Stocks and Trading Thread - Channeling your inner Mono

[MadImmortalMan]

We're bouncing up and down off the -200 level.


Edit: Okay we left it behind, and volumes are crazy. Let's see what I can poach in the last 15 minutes...


Edit2: Down 250 

[MadImmortalMan]

Final damage: Dow down 265 points. I got some super cheap ITM calls at the very end in CSX and Chevron.

[MadImmortalMan]

We were down another 130 when rumors of QE3 hit the wire. Now we've gone barely positive.

[Tamas]

We were down another 130 when rumors of QE3 hit the wire. Now we've gone barely positive.

excellent! for an other heavy run of the printing press, the Fed can buy another 3 months of stagnation.

[Richard Hakluyt]

The Rake's Progress :

http://www.soane.org/collections_legacy/the_soane_hogarths/rakes_progress/

[Admiral Yi]

How ironic that all you guys dumped on the expectation of default and wound up benefitting after a deal was made.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Well it is just one thing after another, the markets seem to be turning on Italian bonds now :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14392943

The instability of it all seems to be increasing 

[Zanza]

I want to invest into some indices (DAX or Euro Stoxx). Should I buy an actively managed fund or an ETF?

[Tamas]

Well it is just one thing after another, the markets seem to be turning on Italian bonds now :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14392943

The instability of it all seems to be increasing 

IIRC sometime around 2009 Soros warned against the growing optimism and outlined that the gargantuan CDS ties between banks could cause a massive chain of defaults and collapses, even after a default which could seem to be contained.

And now that there is a real danger of that he closes his fund and retires. Suspicious, and alarming.

[mongers]

Well it is just one thing after another, the markets seem to be turning on Italian bonds now :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14392943

The instability of it all seems to be increasing 

IIRC sometime around 2009 Soros warned against the growing optimism and outlined that the gargantuan CDS ties between banks could cause a massive chain of defaults and collapses, even after a default which could seem to be contained.

And now that there is a real danger of that he closes his fund and retires. Suspicious, and alarming.

I think we're seeing the slow, drawn out death of an ideology.

[MadImmortalMan]

I'm 25% GLD, 25% itm calls on GLD and SLV for the last couple days. What little I have in other stocks are basically play money positions I've added as we go down. Anyone who was short gold at this point has had his back broken.

[citizen k]

Well it is just one thing after another, the markets seem to be turning on Italian bonds now :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14392943

The instability of it all seems to be increasing 

IIRC sometime around 2009 Soros warned against the growing optimism and outlined that the gargantuan CDS ties between banks could cause a massive chain of defaults and collapses, even after a default which could seem to be contained.

And now that there is a real danger of that he closes his fund and retires. Suspicious, and alarming.

I think we're seeing the slow, drawn out death of an ideology.

Socialists like Soros will be around for some time to come.

[citizen k]

And now that there is a real danger of that he closes his fund and retires. Suspicious, and alarming.

More like two-faced and cynical.

http://blogs.forbes.com/halahtouryalai/2011/07/26/soros-exits-and-takes-a-cheap-shot-at-regulators/

Soros Exits And Takes A Cheap Shot At Regulators
Jul. 26 2011

In order to avoid a new rule that would force Soros's funds to register with the SEC he will no longer manage outside investors' money.

George Soros is not a casualty of Dodd-Frank, and his decision to stop managing investors' money shouldn't be blamed on new financial rules.

Billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros announced he is bowing out of the business and will no longer manage other investors' money. In a letter to investors today the Hungarian hedge fund titan explained his decision saying it is "an unfortunate consequence" of new financial reform regulations. That's an odd reason for one of the world's most successful hedge fund managers to stop winning money for investors.

What Soros is referring to in his letter is a Dodd-Frank regulation that gives the Securities and Exchange Commission the power to force hedge funds with over $150 million in assets to register with the agency. When the SEC adopted the rules late last month its chairperson Mary L. Schapiro said in a statement, "our proposal will give the Commission, and the public, insight into hedge fund and other private fund managers who previously conducted their work under the radar and outside the vision of regulators."

In other words, the regulator believes gathering hedge funds' information such as the size and ownership of the fund, the types of clients they advise, their employees, their advisory activities and conflicts of interest will empower investors with more information about who they give their money to, and also give regulators a better view of the hedge fund industry.

But by bowing out of the money management business (for outside investors anyway) Soros is saying he doesn't like those requirements. As a result and in order to avoid such registration requirements Soros now will only manage money for its family office clients–exempting it from registration. Read the SEC's rules about exempting family offices here.

Citing the registration requirement as a reason to leave the business is an odd move for someone who's been supportive of the Democratic Party even after it successfully pushed for Dodd-Frank regulations.

Moreover, blaming SEC registration does not send a good message. Unless you think hedge funds should remain exempt from sharing very basic information about the way they do business and how much money they manage hedge fund registration shouldn't be a problem.

As one hedge fund industry veteran puts it, "Soros's comments about regulation is a cheap shot at regulators."

It's also a strange comment on Soros's part when you consider that the hedge fund industry's biggest lobbying group supports hedge fund registration. The Alternative Investment Management Association position on hedge fund registration is that it will help regulators "...and other public authorities to obtain a better understanding of our industry...."

From AIMA:

    While some details and definitions remain to be clarified, AIMA supports those parts of the bill relating to the registration of hedge fund managers and the periodic reporting by managers to supervisors in the interests of improving their ability to assess financial stability.

If anyone should be asking questions it's those investors whose money will be returned to them at the end of the year–all $1 billion of it. My first question: Why is the guy who's been managing my money for all these years finding ways to avoid reporting to the SEC?

[MadImmortalMan]

Mac and Cheese?

ALCOA
-5.19%

AM EXPRESS
-3.11%

BOEING
-3.99%

BANK OF AM
9.12
-4.4%

CATERPILLAR
-4.47%

CISCO
-2.52%

CHEVRON
-4.16%

DU PONT
-3.92%

DISNEY
-3.92%

GE
-3.81%

HOME DEPOT
-1.79%

H-P
-2.94%

IBM
-2.21%

INTEL
-2.2%

J&J
-0.66%

JP MORGAN
-2.86%

COCA COLA
-1.77%

KRAFT
+2.3%

MCDONALDS
-0.01%

3M
-2.74%

MERCK
-1.62%

MICROSOFT
-1.42%

PFIZER
-1.53%

P&G
-0.36%

AT&T
-1.29%

TRAVELERS
-1.16%

UNITED TECH
-4.17%

VERIZON
-1.78%

WALMART
-1.23%

EXXON MOBIL
-3.36%

[Admiral Yi]

I want to invest into some indices (DAX or Euro Stoxx). Should I buy an actively managed fund or an ETF?

An actively managed index fund is a bit of an oxymoron, no?