Attention: Please take a moment to consider our terms and conditions before posting.
Savings and Investments thread
Comments
-
Rob7Lee said:golfaddick said:PragueAddick said:golfaddick said:Rob7Lee said:mendonca said:@Rob7Lee you trade funds (as well as shares of course as remember the tips) very regularly I see? What's your thinking behind that?
Zynex up about 15% today. Anybody benefitting out of their gesture of goodwill?
EG, I bought a lump of BG positive change last year avg price 2.4 sold 3.82 almost up 60%. On any measure that’s way out performed. Same with BG American, up 48% since last year, bought at average of 14.2 and sold 21.2. I’ve sold my original investment and kept the profit in.
otherwise most funds are long term holds generally bar a bit of rebalancing and adding to monthly.
of course they may go up further still, but it’s not often you get a combined 50+% return in around 9 months, if I could do that this year and next also I’ll be retiring then at 50!
Over the past 12 months I have taken quite a bit out of BG American. Usually hold around 8%-9% in a clients portfolio. Once I see it's gone into double figures I prune it back again. Normally find the portfolio needs rebalancing anyway as the Fixed Interest portion would have naturally decreased because of this.
Only problem I now have is where to invest these "gains". Fund managers are saying that Fixed Interest isn't going to give much by way of a return over the coming years - a few are recommending absolute return bond funds instead or alternatives / commodities such as Gold.
Dunno...
As @bobmunro says, I'm no way cleaver enough to beat the market, if I was I wouldn't be piddling around trading in my SIPP & ISA. I also have one eye on the fact I'll be 50 in a couple of years and want to have financial freedom in 5.
So I maybe don't have quite the risk appetite I once had, when you see the size of the growth in less than 12 months, all at the time when inflation is as flat as a pancake, it's hard to not bank some of that profit. If I could replicate that (which I won't) for the next 3 years I'm going to be very very happy!
But in my case and Lindsell Train UK, looking it up, I bought into it because I thought I was underweight in UK focused funds and so bought in small amounts over a regular period from 8/18 to 2/19. Since then the UK markets have continued to under-perform but many believe that it's about time there was a re-valuation. If I agree with that, then I hold, unless I think this fund has underperformed the sector. That could be argued, but then we get into another tenet of fund investing...resist too much meddling. Fund manager as an individual still very much in place so do I still trust him? Or do I think there's a danger he might go the way of Neil Woodford? I don't know but I'd be wary of random articles which suggest so.
Please do critique this line of thought though, I really am unsure...0 -
Pretty amazing a subreddit is able to put a $15bn hedge fund in trouble, surpised that it's not been done before tbh
0 -
jacob_CAFC said:Pretty amazing a subreddit is able to put a $15bn hedge fund in trouble, surpised that it's not been done before tbh5
-
All I know is that my portfolio looked very blue Monday, it’s very very red today, PC off and might as well do similar tomorrow, Mr Markets are clawing some money back......bastards 😳😳1
-
Daarrzzetbum said:All I know is that my portfolio looked very blue Monday, it’s very very red today, PC off and might as well do similar tomorrow, Mr Markets are clawing some money back......bastards 😳😳0
-
kentaddick said:jacob_CAFC said:Pretty amazing a subreddit is able to put a $15bn hedge fund in trouble, surpised that it's not been done before tbh
If people keep holding it will continue, and good, fuck em they don't have a God given right to make a profit. They take a risk with their investments.
1 -
PragueAddick said:Rob7Lee said:golfaddick said:PragueAddick said:golfaddick said:Rob7Lee said:mendonca said:@Rob7Lee you trade funds (as well as shares of course as remember the tips) very regularly I see? What's your thinking behind that?
Zynex up about 15% today. Anybody benefitting out of their gesture of goodwill?
EG, I bought a lump of BG positive change last year avg price 2.4 sold 3.82 almost up 60%. On any measure that’s way out performed. Same with BG American, up 48% since last year, bought at average of 14.2 and sold 21.2. I’ve sold my original investment and kept the profit in.
otherwise most funds are long term holds generally bar a bit of rebalancing and adding to monthly.
of course they may go up further still, but it’s not often you get a combined 50+% return in around 9 months, if I could do that this year and next also I’ll be retiring then at 50!
Over the past 12 months I have taken quite a bit out of BG American. Usually hold around 8%-9% in a clients portfolio. Once I see it's gone into double figures I prune it back again. Normally find the portfolio needs rebalancing anyway as the Fixed Interest portion would have naturally decreased because of this.
Only problem I now have is where to invest these "gains". Fund managers are saying that Fixed Interest isn't going to give much by way of a return over the coming years - a few are recommending absolute return bond funds instead or alternatives / commodities such as Gold.
Dunno...
As @bobmunro says, I'm no way cleaver enough to beat the market, if I was I wouldn't be piddling around trading in my SIPP & ISA. I also have one eye on the fact I'll be 50 in a couple of years and want to have financial freedom in 5.
So I maybe don't have quite the risk appetite I once had, when you see the size of the growth in less than 12 months, all at the time when inflation is as flat as a pancake, it's hard to not bank some of that profit. If I could replicate that (which I won't) for the next 3 years I'm going to be very very happy!
But in my case and Lindsell Train UK, looking it up, I bought into it because I thought I was underweight in UK focused funds and so bought in small amounts over a regular period from 8/18 to 2/19. Since then the UK markets have continued to under-perform but many believe that it's about time there was a re-valuation. If I agree with that, then I hold, unless I think this fund has underperformed the sector. That could be argued, but then we get into another tenet of fund investing...resist too much meddling. Fund manager as an individual still very much in place so do I still trust him? Or do I think there's a danger he might go the way of Neil Woodford? I don't know but I'd be wary of random articles which suggest so.
Please do critique this line of thought though, I really am unsure...
As I know you are a few years older than me, what's the long term plan, i.e. when will you be accessing the cash?
I wouldn't necessarily switch that particular fund, but more review how you sit overall compared to when you want the money etc.0 -
PragueAddick said:Rob7Lee said:golfaddick said:PragueAddick said:golfaddick said:Rob7Lee said:mendonca said:@Rob7Lee you trade funds (as well as shares of course as remember the tips) very regularly I see? What's your thinking behind that?
Zynex up about 15% today. Anybody benefitting out of their gesture of goodwill?
EG, I bought a lump of BG positive change last year avg price 2.4 sold 3.82 almost up 60%. On any measure that’s way out performed. Same with BG American, up 48% since last year, bought at average of 14.2 and sold 21.2. I’ve sold my original investment and kept the profit in.
otherwise most funds are long term holds generally bar a bit of rebalancing and adding to monthly.
of course they may go up further still, but it’s not often you get a combined 50+% return in around 9 months, if I could do that this year and next also I’ll be retiring then at 50!
Over the past 12 months I have taken quite a bit out of BG American. Usually hold around 8%-9% in a clients portfolio. Once I see it's gone into double figures I prune it back again. Normally find the portfolio needs rebalancing anyway as the Fixed Interest portion would have naturally decreased because of this.
Only problem I now have is where to invest these "gains". Fund managers are saying that Fixed Interest isn't going to give much by way of a return over the coming years - a few are recommending absolute return bond funds instead or alternatives / commodities such as Gold.
Dunno...
As @bobmunro says, I'm no way cleaver enough to beat the market, if I was I wouldn't be piddling around trading in my SIPP & ISA. I also have one eye on the fact I'll be 50 in a couple of years and want to have financial freedom in 5.
So I maybe don't have quite the risk appetite I once had, when you see the size of the growth in less than 12 months, all at the time when inflation is as flat as a pancake, it's hard to not bank some of that profit. If I could replicate that (which I won't) for the next 3 years I'm going to be very very happy!
But in my case and Lindsell Train UK, looking it up, I bought into it because I thought I was underweight in UK focused funds and so bought in small amounts over a regular period from 8/18 to 2/19. Since then the UK markets have continued to under-perform but many believe that it's about time there was a re-valuation. If I agree with that, then I hold, unless I think this fund has underperformed the sector. That could be argued, but then we get into another tenet of fund investing...resist too much meddling. Fund manager as an individual still very much in place so do I still trust him? Or do I think there's a danger he might go the way of Neil Woodford? I don't know but I'd be wary of random articles which suggest so.
Please do critique this line of thought though, I really am unsure...
Been on a webinar this morning, hosted by Investec. They were using data from Bank of America/Citi and the view was that although markets seem to be a bit "frothy" they are not yet overheated. Citi gave it 7.2 on there "richter scale" where 0 is a bear market & 10 a bull market. Major concerns on the horizon is the ever increasing debt levels & the tax increases that will inevitably need to pay for it as well as inflation rearing its ugly head.
Gamestop was mentioned at the end. I'm not really up with the news on all of this but it appears that in the US there are no dealing costs when buying individual shares, more trading platforms than ever before & the general public using their recent Government Covid cheques to dabble in the market. Said the new "saying" was YOLO - You Only Live Once - and that may punters in the US were trying to outdo the "shorters" and make a killing when they see one.
Best way of showing how to short the market was in Trading Places - when they try to get ahead of the curve on the Orange Juice market by a dodgy OJ crop report.2 -
Leeds_Addick said:Fortune 82nd Minute said:Can one of you guys who understand these things explain something to me about shorting, please.
Lets keep it simple. I own 100 shares in a company that are valued at £20 each. The paper value of those shares to me is £2000.
A hedge fund comes to me and says can we borrow your shares to short. I say yes.
The hedge fund sells those shares and pockets £2000. After forcing the share price down, it buys them back for £10 - a £1000 in total - giving the hedge fund an actual profit of £1000.
Presumably, it then gives me my shares back. But they are now only worth £1000. So through my good work of loaning them my shares, I am now personally £1000 worse off.
Clearly I am missing something but on the face of it, why would you loan shares to a company so they can force the price down meaning that you are going to end up owning an asset that is worth less than when you loaned it out?Rob7Lee said:Leeds_Addick said:Fortune 82nd Minute said:Can one of you guys who understand these things explain something to me about shorting, please.
Lets keep it simple. I own 100 shares in a company that are valued at £20 each. The paper value of those shares to me is £2000.
A hedge fund comes to me and says can we borrow your shares to short. I say yes.
The hedge fund sells those shares and pockets £2000. After forcing the share price down, it buys them back for £10 - a £1000 in total - giving the hedge fund an actual profit of £1000.
Presumably, it then gives me my shares back. But they are now only worth £1000. So through my good work of loaning them my shares, I am now personally £1000 worse off.
Clearly I am missing something but on the face of it, why would you loan shares to a company so they can force the price down meaning that you are going to end up owning an asset that is worth less than when you loaned it out?
Correct, there's a charge to borrow.MrOneLung said:Fortune 82nd Minute said:Can one of you guys who understand these things explain something to me about shorting, please.
Lets keep it simple. I own 100 shares in a company that are valued at £20 each. The paper value of those shares to me is £2000.
A hedge fund comes to me and says can we borrow your shares to short. I say yes.
The hedge fund sells those shares and pockets £2000. After forcing the share price down, it buys them back for £10 - a £1000 in total - giving the hedge fund an actual profit of £1000.
Presumably, it then gives me my shares back. But they are now only worth £1000. So through my good work of loaning them my shares, I am now personally £1000 worse off.
Clearly I am missing something but on the face of it, why would you loan shares to a company so they can force the price down meaning that you are going to end up owning an asset that is worth less than when you loaned it out?
they would also pay you a fee for 'borrowing' the shares from you.
0 -
golfaddick said:PragueAddick said:Rob7Lee said:golfaddick said:PragueAddick said:golfaddick said:Rob7Lee said:mendonca said:@Rob7Lee you trade funds (as well as shares of course as remember the tips) very regularly I see? What's your thinking behind that?
Zynex up about 15% today. Anybody benefitting out of their gesture of goodwill?
EG, I bought a lump of BG positive change last year avg price 2.4 sold 3.82 almost up 60%. On any measure that’s way out performed. Same with BG American, up 48% since last year, bought at average of 14.2 and sold 21.2. I’ve sold my original investment and kept the profit in.
otherwise most funds are long term holds generally bar a bit of rebalancing and adding to monthly.
of course they may go up further still, but it’s not often you get a combined 50+% return in around 9 months, if I could do that this year and next also I’ll be retiring then at 50!
Over the past 12 months I have taken quite a bit out of BG American. Usually hold around 8%-9% in a clients portfolio. Once I see it's gone into double figures I prune it back again. Normally find the portfolio needs rebalancing anyway as the Fixed Interest portion would have naturally decreased because of this.
Only problem I now have is where to invest these "gains". Fund managers are saying that Fixed Interest isn't going to give much by way of a return over the coming years - a few are recommending absolute return bond funds instead or alternatives / commodities such as Gold.
Dunno...
As @bobmunro says, I'm no way cleaver enough to beat the market, if I was I wouldn't be piddling around trading in my SIPP & ISA. I also have one eye on the fact I'll be 50 in a couple of years and want to have financial freedom in 5.
So I maybe don't have quite the risk appetite I once had, when you see the size of the growth in less than 12 months, all at the time when inflation is as flat as a pancake, it's hard to not bank some of that profit. If I could replicate that (which I won't) for the next 3 years I'm going to be very very happy!
But in my case and Lindsell Train UK, looking it up, I bought into it because I thought I was underweight in UK focused funds and so bought in small amounts over a regular period from 8/18 to 2/19. Since then the UK markets have continued to under-perform but many believe that it's about time there was a re-valuation. If I agree with that, then I hold, unless I think this fund has underperformed the sector. That could be argued, but then we get into another tenet of fund investing...resist too much meddling. Fund manager as an individual still very much in place so do I still trust him? Or do I think there's a danger he might go the way of Neil Woodford? I don't know but I'd be wary of random articles which suggest so.
Please do critique this line of thought though, I really am unsure...
Been on a webinar this morning, hosted by Investec. They were using data from Bank of America/Citi and the view was that although markets seem to be a bit "frothy" they are not yet overheated. Citi gave it 7.2 on there "richter scale" where 0 is a bear market & 10 a bull market. Major concerns on the horizon is the ever increasing debt levels & the tax increases that will inevitably need to pay for it as well as inflation rearing its ugly head.
Gamestop was mentioned at the end. I'm not really up with the news on all of this but it appears that in the US there are no dealing costs when buying individual shares, more trading platforms than ever before & the general public using their recent Government Covid cheques to dabble in the market. Said the new "saying" was YOLO - You Only Live Once - and that may punters in the US were trying to outdo the "shorters" and make a killing when they see one.
Best way of showing how to short the market was in Trading Places - when they try to get ahead of the curve on the Orange Juice market by a dodgy OJ crop report.
This is the free market, ladies and gents.0 - Sponsored links:
-
Who the fuck pays dealing costs on individual stocks in the UK?0
-
NASDAQ ceo now saying they might halt trading for a couple of weeks so bigger investors can adjust their positions.
Must be time for people to start using decentralised exchanges and tokenised stocks after this, surely?1 -
kentaddick said:NASDAQ ceo now saying they might halt trading for a couple of weeks so bigger investors can adjust their positions.
Must be time for people to start using decentralised exchanges and tokenised stocks after this, surely?6 -
Fortune 82nd Minute said:Can one of you guys who understand these things explain something to me about shorting, please.
Lets keep it simple. I own 100 shares in a company that are valued at £20 each. The paper value of those shares to me is £2000.
A hedge fund comes to me and says can we borrow your shares to short. I say yes.
The hedge fund sells those shares and pockets £2000. After forcing the share price down, it buys them back for £10 - a £1000 in total - giving the hedge fund an actual profit of £1000.
Presumably, it then gives me my shares back. But they are now only worth £1000. So through my good work of loaning them my shares, I am now personally £1000 worse off.
Clearly I am missing something but on the face of it, why would you loan shares to a company so they can force the price down meaning that you are going to end up owning an asset that is worth less than when you loaned it out?
The answer is what gives shorting its name: in the short term, you (as the lender) do not care, so long as you get your shares back. Because 100 shares is still 100 shares.
You are investing for the long term - of course, the opposite to the short. So you don't mind if someone has taken a risk on your stock price falling over the course of, say, a day or a week, because in the long run (over a few years) you can generally expect/hope your stock or portfolio or holding etc to make money.
--------
However, in the case of Gamestop, we are seeing something hitherto unprecedented that exploits and exposes the pitfalls of shorting quite as much as has happened. 140% of shares being shorted is just insane, and that it so happened to be Reddit/the average punters in their thousands to exploit the situation is really getting on the nerves of the hedge fund managers and fat cats.
Please do let me know if I've got any of the intricacies wrong on this btw.0 -
Rob7Lee said:PragueAddick said:Rob7Lee said:golfaddick said:PragueAddick said:golfaddick said:Rob7Lee said:mendonca said:@Rob7Lee you trade funds (as well as shares of course as remember the tips) very regularly I see? What's your thinking behind that?
Zynex up about 15% today. Anybody benefitting out of their gesture of goodwill?
EG, I bought a lump of BG positive change last year avg price 2.4 sold 3.82 almost up 60%. On any measure that’s way out performed. Same with BG American, up 48% since last year, bought at average of 14.2 and sold 21.2. I’ve sold my original investment and kept the profit in.
otherwise most funds are long term holds generally bar a bit of rebalancing and adding to monthly.
of course they may go up further still, but it’s not often you get a combined 50+% return in around 9 months, if I could do that this year and next also I’ll be retiring then at 50!
Over the past 12 months I have taken quite a bit out of BG American. Usually hold around 8%-9% in a clients portfolio. Once I see it's gone into double figures I prune it back again. Normally find the portfolio needs rebalancing anyway as the Fixed Interest portion would have naturally decreased because of this.
Only problem I now have is where to invest these "gains". Fund managers are saying that Fixed Interest isn't going to give much by way of a return over the coming years - a few are recommending absolute return bond funds instead or alternatives / commodities such as Gold.
Dunno...
As @bobmunro says, I'm no way cleaver enough to beat the market, if I was I wouldn't be piddling around trading in my SIPP & ISA. I also have one eye on the fact I'll be 50 in a couple of years and want to have financial freedom in 5.
So I maybe don't have quite the risk appetite I once had, when you see the size of the growth in less than 12 months, all at the time when inflation is as flat as a pancake, it's hard to not bank some of that profit. If I could replicate that (which I won't) for the next 3 years I'm going to be very very happy!
But in my case and Lindsell Train UK, looking it up, I bought into it because I thought I was underweight in UK focused funds and so bought in small amounts over a regular period from 8/18 to 2/19. Since then the UK markets have continued to under-perform but many believe that it's about time there was a re-valuation. If I agree with that, then I hold, unless I think this fund has underperformed the sector. That could be argued, but then we get into another tenet of fund investing...resist too much meddling. Fund manager as an individual still very much in place so do I still trust him? Or do I think there's a danger he might go the way of Neil Woodford? I don't know but I'd be wary of random articles which suggest so.
Please do critique this line of thought though, I really am unsure...
As I know you are a few years older than me, what's the long term plan, i.e. when will you be accessing the cash?
I wouldn't necessarily switch that particular fund, but more review how you sit overall compared to when you want the money etc.0 -
@golfaddick, thanks a lot, mate. Currently my Lindsell Train UK is just under 6% of that fund portfolio. But the only other UK focused fund I have is ASI UK Ethical (3%). I honestly just don't feel confident investing more in the UK market at the moment, I'm not as bullish about it medium term as you (maybe it's a politically driven perspective but hey ho, money where mouth is, and all that). But also, and this is the trouble with funds, I know that several LT UK holdings also feature in the LT Global funds I have and the latter is a big chunk -21%-,and I have already taken profits from this one in the past. And I also have a bit of Fundsmith Equity which for sure holds equities classed as UK, and then heaven knows what is in the suite of Vanguard Life Strategy funds I have (18%) but bound to be some UK equities bundled in there.
I did also buy some of a Vanguard FTSE 250 tracker fund in the Dutch Degiro platform I recently opened, priced in euros, as my currency hedge :-)
So all in all I'm probably somewhere around 15-18% in UK equities, and if so, that would for me be about right.0 -
Looks like the trading platform have got in the way
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-28/gamestop-resumes-rally-after-reddit-forum-s-brief-outage?srnd=premium-europe
0 -
Rothko said:0
- Sponsored links:
-
Rothko said:Looks like the trading platform have got in the way
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-28/gamestop-resumes-rally-after-reddit-forum-s-brief-outage?srnd=premium-europe
This whole this is exposing the stock market for what someone on Twitter basically said it is: astrology for men!1 -
Nasty viewings on the last two days of fund performance but as @golfaddick says, rough with the smooth
Have seen this often enough to not be concerned with the often kinked progress of markets.0 -
PaddyP17 said:Fortune 82nd Minute said:Can one of you guys who understand these things explain something to me about shorting, please.
Lets keep it simple. I own 100 shares in a company that are valued at £20 each. The paper value of those shares to me is £2000.
A hedge fund comes to me and says can we borrow your shares to short. I say yes.
The hedge fund sells those shares and pockets £2000. After forcing the share price down, it buys them back for £10 - a £1000 in total - giving the hedge fund an actual profit of £1000.
Presumably, it then gives me my shares back. But they are now only worth £1000. So through my good work of loaning them my shares, I am now personally £1000 worse off.
Clearly I am missing something but on the face of it, why would you loan shares to a company so they can force the price down meaning that you are going to end up owning an asset that is worth less than when you loaned it out?
The answer is what gives shorting its name: in the short term, you (as the lender) do not care, so long as you get your shares back. Because 100 shares is still 100 shares.
You are investing for the long term - of course, the opposite to the short. So you don't mind if someone has taken a risk on your stock price falling over the course of, say, a day or a week, because in the long run (over a few years) you can generally expect/hope your stock or portfolio or holding etc to make money.
--------
However, in the case of Gamestop, we are seeing something hitherto unprecedented that exploits and exposes the pitfalls of shorting quite as much as has happened. 140% of shares being shorted is just insane, and that it so happened to be Reddit/the average punters in their thousands to exploit the situation is really getting on the nerves of the hedge fund managers and fat cats.
Please do let me know if I've got any of the intricacies wrong on this btw.
All I can say is I'm scratching my head at the wisdom of people lending assets knowing that they will come back shortly at a cheaper price than they have been lent out at! And if shorting the shares in a company leads that company into financial distress, good luck in thinking you will get your money back in the long run!0 -
The reddit kids have moved onto dodgecoin now, up 160% today5
-
the Reddit kits are dumping on Robinhood and going to the trading platforms that still have access to GME and AMC shares0
-
kentaddick said:NASDAQ ceo now saying they might halt trading for a couple of weeks so bigger investors can adjust their positions.
Must be time for people to start using decentralised exchanges and tokenised stocks after this, surely?
It's all fake but only the people in power are allowed to make money. Redistribution of wealth to the masses needs to be stopped.0 -
Fortune 82nd Minute said:PaddyP17 said:Fortune 82nd Minute said:Can one of you guys who understand these things explain something to me about shorting, please.
Lets keep it simple. I own 100 shares in a company that are valued at £20 each. The paper value of those shares to me is £2000.
A hedge fund comes to me and says can we borrow your shares to short. I say yes.
The hedge fund sells those shares and pockets £2000. After forcing the share price down, it buys them back for £10 - a £1000 in total - giving the hedge fund an actual profit of £1000.
Presumably, it then gives me my shares back. But they are now only worth £1000. So through my good work of loaning them my shares, I am now personally £1000 worse off.
Clearly I am missing something but on the face of it, why would you loan shares to a company so they can force the price down meaning that you are going to end up owning an asset that is worth less than when you loaned it out?
The answer is what gives shorting its name: in the short term, you (as the lender) do not care, so long as you get your shares back. Because 100 shares is still 100 shares.
You are investing for the long term - of course, the opposite to the short. So you don't mind if someone has taken a risk on your stock price falling over the course of, say, a day or a week, because in the long run (over a few years) you can generally expect/hope your stock or portfolio or holding etc to make money.
--------
However, in the case of Gamestop, we are seeing something hitherto unprecedented that exploits and exposes the pitfalls of shorting quite as much as has happened. 140% of shares being shorted is just insane, and that it so happened to be Reddit/the average punters in their thousands to exploit the situation is really getting on the nerves of the hedge fund managers and fat cats.
Please do let me know if I've got any of the intricacies wrong on this btw.
All I can say is I'm scratching my head at the wisdom of people lending assets knowing that they will come back shortly at a cheaper price than they have been lent out at! And if shorting the shares in a company leads that company into financial distress, good luck in thinking you will get your money back in the long run!
The people borrowing think the price is going down enough to cover your fee, and make a profit themselves.
Doesn't mean it will.
0 -
SELR_addicks said:kentaddick said:NASDAQ ceo now saying they might halt trading for a couple of weeks so bigger investors can adjust their positions.
Must be time for people to start using decentralised exchanges and tokenised stocks after this, surely?
It's all fake but only the people in power are allowed to make money. Redistribution of wealth to the masses needs to be stopped.
2 -
Fortune 82nd Minute said:PaddyP17 said:Fortune 82nd Minute said:Can one of you guys who understand these things explain something to me about shorting, please.
Lets keep it simple. I own 100 shares in a company that are valued at £20 each. The paper value of those shares to me is £2000.
A hedge fund comes to me and says can we borrow your shares to short. I say yes.
The hedge fund sells those shares and pockets £2000. After forcing the share price down, it buys them back for £10 - a £1000 in total - giving the hedge fund an actual profit of £1000.
Presumably, it then gives me my shares back. But they are now only worth £1000. So through my good work of loaning them my shares, I am now personally £1000 worse off.
Clearly I am missing something but on the face of it, why would you loan shares to a company so they can force the price down meaning that you are going to end up owning an asset that is worth less than when you loaned it out?
The answer is what gives shorting its name: in the short term, you (as the lender) do not care, so long as you get your shares back. Because 100 shares is still 100 shares.
You are investing for the long term - of course, the opposite to the short. So you don't mind if someone has taken a risk on your stock price falling over the course of, say, a day or a week, because in the long run (over a few years) you can generally expect/hope your stock or portfolio or holding etc to make money.
--------
However, in the case of Gamestop, we are seeing something hitherto unprecedented that exploits and exposes the pitfalls of shorting quite as much as has happened. 140% of shares being shorted is just insane, and that it so happened to be Reddit/the average punters in their thousands to exploit the situation is really getting on the nerves of the hedge fund managers and fat cats.
Please do let me know if I've got any of the intricacies wrong on this btw.
All I can say is I'm scratching my head at the wisdom of people lending assets knowing that they will come back shortly at a cheaper price than they have been lent out at! And if shorting the shares in a company leads that company into financial distress, good luck in thinking you will get your money back in the long run!
You're not lending the stock and it's generally not in your interests to do so.
However, the custodian holding your stock IS lending it and IS motivated to do it as they're the ones collecting the interest, which they split with whichever institution has parked your stock with them (e.g. Hargreaves Lansdowne). They both bank the interest, you get nothing in return, except the privilege of holding a stock that is being shorted against your (short term) interests.
It's something I have been arguing about in the City for years. I think you should be able to elect whether or not you want your stock lent and, if you elect to do so, be paid for it.
As for GAMESTOP etc., all great fun and will end in tears because the big guys will f*ck them eventually. Judging by the number of so-called 'brokers' who are only allowing liquidations, this has already started and there is going to be a stink about this. Of course, most of these 'brokers' aren't brokers at all and are not doing this in the interests of an 'orderly market' but are actually market makers who are also taking large losses.
That's one way that they keep their fees so low (apart from wider spreads) - they sell you stock in the expectation of being able to buy back cheaper without going to the central market, so saving on execution, fx, clearing and custody fees. They, of course, charge you all these fees and commissions regardless and merely have to prove they gave you the best price available in the market at the time (at least, under MifID). That model has gone wrong this week until they refused to allow more buying 'for the sake of an orderly market', (my arse). Goes what, the stock price will go down and they won't lose.
To be fair, it's not an orderly market allowing ramping and the regulators have to work out what to do about it. It's been going on forever but the tech now is scaling it to hitherto unseen levels.3