patrick.net

BUY!
SELL!
SELL!
BUY!
BUY!

The people handling all those trades make money no matter what, so there is zero serious financial reporting.

Well, part of the reporting is that if the markets' overbought, last thing you want is panic selling, as you're in profit taking mode. Realize this, and this is what one of our prop traders hinted at, and that's increased volume tends to point to new market move, bullish or bearish.

SELL! BUY! BUY! SELL! GET ME OUTTA THIS CASINO HELL!

I see news pages with articles that the market will go up right next to others why it will go down. The people who write this stuff must be laughing at the stooges, myself included, who are reading it like it's gospel.

Why are you hating investing because of news articles. What does investing have anything to do with what is reported in media ?
The only thing that can be trusted are SEC filings of companies because those are the only legally binding statements. even those are sometimes manipulated by crooks.
news runs on only one thing : getting more advertisement revenue.
what ever can get readers attention will be what you will see in news.

Don't buy stocks just for the sake of buying. Invest into companies with a strong asset and business portfolio. That makes it very easy to invest, you don't have to deal with all these stupid rumors.

I'm totally with you! The financial markets aren't based on fundamentals anymore. Now it's speculative, momentum-based investing. Tricking the "bigger fool" is how money is made. Retail investors like you and me are so screwed it's not even funny.

Just look at the recent example of the Facebook IPO as a complete perversion of the investment process. Their IPO was a straight-up money grab by the founders, banks and VCs. They weren't looking for additional capital to expand the business. Facebook had already peaked at that point. What have they done since? Put ads on the phone feed. Yeah, ok whatev :)

I also find today's market action puzzling, since they said that they would need an unemployment of less than 6.5% before they stopped their 85Billion per month buying spree. That's not going to happen anytime soon, and certainly not while Obama is still in office. So why are people so worried about something that's at least 3 years away?

zzyzzx says

I also find today's market action puzzling, since they said that they would need an unemployment of less than 6.5% before they stopped their 85Billion per month buying spree. That's not going to happen anytime soon, and certainly not while Obama is still in office. So why are people so worried about something that's at least 3 years away?

Probably because the notion set in that they may not be able to purchase as long as they like to (bc of interest rates and total debt).

zzyzzx says

I also find today's market action puzzling, since they said that they would need an unemployment of less than 6.5% before they stopped their 85Billion per month buying spree.

unemployment is not the only criteria. inflation is also one of the criteria.

francophile100 says

Just look at the recent example of the Facebook IPO as a complete perversion of the investment process. Their IPO was a straight-up money grab by the founders, banks and VCs. They weren't looking for additional capital to expand the business. Facebook had already peaked at that point. What have they done since? Put ads on the phone feed. Yeah, ok whatev :)

Trying to play tricks on fools to separate them from their money is not NEW ! This has been true for the entire human history. I see more fault on the people who invest in these kind of companies than anybody else. there are all kinds of SEC rules for public companies to make sure they disclose all the information to investors.At the end of the day though, its the investors who have to decide whether to invest based on that information. If people decide to gamble their money (greed) even after looking at the financial statements, whose fault is that?
Do you also want the GOVT to invest your money for you ?

there are so many quality companies in the market which give good but little low long term returns but everybody wants to become a millionaire in one year by gambling away in speculative stocks which promise high returns

francophile100 says

Just look at the recent example of the Facebook IPO as a complete perversion of the investment process. Their IPO was a straight-up money grab by the founders, banks and VCs.

Aren't all IPOs exactly that? Why take a company public other than to profit from the overpriced stock? It's not like any company worth buying needs the cash gained by selling stock because any company worth buying as more revenue than expenses if they've been around for a few years.

chanakya4773 says

unemployment is not the only criteria. inflation is also one of the criteria.

I saw that as well, but I figured that the inflation figure is probably manipulated more than the unemployment figures, rendering official inflation figures useless.

I dont know about this stuff, but why isn't there a facebook competitor out there? Doesn't seem like it's that complicated. Just look at patrick.net its basically facebook just you dont get to share family photos.

For better or for worse, facebook has taken on a life of its own. There are many many people for whom it has become a center of their lives. While it has allowed people to stay in touch, it has stroked the fire of narcissism not to mention making a consumer cattle for on-line adds and lack of privacy whatsoever from snoopers in corporations and government.

Dan8267 says

Aren't all IPOs exactly that? Why take a company public other than to profit from the overpriced stock?

Right. These days, IPOs are mostly pump 'n' dumps. Some people picked on Obama for pumping the Facebook stock before it first went public.

donjumpsuit says

I don't want to hate.

Why? It's an easy hallmark of intelligence. Well-tuned hatred, that is, with precision-aligned spleen vents.

If you ignore all of the talking-head noise, and just look at the blue-chip dividend growers, you will find solace. It ain't sexy, but you'll sleep better when markets tank (and they will from time to time)...

Read up on Dividend Growth Investing. It's not a hard rule, and you can use it however you wish. It's not some religious cult, it's shooting fish in a barrel. Speaking of fish, check out David Fish's site on Dividend aristocrats/challengers, etc.

http://seekingalpha.com/author/david-fish

http://www.dividendgrowthinvestor.com/

Out of this list, take a gander at the companies GROWING their dividends per year. IIRC, Coke (KO) grows its dividend at 10% per year like clockwork. Yeah, a 2.8% dividend per year doesn't sound sexy, but you can pretty much bank on that current $1.12 per share, per year to double to around $2.24 in 7 years.... McDonalds (MCD) IIRC grows it dividend by 20-25% a year.....THINK YIELD ON COST, as you accumulate these stocks for the next 20-25 years. THe best performing singular stock in the 20th century? That would be Phillip Morris, now called ALtria (MO). They split up in 2008, and I'm deep in Philip Morris (PM), that is the international arm in the cigarette biz.

These and others (CVX, JNJ, WAG, AFL, PG, CL) grow and grow, steady as she goes. THrough world wars, depressions, famines, oil embargos, etc... Get yerself these stocks into an IRA or 401K (if possible), and buy when valuations are low (sub 18-20 P/E). Don't sell unless they stop growing their dividends or stop altogether....If one REALLY tanks, hopefully you'll have 10-20 of these puppies, so it'll dent 4-10% of your portfolio max. Redeploy the loser into one of your consistent winners (who has the lowest P/E, of course).

These companies are what's in the "1%"er trust funds. There is a reason why Warren Buffett has bought/held Coca Cola for so long.

My strategy? Put 67-75% of your moola into these stocks, and use the rest for more high risk/reward small caps, REITs, etc. Any $$ you make from small caps/etc, dump into the dividend growers. Rinse/repeat. My gig certainly isn't for everyone. But these dividend stocks should be in your 'core' holdings. I'm not smart enough, or have enough balls (or $$) to put a majority of $$ in riskier assets.

Ignore the IPOs, FaceBooks, Apples for your 'majority stake' of your portfolio. When a market crash occurs, don't panic. Go buy more MCD, PM, KO, PG. Then go out to your favorite steakhouse and celebrate on shooting more fish in that barrel.

This is the money tree that you are growing. In due time, if the dividend income stream per year is greater than your annual expenses, guess what? You are now financially independent. And you still have the assets that you don't have to sell while in retirement. You can pass these on to your children.... I'll never whine about market manipulation. It's been done since the dawn of time. It is what it is.

You will never hear this strategy in the major newspapers, TV, cable news, money stations.. Why? Because nobody is going to make $$ off of you this way; except you.

I don't have FB shares, nor I signed up for their free service that sells my information to advertisers. My wife did it, but she doesn't like it much because there is too much in your face advertising now, and constant spam to add people she doesn't really know or want to talk to.

I think there is a lot of potential for a social networking competitor to gain market share with people who want a more family oriented experience, and not just a place where everyone goes to post their political activism / advertising / photos of cats...

New Renter says

You will never hear this strategy in the major newspapers, TV, cable news,
money stations.. Why? Because nobody is going to make $$ off of you this way;
except you.

Thanks AverageBear for that excellent write up! Someone once gave me stock advice before but that laptop was stolen.

Every hundred dollars of dividends will add up nicely some day..

Here are the other 2 cents.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323300004578557762350305322.html

They are losing market share every time someone comes up with some social networking concept slightly different. Here is a new example that just made the news.

I think there is a lot of potential for a social networking product that caters to those who wish more privacy since such product currently does not exist in the market.

FortWayne says

I think there is a lot of potential for a social networking product that caters to those who wish more privacy since such product currently does not exist in the market.

FWIW:

http://duckduckgo.com