'm still up almost $100/share but I'm wondering if I should grab a few more.

 

[Bandini]

woooo Apple delivers big. We looking at new all time high.

How many of you holding it?

I have it as a top 10 holding in several ETFs. Not doing much for me today though

 

[Maybesew]

woooo Apple delivers big. We looking at new all time high.

How many of you holding it?

i have a lot. im also short nasdaq overall so today is a very good day

 

[Mrbob]

Snap under 13 now. I think I may have an unhealthy obsession watching this stock drop but I want to see how far this falling knife goes.

I still think tech is going to correct and wonder if that will drag Apple down too.

 

[Ether_Snake]

TSLA keeps inching down this week. I'm still up almost $100/share but I'm wondering if I should grab a few more.

I'm thinking it will reach the 260s or 270s, if the 200d exponential moving average is any indication.

 

[tokkun]

Snap under 13 now. I think I may have an unhealthy obsession watching this stock drop but I want to see how far this falling knife goes.

I still think tech is going to correct and wonder if that will drag Apple down too.

Apple's P/E is still < 20, which is basically a value stock at current market valuations, so they seem less vulnerable to "correction". If their stock drops, it will likely be due to some substantive change in the economy or their business.

 

[Maybesew]

Just sold a modified iron condor for TSLA earnings. mostly a nuetral play with no downside risk. fingers crossed

 

[BeforeU]

Just sold a modified iron condor for TSLA earnings. mostly a nuetral play with no downside risk. fingers crossed

Congrats

 

[Unknown Soldier]

TSLA

MOTHER

FUCKERS

 

[Natetan]

TSLA

MOTHER

FUCKERS

Up over 6% at the start of trade.

 

[Maybesew]

Congrats

Nope, lost money. Put on a strangle to try and get back to even.

 

[cpp_is_king]

Knew i did the right thing buying tsla on the dip. When a healthy, innovative company drops 15% in 2 days for no reason that's free money. Up about 10% overall, but I don't think I'll sell anytime soon, they have a lot of long term potential

 

[Ether_Snake]

DDD down 20%.

 

[Mrbob]

Knew i did the right thing buying tsla on the dip. When a healthy, innovative company drops 15% in 2 days for no reason that's free money. Up about 10% overall, but I don't think I'll sell anytime soon, they have a lot of long term potential

Tesla stays strong as long as the dream doesn't die.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Knew i did the right thing buying tsla on the dip. When a healthy, innovative company drops 15% in 2 days for no reason that's free money. Up about 10% overall, but I don't think I'll sell anytime soon, they have a lot of long term potential

Hold TSLA until the day you retire and you'll be able to buy that yacht when you do

 

[BeforeU]

Man you guys are way too optimistic about Tesla.

I just don't see Tesla growing that much more in the future. Have you guys looked at its marketcap? It is higher than Ford. Its still hard for me to believe this. So much growth has already been factored into its price right now, its insane. And not to mention the completion is only going to grow by 2018 onwards when other car manufactures comes out with their own electric cars. From Audi to Mercedes to GM.

I am very excited to see GOOGLE and APPLE's take on this. AAPL supposedly make their own cars but GOOG will just licence their self driving software and you can count that it will be leaps and bounds better than what Tesla has to offer.

 

[cpp_is_king]

Man you guys are way too optimistic about Tesla.

I just don't see Tesla growing that much more in the future. Have you guys looked at its marketcap? It is higher than Ford.

The difference between Tesla and Ford is that Ford is an auto company.

 

[Mrbob]

I'm not a Tesla optimist, but as long as the Musk dream is alive it's going to be tough to tank the stock. One crack though and I think the fall is hard and painful.

If I were to put a significant amount of coin down on one stock to buy and hold for awhile it would probably be Alibaba. Jack Ma > Elon Musk

I would like to see Google and Baba come down a little more and I might make some buys on both.

I don't place much hope on an Apple Car though. I don't see people willing to pay an Apple premium for a car. I think Google is on the more correct path by going the software route and selling it to manufacturers.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Man you guys are way too optimistic about Tesla.

I just don't see Tesla growing that much more in the future. Have you guys looked at its marketcap? It is higher than Ford. Its still hard for me to believe this. So much growth has already been factored into its price right now, its insane. And not to mention the completion is only going to grow by 2018 onwards when other car manufactures comes out with their own electric cars. From Audi to Mercedes to GM.

I am very excited to see GOOGLE and APPLE's take on this. AAPL supposedly make their own cars but GOOG will just licence their self driving software and you can count that it will be leaps and bounds better than what Tesla has to offer.

Tesla isn't a car company anymore though. They might become the main recharging station company in the US, main solar panel provider, and who knows what else. They are a future conglomerate, or at least that is their potential.

That being said, I think it's too high and it remains to be seen if they can successfully branch out. I think the price will go down before it can go much higher.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Man you guys are way too optimistic about Tesla.

I just don't see Tesla growing that much more in the future. Have you guys looked at its marketcap? It is higher than Ford. Its still hard for me to believe this. So much growth has already been factored into its price right now, its insane. And not to mention the completion is only going to grow by 2018 onwards when other car manufactures comes out with their own electric cars. From Audi to Mercedes to GM.

I am very excited to see GOOGLE and APPLE's take on this. AAPL supposedly make their own cars but GOOG will just licence their self driving software and you can count that it will be leaps and bounds better than what Tesla has to offer.

People who don't understand Tesla are welcome to stay on the sidelines.

People who want to understand Tesla can read this:
http://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/13...slas-asymmetric-war-against-the-auto-industry

Tesla is already the next APPLE and GOOGLE. People who think APPLE can just outsource making a car to Foxconn are crazy and literally do not understand what Tesla has done. They are literally the first American car company to succeed in bringing cars to market and not go bankrupt in a year or two since Chrysler was founded in 1925. You have to be absolutely completely unaware of anything to think APPLE can just show up with GOOGLE software (which they won't, APPLE and GOOGLE are notorious arch-rivals) and have Foxconn build some cars like they are fucking iPhones and dethrone Tesla. Tesla has a competitive advantage so great now that the various incumbent automakers are probably already too late to start catching up even if they start now, and while the Europeans seem to be taking it seriously, the Americans (Ford/GM/Chrysler) are completely fucked.

Tesla is disrupting the automobile industry in much the same way APPLE disrupted the smartphone industry. Ford/GM/Chrysler are RIM/Blackberry and Nokia. You don't have to understand now. I don't care. But in 5-10 years we'll see how the people who understand fare versus the people who don't.

 

[Captain Smoker]

DDD down 20%.

Yeah, I got destroyed. xD

In the moment I sold FSLR with a small win (finally!), there comes DDD and tanks harder than FSLR ever did lol.

 

[ClosingADoor]

People who don't understand Tesla are welcome to stay on the sidelines.

People who want to understand Tesla can read this:
http://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/13...slas-asymmetric-war-against-the-auto-industry

Tesla is already the next APPLE and GOOGLE. People who think APPLE can just outsource making a car to Foxconn are crazy and literally do not understand what Tesla has done. They are literally the first American car company to succeed in bringing cars to market and not go bankrupt in a year or two since Chrysler was founded in 1925. You have to be absolutely completely unaware of anything to think APPLE can just show up with GOOGLE software (which they won't, APPLE and GOOGLE are notorious arch-rivals) and have Foxconn build some cars like they are fucking iPhones and dethrone Tesla. Tesla has a competitive advantage so great now that the various incumbent automakers are probably already too late to start catching up even if they start now, and while the Europeans seem to be taking it seriously, the Americans (Ford/GM/Chrysler) are completely fucked.

Tesla is disrupting the automobile industry in much the same way APPLE disrupted the smartphone industry. Ford/GM/Chrysler are RIM/Blackberry and Nokia. You don't have to understand now. I don't care. But in 5-10 years we'll see how the people who understand fare versus the people who don't.

People are not arguing that Tesla has no value or will go broke. But the car industry is very different from others and Tesla does have some challenges ahead from the competition.

What happens when BMW, Audi, Mercedes get their electric and self-driving cars? Tesla is ahead, but not that much. They paved the way, but others can jump on more easily.

No doubt Tesla will stay a major company, and they are branching out in different areas with their batteries, solar, charging stations, etc. But at the same time, cars are a very competitive environment. You can't expect tech like profit margins there, because most people don't buy the premium cars.

 

[tokkun]

My feeling on the auto industry is that we are moving toward a cars-as-a-service model, where fewer cars will be owned for individual use. The real opportunity for massive disruption is not in electric vs gasoline, but the fact that most cars sit around unused for most of the day. It is hugely inefficient, since the cars themselves are not being used and we actually pay to store them when not in use. Uber is the preview of what the future will look like, and once autonomous makes it cheaper, I think a lot of people will forego car ownership.

In addition to fewer cars being sold, I think we will see less pricing power from automobile makers. If the vehicles are owned by the corporations running these services, they are likely to be less brand conscious and more price conscious.

This is probably why Musk likes to refer to them as an energy company rather than a car company. If they are able to grow to justify their current valuation, I think it will be on the back of their battery and charging station technology or autonomous driving software rather than on vehicle sales.

 

[Natetan]

My feeling on the auto industry is that we are moving toward a cars-as-a-service model, where fewer cars will be owned for individual use. The real opportunity for massive disruption is not in electric vs gasoline, but the fact that most cars sit around unused for most of the day. It is hugely inefficient, since the cars themselves are not being used and we actually pay to store them when not in use. Uber is the preview of what the future will look like, and once autonomous makes it cheaper, I think a lot of people will forego car ownership.

In addition to fewer cars being sold, I think we will see less pricing power from automobile makers. If the vehicles are owned by the corporations running these services, they are likely to be less brand conscious and more price conscious.

This is probably why Musk likes to refer to them as an energy company rather than a car company. If they are able to grow to justify their current valuation, I think it will be on the back of their battery and charging station technology or autonomous driving software rather than on vehicle sales.

I think in most of the us , car ownership will stay around for awhile. I can't imagine suburban lifestyle relying on a 3rd party.

What I thinkn they have something on is batteries. As solar prices come down and electricity becomes basically worthless, the revenue generation will come from storage/balancing services for renewables (and paying for electric transmission services). That can be stand alone grid level storage, but could mesh a bit with your idle cars. If we can have idle cars providing balancing services for the electricity system, that would break down barriers to one do the biggest issues facing greater renewable expansion. Car owners (private individuals or corporate fleets) could generate revenue this way. Assuming there was enough supply of electric cars out there, it could become extremely competitive to participate.

 

[Captain Smoker]

My feeling on the auto industry is that we are moving toward a cars-as-a-service model, where fewer cars will be owned for individual use. The real opportunity for massive disruption is not in electric vs gasoline, but the fact that most cars sit around unused for most of the day. It is hugely inefficient, since the cars themselves are not being used and we actually pay to store them when not in use. Uber is the preview of what the future will look like, and once autonomous makes it cheaper, I think a lot of people will forego car ownership.

In addition to fewer cars being sold, I think we will see less pricing power from automobile makers. If the vehicles are owned by the corporations running these services, they are likely to be less brand conscious and more price conscious.

This is probably why Musk likes to refer to them as an energy company rather than a car company. If they are able to grow to justify their current valuation, I think it will be on the back of their battery and charging station technology or autonomous driving software rather than on vehicle sales.

BMW and Daimler have carsharing services in every larger german city. (DriveNow and Car2Go)

I don't know if there is anything similar in the USA, but the USA is huge, so I suppose I just don't know the name of the companies? ^^


It works for cities.

 

[tokkun]

I think in most of the us , car ownership will stay around for awhile. I can't imagine suburban lifestyle relying on a 3rd party.

Well, personally I have already switched. I donated my car to charity last year and switched to using a combination of public transit, Uber, and rentals. It is not perfect yet, but there is a lot to like about it.

I'm not saying this will be an overnight change. But even if we are just talking about families that currently have 2 vehicles moving to only having 1, that could have a big impact on sales.

BMW and Daimler have carsharing services in every larger german city. (DriveNow and Car2Go)

I don't know if there is anything similar in the USA, but the USA is huge, so I suppose I just don't know the name of the companies? ^^

Yes, we have services like ZipCar in the US. The problem with services like this is that you are responsible to getting to / from the location the car is stored. You also may need to reserve a vehicle in advance. So they lose out a lot on convenience compared to owning your own vehicle and only work in densely populated areas where there are pick-up / drop-off points close to where people live. Autonomous will eliminate these disadvantages, because the cars will come to users rather than the other way around.

 

[ClosingADoor]

At least BMW is back in the green for me. Nice rise today. Back to 90 please!

 

[Natetan]

Well, personally I have already switched. I donated my car to charity last year and switched to using a combination of public transit, Uber, and rentals. It is not perfect yet, but there is a lot to like about it.

I'm not saying this will be an overnight change. But even if we are just talking about families that currently have 2 vehicles moving to only having 1, that could have a big impact on sales.



Yes, we have services like ZipCar in the US. The problem with services like this is that you are responsible to getting to / from the location the car is stored. You also may need to reserve a vehicle in advance. So they lose out a lot on convenience compared to owning your own vehicle and only work in densely populated areas where there are pick-up / drop-off points close to where people live. Autonomous will eliminate these disadvantages, because the cars will come to users rather than the other way around.

That's interesting, do you have kids? It would seem to be difficult to not have your own car when you need to deal with kids and general family stuff.

 

[Mrbob]

Yeah Uber seems to be a better fit for those who are single and/or dating with no kids. If you have a family of 4 you are not going to want to wait for a pick up to and from places with crying kids.

 

[Kwhit10]

Yeah Uber seems to be a better fit for those who are single and/or dating with no kids. If you have a family of 4 you are not going to want to wait for a pick up to and from places with crying kids.

Add all the installing/removing of cars seats and lugging those around for multiple kids and it's a nightmare.