writser

https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2019/06/03/1559583403000/A-crypto-Buffett-lunch-is-on-the-cards--Poor-Warren-Buffett-/ Poor Warren ;D

At the recommendation of a guide at Auschwitz I read "I was dr Mengele's assistent" or "A doctor's eyewitness account" (same book, different title I believe). By far the most harrowing book I've read about Auschwitz / WWII in general and I've read quite a few. The writer just sticks to the cold, hard facts and yet that makes it so much worse. I thought it was far more gripping than Primo Levi or other books about the subject. I literally lost some sleep over this book after reading it - first book that made me do so in a long, long time. The part where they find a little girl that somehow survived the gas chambers .. pffff. I guess reading this equals a few minutes of camp exposure .. Horrific but recommended.

1. Stay rich. 2. Beat Alphavulture.

Yeah outline.com doesn't work for WSJ anymore. A pity. If anybody has a suggestion I'd be glad to hear it.

Exactly, in general the underwriters have a big incentive not to blow up the IPO because it is horrible for their reputation and for future business. In general I don't think it is a very bad strategy to participate in IPO's and sell on the open. And it's probably not possible for big players to do this too often because they'd lose access to deal flow. Could very well be that the market is not 100% efficient here. The main risk is that the hot IPO's get oversubscribed, i.e. you subscribe for $100k and only get $10k worth of stock. But the few times that there is a turd you probably get a full allocation. So the risk/reward is a bit skewed. In some European countries there is a preferential treatment for retail investors, i.e. you won't get pro-rated on the first $5k you invest or whatever. That changes the equation substantially and I try to max out the preferential treatment in all of these as a hobby. Pretty sure that is +EV.

My last post was maybe a bit rude - sorry for that. Still, you piss me off because you come here telling us in a pedantic way what we should and should not read and write. Yes - this is a value investing forum but this is the 'General Discussion' subsection and I think it is perfectly fine to discuss IPO speculation, sports betting, gambling, stamp collecting and whatever the hell else I want here. If Parsad disagrees he will let us know. I don't need you to come here to tell me what to do. If you don't like this thread just sod off. Obviously participating in the UBER IPO would have been a horribly stupid idea, I can't believe anyone in their right mind would even consider doing that with UBER now trading at $42.8.

Lol, I read your blog every now and then and if I'm not mistaken you have posted an 1.5% annual return over the past six years, lagging your benchmark by 11.8% p.a. And you live in the UK, i.e. in dollar terms your portfolio is actually down over the past six years, despite allocating a significant percentage of your portfolio to US securities, and despite being more or less fully invested during six years of a huge bull market. Your journey to financial independence has been an absolute dumpster fire so far (e.g. riding a 15% position in Flybe down all the way to zero) - yet you wish us good luck getting long term wealthy? If you actually enjoy making money you should probably leave this forum, close down your blog, focus on your day job, pay off your mortgage, and put excess money in an index fund, instead of preaching here to others who are trying to have an rational discussion. At the very least you could maybe act a little bit less pedantic and try to actually contribute something to this forum.

You sound like a Jehovah's Witness spreading the Value Investing word, with the caps and all. Such dogmatic thinking won't do you any good. I'd advise you to get off your high horse and leave this thread alone if you don't approve of our Ways.

Is this Value Investing? Who cares if it is "Value Investing". Value investing is just a means to an end. I'd draw nice colored graphs and candlesticks all day long if that would make more money. The correct question is: is it profitable? And I wouldn't be surprised if subscribing to the Uber IPO and selling at the open is +EV. FWIW has anybody ever tried this at IB? They do have an "IPO Subscriptions" page in account management but I've never actually seen an IPO there. Looks like the Uber IPO was available at TDAmeritrade. But I don't even know if it is possible for non-residents of the US to subscribe to IPO's at all actually. Something to look into maybe.

Damn. You beat us to it.

He has evolved his style: now a 100% sleazebag with his own trash newsletter. Check out the commercial ... https://www.ispot.tv/ad/I0yD/empire-financial-research-the-prophet "The prophet" .. longer clip was here: https://secure.empirefinancialresearch.com/?cid=MKT405442&eid=MKT406823&encryptedSnaid=&snaid=&step=start&assetId=AST105446&page=1 . Looks like it is off-line now but in all seriousness, it was disgusting.

If it goes down blame the algo's. If it goes up your analysis is great :P .

Yeah, put the politics board on the ignore list and the people posting there as well. Problem solved.

That actually sounds quite sensible.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190311005778/en/Vivendi-Elliott-Telecom-Italia Friendly press release.

I owned it early 2018. What baffles me about this name: why did they do an IPO? According to their filings it was to raise cash for 'investments' or whatever it was but they haven't done anything since and are now paying out special dividends. Also the IPO was at (what seems to me) a low price. Not something I could get 100% completely comfortable with for the long term so I sold it after the run-up.

What about Bill Bryson - A short history of nearly everything? Fun read. Bit of science for the kids. I like his writing style though. Just finished 'One summer: America 1927'. Also very enjoyable.

I strongly think that's a horrible idea and I've been operating in markets where they work with this shit. Do you really think such a tax would mean HF traders suddenly will start losing money overnight? Nah, they just update their computer models to take into account transaction taxes. Everybody will still be doing the same trades, but only if they are slightly more profitable. I mean, I sincerely like the thought behind the idea, but in reality such a program inevitably ends up as a tax on savers (i.e. you and your pension fund), not a tax on Wall Street. Your pension fund calls Goldman to buy Google, they will just give the price they gave yesterday but with transaction tax costs added on top. Same thing will happen when you buy Berkshire shares through IB from a high-frequency trader. Do you really think the intermediaries will take on the burden if they can pass it on to the sucker? Sure, it will cost them something but it will cost investors more. A different solution is required. Or an even more extreme viewpoint: is a solution actually required? What is the problem? I guess we can thank Michael Lewis for pushing stupid ideas like this.

We are on the internet. What do you expect us to do??

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/02/inside-elizabeth-holmess-final-months-at-theranos Fun read.

Gladly. Oops!

Given that Liberty's signature contains a link to The importance of saying 'oops' I'm sure he'll come round. That's totally not something that is happening in this topic. :P

I do have to agree with Clutch here. Some of the stuff you post here is more 'rubbing it in' than 'informative'. Which is perfectly fine with me (I'm enjoying the crypto nonsense collapse too), but don't pretend to be surprised when people take the bait.

You have a midget obsession? But yeah, both are great movies. I like Snatch as well.

Probably a good decision Muscleman. And one that more forum members should make. FWIW, as others pointed out, will point 3 & 4 really change if you put all your money in index funds? If you feel depressed when your portfolio is down, maybe the problem is the size of your portfolio and not the composition?