Stocks and Trading Thread - Channeling your inner Mono

[MadImmortalMan]

I got some inheritance money about 10 years ago and invested 1,000 dollars in Intel. Now I'm collecting my 680 dollars.   

Bummer. Ten years ago the tech boom was already over. I assume you got some dividends. A little less than $200 if my math is right. If that $680 includes the dividends, then you got screwed by your broker fees.

[citizen k]

I wonder if you had put that $1000 into Apple back then what it would be worth today?

[MadImmortalMan]

I wonder if you had put that $1000 into Apple back then what it would be worth today?

In March of 2001, AAPL traded around $10, and they haven't paid dividends since the 90s. Current price is $350.44. In February of 2005 there was a 2:1 split. So he'd have 200 shares worth 350.44 today, or $70,088.

[Caliga]

Apple is the most overpriced stock of all time.

[citizen k]

Apple is the most overpriced stock of all time.

With room to grow.

[Tonitrus]

Thinking about Toyota(TM), if it drops much below 80.

[Admiral Yi]

I thought the max contribution to a Roth IRA was 2,500 a year.

[Tonitrus]

I think it was back when it was created, but it's 5k nowadays.

[MadImmortalMan]

Thinking about Toyota(TM), if it drops much below 80.

Auto makers are in big trouble right now because of the tsunami. Toyota might be a good trade if you can find the bottom or get near it. You might have to hold it for a while. Which would be fine if the dividends keep coming. I'm not sure how safe the dividend is atm. I have generally avoided trading in that industry for the most part, not even partying with Ford like a lot of you guys have.

But my general take on it right now is that the sell point for auto stocks was before the Japan disaster, and the time to buy them might be coming soon if you can figure out which ones will be adversely affected the least. Or if there is a big overreaction that pushes the Japanese stocks lower than they should go.

One thing that gnaws at me is that most of the automakers were in decline before the earthquake happened. Maybe just a general trend through February of the overall market though. If the parts shortages and stuff really does knock these guys down a lot, I may actually think about it too.


Edit: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9M8F0RO0.htm

[MadImmortalMan]

A good article about why M$FT can't get traction. All the interesting bits about the internal politics in the company are spot-on. I won't be a buyer of MSFT stock (as a retail investor or as an employee stock purchase plan member) until at least one fiscal quarter after Ballmer is no longer the CEO.

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/29/the-problem-with-microsoft/



"There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share" - Steve Ballmer

[Tonitrus]

Thinking about Toyota(TM), if it drops much below 80.

Auto makers are in big trouble right now because of the tsunami. Toyota might be a good trade if you can find the bottom or get near it. You might have to hold it for a while. Which would be fine if the dividends keep coming. I'm not sure how safe the dividend is atm. I have generally avoided trading in that industry for the most part, not even partying with Ford like a lot of you guys have.

But my general take on it right now is that the sell point for auto stocks was before the Japan disaster, and the time to buy them might be coming soon if you can figure out which ones will be adversely affected the least. Or if there is a big overreaction that pushes the Japanese stocks lower than they should go.

One thing that gnaws at me is that most of the automakers were in decline before the earthquake happened. Maybe just a general trend through February of the overall market though. If the parts shortages and stuff really does knock these guys down a lot, I may actually think about it too.


Edit: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9M8F0RO0.htm

Yeah, Ford is kinda holding on so far...but if it ducks under 14 (maybe even 14.50), I'll likely dump it.

[Caliga]

HA.  I sold my Pfizer position one day before the end of eligibility for voting in the annual meeting.

Since I am no longer a shareholder, I opted to vote against the board's recommendation in every case.  Take THAT, Big Pharma!

[MadImmortalMan]

Since this week has been basically a sit and watch things crawl upward kinda week in the market, here's some news you can use:

Wal-Mart CEO Bill Simon expects inflation
By Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAY
U.S. consumers face "serious" inflation in the months ahead for clothing, food and other products, the head of Wal-Mart's U.S. operations warned Wednesday.

The world's largest retailer is working with suppliers to minimize the effect of cost increases and believes its low-cost business model will position it better than its competitors.

Still, inflation is "going to be serious," Wal-Mart U.S. CEO Bill Simon said during a meeting with USA TODAY's editorial board. "We're seeing cost increases starting to come through at a pretty rapid rate."


Along with steep increases in raw material costs, John Long, a retail strategist at Kurt Salmon, says labor costs in China and fuel costs for transportation are weighing heavily on retailers. He predicts prices will start increasing at all retailers in June.

"Every single retailer has and is paying more for the items they sell, and retailers will be passing some of these costs along," Long says. "Except for fuel costs, U.S. consumers haven't seen much in the way of inflation for almost a decade, so a broad-based increase in prices will be unprecedented in recent memory."

Consumer prices — or the consumer price index — rose 0.5% in February, the most since mid-2009, largely because of surging food and gasoline prices. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose a more modest 0.2%, though that still exceeded estimates.

The scenario hits Wal-Mart as it is trying to return to the low across-the-board prices it became famous for. Some prices rose as the company paid for costly store renovations.

"We're in a position to use scale to hold prices lower longer ... even in an inflationary environment," Simon says. "We will have the lowest prices in the market."

Major retailers such as Wal-Mart are the best positioned to mitigate some cost increases, Long says. Wal-Mart, for example, could have "access to any factory in any country around the globe" to mitigate the effect of inflation in the U.S., Long says.

Still, "it's certainly going to have an impact," Long says. "No retailer is going to be able to wish this new cost reality away. They're not going to be able to insulate the consumer 100%."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2011-03-30-wal-mart-ceo-expects-inflation_N.htm

Been staying away from Wal-Mart, Costco, etc. If broad-based inflation does kick in, the reaction will almost certainly be a hit to the nicer retailers and a benefit to these guys.

[MadImmortalMan]

Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish U.S. trades on hold
12:19p ET March 31, 2011 (MarketWatch)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. shares of Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks remained halted midday Thursday after the Irish government released results of bank stress tests. The New York Stock Exchange-traded stocks were halted about 45 minutes after the close of regular trading in Wednesday's after-hours session. Ireland's central bank said Thursday that four Irish banks, including Allied Irish and Bank of Ireland, will be required to raise a combined $34.1 billion in capital to meet new requirements.

Bank of Ireland dropped 35% today to 27 cents.


Edit: Irish gov agreed to recapitalize and stood down from the threat to make bondholders take a loss. Casino time. I entered an order to buy 15k shares of IRLBF then trigger a stop loss order of 5% once that one fires. Hopefully, there will be a spike on the news, but if not, I'll lose two hundred bucks or so. Either way, I'll likely not be hanging on this dog bank past the end of trading tomorrow.

[HisMajestyBOB]

I wonder if you had put that $1000 into Apple back then what it would be worth today?

I bought 20 shares of Apple back when it was ~$18.