Kelso

Individual Investor Challenge: Can You Succeed by Going It Alone?

Good one Value Added.

I've been on my own for thirty years...it's much easier now. (Thank God for the internet.) And I have learned much more from my mistakes and hopefully I've learned enough.

The Story with Short ETFs

I hedge with calendar puts. Buy the stock, buy a long term (two years) put at the price of the stock. Then I sell out of the money puts every couple of months to pay for the put I bought. Also, since I own the stock I can sell out of the money calls. (Works best with blue chip dividend payers.) It's not perfect; a stock can take off and I lose the stock and the value of the put I own drops. Then I have to scramble to sell enough puts to pay for the put I own or sell it at a loss.

Double inverse ETFs work as a short term hedge if someone knows which way the market is going. A skill I haven't yet mastered. I do own some DOG to offset the SPY I own and they seem to track each other accurately. I'm retired so preservation of capital is important. And, I like to sleep at night.

Is Wells Fargo Regretting Its Wachovia Acquisition?

Before I retired, I worked at a company that did several mergers/acquisitions through the years. It takes years, not months to take two completely seperate corporate entities and paste them together into one organization. And, it's always ugly.

Tuesday Outlook: Commodities, Global Markets

your_fed: Where do I subscribe?

Is the P/E Ratio Now Meaningless?

People who use the PE ratio probably believe the workout times published in The Daily Form.

Spread the Wealth with Gold: Three Longer Term GLD Option Strategies

A problem with holding physical precious metals. The premiums are very high and the spread between the buying price and selling price is about 10%. At least with a precious metal ETF I can sell covered calls to get some income and can protect my position with calendar puts.

Who ever is defending the $1000.00 level in gold has more resources than any of us. I don't see gold getting through $1000.00 anytime soon. Just my .02.

Budget Busting Pensions Must Be Reined In

Man! What a dummy I am for working in the private sector my entire working life! I can't understand why someone would buy municipal bonds issued by any state or city. This is one of the major reasons why I left Minnesota. Minnesota has a huge pension liability and they can't raise taxes too much more.

The Myth of Gold Confiscation

Besides, what's the gripe? If the government goes back to a gold standard and calls in gold to back up the dollar - isn't that what many gold holders want - so called honest money? Would some of you sacrifice your gold stash for what you in principle have wanted the government to do for years? If you can redeem your dollars for X oz of gold, what's the problem?

What's the gripe? I don't want to hand in my gold on the pretext that the U.S. is going back to the gold standard. "Don't worry, you can trust us." isn't going to get it.

I think the government is more concerned with confiscating guns.

More on White House's Strong-Arming of Chrysler Hedge Fund Hold Outs

Alfredo Martinez and expat are dead on. Not only should a person not buy bonds in companies with large union membership, I wouldn't buy their stock either. Why take the risk? It's laughable that the New York Times is asking for concessions from their unions while at the same time handing out large bonuses to executives. They're behaving like capitalists. And of course, the union told them to shove it. Poetic justice. Anyone want to invest in a company that is partially owned by a union?

Friday Options Update: WFC, C, BAC, EL, TRA, CY, FXI

Actually, the phrase, "It’s options expiration day," is grammatically correct. I'll paste the explanation from a grammar website because IT'S easier.

The It's vs. Its page
If you're confused by these two little words, you've come to the right place. (Not that there aren't other right places.)
It's is a contraction for it is or it has.
Its is a possessive pronoun meaning, more or less, of it or belonging to it.
And there is absolutely, positively, no such word as its'.
A simple test
If you can replace it[']s in your sentence with it is or it has, then your word is it's; otherwise, your word is its.
Another test
Its is the neuter version of his and her. Try plugging her into your sentence where you think its belongs. If the sentence still works grammatically (if not logically) then your word is indeed its.
Examples
It's been good to know you. Contraction: it has
It's a bird! It's a plane! Contraction: it is
The dodo bird is known for its inability to fly. Possessive pronoun: its inability = the dodo bird's inability.

Sorry. My girlfriend is an English major.