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CONeal

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Posts posted by CONeal

  1. Are you just wanting to invest in the U.S.?  Did you ever look into tradeking?  They are good for u.s. equities, 5 dollars a trade for most of them, 10 bucks if they are below a certain amount, can't remember the amount, no monthly or quarterly fees.  I've never invested in options so I couldn't tell you what they charge for that.  But they don't have access to foreign markets.  For that it seems like the choice is between IB and fidelity.  IB has lower commissions, but fidelity has lower fixed fees and access to more markets

     

    Good luck with tax forms and getting them in a timely manner.  One yer they left my ass high and dry in Sept with a letter saying they would no longer be fixing any tax forms due to high demand and gave out a nice letter for the IRS in case it causes a problem.  Also, I was audited b/c of their record keeping on the backed to the IRS.  The $5 trades are not woth it with all the crap I had to go through.

  2. I'm thinking of doing a full or partial Roth IRA t.ransfer from Interactive Brokers to TD Ameritrade (I'll leave my taxable account at IB).  TD Ameritrade offers 90 days free trades + $600 for xfers > $250K, and I don't think charges $7.50/quarter IRA maintenance fee. 

     

    Does anyone have advice re TD Ameritrade?

     

    I also get annoyed at IBs multiple logins and find the TWS platform hard to use.  The Web Trader platform is intuitive but relatively flaky, logs out at variable inactivity times, sometimes logs into a scanner so you can't see open positions, easy to make a "fat finger" mistake in order entry (esp with options) - & relatively slow to initiate orders.  TD Ameritrades and Think or Swim seems friendlier, and no $7.50/qtr fee?

     

    Options trades after 90 days are higher at .75/contract + $10 vs IBs .70/contract, but I don't trade too much in Roth IRA account.  Advice?  thanks in advance!

     

    If your account is over 250k you might want to talk to Fidelity.  They are rather accommodating for new accounts.

  3. I have used Fidelity for about 10 years and have been very happy.  Do not underestimate the value of downloading info to TurboTax at tax time and the access to 10 years worth of old statements.  I find I am looking back at old statements more and more and of course filing my taxes is a lot easier with the download.

     

    Satisfied Fidelity customer.

     

    This was one of the primary reason why I switched to Fidelity 2 years ago.  That and the old clearing firm couldn't get their crap together regarding tax forms.

  4. “Biglari is a jockey stock,” he wrote in his 2011 letter to investors. “You are choosing the jockey; I am choosing the horses. It would be asinine to bet on a jockey and then deny him the saddle or whip.”

     

    I got a kick out of the same thing.  Was thinking the owner doesn't give the jockey a whip so the jockey can turnarouond and beat him with it.

  5. Signing paperwork today and about to pay the money for my Model S.  But that's not why I'm posting this...

     

    The California sales tax exceeds my tax credits.  So there is no subsidy, don't worry fellow taxpayers.

     

    Sigh...

     

    Recently they brought online new Supercharger stations in Buellton and Atascadero.  So now I can pick up the car at the Fremont factory, get a tour, and easily drive it home without worrying about public charging stations.

     

    What color did you pick Eric?  And the interior?  Very nice car!  Cheers!

     

    It is silver metallic paint with tan interior.  All Glass panoramic roof.

     

    I chose the fastest one (performance edition) and added the "performance plus" package.  As for the rest of the options, I checked all of the boxes  ;D

     

    Nice!  So on the top of the line "performance plus" package, how many miles will you get before charging?  About 275-300 miles?  Cheers!

     

    It won't be 300 miles.  That's for 55 miles per hour  ;)

     

    They have an app for estimating mileage with different speeds and road conditions:

     

    http://www.teslamotors.com/goelectric#range

     

    Just scroll down on that linked page until you see the white car with the turning wheels.  You can adjust the settings and it will simulate the range.

     

    245 mile range on the highway at 65 MPH

    352 mile range on the highway at 45 MPH

    292 mile range in the city

     

    If they could get that to 400 miles at 65MPH, that would be something.  I think you would start to see a lot of luxury car owners switching to a Tesla, because price-wise it is already competitive with high-end Mercedes and BMW's. 

     

    Enjoy your ride!  Your license plate should say "FFH BAC"!  Cheers!

     

    I wonder if it were LFYAH anyone would get the reference?

     

    With your history that would be the perfect plate.  Wondering how may people would asjk you what it ment?

  6. Since SNS has a fiduciary duty to shareholders, wondering under what kind of scenario they would pull funds from the Lion Fund?  What will he do to keep the from happening?

     

      This deal looks no different the Tom Ward having his family own the property directly across Sandridge acreage from my view.

  7. I am still confused trying to read the whole disclosure :-(.

     

    Sanjeev, can you tell me how the new compensation be calculated? Is there any change at all?

     

    Looks to me that the only change is that the equity portfolio for BH is now a limited partner in Lion Fund(s), which will have a higher hurdle of 6% compared to other limited partners who have a hurdle of 5%.  So he will still get an incentive fee, but slightly less than if the equities were invested directly through BH, but NO CAP!  Wholly-owned investments within BH, and equity investments through the LP.  He now doesn't need shareholder approval to bypass the cap.  Cheers!

     

    So all of the money that would be invested from Steak - n - Shake will be through the Lion Fund?  That's going to be one rich man.  ;D

     

     

  8. If I am incorrect please let me know but aren't they still in phase 3?  If they are, give them 3 - 6 months once the trial is complete to get all the paperwork ready for submission.  Since this is the first drug and they don't have another approval to reference in the submission.  I would lean more towards a year before they will get approval in Europe.  I think 6 months is very aggressive.  IMO I would set my expectations more towards 18 months.

  9. Hi everyone,

     

    I've been lurking for a few months and am glad to finally be posting here. I wanted to start a thread about a very spec stock of mine that has potential to yield one 30x their money. I did not want to "pollute" the investment ideas thread with a speculative company that may fail.

     

    The company in question is a biotech firm called Oncolytics Biotech - based in the not so sexy bio hub city of Calgary, Alberta. Essentially, the company can potentially extend your life if you have cancer. They have 7 current ongoing phase 2 trials and one ongoing phase 3 trial for head and neck cancer with expected results out by the end of Q3. The plan is to gain approval into Europe first and then move into the north american markets.

     

    The good points:

    -over 360 patents

    -enough cash to keep the company going till 2015

    -very good results in every p1 and 2 trial. the p3 head and neck is the real kicker, however. 50% of biotechs fail in p3 trials.

    -the 'reovirus' is a naturally occuring compound and extremely cheap to produce; the manufacturing process is apparently already underway

    -pfizer was going to partner with Oncolytics Biotech in 2000 and use reolysin for teh animal care market, but the deal fell through when pfizer decided to make a huge acquisition (name escapes me) and disbanded the animal care market

    -institutitional ownership (concentrated within a few investment firms - agf mgmt and dundee)

    -experienced mgmt team

     

    the bad points:

    -management seems very,very, very cautious and take their time on everything. there have been a few delays throughout the 15 years they have been around. This has NOT been condusive to shareholder's at all.

    -massive short positions on the stock currently; the stock seems to be heavily manipulated

    -high salaries for execs...ceo makes 700,000/yr in addition to option based compensation

     

    Has anyone heard of this company? Are there any other companies out there that you have small investments in but are essentially spec only?

     

    did a quick glance and nothing really blew my skirt tail off about the company.  Head and neck is a small market so if the drug was so effective why would they not put a priority on a dug that would provide better cash flow?  By the end of this year they will need to have financing lined up.  They may have cash through 2015 but they dont have that long to tap the equity market.  You may think it looks great now but is it just as attractive with twice as many shares outstanding?  there will be delays and CRL's before this comany will be able to turn any cash (hope your ready for that ride).  Under perfect conditions your 3 years away from having a product to market.  Who is going to sell the drug in Europe?  If they plan to do it on their own, expect a long ramp up b/c development and production is two completely different worlds. 

     

    Most of your good points listed above have no effect in why you should invest in a particular biotech.  The first question you need to ask yourself is... why is this drug better then anything currently on the market? 

  10. Con, I see you posted that on MMM!

     

    I was just over there reading that question. I popped on here and saw the same thing. haha. Glad to see you over there (I just found about that site the other day from shalab's post). It's a really good site though...but not as good as this one. ;)

     

    The same post lead me over there.  :)

  11. Trying to think outside the box a little (for me anyway).  Hopefully will learn something new.

     

    Rules

    Can't be used to service debt

    Can't be used to purchase a house or rental

    Can't be put in the stock market.

    Can't spend it on shit.

     

    Amount of risk one is willing to take on does not matter.

     

    Time for return does not really matter as long as it's growing.

     

    So with all that in mind... What would you do with 100k?

     

  12. 10. They will spend 15k-20k per store for cameras to help manage from headquarters

     

    Thought this point was odd.  Does he not trust his managers or is he going to nick pick how many fries are on a plate?  Then again it might just be for potential lawsuits claiming they slipped on the floor.

  13. If you cap divorce settlements at $3m where does any money exceeding $6m go?  The government?

     

    The argument is usually that the wife deserves to be able to maintain her standard of living "to which she has become accustomed".

     

    Well, billionaires and millionaires -- aren't they entitled to retirement spending "to which they have become accustomed"?

     

    Hence, the $200k argument is suspect.

     

    No, they aren't entitled to anything.  Divorce is the dissolution of a partnership agreement between two private individuals.  IRAs are a government handout with public money. 

     

    Divorce settlement analogy just doesn't apply at all.

     

    It was sloppy policy in the first place to leave IRAs uncapped.  That is so obvious, this really can't be a shock to anyone.  Capping was an inevitability.

     

    Note to Canadians: TFSA's and RRSP's will 100% guaranteed have caps in the future.

     

    Read this to understand my point -- courts can rule that the wife deserves spousal support in line with the standard of living established during the marriage:

     

    http://www.virginiadivorceattorney.com/blog/support-me-in-the-lifestyle-to-which-ive-become-accustomed-jeffrey-d-tarkington.cfm

    Just because a husband is obligated to support a wife's lifestyle doesn't mean the govt. is obligated to support yours.

     

    In both cases there is screwing going on.  So why would they not be obligated :-)

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