Markets at all time highs (except for oil).



There's no place to go but down!

12/31/2014 8:21:35 PM

bought some EXEL this morning after the big jump

trying to use robinhood but i think the lack of a web interface is going to upset me more as time goes on - they need to fix that quickly

1/2/2015 11:39:52 AM

Still holding BLCM?

1/2/2015 11:57:59 AM

Finally sold off my old bbry two days ago to offset some gains.

1/2/2015 1:05:51 PM

yeah down on BLCM 7.5% still

[Edited on January 5, 2015 at 3:50 PM. Reason : UDPATE: just sold for a measly 1% gain]

1/2/2015 10:19:17 PM

thinking about picking up some more AAPL

1/6/2015 2:35:36 PM

yeah my AAPL position has gotten really disproportionately large (I've been buying it since it was just a tick over $100/share BEFORE the split), but I can't bring myself to sell any of it off.

1/6/2015 5:45:05 PM

I've had that happen in the past and will often sell calls on a portion of it. It generates some income on the extra shares, but doesn't lock you out of any future price increase on the remainder.

1/6/2015 5:56:02 PM

^^Diversification is for people who don't want to get rich on AAPL

1/7/2015 12:14:55 AM

Hah, you sound like my cousin. He used to daytrade the shit out of appl He probably had over $250,000 of it at one point.

11/16/2012 11:26:56
Bought 150 AAPL @ 510


11/16/2012 12:29:54
Sold 150 AAPL @ 526.47

1/7/2015 10:07:40 AM

my wife and i have some options that we have to exercise prior to 2021 in VMW and plan to exercise some this year - it's starting to look like (maybe it's just me hoping) it might be near the bottom of the recent drop - strongly considering exercising a portion and holding then paying cash for the taxes

anyone else played the options game to guess when the best time to exercise is? what strategy did you use?

1/7/2015 11:55:50 AM

Huh? Do your "options" not have a strike price? That is, your company granted you a block of options at 50 that don't vest until X and have to be exercised by T? You'd value them at any point after the vest date at any number above Current Price - 50. If they never got back above by the exercise by date then they are essentially worthless.

1/7/2015 8:23:11 PM

strike is $0.24 for this set - basically free so there is no concern about it dropping other than i'd like more money instead of less

not going to sell - just exercise at this time and pay taxes out of pocket - plan to hold and pray for a rise after earnings and the feb 2 event (front page of website) - realistically won't sell till much later in the year or next unless there is a reason to think it hits a peak

[Edited on January 8, 2015 at 10:49 AM. Reason : EXEL hit today - i sold yesterday ]

1/7/2015 8:31:34 PM

I don't understand why you want to bother exercising them now?

1/8/2015 7:00:08 PM

based on your previous posts in the other stock market threads that doesn't shock me

i want to exercise when the price is lowest because at the time of exercise i'm on the hook for the taxes owed and i'm planning to just pay that out of pocket - i don't need the cash so am planning to hold for at least a year in hopes that the stock rises and the gains turn are long term

a bit off topic and likely better suited for a tax thread - the set of options i'm planning to exercise is small percentage of the whole - as a side-note i have to increase my AGI to a certain amount by exercising more options in addition to these to take advantage of the tax benefits of another conservation easement investment - i don't know the final minimum amount that i need to increase my AGI by because it's way too early in the tax year

1/8/2015 10:34:59 PM

Makes sense, assuming these are non qualified options.

1/8/2015 11:24:06 PM

they are NQOs

1/8/2015 11:50:33 PM

Interesting...the options I was granted I never got a chance to exercise and didn't realize the tax implications. Seems sorta stupid to me that we'd have to pay tax at exercise time and not when they are sold - ie, when you really reap the reward of the gain. Of course, the government and writers of tax laws tend to make little distinction between assets so I guess it isn't completely surprising it is this way. Makes total sense you'd exercise now when the stock has been beaten down. Looking at the chart going back to early 2011, 80 looks like a pretty strong support point.

1/9/2015 8:47:55 AM

normally, i'd argue exercise and hold is a terrible idea. I saw a lot of people at Cisco in the 2000-2001 timeframe go from millionaires on paper to bankrupt practically overnight due to being unable to pay the taxes after the stock dropped precipitously.

but, at a strike price of $0.24, there's very minimal downside. even in a worst case scenario, you just gain less.

1/9/2015 11:04:53 AM

Anyone here follow cbi? Pretty close to 52wk lows and i have read very mixed analyst opinions

1/13/2015 10:35:25 AM

I picked up a decent amount of USO yesterday. The oil market has to go back up at some point.

1/13/2015 10:44:47 AM

Hope so. Down big on my SDRL.

1/13/2015 11:27:11 AM

^^ I did that at 20. Sold and took a 1/3 of the money and bought a put. Hopefully it hits 16.

[Edited on January 13, 2015 at 12:32 PM. Reason : a]

1/13/2015 12:16:56 PM

If the markets are crazy for you today and you don't know why, Switzerland this morning declared war on the world.

(Swiss National Bank was holding a peg of the euro being worth 1.20 Swiss francs. They chose to drop their peg and in turn it went down as low as 0.88 euros to the Swiss franc (heavily weakened euro, heavily strengthened Swiss franc). In forex, 1% moves are big deals. The Swiss franc strengthened 30%. It's made everything hell as people try to figure out what's going on, but a lot of companies that were long euro/short Swiss franc have just lost shiploads of money and have to cover losses.)

[Edited on January 15, 2015 at 8:38 AM. Reason : /]

1/15/2015 8:29:49 AM

^Ahhh thanks.

To my speculative traders...what do you guys think about BIND? I started watching it last week when it jumped up over 50%. A sizable number of shares got picked up a few minutes before the close today.

1/15/2015 5:54:05 PM

There are thousands of retail investor accounts that were wiped out yesterday, and if they can't cover, it goes to their broker. The first forex broker I saw speak said the day had cost them 30 million pounds.

Quote :

"FXCM Comments on Swiss Franc Movement NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FXCM (NYSE:FXCM) an online provider of forex trading and related services worldwide, announced today due to unprecedented volatility in EUR/CHF pair after the Swiss National Bank announcement this morning, clients experienced significant losses, generated negative equity balances owed to FXCM of approximately $225 million. As a result of these debit balances, the company may be in breach of some regulatory capital requirements. We are actively discussing alternatives to return our capital to levels prior to today’s events and discussing the matter with our regulators."

British broker Alpari has put out this statement:

Quote :

"The recent move on the Swiss franc caused by the Swiss National Bank’s unexpected policy reversal of capping the Swiss franc against the euro has resulted in exceptional volatility and extreme lack of liquidity. This has resulted in the majority of clients sustaining losses which has exceeded their account equity. Where a client cannot cover this loss, it is passed on to us. This has forced Alpari (UK) Limited to confirm today, 16/01/15, that it has entered into insolvency. Retail client funds continue to be segregated in accordance with FCA rule."

1/16/2015 7:35:17 AM

anyone else planning to get in to BOX tomorrow?

1/22/2015 4:25:55 PM

i'll play

1/22/2015 7:42:32 PM

BOX was a fun ride - sold most at 24.30 and hanging on to a bit for next week

1/23/2015 2:42:58 PM

Synthetic short of FXE is killing it right now.

1/23/2015 3:37:47 PM

INO MOTHER FUCKERS!!!

1/23/2015 4:58:23 PM

Quote :

"BOX was a fun ride - sold most at 24.30 and hanging on to a bit for next week"

Very nice. My order never got executed at the open so I sat out.

1/23/2015 5:28:02 PM

Thinking about gambling on Shake Shack this week

1/25/2015 5:29:52 PM

i'll be in on SHAK

1/26/2015 10:40:49 AM

You getting in on the IPO price or the secondary market like us peons?

1/26/2015 11:08:56 AM

Just sold my WM I have been holding for nearly a year at a 24% gain + dividends. Not my usual fun stock but a lot less stressful. Trying to decide what I want to roll that money into now.

1/26/2015 11:19:07 AM

when it opens for the public - i've only been able to get in on one ipo

[Edited on January 29, 2015 at 2:15 PM. Reason : to follow up - i'm exercising today]

1/26/2015 11:44:34 AM

So, what are we thinking it'll open at?

1/29/2015 4:45:23 PM

ipo is at $21 I tried to get in and was denied. My best guess it opens 24-25 hits 32 closes 26 on the day

1/29/2015 6:18:08 PM

I'm hoping for a crazy run next week like LOCO did

1/29/2015 6:45:53 PM

btw, do any of you guys use an online brokerage that lets you say something along the lines of 'I want to buy $X dollar worth of stock as soon as the market opens, I don't care what price it is" would be very handy for IPOs

1/29/2015 8:05:10 PM

Yeah, scottrade.

1/29/2015 8:15:44 PM

How do you do that in scotttrade?

1/29/2015 8:16:39 PM

You could put in a limit order although I guess that wouldn't exactly accomplish your goal, maybe staggered limit orders....

1/29/2015 8:19:26 PM

I tried all different combos of things in scotttrade, they won't actually let you do staggered limit orders with IPOs

1/29/2015 8:22:58 PM

Even on the morning of the ipo? That sucks. Def would like this option when I just want to dump a grand or two into something new for fun.

1/29/2015 8:27:03 PM

Yeah, especially since most IPOs don't open at the bell, just some random time during the morning usually. I guess I'll just set my order at like $26 or something since I don't have the time to watch it.

1/29/2015 8:28:50 PM

Won't a Stop Limit on Quote order work for you if you just set a really high Limit Price?

1/30/2015 9:05:24 AM

Yeah I would imagine if you just set your limit price really high you would end up just getting it at whatever it is when it opens. Obviously dont set your price any higher than you are actually willing to pay though.

1/30/2015 9:07:55 AM

Haha, so much for SHAK opening way too high

1/30/2015 9:58:37 AM