I might be wrong, but I was assuming this type of data wouldn't be available for secondary market bonds:

https://www.lendingclub.com/info/download-data.action

I was planning to use a purely algorithm/data driven approach.

2/24/2013 3:21:48 PM

The only things I can think of off the top of my head that would worry me about trading on the secondary market are:

1) Significantly higher fees. I have no idea if this is the case, but I would look into it if I were interested/able to use this website.

2) Information Asymmetry about the loans being sold off in the secondary market. Since the loan seekers and holders of the notes do not know each other I don't see this being an issue.


I think you guys are overthinking this a little. Say you're going to put like $5k into this thing. If you just make 100, $50 loans... ultimately you'll be diversified enough that a few write-offs here and there won't matter that much.

I'd still follow the basic guidelines I laid out (stay away from students, high DTI's, and vacations), but if you spend hours upon hours researching loans just to loan someone $50 I have to think you could find a more productive/profitable use of your time.

Don't turn investing into a job. You're better off just getting a job. Go mow someone's lawn or something during your free time and make real money rather than trying to squeeze out a 10.2% return instead of a 9.8% return on some insignificant amount of money like $5k.

2/24/2013 3:32:59 PM

This is would be more of a research activity and less of a serious investment vehicle for me short term. I would like to see what type of return a purely data driven approach could achieve.

2/24/2013 3:47:39 PM

^^No fees in the second market. And I agree with ^. I do a lot of data analysis for a living, so I enjoy that stuff.

2/24/2013 5:10:30 PM

Quote :

"However, loan length is huge!"

Please elaborate using specifics.

2/25/2013 10:58:56 AM

I basically categorized loans into two different groups:

0: Loans I would own (fully paid)
1: Loans I would not want to own (charged off, default 120 days late payment)

So that's saying there is a 40% change of a loan being something I don't want when the length is 60 months.

However I did that in about 20 minutes. I'll sit down later and do a more thorough job

[Edited on February 26, 2013 at 9:29 AM. Reason : ]

2/26/2013 9:15:01 AM

Quote :

"I might be wrong, but I was assuming this type of data wouldn't be available for secondary market bonds:"

True but now you can look at payment history and see how good that is

\/Seriously get that shit out of here. This is the lounge, not chit chat

[Edited on February 26, 2013 at 9:29 AM. Reason : ]

2/26/2013 9:15:33 AM

wtf does this mean?

Quote :

"Residents from North Carolina can only invest in Lending Club Notes via our Note Trading Platform operated by FOLIOfn, member FINRA/SIPC. Sign-up »"

I am only funding loans for antiques and blow.

2/26/2013 9:25:25 AM

It means you can only buy notes from other investors. You can't make the initial loan to the borrower

2/26/2013 9:54:23 AM

Just for the hell of it...here's my referral link

http://www.lendingclub.com/landing/invest.action?reg_referrer=Member_4150674&progId=2001

2/26/2013 3:58:59 PM

^^

2/26/2013 9:51:18 PM

It's really not that big of a deal. Lot's of good bonds on the secondary market.

2/26/2013 10:00:02 PM

There seem to be a ton of notes that have a missed payment, are in grace period, and are for sale for like half of the value or less. LCs website that 2/3 of loans in grace are brought current before going further in to collections.

I am trying to figure out if these are an opportunity to improve returns on some high risk loans, or worth avoiding altogether.

You can see if a BK has been filed/reported, and if the borrower has had any contact with them in the notes.

2/26/2013 10:16:49 PM

Yes - there are also a ton of notes that don't have any problems and are priced fairly from people who want to liquefy their portfolio.

Look for notes who status are issued.

2/27/2013 6:58:55 AM

So has anyone bought any notes yet?

3/1/2013 1:15:16 PM

I am still waiting for my $$ to transfer to LC.

3/1/2013 4:00:00 PM

Yeah, I need to xfer money as well.

3/1/2013 4:32:16 PM

Yeah it takes about 3-4 days

3/1/2013 4:49:35 PM

Did you guys buy anything yet? I'm up to about 1k

3/15/2013 8:47:33 AM

Yeah. I've got about $200 in. Still looking for more to invest in

3/15/2013 9:10:51 AM

Yeah me too. I just try to look every other day.

3/15/2013 10:12:29 AM

Not yet. Waiting for you guys to test the waters.

3/15/2013 10:33:32 AM

Well it's going well. Don't know what else there is to test. Lot's of good 2nd hand bonds.

3/15/2013 10:38:11 AM

Ok fine, went ahead and entered in my bank info.

3/15/2013 10:46:02 AM

I live in sc so I invest directly into the loans I guess instead of the secondary market. No issues so far.

3/15/2013 11:47:51 AM

Anyone else invest?

4/16/2013 11:36:34 AM

Issued Date 2/1/13
Loan Fraction $25
Loan Amount $30,000
Rate D1 : 17.77%
Term 60 months
Status Current
Credit Score Change Up

This should be interesting

6/5/2013 4:56:34 PM

Indeed. I have roughly ~1k in my account

6/5/2013 10:19:26 PM

The guy above had a credit score in the mid 700s so I assume his rate is so crappy b/c his score sucked when he first got the loan?
I've seen others with lowers rates but shittier credit scores so I assume that is the case.

6/6/2013 11:26:34 AM

bump. Heard about a guy who lost a lot of money doing this. Any new updates?

9/3/2014 6:35:53 AM

i've got about $1k in issued / committed primarily using lendingrobot (i picked 10 on my own to compare) with a few rules - way too early to know if it's going to be successful or a bust but it intrigues me

other than the first 10 lendingrobot has the rest of my initial $3k to purchase and so far only $25 purchases - strangely i find myself wanting to add more $$ even though i haven't had my first payment made to me

9/3/2014 8:19:46 AM

Going well so far.

$670 in my account. 10.85% returns

My Notes at-a-Glance 28
Not Yet Issued 0
Issued & Current 27
In Grace Period 0
Fully Paid 1
Late 16 - 30 Days 0
Late 31 - 120 Days 0
Default 0
Charged Off 0

[Edited on September 3, 2014 at 11:17 AM. Reason : Returns]

9/3/2014 11:16:38 AM

I want to open an account but since I am a resident of AL I can't open one. Is there a loop hole around this?

[Edited on September 3, 2014 at 1:20 PM. Reason : .;]

9/3/2014 1:18:08 PM

Can you not use foliofn?

9/3/2014 7:29:04 PM

http://www.kiva.org/ seems like more fun than this...what's the point, getting interest? Isn't it less overhead to just invest any money you'd be lending out?

[Edited on September 3, 2014 at 8:10 PM. Reason : What am I missing out on...]

9/3/2014 8:09:05 PM

Just MHO but kiva looks like a friendly international version of shark tank where people have a business idea they want to take a risk on and theres an inherently higher risk of business failure, whereas I would ASSume lending club is providing the loans to both the aforementioned people (but domestically) and those who really need it as a short term stopgap (used car to get back to work, critical house repair, etc) and who normally would have the mindset of paying back a loan and/or having some sort of collateral/incentive to pay it back.

Plus maybe I cant find it from my quick browsing but I see no details about interest rates/payments on kiva, it sounds almost like a no-interest loan to get a warm fuzzy by possibly helping someone across the world.

9/4/2014 10:17:08 AM

Quote :

"a no-interest loan to get a warm fuzzy by possibly helping someone across the world."

ding ding ding

9/4/2014 10:45:53 AM

Quote :

"have a business idea they want to take a risk on and theres an inherently higher risk of business failure"

Quote :

"and who normally would have the mindset of paying back a loan and/or having some sort of collateral/incentive to pay it back."

It's not all that risky. Most of the people you're lending to have an established lending history with Kiva. I only lend to those kind of people.

Quote :

" it sounds almost like a no-interest loan to get a warm fuzzy by possibly by help someone across the world."

FTFY

So the point of Lending Club is getting interest on the loans? Why is that better than just investing the money?

9/4/2014 11:54:41 AM

there isn't an argument that it's better at this point i don't believe - it's another investment vehicle that can provide diversification

[Edited on September 4, 2014 at 12:40 PM. Reason : .]

9/4/2014 12:35:41 PM

^+1

^^Just so we're clear - it isn't monopoly money, the interest you gain you really keep after the man takes his cut. While I know some people couldn't really care about making consistent 8-10% interest gains I definitely would; it beats the rollercoaster stocks that I just dont have time to really research and/or analyze IMHO.

9/4/2014 8:45:38 PM

How does cashing out work? Are you forced to sell loans at a discount when you want to liquidate?

9/8/2014 11:56:53 PM

Quote :

"the interest you gain you really keep after the man takes his cut"

What's the average rate of return on any index tracking fund over the last 5 years?

It just seems silly to pour time into something that *might* equal lazy market returns.

9/9/2014 12:27:51 AM

^^ You can sell then with a markup included or wait for them to come due.

^ You could also look at it from the opposite side of the spectrum. Instead of talking about investing $ you'd be putting in the market into lending club instead, you could take money slated for your emergency fund or $ you needed in the near future and put it in notes with buyers with >800 credit score and do way better than the 1% cds are paying.

[Edited on September 9, 2014 at 8:39 AM. Reason : ]

9/9/2014 8:34:36 AM

Quote :

"you could take money slated for your emergency fund or $ you needed in the near future"

Ok I can see that.

9/9/2014 9:27:35 AM

I received a solicitation from Lending Club in the mail the other day.

Interesting.

9/9/2014 9:53:22 AM

Quote :

"David0603 All American ^^ You can sell then with a markup included or wait for them to come due."

How long does it typically take to sell and get your cash out if necessary?

9/18/2014 12:27:35 AM

Depends on how much you mark them up/down

9/18/2014 2:31:55 PM

how long until people's first grace period note hit? i feel like it's only a matter of time until my rate of return starts to decrease

My Notes at-a-Glance   153
Not Yet Issued         28
Issued & Current       125

Adjusted Net Annualized Return    20.35%
Historical Returns:               7.10% - 12.10%

10/22/2014 3:50:33 PM

About 8 weeks.

10/25/2014 11:28:20 AM

Past due notes are killing my return

Adjusted Net Annualized Return 2.63%
303 Traded Notes

10/28/2014 11:31:32 AM