Investing/Stocks

[Bill77]

I've never come across such a thread. I don't know if anyone on this forum actively invests in stocks or the like so I thought I'd find out.

If I had to guess I'd say maybe Chichko Risto.

I'm a daily trader in Gold XAU/USD just for a bit of fun and top up money. It took me 15 years to finally start getting wining trades constantly coming my way

[Gocka]

I'm a daily trader in Gold XAU/USD just for a bit of fun and top up money. It took me 15 years to finally start getting wining trades constantly coming my way

Interesting Bill!

Gold seems like a good investment, I really should have gotten into it a long time ago and I am ashamed to say I still have not even though I know I should.

Central banks have been pumping money like mad into their respective economies. The effect is wearing off and gold is the classic safe haven.

I'm more into stocks. No shame in losing money until you figure it out, investing is just like anything else in life, it takes experience that can only be learned the hard way. At one point I think I had lost over $30,000 Then I learned to stop chasing unicorns and treating it like a slot machine and actually do research and invest in real companies.

Also for anyone who might be reading, diversify diversify diversify. Investing is about patience and cold calculation, you have to take the emotion out of it.

I keep a portfolio of between 10-20 stocks at all times. A mix of cyclical, tech, raw materials, retail, and speculative. $5000 per stock at most. I try to strike a balance between short selling, and long term investments.

One of my speculative picks currently is "NIO", a Chinese electric car maker sometimes called the Tesla of China. They make very nice SUV's, hold dozens of patents, and have the backing of the Chinese government. Their stock is currently trading in the 2's. They just started delivery on a new model, and if they show strong demand in the next couple of months, the stock could double.

[Bill77]

My biggest regret which i will never get over...... 10 years ago i was advised on a trading forum to buy Bitcoin at around $0.20. i was seriously considering buying $50 worth more as a novelty thing as i didn't take Bitcoin serious. My internet crashed then by the time it came back on again, The Macedonian in me had a chance to kick in and say ne bre, ne se lazi so igrachki. chuvaj si gi parite..... and i never pursued it.

I fucken hate being Macedonian sometimes.


My son bought $10,000 worth of XRP (Ripple which is another crypto) at $0.28 which is following big brother Bitcoin. He is predicting just like Bitcoin began at Cents.... hitting $$. I hope it works out for him.

[Risto the Great]

My biggest regret which i will never get over...... 10 years ago i was advised on a trading forum to buy Bitcoin at around $0.20. i was seriously considering buying $50 worth more as a novelty thing as i didn't take Bitcoin serious. My internet crashed then by the time it came back on again, The Macedonian in me had a chance to kick in and say ne bre, ne se lazi so igrachki. chuvaj si gi parite..... and i never pursued it.

I still think all the crypto currencies are utter rubbish. Sure you can make money on them. But in the long run, they simply have no underlying value. My opinion hasn't changed about them over a few years now.

I fucken hate being Macedonian sometimes.

So do about 1.6 million others!

[Gocka]

My biggest regret which i will never get over...... 10 years ago i was advised on a trading forum to buy Bitcoin at around $0.20. i was seriously considering buying $50 worth more as a novelty thing as i didn't take Bitcoin serious. My internet crashed then by the time it came back on again, The Macedonian in me had a chance to kick in and say ne bre, ne se lazi so igrachki. chuvaj si gi parite..... and i never pursued it.

I fucken hate being Macedonian sometimes.

LOL I say that all the time! I swear we are all such pessimistic and distrusting people.

Man you could have bought a nice house with that $50 you didn't invest in bitcoin.

I wouldn't be too hard on yourself though, if you had invested $50 in every half backed idea you ever heard of, imagine how much you would have lost over time. Those kinds of investments are a needle in a haystack, you never know which one will explode, and most are flops.


My son bought $10,000 worth of XRP (Ripple which is another crypto) at $0.28 which is following big brother Bitcoin. He is predicting just like Bitcoin began at Cents.... hitting $$. I hope it works out for him.

I still think all the crypto currencies are utter rubbish. Sure you can make money on them. But in the long run, they simply have no underlying value. My opinion hasn't changed about them over a few years now.

Crypto is downright confusing. It doesn't have value in the traditional sense but then again no money has any real value. The only reason any currency has any value is because enough people agree that it does. In that regard a crypto currency or a digital currency has whatever value its users agree on.

On top of that the real value behind crypto is the block chain technologies that make crypto currency possible. The block chain technology and its developers are where the real value is.

Having said that I am still too afraid to invest anything in it, especially an established one given the volatility and potential for it become worthless.

I might put a small amount into an emerging crypto like ripple but that's about it.

Here is a good read on the basics of block chain. https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-i...in-technology/

So do about 1.6 million others!

LMAO thats a keeper right there.

[Risto the Great]

It doesn't have a value in any sense. Its only value is that some other idiot buys it hoping that others will pay more than him. At least with currency, you are banking on the country that owns it. In this case, you are dealing with something more volatile than Venezuelan Bolivars and people are loving it. Everyone is saying how the blockchain technology is awesome. Well, the first stable country that converts its currency into it might get an advantage. Other than that, I simply cannot fathom how something so volatile is considered to be a good idea for a "currency".

But I deal with stupid investors on a daily basis. I would say I literally beg a client a month not to invest in whatever they are considering and they still do it and lose their money. They (typically) are the ones who love crypto stuff.

Crypto is downright confusing. It doesn't have value in the traditional sense but then again no money has any real value. The only reason any currency has any value is because enough people agree that it does. In that regard a crypto currency or a digital currency has whatever value its users agree on.

On top of that the real value behind crypto is the block chain technologies that make crypto currency possible. The block chain technology and its developers are where the real value is.

Having said that I am still too afraid to invest anything in it, especially an established one given the volatility and potential for it become worthless.

I might put a small amount into an emerging crypto like ripple but that's about it.
:

[Vangelovski]

It doesn't have a value in any sense. Its only value is that some other idiot buys it hoping that others will pay more than him. At least with currency, you are banking on the country that owns it. In this case, you are dealing with something more volatile than Venezuelan Bolivars and people are loving it. Everyone is saying how the blockchain technology is awesome. Well, the first stable country that converts its currency into it might get an advantage. Other than that, I simply cannot fathom how something so volatile is considered to be a good idea for a "currency".

But I deal with stupid investors on a daily basis. I would say I literally beg a client a month not to invest in whatever they are considering and they still do it and lose their money. They (typically) are the ones who love crypto stuff.

Surely crpyto currency has value in that it can buy illegal goods anonymously? Or for money laundering purposes?

[Risto the Great]

My machine guns are en route!

[Risto the Great]

Bitcoin Bubble Bursts As Ethereum, Ripple's XRP And Litecoin Prices Crash--Here's Why

https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2019/07/02/bitcoin-bubble-bursts-as-ethereum-ripples-xrp-and-litecoin-prices-crash-heres-why/amp/

Bitcoin, which has soared sharply higher over the last few months, has suddenly turned, losing almost 15% in value over the last 24-hours and sparking fears the latest bubble has burst.

Ethereum, Ripple’s XRP, and litecoin, the three top cryptocurrencies by market capitalization alongside bitcoin, also all turned red, each losing between 5% and 10% in value over the last day, according to price data from CoinMarketCap.

The bitcoin price dived after touching year-to-date highs of $13,880 per bitcoin on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange late last month to trade at lows of $9,710 earlier this morning.

The sudden bitcoin, ethereum, Ripple XRP, and litecoin price sell-off comes after warnings bitcoin is heading for a “violent breakdown” and technical data that showed a strong sign of buyer exhaustion across bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets.

“We fell off a cliff here, supported by the bottom of this descending triangle,” said crypto analyst and BlockTV reporter Joe Saz. ”I believe this descending triangle is going to be a violent breakdown. I don’t typically have a red flag emergency, but it’s looking very bad right now.”

Technical bitcoin price data meanwhile showed a bear cross of short-term moving averages and weakening buy pressure yesterday, interpreted by some as a potential catalyst for a sharp price drop.

Elsewhere, the market was spooked on Sunday by a bitcoin trader allegedly placing a significant short order, betting that the bitcoin price would go down in coming days.

The bitcoin price has been pushed higher in recent months, rising over 200% since the beginning of the year, due to a surge of crypto interest from some of the world’s biggest technology companies including iPhone maker Apple and social media giant Facebook.
“The deep pullback last Wednesday night was like a bucket of ice water that was dumped on the anxious crypto market, which was indeed getting a bit too hot,” Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at brokerage eToro, wrote in a note to clients yesterday.

“The prospect of prices rising too far too fast had some traders feeling fearful, so it’s good to see things relaxing somewhat.”

Bitcoin last year went through a sharp correction after 2017′s epic bull run which saw bitcoin prices go from under $1,000 per bitcoin to almost $20,000 in fewer than 12 months. Last year the bitcoin price fell to lows of around $3,000 per bitcoin.

Changes 15% overnight and all the genius investors call it a good currency.

[Gocka]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/billyba...heres-why/amp/



Changes 15% overnight and all the genius investors call it a good currency.

This is why I will not invest in crypto. I don't invest in things I don't understand.

I think at some point the block chain developed for use in crypto currency, will have others uses that will generate income for one or some of these crypto companies. Ripple is well positioned to be a banking tool and they are investing heavily in finding other uses for the technology.

In the end investing in an emerging technology is risky and confusing. Some turn into google and amazon. Others fizzle out into nothing. I don't know if crypto will ever function as a currency, certainly not with the type of volatility it has.

Who listened to me and bought NIO stock when it was at $2.50 a week ago? If you did you made 25% already.

[Carlin]

For Clues About Palladium, Look to… North Macedonia?

URL:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/clues-palladium-look-north-macedonia-063831900.html

David Fickling
January 20, 2020

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- “The Balkans” — according to remark often attributed to Winston Churchill — “produce more history than they can consume.” Precious-metal traders betting on the record surge in palladium prices might want to draw a similar lesson.

That’s because production and consumption of palladium and its sister-metal platinum in one tiny Balkan state are giving crucial clues to the way producers of automobile catalytic converters use the two elements. This in turn is likely to affect the path of prices for both metals.

As we’ve written, there are strong fundamental underpinnings to the extraordinary rally that’s seen palladium prices increase nearly fivefold in the past four years, at a time when platinum is up a mere 25%. Both metals have extensive industrial uses in the converters that strip carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides from car exhausts. Supply and demand dynamics have conspired recently to push up palladium prices at the expense of platinum.

Sales of new diesel cars, which tend to use more platinum, have been hit by the aftermath of the diesel emissions-testing scandal, putting the preponderance of demand on palladium-heavy gasoline vehicles. At the same time, South Africa’s platinum-mining industry has been struggling with low profitability, which has helped to keep supply of its palladium byproduct back from the market. Meanwhile, vehicle-emissions standards have been tightening in Europe, China and other countries, increasing demand for catalysts to clear up exhaust fumes.

The normal solution to this sort of situation is substitution. Palladium had few uses until the rise of the catalytic converter in the 1970s pushed chemists to try it out as an alternative to platinum. At some point, the current price mismatch between the two metals should cause the pendulum to swing the other way, so that manufacturers reformulate their autocatalysts to use less palladium and more cheap platinum.

That’s the theory, at any rate. The question is whether substitution is actually happening.

Matthew Turner, a former precious metals analyst at Macquarie Group, has spotted one way for traders to keep an eye on that question. Johnson Matthey Plc, one of the world’s biggest producers of platinum-group metals, operates a major catalytic converter plant in Skopje, the capital of the Balkan republic of North Macedonia.

This offers a unique window into the generally secretive business of autocatalyst recipes. North Macedonia has no domestic supply of platinum-group metals, and local new-car sales amount to only a few thousand units a year. That’s handy, because the country breaks out the metals it’s importing in standard trade disclosures, giving investors a pretty good proxy for the proportions being used in Matthey’s emissions-control devices.

The figures won’t reassure palladium bears. If anything, matters are heading in the opposite direction. From a period a few years ago when the ratio between platinum and palladium imports was around 3:1, for much of the past year it’s tightened to around 1.8:1, implying a yet more palladium-dense catalyst mix. Trailing 12-month platinum imports in October, the last month for which data is available, were up just 3.9% from two years earlier; those of palladium were up 61%.

It would be wise to treat this information with a smidgen of caution. While catalysts are North Macedonia’s biggest export, the country still accounts for less than 10% of the global cross-border trade in such products — and that’s only a small part of the catalyst market as a whole, when you factor in domestic consumption.

The data also only tell you about the activity of one plant, which might not be representative of the industry as a whole. Importantly, the Skopje factory was set up to produce diesel catalysts, so gives us few clues as to what’s happening in the gasoline end of the autocatalyst market.

On top of that, Matthey is itself a major player in the platinum-group metals trade, and is no doubt wise to any efforts to use this data as a window on its commercial secrets. If it moves some excess palladium inventory to the Balkans, it’s not impossible that it could end up getting cheaper prices on its platinum from traders watching the North Macedonian trade figures — which could be useful, if you were planning to switch to a more platinum-dense catalyst mix.

[Carlin]

Breaking news: Oil CRASHES 30% over Saudi Arabia-Russia crude price war & coronavirus fears.

U.S. stock futures are in free fall Sunday evening. The oil industry is collapsing in real-time. Wow.


Oil Drops 31% in Worst Loss Since Gulf War as Price Fight Erupts

By Dan Murtaugh and Alfred Cang

March 8, 2020, 6:08 PM EDT Updated on March 9, 2020, 12:09 AM EDT
- Saudi Arabia makes deepest price cuts in at least 20 years
- Collapse of OPEC+ alliance triggers crude supply free-for-all

URL:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-08/oil-in-freefall-after-saudis-slash-prices-in-all-out-crude-war?srnd=premium-canada

Oil markets crashed more than 30% after the disintegration of the OPEC+ alliance triggered an all-out price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia that is likely to have sweeping political and economic consequences.

Brent futures suffered the second-largest decline on record in the opening seconds of trading in Asia, behind only the plunge during the Gulf War in 1991. As the global oil benchmark plummeted to as low as $31.02 a barrel, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. warned prices could drop to near $20 a barrel.

The cataclysmic collapse will resonate through the energy industry, from giants like Exxon Mobil Corp. to smaller shale drillers in West Texas. It will hit the budgets of oil-dependent nations from Iraq to Nigeria and could also reshape global politics, eroding the influence of countries like Saudi Arabia. The fight against climate change may suffer a setback as fossil fuels become more competitive versus renewable energy.

“It’s unbelievable, the market was overwhelmed by a wave of selling at the open,” said Andy Lipow, president of Houston-based energy consultancy Lipow Oil Associates LLC. “OPEC+ has clearly surprised the market by engaging in a price war to gain market share.”

Hammered by withering demand due to the coronavirus, the oil market is sinking deeper into chaos on the prospect of a supply free-for-all. Saudi Arabia slashed its official prices by the most in at least 20 years over the weekend and signaled to buyers it would ramp up output -- an unambiguous declaration of intent to flood the market with crude. Russia said its companies were free to pump as much as they could.

[Risto the Great]

Yep. A bloodbath today in Australia.
I bought more.

[Phoenix]

Yep. A bloodbath today in Australia.
I bought more.

A few smart picks during this madness could be quite profitable in the near future...make sure you buy up the dunny paper manufacturers Risto...nothing like the perfect storm of - primal fear and irrationality to spook the markets and the 'mum and dad investors' getting their news and views from Facebook...

[Risto the Great]

Interestingly, in Japan, one of the few stocks to go up was a food company. They make rice products and are longer life products. They went up 4% while everything else was falling. So, yes, it fits with all this other irrationality. Might be the types of companies to look at. But definitely some bargains in the blue chip dividend paying companies right now.