diff --git "a/reddit_finance_43_250k_3.txt" "b/reddit_finance_43_250k_3.txt" new file mode 100644--- /dev/null +++ "b/reddit_finance_43_250k_3.txt" @@ -0,0 +1,10000 @@ + +**Part IV: When not to reinvest** + +Part I demonstrated how powerful reinvesting one's dividends can be, but there are certain circumstances where it can be more financially savvy to refrain from reinvesting your dividends. Below are three situations in which you might want to deploy dividend payouts elsewhere. + +* **You are in or near retirement:** When you are living off your savings, taking income from your dividends allows you to let more of your portfolio stay invested for growth. If you are nearing retirement, on the other hand, you can use the payouts to build up your cash and short-term reserves as you prepare for the transition to life after work. Some dividend investors have even built their portfolios to have their dividends cover 100% of their expenses. +* **Your portfolio is out of balance:** Reinvesting the dividends of a well-performing investment back into that investment can throw your portfolio off balance over time. In such cases, you might want to take the cash and reinvest it elsewhere. +* **The investment is underperforming:** If you are worried about an investment's future prospects but are not quite ready to let it go, you may not want to reinvest the payouts back into that investment. Instead, you might use the dividends to dip your toe into something prospective that could ultimately replace the underperforming investment. + +**Part V: Understanding Taxes on your portfolio** + +The question of taxes often comes up a lot in investing communities, and r/dividends is no exception. However, we mods prohibit direct questions regarding taxes and other questions of legality because nobody here is a licensed tax professional in every single tax jurisdiction on Earth. The question of taxes varies so wildly between regions that even making basic generalizations borders on pointless. The only constant is that you will pay taxes at some point in your life on your investments. Whether it is before you make your gains, after you make your gains, or somewhere in between, you will pay taxes. The different types of accounts and options available to you varies based on your income, geography, employer, and dozens of other factors. Some countries offer special accounts for those who serve in the military, law enforcement, or some other specialized profession(s). Some trade unions help pay the taxes you may owe on certain investment types. The variations on the tax question are so all over the place that I could break Reddit's character limit just covering the most general details. + +Typically the best resource for understanding your local tax situation is the government agenc(ies) responsible for collecting your money. As of 2021, most all have websites of various levels of usability. They should often be your first stop for most questions. When in doubt, always talk to a professional. + +**Part VI: Special Snowflake companies (REITS, MLPs, royalty trusts, etc.)** + +Some companies do not fit neatly into the category of an S-class corporation, and see themselves as special snowflakes worthy of a special tax status. Understanding these entities is a critical prerequisite to holding them in your portfolio, as many may require additional tax paperwork. In my personal experience, aside from REITS, most are not worth the time of the average investor. Unless you already have a preexisting knowledge of how these companies work, I would not go out of your way to understand in-depth how they operate when there are so many options out there that could provide better returns. + +The only exception to this rule is the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). Unlike other special snowflake investments, REITs are relatively self explanatory. They deal 100% in real estate. Nothing else. REITs are favored by dividend investors because of their special arrangement with the US government. In exchange for not having to pay most federal corporate taxes, REITs are legally required to pass on at minimum 90% of their profits under GAAP to shareholders in the form of dividends, which are taxed as income by the US government. The keyword here is GAAP. + +Most places on Earth (aka the United States and almost nobody else) requires the usage of the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (or GAAP standard of accounting). GAAP is incredibly strict, intricate, complicated, and almost impossible to cheat. 100% of publicly traded companies in the US use GAAP, which makes comparing the finances of US stocks incredibly easy. However, the tax structure of Real Estate Investment trusts often causes the math behind GAAP (or any other accounting system for that matter) to break down. This can make REIT payout ratios look absolutely insane in relation to other companies, and can make most REITs look incredibly unprofitable. To combat this, REITs have developed their own standards utilizing simplified math, called the funds from operations (FFO) metrics. I originally had a more in-depth explanation of this concept (as well as information about BDCs, MLPs, and Royalty Trusts), but I had to cut it out of the final draft of this post because Reddit has a 40,000 character limit. The best I can do right now is to point you in the direction of Investopedia, which has an [excellent article on the subject of FFOs, linked here](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fundsfromoperation.asp). + +The decision of whether or not to incorporate these types of investments into your portfolio is a personal one, and just like with any other type of investment, varies greatly based on your risk tolerance and portfolio goals. + +**Part VII: Performing in-depth research on companies** + +While anyone can read a balance sheet synopsis on Seeking Alpha and vaguely grasp its meaning, above understanding a concept is the ability to put one's knowledge into practice. The reason I put this skill above actually picking companies is because stock picking can be done with a relatively low knowledge base, but actually digging deep into financial statements and balance sheets to discover companies on your own not on the traditional press circuit can serve as the true test of someone's research potential. + +Oftentimes I come across even experienced investors unaware of just how many resources are available to them on this front. While websites, apps, and YouTube channels exist all over the place, an often underutilized resource for investment knowledge is the companies themselves. 99% of publicly traded companies have a website dedicated to serving the needs of investors, often with email addresses, phone numbers, and physical addresses just begging to be contacted. How much did Coca-Cola pay in dividends in 1926? Google doesn't know (I checked), but I guarantee you somewhere in an Atlanta filing cabinet lies Coke's dividend history from back in that time. It is obscure, seemingly random knowledge like that investor relations experts are paid to answer. + +\[Side note: originally, there was going to be a far larger expanded section about this, but it was cut for the sake of conforming to Reddit's character limit.\] + +**Part VIII: Diminishing returns and micromanagement** + +By paying attention in school, you may have been informed regarding the law of diminishing returns. When it comes to dividend investing (or any type of investing), the law of diminishing returns can play a big part of your portfolio management. While you should always be on the lookout for investment opportunities, if day trading is the reason you wake up in the morning, dividend investing may not be right for you. Strategies like buying right before the ex-div date and selling immediately afterwards rarely turn out in your favor, and even when they do are often not worth the trouble. Your gain will be a few cents at best, or worse you lose money. In my experience as the lead moderator of this subreddit, monitoring comments, I can say with confidence that most people **will** lose money on this day-trading type strategy. Most of the price action regarding a dividend took place days or weeks before the ex-dividend date, spread out over a period of time. Companies often issue dividends on a clockwork schedule according to the [ISO Calendar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_week_date), so institutional investors are often able to predict when the dividend will be paid months or even years in advance, long before the boards of these companies officially announce their dividends. + +A similar thing can be said for those attempting to buy stocks at the absolute lowest possible price. I have seen individuals hold out for days waiting for a few extra cents. If you have a six figure portfolio, you do not need to be trying to time a 12 cent price drop. Your time will be better spent elsewhere. Understanding the law of diminishing returns can sometimes singlehandedly turn an underperforming portfolio into an overperforming one. By taking a hands off approach to most of your investments, you let the market work in the background of your life. As the old saying goes, "time in the market beats timing the market every day of the week." + +**Part IX: Debt and financing your investments** + +Early in your investment journey, the idea of purchasing dividend stocks on debt sounds like a great idea. Buy the stocks, use the dividends to pay off the loan, then keep the stocks and profit. It sounds foolproof right up until it isn't. What seems like free money is more akin to an advance on a sh\*\*\*y record deal. If you decide to take out a $50,000 loan to buy dividend stocks, don't be surprised if acquiring a home or auto loan becomes significantly more difficult or downright impossible depending on your circumstances. Banks and credit unions are often far more hesitant to lend out money to those with high amounts of preexisting debt. When these loans are given however, they often come with interest rates higher than what you would have normally had to pay if you had not decided to buy a bunch of AT&T with a personal loan. Any amount below $20,000 will hardly have a significant effect on your long-term portfolio (assuming you are still investing with earned income), and any amount above $20,000 could have serious ramifications on your ability to access credit in the event you truly need it. If you fail to disclose this preexisting loan to any prospective lender, then congratulations, you have just committed fraud, which is something we do not condone here on r/dividends. + +Your income and lifestyle should be sufficient to fund your investment needs. While I understand the frustration that can come with being a student with 0 disposable income, being a student is actually the best possible reason **not** to have a five-figure unsecured debt load. As someone with a degree in Management and a career in the field, I can tell you that many employers conduct background and credit checks on prospective employees (though credit checks on employees are illegal in certain states). A $20,000 personal loan made by a 20 year old raises a lot of red flags, and while it could signal personal illness or medical debt, it could signal a gambling problem. When you tell them you used the money to buy stocks, they will immediately assume gambling problem. Good things come to those who wait. + +**Part X: Brokerages and celebrity portfolios** + +If you came to this post or subreddit looking for nothing but a brokerage recommendation, I recommend you look elsewhere. While my wife and I personally use M1 Finance, and I do recommend it to friends and family, I have no idea who is reading this post. I know only what information Reddit gives me as a moderator, so I will say that for the love of whatever you believe in do not choose a brokerage just because some internet personality, or some random person on Reddit told you about it. Brokerages are not interchangeable, and they offer wildly different features and benefits. I like M1 because of the ability to form pies. [This for example is my personal portfolio](https://m1.finance/-1-XJi1meO28). I enjoy what I enjoy about M1, and what it is able to offer me and my family. Your situation is (likely) different. This is also the reason we explicitly ban referral links on r/dividends. The only recommendation I will issue is do not invest with Robinhood. Other than that, go nuts. + +**Part XI: Beyond dividends, and knowing when not to invest.** + +Equally important to the skills of investing are the skills of knowing when not to invest. If you have credit card debt, pay that off first, and make sure to pay 100% of your balance every month. If you do not have an emergency fund, create one. It should consist of roughly six months worth of expenses. If you lack a financial plan or budget, create one. My wife and I use [Mint.com](https://Mint.com) for our budget. We sync it with our cards, and everything comes out perfectly. I highly recommend it. + +**Part XII: Seeking feedback** + +Saving and investing can become an addiction, so it is important to know when to moderate it. Having a third party provide additional input or opinions on your decisions can work wonders. If you have a significant other or a best friend, I would recommend getting them into the investing mindset, if they are not already. Having a trusted voice to bounce ideas off can lead to not only financial reward, but emotional and intellectual growth. + +Since I took over this subreddit in August 2020, I have strived to create that environment here. It is from this base framework that I am hoping future discussions in this community can branch from. If you are just joining us, or have been with this community for years, I thank you for joining us on r/dividends. + +Happy investing, + +u/Firstclass30 + +\[This post was inspired by an article in Charles Schwab's Spring 2021 Investment magazine. The article was titled *"Rx for what ails you. Dividend-paying stocks could be just what the doctor ordered."* The research it presented served as the inspiration and backbone of the first half of this piece. Other works found through my own research constituted the majority of the factual content of this piece. The majority of this post's contents are my personal opinions, and should not be taken as financial advice. Invest at your own risk. Recommendation or mention of a security or service does not constitute an endorsement. I received no compensation from any individual or group for writing this post.\] + +\[The first draft of this post was over 50,000 characters long, and exceeded Reddit's character limit by more than 25%. For the sake of brevity and my own sense of perfectionism, this post's length was cut in half. As of original publication it contains over 4,100 words, with over 26,000 characters.\] + +Edit: This piece was originally written in Microsoft Word, and copied over to Reddit. A few formatting errors slipped through by mistake, and those were corrected after publication. +I own 20 units with 45 tenants across 7 buildings. Over the past 3 years, I have observed more and more of them turn to heroin and it sucks. They all moved in with jobs, sobriety, and no pets. + +Whether it's a curled and burned spoon I find tucked away in the basement, or a p-trap jammed full of used broken syringes under a kitchen sink. Or the stink of a couch I drag to the dump after the HAZMAT team does their best to scrape the rotting flesh of my previous tenant's corpse off it. + +The pet-free apartments that they sneak pets into a year after moving in, and I only find out because I can smell the urine in the hallway after they stop changing the litter. The filth that comes with addiction. Destroying lives and houses one tenants at a time. + +I'm in a town of 20k people in the midwest. I've known some of these people for almost a decade. They were productive members of a society that was once productive, and I'm the last thing between them and homelessness. I've already had to send a few to the streets to keep their neighbors safe. + +Just a vent but this sucks. Drugs suck. Needles scare me, but I've been collecting them like stamps. + +Being a landlord is glamorous. +Why didn't he just sell? Not just him, but other great value investors, Li Lu, Klarmann... + +It obviously gets 100% worse once rate hikes start. Consumer spending slowly goes down. And often times, a recession happens. So why didn't they sell, then buy back after the 5th rate hike, or when rate hikes stop, or immediately after rate reductions start? It's not "timing the market" when you know the stock market will 100% go down when rate hikes happen and a likely recession. + +Burry sold in Q2. So it's not like these big super-investors can't sell for some reason. + +And they don't even have to time the market perfectly when buying back. They could sell, wait just 2 months and get discounted stocks, or wait 6 months. Those alternatives seem better than holding all the way through. + +Of course they're in it for the long-run. Burry is too. But it seems like an obvious time to sell at the beginning of rate hikes and rebuy later. + +I didn't sell because I was a noob. I started investing at the top. I didn't know any better. But now I know. Next time they announce rate hikes 5 or 10 years from now, I'll just sell every except healthcare, consumer-staples, insurance and certain commodities --and buy back at a later time. Even if I don't buy back at the very bottom, I'll be better off than the ones who held through. + +Educate me please. There must be a good reason these brilliant super-investors didn't sell. It's not like they thought there was a possibility of 2-3 rate hikes, then that's all. They know what they're doing. I'm just trying to understand. + +BTW is Berkshire's stock portfolio beating the market YTD? Could it be green? I know the business is more than its stock holdings. Maybe their holdings are actually green. Much of their stock picks are bearish and do well in all climates. I wonder what his average cost is for AAPL is. + +I'm annoyed that I didn't sell. Rate hikes continue, but I'm holding, because we're so far into it. My picks are deep in value territory. I'm down as much as the market. Not bad for a noob. + *Smart contracts power the social selling transaction. Merchants administer the platform by utilizing open source software or integrate existing platform with SDK.* + +*ASTRA can host single or multi-level affiliate, custom compensation, and gamification/rewards models depending on action endpoints defined within the contract. In fact, ASTRA can be used to host any affiliate, commission, or gamified reward model - so its application can be used beyond the scope of social selling.* +I was reading the following article: + +[Priced out: Young professionals making $60,000 — even $120,000 — say they can no longer afford Toronto and will likely have to leave](https://www.thestar.com/business/2021/12/03/young-torontonians-cant-afford-to-live-here-any-more-we-spoke-to-three-to-find-out-where-their-money-goes-and-why-theyll-likely-have-to-leave.html) + +&#x200B; + +And it occurred to me that due these housing costs, most of the talent would leave Toronto and Vancouver and probably choose US because there aren't really other good options. This will in the long run hurt the production because of lack of talent and slow the economy. + +&#x200B; + +What do you think? +I'm sorry for this rant, this might be common knowledge, but I've just wasted about 10 hours of my life trying to understand how private insurance works, do I need it, and finally, begrudgingly, trying to buy it. + +To start, I'm a doctor, new to Australia. I have 4ish years of experience providing health care in Australia, all in the public system. From my point of view, as a provider, the public system seems to work pretty well. I have almost no experience as a consumer, though my partner has a little bit more. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't even consider private health coverage. + +The existence of the medicare levy surcharge means people who earn over 90K (180K for couples) must consider it (i.e. me). Looking at plans, the most obvious thing to me is that 1) They are expensive 2) They don't seem to cover very much. + +Even the most expensive plans don't seem to offer a guarantee that you'll never pay out of pocket. So, even with private health insurance, if you're in a private hospital, you're *probably* going to be out of pocket. The breakdown seems to be this: The government sets out the recommended price for stuff in the MBS. If you go public, 100% is covered by the medicare. If you go private, medicare will cover 75% or 85% of the MBS. If you're covered for whatever thing you're accessing (and I couldn't find a plan that covered common things like scans or blood tests) then private health care will pay that 15% or 25% difference. If your private provider chooses to charge more than what's recommended on the MBS then you have to pay "the gap". Your insurer might cover some of the gap; they might cover all of the gap (expensive plans only); they might cover none of the gap (e.g. the specific provider is not covered by your insurer, even if you a fancy and expensive plan). + +I think a realistic example of this is: You have fancy insurance. You need an operation, it can wait a couple of weeks but not a couple of months. You decide to go private because you have fancy insurance. Your operation is covered, so is the 3 day hospital stay that follows. You intentionally choose to see a surgeon whose gap is covered by your insurer. But it turns out that your anaesthetist isn't covered, so you have to pay that gap out of pocket. So, in summary, you pay a lot of money for expensive insurance and you're still out of pocket. Alternatively, you go public, maybe (maybe not) wait a bit longer and pay nothing. (And I know there are plenty of anecdotes of the public health care letting people down; but there are plenty of anecdotes of the private system letting people down too.) + +And, to state the obvious, insurance companies exist to make money. That means on average over the course of your life, you will probably pay more to the company than you would have if you just paid for private care out of pocket. Also, I would like just say here that paying for "Extras" plans is probably always a money loser for you. + +I assume it's because private health insurers offer so little value for money, is the reason the government has stepped in to prop up the industry. + +* Carrot: [The government rebate](https://www.privatehealth.gov.au/health_insurance/surcharges_incentives/insurance_rebate.htm). A discount applied to policies based on age/income (subsidised by the Australian tax payer) +* Stick: [Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS)](https://www.privatehealth.gov.au/health_insurance/surcharges_incentives/medicare_levy.htm) A tax on high earners who don't have hospital coverage. (Extras don't matter) +* Stick: [The Lifetime Health Coverage (LHC) levy](https://www.privatehealth.gov.au/health_insurance/surcharges_incentives/lifetime_health_cover.htm) This very stupid policy is designed to scare young people (who are profitable for insurance companies) into buying insurance they don't need. It also acts as disincentive for older people (who are expensive for insurance companies) to buy insurance for the first time. This government policy is designed for the benefit of insurance companies at the expense of Australians and is very gross. That grossness aside, [it probably isn't a good reason to buy insurance you don't need.](https://www.choice.com.au/money/insurance/health/articles/how-to-pay-the-lifetime-health-cover-loading-and-save) + +So back to me. I'll have to pay the MLS if I don't buy insurance I don't want. So, it only makes sense to buy this if it's cheaper than the MLS I'll pay. In my experience of trying to buy the cheapest insurance possible, I found the language used by almost all websites were to encourage/scare you into buying expensive plans. Comparison sites are almost all run by the insurance companies. The government comparison tool is good, Choice is good (but their comparer is only available for paid subscribers). I found the cheapest plan that would cover me in my state (the policy was not available on the insurers website, but both Choice and the government said it was available). So I got on the phone, spoke with a sales rep. He tried to upsell me by telling me that while the cheap plan is good enough for the MLS, it's not good enough for the LHC and I should get a bronze plan (which is not true). + +To recap: I was lied to in order to buy a more expensive version of a product I don't need, but want to buy in order to save money because of policies enacted by the Australian government at the expensive of Australian tax payers to prop up an industry that doesn't provide value for money. + +Anyways, for anyone who read this far, thanks for reading this rant. + +So yeah +I'm glad this place has quieted down enough for some actual DD written by a monkey with a keyboard and Adderall. + +Disclaimer: I am that monkey. Let me explain to you what happened, play by play. I will give you illiterates who hate reading a spoiler up front: + +__We were within approximately 30 seconds of triggering a nuclear bomb that would have blown up the market.__ Do I have your attention? Here goes: + +1. ⁠Yesterday, new call option strike prices were added all the way up to $570. Do I have to go over gamma squeezes again? Really? We've been over this: when deep out-of-the-money call options start being gobbled up and the price starts moving towards being in-the-money, the call writers have to hedge their risk of having their sold calls exercised, typically by buying stock. This creates upwards pressure on the market. We've been seeing these movements all week. +2. ⁠Yesterday after market, you probably saw that coordinated effort to drive the price down and spook retail investors into a mass sell-off. It didn't work. +3. ⁠Last night, Robinhood sent out a message to users: you could no longer enter into new options. You could exercise them if you had the collateral (money in the account) to do so. Very interesting and the first sign of pants-shitting fear. +4. ⁠Today, the market opened very strong. It opened so strong that we were looking at a self-perpetuating gamma squeeze all the way up way past $570. +5. ⁠At approximately 9:58 am, the stock had reached $468 in a parabolic move. +6. ⁠Two minutes earlier, at 9:56 am, Robinhood tweeted that they were not allowing users to buy GME stock, but they would allow selling. +7. ⁠The trend instantly halted and started a collapse downwards, before picking up a bit, especially after some retail was allowed back in. + +Okay, now that you are clear on the facts, understand this: The market ran out of liquidity today, or was threatening to get close enough that they killed it. What does that mean? It means they ran out of shares and/or capital. They wouldn't let you buy new shares because we were burning through all the shares on the market. + +__I saw an unsubstantiated post from a user ([u/zshub](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/l7bpf5/30_seconds_from_triggering_market_nuclear_bomb/gl5vgof/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=ios_app&amp;utm_name=iossmf&amp;context=3)) who said a market sell order executed at $2600 for him. Also, someone else for over [$5,000](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/l7em07/coworker_had_a_limit_executed_of_a_little_over/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) per share. Do you get the severity of the situation, if that's true?__ It means the buying was getting to the point where it was just about to put INFINITE pressure on the price of the shares. It means virtually any ask was getting bid. + +How do you get infinite upwards pressure? A gamma squeeze triggering the mother of all short squeezes, just like we predicted. The call writers need shares to hedge. Retail is still buying more. The short sellers need over 100% of the float back. Add these together. There were more shares needed than existed on the open market. That's what a liquidity crisis is. + +[Listen to this ](https://youtu.be/7RH4XKP55fM)to this remarkable (if infuriating) interview where the chairman of Interactive Brokers admits that they didn't have the capital to pay out the winners (us), so they took their ball and went home. DO YOU GRASP HOW INSANE IT IS THAT HE SAID THEY NEEDED TO SHUT DOWN BUY ORDERS TO "PROTECT THE MARKET"? Hello! He's not talking about the market for GME shares. He's talking about the entire market! The New York Stock Exchange. The NASDAQ. All that. + +Remember the movie Snowpiercer? Do you remember that scene where the lower class people realize the soldiers who oppress them have no bullets? Go to the 1:00 minute mark of this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH1EtiOhr6o + +It kick starts a full blown rebellion. They have no bullets. It's the exact same in this market: No capital. No shares. Infinite losses inbound. + +__TL;DR: For all you who will just skip to the bottom to ask, "Do I get my tendies now?" the answer is this: they NEED NEED NEED your shares. Do you get that? HOLD. Like the guy in the movie, scream, "They're out of bullets!" and create a stampede. That's how we win.__ + +They needed your shares so badly that they literally risked PRISON TIME to get them. They tried robbing you, and I'm not even exaggerating. They were within 30 seconds of all being wiped out today. + +Credit: u/PlayFree_Bird +Hello, what's up fellow Crypto Investors, NFT game hunters, whales, apes, degens, and gamblers of Reddit! Firstly, thank you for checking out this potential moonshot $BFK - Baby Fort Knox (www.babyfortknox.com) + +$BFK is a buyback token with USDT rewards, with use case in the form of a gaming token where users can P2E for free OR rewards based, and buy NFTs that double as playable game characters which can be upgraded and sold in the $BFK Marketplace or 'black market'. The BFK team is providing investors multiple avenues to earn cryptocurrency and taking advantage of the NFT hype and pushing the limits of NFT use cases and memecoin projects. + +We're all now thinking what is $BFK and why should we invest? + +This is not just any BSC Token, it's also an NFT Gaming project with USE CASE. + +DYNAMIC TOKENOMICS : tax increases after buybacks are engaged to protect price floors - refer to website + +Buy Tax 12% +- 3 % Usdt rewards +- 1 % Liquidity +- 4 % Marketing/Development +- 4 % Buyback & Burn + +Sell Tax 12% - 24% ( Min - Max) +- 3 - 6 % Usdt rewards +- 1 - 2 % Liquidity +- 4 - 8 % Marketing/Development +- 4 - 8 % Buyback & Burn Max + +Transaction is 0.3 % of max supply. + +Antibot will be incorporated during the launch phase. + +Here are some of their tokenomics explanations: + +1. VAULT SECURITY Auto LP + randomized big buyback at support/resistance levels. LP swap threshold is 10%. Generated LP will be removed once it reaches the threshold, the native token gets burned; BNB goes to buyback contract. + +2. THE GREEN ZONE After COUNTERSTRIKE (buyback), the "vault is unlocked"; where buy tax reduced to 5% for one hour, and sell increased to 15% and slides back down to 12% over the hour. + +3. COUNTERSTRIKE +Auto buyback & burn. Fixed amount on set time intervals, for example, X amount BNB every 1-4 hours. Can be set to any time frame, or have on for limited time per day - this activates LOCK DOWN. + +4. LOCK DOWN +After Auto BuyBacks - Sell Tax increase by double or X then slowly decrease over X time until next buyback. 12% to 24% back to 12% over 1 hour. + +5. PAY OUT +Holders of $BFK rewarded in USDT dividends - auto distribution every hour. + +6. TREASURY +Marketing/Development Tax - Tax contributes towards marketing/Development fund on every buy/sell of 4%, 4-8% respectively during Close The Vault. After reviewing these tokenomics on their website and Whitepaper, I realised just how genius this is. Their tokenomics allow for long term sustainability and growth. + +Note: to execute sell might need to increase slippage. For example, if dashboard is showing 15% sell tax, users may need to set slippage to 15%+(16%) = 31% , while only 15% sell tax will be charged even when 31% slippage is used, this can be verified on transaction record blockchain - everyone is encouraged to view this. + +PROJECT DETAILS : + +This token has utility as it is an NFT Gaming Project on the BSC network. The game being built is a Play to Earn (P2E) Game with 1v1 up to 5v5 where you can play free or stake tokens or NFT ownership in winner takes all. You will also be able to team up in regularly held dungeons, and unite against enemies to win tokens, loot, and experience points needed to upgrade your NFT characters. + +This team already has many features of their project they have developed before even launching yet. So they seem very committed, here are some of the things they've produced so far: + +Audited Contract - A complete pass and successful audit by BlockAudit; this communicates sincerity and safety to be as secure as 'Fort Knox'. + +$BFK Swap DEX is a live swap similar to Pancakeswap, live and available on the website. + +Change Log with Project Development progress - link in heylink tree, with NFT character, game, and marketplace production, you can view all latest releases in Chanelog + +DashBoard - Keep track of the token rewards paid out and due to pay out here. Or even re-invest to BFK. + +WhitePaper is very detailed and professionally put together with a great break down of the project. + +First Public AMA held just a few days ago in their telegram room which was recorded, their team discussed details of the game, nfts, as well as technical details and tokenomics - you can find this in the changelog as well. + +Social Media and platform coverage and following all across with Twitter, Telegram, Discord, Facebook, Tiktok, Instagram, YouTube, Medium and Reddit. + +Marketing exposure across Social Media and crypto/DeFi space with well known twitter and telegram influencers and rooms backing the project. + +Media content and production from team and community; logo and introduction videos, NFT preview trailers, memes, gifs, stickers as well as their very own SONG! + +Whitelist contests including their own Gleam with activities and engagement; community was actually rewarded without overfilling whitelist. + +Established very active and populated English, Japanese and shilling/Raiding Contest Groups - as well as growing groups for Chinese, Philippines and Indonesia. + +You can check out full details of their plans, utility, tokenomics and usecase on their website, roadmap, whitepaper, AMAs or reach out to them at their domain email or telegram room - they are always around! + +PreSale Details : + +Min/Max : 0.1/2.0 bnb +Soft-Cap : 450 bnb +Hard-Cap : 600 bnb +PinkSale Presale Rate : 600,000 per bnb +PancakeSwap Listing Rate : 570,000 per bnb +PancakeSwap Liquidity : 100 % +Liquidity Locked for 1 Year + +Token Distribution : + +Total supply 1,000,000,000 +- 13% Private Funding 100% Marketing & Development = 130,000,000 (200 bnb) +650,000 per bnb +- 36% PinkSale Presale = 360,000,000 +- 34.2% Pancake Liquidity = 342,000,000 +- 5% Team = 50,000,000 +- 5.08% In Game Token Pool = 50,800,000 +(Locked for 8 weeks until game is ready) +- 6.72% Airdrop + Presale fees = 67,200,000 + +Useful Links : + +Website - https://www.babyfortknox.com + +Telegram - https://t.me/BabyFortKnox + +Linktree - https://heylink.me/babyfortknox/ +**Ive seen many sources claim that 80% of all US dollars ever issued have been issued since January of 2020. If this is the case, how has the purchasing power of the dollar not complete dissipated? Shouldn't the US dollar be worth more or less a fifth of what it was 3 years ago? Please make it make sense.** +I went out to dinner on Saturday night. After splitting the check with my girlfriend, the bill came to $19. Used one of my credit cards, left a tip, kept my receipt and walked out. That charge had been pending until today where it posted as a $228 charge. It would have been easy enough to slip buy if I didn't check my accounts often, but I knew something was wrong right away. + +Called the restaurant, explained the situation, gave them the order number and table number, sent them a photo of my receipt and it's being corrected. So this is a friendly reminder to monitor your accounts and keep your receipts often! +⬆️ EverRise - $RISE | Launching EverOwn dApp to change the DeFi space Forever | Introducing the EverRise Ecosystem | September 8th + +&#x200B; + +⬆️ EverRise ($RISE): [https://www.everrisecoin.com](https://www.everrisecoin.com) + +&#x200B; + +🌐 EverRise Ecosystem: [https://www.everrise.com](https://www.everrise.com) + +&#x200B; + +EverRise, the original buy-back hyper-deflationary token. EverRise is becoming the new standard of security in DeFi, starting with the BSC space and soon ETH. + +&#x200B; + +We are back here to remember our first steps, and also to celebrate the launch of our first dApp, EverOwn, the first dApp ever to introduce Community Contract Ownership in the crypto space. + +&#x200B; + +September 8th is the date - 1:00 PM EDT is the time. EverOwn dApp will be launched and we will be doing a live event to renounce the EverRise contract to EverOwn. + +&#x200B; + +If you want to assist at this historical moment in crypto, join us now, don’t hesitate to, because there’s things in life that only happen one time. + +&#x200B; + +With EverRise, we all $RISE together. + +&#x200B; + +👉 Telegram: [https://t.me/everriseofficial](https://t.me/everriseofficial) + +&#x200B; + +⬆️ \*\*EVERRISE ($RISE)\*\*⬆️ + +&#x200B; + +EverRise is establishing the new standard of DeFi tokenomics with its innovative Buyback system and game changing use-cases. + +&#x200B; + +On the EverRise protocol, $RISE tokens are bought back from the market, resulting in an immediate effect on the price. These repurchased tokens are then instantly burned, permanently removing them from the circulating supply. + +&#x200B; + +Once the $RISE tokens are bought back, the new BNB amount is added to the liquidity pool and the $RISE tokens bought are immediately burned. This creates a true burn and guarantees the price per token will increase every time a buyback is activated. + +The Strategic Buyback feature is deployed at specific moments to create stable floor prices during downward market trends, chart manipulation, or whale dumps. + +&#x200B; + +Holders are additionally "auto-staked" instantly receiving 2% of the transaction volume and you can watch your wallet grow in real-time. + +&#x200B; + +💎 THE EVERRISE ECOSYSTEM 💎 + +&#x200B; + +EverRise’s game-changing ecosystem and EverRise dApps will bring a true revolution to the cryptocurrency space. + +&#x200B; + +Our dApps: EverOwn, EverWallet, EverSwap, EverLock and EverSale will solve key problems in the crypto industry and will bring a new dimension in personal and project security for crypto. + +&#x200B; + +A relevant percentage of the revenue from the dApps will be used to support $RISE and its community, giving both revenue to the Buyback Reserves and directly to holders via token reflections. + +&#x200B; + +📄 TOKENOMICS AND PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY 📄 + +&#x200B; + +The EverRise contract is coded to collect 11% in fees from all transactions (buys, sells and transfers), to be dedicated into the following: + +&#x200B; + +\* 6% for strategic buyback funds + +&#x200B; + +\* 2% as commission to holders (rewards through reflection) + +&#x200B; + +\* 3% contribution to project sustainability: enhancements, operations and marketing + +&#x200B; + +✅ ACHIEVEMENTS ✅ + +&#x200B; + +\* CoinPayments integration for payments on Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce + +\* MyCryptoCheckout integration for payments on Wordpress Sites + +\* Listed on CMC, CoinGecko & Blockfolio + +\* 80K+ Holders + +\* 33K+ Members on Telegram + +\* $29m+ Market Cap + +\* 4K BNB ($2M USD) Strategic Buyback Funds + +\* 21,5K BNB used in Strategic buy-back burns (26.1%) + +&#x200B; + +🔐 SECURITY 🔐 + +&#x200B; + +\* Dev & Core Team Doxxed + +\* Contract to be Renounced with EverOwn on September 8th + +\* Liquidly locked for 1 year + +\* Code audited by Certik ([https://www.certik.org/projects/everrise](https://www.certik.org/projects/everrise)) + +\* Dev wallets locked until January 2022 + +&#x200B; + +💰 MARKETING 💰 + +&#x200B; + +\* Big marketing wallet for non-stop promotion + +\* DAVID GOKHSHTEIN joined the Core Team as Branding Consultant + +\* Luna PR as agency of record + +\* Targeted Ad campaigns on social media and DeFi platforms + +\* Full fledged press, media & influencer campaign + +\* NY and London Billboards + +&#x200B; + +🔼 NEXT STEPS 🔼 + +&#x200B; + +\* Launching EverOwn dApp - September 8th + +\* EverRise to become a registered company + +\* Upcoming interviews and AMAs with relevant leaders in the crypto + +\* dApp EverLock (Liquidly locking) + +\* dApp EverSale (Pre-sales) + +\* dApp EverWallet (Wallet) + +&#x200B; + +✍️ Contract: 0xc7d43f2b51f44f09fbb8a691a0451e8ffcf36c0a +And I am so proud of myself!! I've never had this much in savings before. + +Two months ago I was homeless with a young baby. One month ago I signed a lease to an apartment and started working. Now I have all of my bills covered for this month *and* next, and I even have some money in a savings account!! + +If you're going through a hardship, remember the bad times are just times that are bad. +In November of 2020 I closed on a duplex for 305,000 using a VA loan. Total payment was $1680 and I budgeted for $750 a month for repairs, capex, maintenance, etc. One side was completely renovated, while the other needed some work. I chose to rent out the renovated unit and fix the other unit up as I lived in it. I had about 30k saved up for the renovations and I came in right on budget for a kitchen update that turned out great. I ended up renting out the other side to a great couple for $1500 a month. + +&#x200B; + +This seemed like easy money besides the occasional maintenance call and I was doing very well financially by saving about $25,000 a year towards retirement, and a few hundred a month extra towards the next house, fully funded emergency fund, and stashing a little into a brokerage as well. + +&#x200B; + +In January of 2022 I took on a new job making 40% more and thought I was ready to take on the next house with only a small amount of savings outside of the emergency fund ($15,000). + +&#x200B; + +I found a house down the street from my current house that had been on Zillow for several months whereas most houses sell within days. It definitely needed some work. Listing price was $240k, I offered $170K and they told me to pound sand. Reached out a few weeks later and offered $190K and they countered at $215. We eventually settled at $200K. + +&#x200B; + +I used a VA loan again, and the plan was (still is) to make this my house for the next five or so years. The house needed a lot of work so using some of the quotes I had from the renovations on the duplex, I crunched the numbers and came up to about with about a $60k budget for updating the kitchen, adding a bathroom, updating the electrical, and adding AC. Rough timeline I gave myself was two months. + +&#x200B; + +During closing I called the contractor who I had used in the past to come out and give a quote. He came out and said he'd be in touch, and I ended up closing on a house without an estimate in hand. This contractor ended up ghosting me and I had to start looking for a new one after I had already closed. I ended up getting one quote from a guy who said he could start relatively soon. The quote was way over budget, but I had about $15k worth of stocks in a brokerage I convinced myself into selling. Mind you, I had already taken out a personal loan of $35K @ 5% and opened up two interest free credit cards to pay for the renovations. + +&#x200B; + +I tore out all of the lathe and plaster in the entire house myself to save money and the contractor began working on the house about a month after closing. Timelines and promises were made and I fully expected to be in the house by the end of March. In its current state, the framing, insulation, AC, plumbing & electrical rough ins are complete, but still needs drywall, paint, flooring, cabinets/countertops. + +&#x200B; + +Total budget for this house was $60k and I'm currently $112k in. Two change orders wiped out my emergency fund. + +&#x200B; + +To make matters worse, I listed my side of the duplex to be rented @ $1650 starting May 1 and my house will not be livable by then. So at the ripe age of 31, I get to move back in with my parents. + +&#x200B; + +In a span of four months, I have completely obliterated my emergency fund, taken on $65k of credit card/personal loans, put myself in a paycheck to paycheck situation paying off the debt, stopped all retirement savings, and have essentially made myself homeless. + +&#x200B; + +I feel like a complete failure and am in therapy for the depression. I am so angry with myself. The light at the end of the tunnel is that I will have a beautiful home in an area I really enjoy, and If I decide to rent the house out, I could likely cash flow $700 a month. + +&#x200B; + +TLDR: don’t be an idiot and buy a house with unrealistic timelines and a lack of cash. +Throwaway account for reasons that will be explained below. + +I have been following this sub for a while now. I do not come from money, but about 15 years ago I co-founded a fintech company that has become successful. For the last 3 or 4 years I have felt lost at the company, not really finding a role I liked. Played with the idea of selling my shares. + +Summer 2021 I finally decided that I wanted out. Sold my shares, quit, netted about $20M. Until that day I had never sold a single share and was living not paycheck to paycheck, but just a normal life. My wife of course knows about the money, but none of my friends nor my immediate family. In fact, they were probably not even aware of that I was a founder of the company. I just don't like to talk about that. I literally celebrated the sell by ordering food home, something we never do. + +I thought it would be a blessing, but now 6 months later I'm probably literally depressed. I and my wife simply don't know what to do with our lives. My wife keeps working, and I basically take care of the children and play video games all while saying to friends and family that I work from home. + +I realize that my company was my "life" and without it, I had no daily purpose. I'm blessed with basically infinite resources and angry that I even dare to say I'm depressed. Has anyone here had any similiar experience? I think what I'm mostly afraid of is that the money will destroy my relationship with friends and family. Like histories you read about lottery winnings. + +$20M might not even be an insane number in this sub, but, while $20M is roughly correct I do not live in USA and our current life costs around the equivalent of $50k. + +**Edit:** + +Thank you for the many great replies. They have given me many things to think about, and I'm happy to read that I shouldn't be ashamed of my state of mind. As several noted, it is very likely that my depression started years ago but I managed to mask it by keeping myself occupied in the company. Though I don't regret leaving my company, I did leave without a plan in place. + +**Edit 2:** + +I have decided to talk to a therapist and see where it takes me. My main concern is how to manage everything while still maintaining my relationships. My inbox is currently full of messages from people asking for money for either rent, gifts or investments. Makes me just want to give everything to someone to manage long-term, give myself enough to maintain current lifestyle and make a white lie about working remotely as a consultant whenever someone asks what I do. +Hello, what's up fellow Crypto Investors, NFT game hunters, whales, apes, degens, and gamblers of Reddit! Firstly, thank you for checking out this potential moonshot $BFK - Baby Fort Knox (www.babyfortknox.com) + +$BFK is a buyback token with USDT rewards, with use case in the form of a gaming token where users can P2E for free OR rewards based, and buy NFTs that double as playable game characters which can be upgraded and sold in the $BFK Marketplace or 'black market'. The BFK team is providing investors multiple avenues to earn cryptocurrency and taking advantage of the NFT hype and pushing the limits of NFT use cases and memecoin projects. + +We're all now thinking what is $BFK and why should we invest? + +This is not just any BSC Token, it's also an NFT Gaming project with USE CASE. + +DYNAMIC TOKENOMICS : tax increases after buybacks are engaged to protect price floors - refer to website + +Buy Tax 12% +- 3 % Usdt rewards +- 1 % Liquidity +- 4 % Marketing/Development +- 4 % Buyback & Burn + +Sell Tax 12% - 24% ( Min - Max) +- 3 - 6 % Usdt rewards +- 1 - 2 % Liquidity +- 4 - 8 % Marketing/Development +- 4 - 8 % Buyback & Burn Max + +Transaction is 0.3 % of max supply. + +Antibot will be incorporated during the launch phase. + +Here are some of their tokenomics explanations: + +1. VAULT SECURITY Auto LP + randomized big buyback at support/resistance levels. LP swap threshold is 10%. Generated LP will be removed once it reaches the threshold, the native token gets burned; BNB goes to buyback contract. + +2. THE GREEN ZONE After COUNTERSTRIKE (buyback), the "vault is unlocked"; where buy tax reduced to 5% for one hour, and sell increased to 15% and slides back down to 12% over the hour. + +3. COUNTERSTRIKE +Auto buyback & burn. Fixed amount on set time intervals, for example, X amount BNB every 1-4 hours. Can be set to any time frame, or have on for limited time per day - this activates LOCK DOWN. + +4. LOCK DOWN +After Auto BuyBacks - Sell Tax increase by double or X then slowly decrease over X time until next buyback. 12% to 24% back to 12% over 1 hour. + +5. PAY OUT +Holders of $BFK rewarded in USDT dividends - auto distribution every hour. + +6. TREASURY +Marketing/Development Tax - Tax contributes towards marketing/Development fund on every buy/sell of 4%, 4-8% respectively during Close The Vault. After reviewing these tokenomics on their website and Whitepaper, I realised just how genius this is. Their tokenomics allow for long term sustainability and growth. + +Note: to execute sell might need to increase slippage. For example, if dashboard is showing 15% sell tax, users may need to set slippage to 15%+(16%) = 31% , while only 15% sell tax will be charged even when 31% slippage is used, this can be verified on transaction record blockchain - everyone is encouraged to view this. + +PROJECT DETAILS : + +This token has utility as it is an NFT Gaming Project on the BSC network. The game being built is a Play to Earn (P2E) Game with 1v1 up to 5v5 where you can play free or stake tokens or NFT ownership in winner takes all. You will also be able to team up in regularly held dungeons, and unite against enemies to win tokens, loot, and experience points needed to upgrade your NFT characters. + +This team already has many features of their project they have developed before even launching yet. So they seem very committed, here are some of the things they've produced so far: + +Audited Contract - A complete pass and successful audit by BlockAudit; this communicates sincerity and safety to be as secure as 'Fort Knox'. + +$BFK Swap DEX is a live swap similar to Pancakeswap, live and available on the website. + +Change Log with Project Development progress - link in heylink tree, with NFT character, game, and marketplace production, you can view all latest releases in Chanelog + +DashBoard - Keep track of the token rewards paid out and due to pay out here. Or even re-invest to BFK. + +WhitePaper is very detailed and professionally put together with a great break down of the project. + +First Public AMA held just a few days ago in their telegram room which was recorded, their team discussed details of the game, nfts, as well as technical details and tokenomics - you can find this in the changelog as well. + +Social Media and platform coverage and following all across with Twitter, Telegram, Discord, Facebook, Tiktok, Instagram, YouTube, Medium and Reddit. + +Marketing exposure across Social Media and crypto/DeFi space with well known twitter and telegram influencers and rooms backing the project. + +Media content and production from team and community; logo and introduction videos, NFT preview trailers, memes, gifs, stickers as well as their very own SONG! + +Whitelist contests including their own Gleam with activities and engagement; community was actually rewarded without overfilling whitelist. + +Established very active and populated English, Japanese and shilling/Raiding Contest Groups - as well as growing groups for Chinese, Philippines and Indonesia. + +You can check out full details of their plans, utility, tokenomics and usecase on their website, roadmap, whitepaper, AMAs or reach out to them at their domain email or telegram room - they are always around! + +PreSale Details : + +Min/Max : 0.1/2.0 bnb +Soft-Cap : 450 bnb +Hard-Cap : 600 bnb +PinkSale Presale Rate : 600,000 per bnb +PancakeSwap Listing Rate : 570,000 per bnb +PancakeSwap Liquidity : 100 % +Liquidity Locked for 1 Year + +Token Distribution : + +Total supply 1,000,000,000 +- 13% Private Funding 100% Marketing & Development = 130,000,000 (200 bnb) +650,000 per bnb +- 36% PinkSale Presale = 360,000,000 +- 34.2% Pancake Liquidity = 342,000,000 +- 5% Team = 50,000,000 +- 5.08% In Game Token Pool = 50,800,000 +(Locked for 8 weeks until game is ready) +- 6.72% Airdrop + Presale fees = 67,200,000 + +Useful Links : + +Website - https://www.babyfortknox.com + +Telegram - https://t.me/BabyFortKnox + +Linktree - https://heylink.me/babyfortknox/ +Hey everyone, + +So first of all I want to apologize about my reaction earlier. + +Writing dailies every day isn't an easy thing, I usually get up at 6 am my time, research write etc, then post answer questions etc, then have dinner research more check facts and stay online till midnight trying to moderate the sub and help out wherever I can, and it seems I've bitten off more than I can chew in that regard as I've been doing that for months now. + +Today I wrote something that I had on my mind for the past few days, as I knew it was an unpopular opinion but it needed to be said, even though I knew it had to be said I was expecting some backlash and has cost me more sleep then I wish to admit. but when everyone started to dogpile I lost it. I will need to grow some thicker skin in that regard. +I reacted badly, I forgot that we have people in here who are deliberately trying to do threadsplitting as we have learned before. + +Now I have been lucky enough to have a great support team around me, my fellow mods, the guys on discord, the people who reached out, everyone. + +&#x200B; + +I never told anyone what they need to do or how to do it, I never said you have to follow a certain exit strategy, this is all personal and you should look into what is best for you. + + +Again if you think that I am a shill, or bought off you have missed the point of the entire post, I try to help that's what I've always tried, and I now know I can't please everyone nor is that my goal. + +I have thought about the dailies and being a moderator, I will continue to do both. not just because I feel I'd let people down but it also feels bad, like I'm backing down from a fight and that's not me. + +so if you guys can excuse me I'll go eat my crayola sandwich and start helping again. + +https://preview.redd.it/wv7p73beqcu61.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b91f05b9978bfcc61712825a6db6712178054364 + +cya guys tomorrow +Was trading $ALF this morning on the short side then out of nowhere it when parabolic on me. Didn’t cut my loses when I could and over leverage myself on that position. I even 200% my account just this month. Lost it all in a single trade. I’m not even sad about the money or feel betrayed by the markets. I’m more disappointed about not following my rules and not having discipline. I will take a break from trading to self reflect on my actions before funding my account again. I hope my lost will help somebody learn to follow there rules. + +Edit: thank you for all the support and words of encouragement from this community, It was greatly appreciated. I’ll be gone for awhile but I hope to see you guys again in the trading floor. +My goal is to live off dividends by the time I am 40 years old. I am currently 24 and have roughly 30k a year in investable income. What do you think my best course of action is over the next 16 years to achieve that goal, and is that goal even realistically achievable at my income level? Thanks in advance for your time. + +Edit: This is an awesome community and I appreciate all of you very much. + +Edit 2: Have read all comments and thank you all but simply can’t reply to all. So much knowledge here and thank you for the warm reception on my first post. +It can be anything. I know long term investments have made my parents millionaires but I don’t want to wait 40 years to become a millionaire. I work in tech right now and at a junior level but there’s only so much money most people in tech make a year. So I’m brainstorming other ways to make my first million. +So, twelve days ago, my great-grandma had a stroke. My grandmother, my legal caregiver, went to the local hospital (a ripe two hour drive away) and has stayed there ever since to ensure that the doctors don't take her mom off life support. My aunt, my other caregiver, and her kids went with her. + +So long story short, I'm home alone. I've been home alone for over ten days and have had to take care of the family's two sheep, two goats, five dogs, three cats, six large birds, dozens of chickens/ducks/quails/guineas, two horses, and a rabbit to boot + +The people taking care of me don't know when they'll be home. They're not gonna let the doctors let my grandma die so they're gonna stay there until she dies naturally or recovers, which could be months. I've expressed my concerns through text and have only been met with "I don't knows" and the like. They've come home twice (for a couple hours) just to check on things but aren't making money themselves so they haven't been able to help. + +I'm basically taking care of a house and all these animals alone at 17. + +I'm not sure what to do. Eventually bills will start popping up and the animal are already low on food. + +I have a weekly shift at McDonalds to fund myself, but in the area I live, the bus to town runs very rarely so taking full time hours isn't an easy solution. + +I go to school as well since a school bus goes through my area. (though I'd be willing to drop out if needed) + +TL;DR: Fending for myself, as well as dozens of farm animals, for an indeterminate I make almost no money and live in a rural area. + +**EDIT:** Thank you for your replies, I'll read them all and respond when I'm out of school in a couple hours! + +**UPDATE:** Thank you all for replying, I'll try to get through as many as I can but I honestly did not expect this to blow up like it did. Anyway, I talked to my family and while they're not returning home, my aunt has come back with cat and dog food so the animals won't starve for now. She says she doesn't know how much longer they will be gone but don't anticipate it being months like they originally thought. I'm going off her words here. I also talked to my manager and am getting three evening shifts this week over my usual weekly one, so I'm not gonna be completely broke. The bus rarely comes through but I'm fine killing time in town if it means more money coming in. I won't drop out of school either. I was just panicked and assumed I'd have to work full time. I'll update more as events unfold +[Some good news](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/business/irs-phone-scams-jeff-sessions.html) for those who have experienced this scam or know people who have been duped by the same: + +>With stiff sentences for 21 conspirators last week in the United States and a round of indictments in India, the Justice Department says it has broken up what appeared to be the nation’s first large-scale, multinational telephone fraud operation. + +>Over four years, more than 15,000 victims in the United States lost “hundreds of millions” of dollars to the sophisticated scam, and more than 50,000 individuals had their personal information misused, the department said Friday. The money was routed through call centers in India back to the ringleaders in eight states. + +>The fraudulent calls came suddenly and frequently while the scam was active from 2012 to 2016, according to court documents. A person posing as an Internal Revenue Service or immigration official was on the phone, threatening arrest, deportation or other penalties if the victims did not immediately pay their debts with prepaid cards or wire transfers. + +>In an announcement on Friday, the department said 21 people living in eight states — Illinois, Arizona, Florida, California, Alabama, New Jersey and Texas — were sentenced last week in Houston to prison for up to 20 years for their role in the scheme. + +>In addition, 32 contractors in India involving five call centers in Ahmedabad, a city in western India, have been indicted on wire fraud, money laundering and other conspiracy charges as part of the operation, the department said. + +As always, remain vigilant about supposed IRS claims, and never accept or believe any calls from people purporting to be the IRS. The IRS never demands immediate payment (e.g. wire transfers or gift cards), or threatens to bring in the police, immigration officers or other law-enforcement. Communication always begins over snail mail. Hopefully these arrests will serve as a warning to others trying to prey on vulnerable populations. +Santa Claus provided well-behaved children with goods without simultainously injecting liquidity into the economy doesn't that create deflation because now the goods/currency ratio is higher? +Why is no one talking about this company? They have agreements with Walmart for medical centres in Canada, Mexico, and they’re going to be expanding globally. They are running on almost break even with very little cash burn. The chart says reversal.. anyone else take a look and let me know your thoughts. Cheers! +I have a lot of free time, basically i stay home almost all the time. My goal is to get rich, how would you recommend me to spend my free time? Read specific book? Look something on websites? Thank you +If you feel you might be suicidal, and live in the United States, I urge you to call the Suicide Hotline at 800-273-8255 or navigate to http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ for a live chat and additional resources. + + If it's not an emergency, but you want to know more about mental health, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) offers information on their website https://www.nami.org/ and a free HELPLINE 800-950-6264. + + If you do not live in the United States please seek out local resources. /r/SuicideWatch has a list that may cover your country: /r/SuicideWatch/wiki/hotlines + +Let others know if you need any other guidance to people who help. + +--- + +**EDIT:** People from /r/all or those outoftheloop, here is what the market looks like this right now: https://i.imgur.com/ZmypTLd.png + +And Bitconnect has evaporated/exit scammed. + +--- + +**EDIT2: For those confused what happened,** here: https://np.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/7qvp08/whats_up_with_bitcoin_and_other_coins_dropping_so/dssiuai/?context=0 + +**How bad is it?** + +The hardest hit people are one of the following: Newcomers, Margin Traders, or Day-Traders (and those in Bitconnect) + +The vast majority of people who have held for more than 60+ days are still in green. +Burner account. 37 recently ex big law attorney who quit after hitting 10M liquid, and I feel like I’m on the top of the fucking hill after turning in my company laptop. + +I been practicing in an AM 50 firm for the last ten years. Saved a lot and invested wisely in stocks, options, crypto, futures, and was an OG eth and doge miner. I like practicing law but I made more this month through investments than big law paid me over the last five years. + +Head of my practice group called on the last day to offer a one time $25k forgivable loan that will be paid off if I stick it out another 2 years 😂 ##### please! Most hilarious part is that one of the boilerplate sections of the written offer even stipulates that my widow must return all $25k if I happen to die within the next 2 years 😂 😂 . + +I spent 10 years working 6-7 days a week protecting billions of profits for trillion dollar fortune 5 companies, making tens of millions for my away from the office bosses, and getting crumbs. Next Monday will be my first day as an attorney for the local pro bono organization that is dedicated to helping those who are too poor to pay for legal representation. My new salary is 30k a year (organization refused my offer to work for $1 due to legal reasons), which I intend to donate. +Crypto stocks have had an insane development, one of the reasons being the current price levels for BTC/alt coins, the fact that BTC is touching 50k (and might break it soon), but also because the crypto mining industry as a whole is maturing. I believe that Bitfarms is in a better overall position compared to their competitors I terms of scaling and controlling costs, and this will pay off in the future with better profit margins as the industry grows. + +**Company overview** + +Bitfarms is a blockchain infrastructure company providing an essential service: validation and verification of global cryptocurrency transactions. Bitfarms has been building and operating industrial Bitcoin mining facilities since 2017. + +**Operations** + +Bitfarms owns and operates one of the largest mining operations in North America with 69 MW of built-out capacity. Bitfarms increased its hashrate capacity by 185 PH/s or 24% in 2020. + +Bitfarms operates five advanced Bitcoin mining facilities in Quebec, Canada. Each mining facility is powered by low -cost renewable hydro power. They mine Bitcoin at all facilities and Litecoin at two. + +Bitfarms’ 2020 year-end hashrate is 965 PH/s + +Bitfarms’ anticipated ending Hashrate Q1 2021 is 1,205 PH/s + +Bitfarms has mined the most Bitcoin during the nine months ending September 30, 2020 with an **industry leading average cost per Bitcoin of $5,300**. With the current price of BTC being around $49 000, this gives you a gross mining margin per BTC at 89%. + +**Competition** + +The case with Bitfarms is especially interesting as their value proposition is to be the most cost-effective crypto miner. + +Relative their competition, all Canadian crypto miners seem to be undervalued right now, look at the table below (credit to CHESHIRE\_CAT), dated to 12 of Feb. + +[Bitfarms PH is almost up there with RIOT and HUT. Bitfarms estimated mining revenue from Jan 2021 is 6 M compared to RIOT \(4.2 M\), HUT \(7 M\) and MARA \(1.7 M\).](https://preview.redd.it/ezht11tj9wh61.png?width=1984&format=png&auto=webp&s=19ffe7ca2dab589121a66679f140c9b2c4d72d4f) + +Looking at the financials (Q3 2020 nine-months), compared to RIOT, and HUT 8 mining below (12 Feb market closing): + +|Company|Market cap|Revenue|Gross mining margin| +|:-|:-|:-|:-| +|Bitfarms|375 M|23.3 M|38%| +|Hut 8 Mining|994 M|27.7 M|\-5%| +|RIOT|3.3 B|6.7 M|38%| + +The fact that RIOT is listed on Nasdaq obviously has a major impact on their market cap. + +**Valuation** + +Valuations are complex in this industry and usually the companies present PH/Market Cap to demonstrate the business potential based on capacity. Average PH/MC (current) for the 11 listed companies (in the chart above), is 1.18. Average MC is 1.16 B. + +Based on these numbers alone, Bitfarms market cap should be 2.2 B (Average PH/MC x Multiple = Average MC). **In this case, a share price based on current float would be $25.6 (32.4 CAD)**. + +This is a very high valuation and relative to their competition. The valuation would bring Bitfarms PH/MC ratio to 1.18, **which is approx. the same as for HIVE**. Bear in mind that we are only looking at PH alone, not gross mining profit. + +Accounting for the fact that Bitfarms is not listed on Nasdaq (eliminating outliners MARA, RIOT, BTBT, NCTY). The average market cap is 620 M for the remaining 7 companies, with an average PH/MC at 1.32. This would give Bitfarms a market cap at 1 B, which would put the share price at $11.6 (14.7 CAD). So **even compared to non-Nasdaq listed crypto miners, Bitfarms is undervalued**. + +However, I do understand the flaws of my valuation, as it is strictly based on the operational capacity, and not “soft values” such as brand, marketing, etc. All these calculations are based on data from 12 of Feb as this DD took some time to compile, since today, all the crypto mining stocks have gone up, but Bitfarms is still undervalued relative their competition and mining capacity. + +**Upcoming catalysts** + +· Q4 earnings at the start of March + +· The company is preparing to establish a sixth mining center + +· Potential NYSE listing. The president recently stated the following in an interview: “In an interview yesterday, the president confirmed to the Newspaper step up the **steps to register Bitfarms on the New York Stock Exchange**. “The Nasdaq would be ideal,” Morphy told us.” [https://thetimeshub.in/bitfarms-is-still-checking-out-in-the-us/4882/](https://thetimeshub.in/bitfarms-is-still-checking-out-in-the-us/4882/) + +· Gaining new institutional investors (investments up to 60 M (CAD) from US institutional investors since January) + +[https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitfarms-announces-closing-cad-40-230000914.html](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitfarms-announces-closing-cad-40-230000914.html) + +[https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitfarms-announces-closing-second-cad-220000320.html](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitfarms-announces-closing-second-cad-220000320.html) + +**Risks** + +· Like other crypto mining companies, the stock price is affected by the volatility and the price of major crypto currencies (BTC, ETH, LTC) + +· Ability to scale up production and meet their set PHs targets for 2021 + +· Attract new institutional investors + +· Price and supply of electricity, as this is their major cost of production + +· The whole crypto industry might be overvalued right now, which would indicate a coming correction + +Please share both positive and critical opinions on this DD as I want to look at the company from different perspectives. + +My own position in the company is 250 shares at 3.7, I also own shares in other crypto mining companies. + +&#x200B; + +EDIT (UPDATE): Bitfarms is getting more attention [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09noL\_V16-M&ab\_channel=FinancialSuccess](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09noL_V16-M&ab_channel=FinancialSuccess) +Crypto stocks have had an insane development, one of the reasons being the current price levels for BTC/alt coins, the fact that BTC is touching 50k (and might break it soon), but also because the crypto mining industry as a whole is maturing. I believe that Bitfarms is in a better overall position compared to their competitors I terms of scaling and controlling costs, and this will pay off in the future with better profit margins as the industry grows. + +**Company overview** + +Bitfarms is a blockchain infrastructure company providing an essential service: validation and verification of global cryptocurrency transactions. Bitfarms has been building and operating industrial Bitcoin mining facilities since 2017. + +**Operations** + +Bitfarms owns and operates one of the largest mining operations in North America with 69 MW of built-out capacity. Bitfarms increased its hashrate capacity by 185 PH/s or 24% in 2020. + +Bitfarms operates five advanced Bitcoin mining facilities in Quebec, Canada. Each mining facility is powered by low -cost renewable hydro power. They mine Bitcoin at all facilities and Litecoin at two. + +Bitfarms’ 2020 year-end hashrate is 965 PH/s + +Bitfarms’ anticipated ending Hashrate Q1 2021 is 1,205 PH/s + +Bitfarms has mined the most Bitcoin during the nine months ending September 30, 2020 with an **industry leading average cost per Bitcoin of $5,300**. With the current price of BTC being around $49 000, this gives you a gross mining margin per BTC at 89%. + +**Competition** + +The case with Bitfarms is especially interesting as their value proposition is to be the most cost-effective crypto miner. + +Relative their competition, all Canadian crypto miners seem to be undervalued right now, look at the table below (credit to CHESHIRE\_CAT), dated to 12 of Feb. + +[Bitfarms PH is almost up there with RIOT and HUT. Bitfarms estimated mining revenue from Jan 2021 is 6 M compared to RIOT \(4.2 M\), HUT \(7 M\) and MARA \(1.7 M\).](https://preview.redd.it/ezht11tj9wh61.png?width=1984&format=png&auto=webp&s=19ffe7ca2dab589121a66679f140c9b2c4d72d4f) + +Looking at the financials (Q3 2020 nine-months), compared to RIOT, and HUT 8 mining below (12 Feb market closing): + +|Company|Market cap|Revenue|Gross mining margin| +|:-|:-|:-|:-| +|Bitfarms|375 M|23.3 M|38%| +|Hut 8 Mining|994 M|27.7 M|\-5%| +|RIOT|3.3 B|6.7 M|38%| + +The fact that RIOT is listed on Nasdaq obviously has a major impact on their market cap. + +**Valuation** + +Valuations are complex in this industry and usually the companies present PH/Market Cap to demonstrate the business potential based on capacity. Average PH/MC (current) for the 11 listed companies (in the chart above), is 1.18. Average MC is 1.16 B. + +Based on these numbers alone, Bitfarms market cap should be 2.2 B (Average PH/MC x Multiple = Average MC). **In this case, a share price based on current float would be $25.6 (32.4 CAD)**. + +This is a very high valuation and relative to their competition. The valuation would bring Bitfarms PH/MC ratio to 1.18, **which is approx. the same as for HIVE**. Bear in mind that we are only looking at PH alone, not gross mining profit. + +Accounting for the fact that Bitfarms is not listed on Nasdaq (eliminating outliners MARA, RIOT, BTBT, NCTY). The average market cap is 620 M for the remaining 7 companies, with an average PH/MC at 1.32. This would give Bitfarms a market cap at 1 B, which would put the share price at $11.6 (14.7 CAD). So **even compared to non-Nasdaq listed crypto miners, Bitfarms is undervalued**. + +However, I do understand the flaws of my valuation, as it is strictly based on the operational capacity, and not “soft values” such as brand, marketing, etc. All these calculations are based on data from 12 of Feb as this DD took some time to compile, since today, all the crypto mining stocks have gone up, but Bitfarms is still undervalued relative their competition and mining capacity. + +**Upcoming catalysts** + +· Q4 earnings at the start of March + +· The company is preparing to establish a sixth mining center + +· Potential NYSE listing. The president recently stated the following in an interview: “In an interview yesterday, the president confirmed to the Newspaper step up the **steps to register Bitfarms on the New York Stock Exchange**. “The Nasdaq would be ideal,” Morphy told us.” [https://thetimeshub.in/bitfarms-is-still-checking-out-in-the-us/4882/](https://thetimeshub.in/bitfarms-is-still-checking-out-in-the-us/4882/) + +· Gaining new institutional investors (investments up to 60 M (CAD) from US institutional investors since January) + +[https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitfarms-announces-closing-cad-40-230000914.html](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitfarms-announces-closing-cad-40-230000914.html) + +[https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitfarms-announces-closing-second-cad-220000320.html](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitfarms-announces-closing-second-cad-220000320.html) + +**Risks** + +· Like other crypto mining companies, the stock price is affected by the volatility and the price of major crypto currencies (BTC, ETH, LTC) + +· Ability to scale up production and meet their set PHs targets for 2021 + +· Attract new institutional investors + +· Price and supply of electricity, as this is their major cost of production + +· The whole crypto industry might be overvalued right now, which would indicate a coming correction + +Please share both positive and critical opinions on this DD as I want to look at the company from different perspectives. + +My own position in the company is 250 shares at 3.7, I also own shares in other crypto mining companies. + +&#x200B; + +EDIT (UPDATE): Bitfarms is getting more attention [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09noL\_V16-M&ab\_channel=FinancialSuccess](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09noL_V16-M&ab_channel=FinancialSuccess) +Hello! + +I did something recently that I’d like other people to do - so I thought this might be a good format to lay it out. The financing was $0 out of pocket, but we paid for repairs / did a lot ourselves. + +Last Summer, I went in with family and bought a 43 bed hotel. Over a few months it was converted to small efficiency apartments, with a large commercial kitchen, dining room, meeting area and a lobby. + +Why? Because we are very, very short housing in the Midwest. We met up with the local housing authority and got all the rooms inspected and ready to accept section 8 vouchers. After the conversion we have 42 rooms, roughly 320 SF each. There’s a large courtyard in the middle. + +Our local bank was able to do an 80% loan, with a wraparound product that also had the 20% gap, plus gave us about $50,000 for some repairs. We’ve spent probably $170,000 in total on the updates so far, which I don’t think it’s bad considering. For the rooms we put in a medium size apartment refrigerator, they each have a private bathroom, and the sink is on the outside so it doubles as the kitchen sink. New microwaves, hot plates, updated some furniture. Thankfully the rooms had recently been rehabbed and had a nice new laminate flooring as well as beds and bedding. The courtyard was a complete disaster and we spent a good chunk of money re-designing that. The commercial kitchen in the dining room we had converted the apartment where the owners originally had stayed but also took some money. But it’s totally functional now, we also added two laundry rooms with eight coin washers and dryers, new window heating / cooling units in all rooms. + +We are able to charge $850 a month, Which more than covers the bills. We probably have another 150k on capital improvements, I would like to add new windows, work on the parking lot, and the septic system needs update. But in addition to a cash flowing beautifully to pay for these improvements, it’s a huge gain for the community. + +Roughly, We have $15,000 going out every month that covers the insurance, property taxes, gas, payroll for two full-time employees, TV, Internet, miscellaneous. We are always full, average income is 41 rooms paid a month. + +I will say the key to this is volunteers, who are helping because they see it as an asset to the community. some tenants were through rehab, we also have a dozen disabled veterans, mainly older folks who just need somewhere small and quiet to live. We’ve had great support with people dropping off clothes,food, household items. While technically we are “just” apartments, we’re trying to be a little bit more than that and provide support with meetings, job training, community functions. + +While it is set up in an LLC it’s acting as benefit corporation. So far me and the other two owners have not taken out a dime. The goal is to get this totally self-sustaining and then maybe sell it and build another one. We owe about 475k on it, in total will have spent maybe 750k, which is pretty good for 42 doors that will soon be turnkey. + +So I’m just posting this to encourage you to look into alternate avenues of housing, especially if you can work with your local voucher program. It’s really sad that nine out of 10 in my area do not find a landlord who is weren’t willing to work with them, so the vouchers expire. Only 3% of vouchers are used rural areas, that is where I am. I don’t have an angle for posting this, other than I would really like to see some other people try to do something similar. It is possible, it can work. +# 0. Preface + +I am not a financial advisor and I am not providing you financial advice. + +I know that many, MANY people have looked into swaps, equity swaps, total return swaps, and so forth over the months. There's quite a few DDs on the matter! I either never saw the posts or did not dig into them until lately. So please know that the Equity Total Return Swap stuff is **not** my original theory. I've just tried to expand on it to fit the pieces together. The price movements, the Deep OTM PUTs (DOOMPs), ITM CALLs, and where Short Interest went. Which I'll discuss here. + +I'm stealing this image from u/Chucry. Really sorry - I love the picture too much. + +[ \/u\/Chucry pup](https://preview.redd.it/nztuwxstzej71.png?width=1596&format=png&auto=webp&s=6c036251c00072a7400a7cd4ceaecfd1d65d0c22) + +[https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/p5rxo0/exclusive\_footage\_of\_ucriand/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/p5rxo0/exclusive_footage_of_ucriand/) + +# 1. Equity Total Return Swaps - Hidden Short Interest + +[/u/quiquealfa](https://www.reddit.com/u/quiquealfa/) described their theory about Equity Swaps being the main culprit in the meme stock price movements to me. So we started digging into the theory. + +I was googling in a chain about Credit Default Swaps that led me to Equity Default Swaps which led me to 'Synthetic Prime Brokerages' which then led to Total Return Swaps, which finally led me to this post: + +[https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/ojh2eh/ultimate\_wargame\_theory\_the\_beginning\_total/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/ojh2eh/ultimate_wargame_theory_the_beginning_total/) + +Which I think is so amazing. It discusses Total Return Swaps and all of the players who may be involved in this "meme stock" situation. As u/Blanderson_Snooper calls them - the "Voltron Fund". This isn't just Melvin Capital and a few other SHFs being short. It's likely to be a massive amount of SHFs and SFOs around the world that abused naked shorting on a basket of stocks, putting not just the SHFs and SFOs at risk but the market makers and banks at risk as well. + +Basically, they're all fucked if these stocks squeeze. The SHFs. The SFOs. The Market Makers. The Banks. All of them involved. + +[ https:\/\/www.investopedia.com\/terms\/t\/totalreturnswap.asp](https://preview.redd.it/0q8bjzzvzej71.png?width=768&format=png&auto=webp&s=cd83ff1f210cb56545f1393fde8e0d109c2fe96f) + +The thing with Equity Total Return Swaps is that it's a type of derivative that, essentially, allows naked shorting. It's not an uncommon derivative either - it's a very popular instrument used by Hedge Funds which has blown up in popularity over the past decade. + +There's actually a term for this type of exposure. And it'll probably piss you off. It's called a "synthetic prime brokerage" because of how you're borrowing the prime broker's benefits. + +[ https:\/\/www.hedgeweek.com\/2005\/09\/08\/equity-swaps-alternative-trading-equities](https://preview.redd.it/fry8cqhxzej71.png?width=856&format=png&auto=webp&s=95041fc94556d1ae86d6dffcddc8f2b5cc6bbe0c) + +The way that it allows naked shorting is because the Hedge Fund "borrows" prime brokerage privileges through the swap. **The Hedge Fund is not short on its balance sheet but they are effectively short through the exposure of the derivative**. The counterparty of the swap is the one who is short the underlying. But, because the broker dealer can short for the sake of liquidity, **they do not need to report short interest on the stock by internalizing the orders and selling against their own "inventory".** + +Reg Sho must have pissed them off how they couldn't "legally" naked short - so they went off and created a new derivative so the game could continue on. + +The Hedge Funds can enter into many of these swaps and get short exposure to the stock without directly shorting it. They can enter into **tons** of these swaps and create tons of synthetic shares without ever worrying about the short interest being reported. + +Sneak attack! Any stock could have an actual SI% which is well over 100% and it isn't even reported! + +This doesn't come without risk however. The liability of locating the share for the short position is now on the counterparty rather than the Hedge Fund. + +But if you know of a few stocks which retail doesn't care about and are bankruptcy jackpots, you can abuse the hell out of the Equity Total Return Swaps. Churning away that synthetic share machine. + +Unless of course, one stock (GME) gets overexposed with **reported** SI and causes a short squeeze play where retail and institutions pile into the stock. + +What happens from the start: + +1. The Hedge Fund opens a Equity Total Return Swap with a counterparty. +2. The counterparty is the one with the short position on their balance sheet. SI is not reported due to broker dealer privileges. +3. The Hedge Fund gets returns if the stock goes down. +4. The Hedge Fund will go under if the stock shoots up in price too much. They're not short on their balance sheet but they are short the swap. +5. If the Counterparty did not hedge the position, the counterparty is on the hook to buy up shares that were shorted. +6. If Equity Total Return Swaps were abused to add too many synthetics to the share pool, and a short squeeze play occurs, the counterparty is **absolutely** fucked. + +# 2. Portfolio Swaps and "Meme" Stocks + +Something fun you can do beyond an Equity Total Return Swap is something called a "Portfolio Swap". Which is basically a basket of Equity Total Return Swaps. Read the below and think of how all the "meme stocks" move in tandem: + +[ https:\/\/www.investment-and-finance.net\/derivatives\/p\/portfolio-swap](https://preview.redd.it/ts1rr5kzzej71.png?width=1014&format=png&auto=webp&s=a2cbe08d27fb53604bd3cc832154333febd5b97b) + +There's a basket of "meme" stocks that move in tandem, signaling that some counterparty (or counterparties) are on the hook for a ton of swaps and that these "meme" stocks are most likely shorted as a basket through Equity Total Return Swaps. + +Here's a sample of just a few stocks and how their prices are quite related. GME, AMC, KOSS, BBBY, EXPR: + +[ GME, AMC, KOSS, BBBY, EXPR](https://preview.redd.it/342a50w00fj71.png?width=2428&format=png&auto=webp&s=bfb7ecef36fd6e7a6131279ba0ea3973ec764a5c) + +The prevailing theory is there's a massive amount of Portfolio Swaps against these meme stocks, where so many entities can be pulled under if these squeezes occur. + +Hmm. + +Why is BoA closing locations and why are they lit up like a Christmas tree every night? + +Why are other banks and Citadel doing those night shifts all the time? + +Because if they are on the other end of these swap trades which were abused to create short squeeze plays across the market, then they are **screwed**. + +Which means many meme stocks can be decent squeeze plays. Because if the SHFs go down (and consequently the counterparties of the swap trades), then they liquidate all positions and buy back the short positions on these stocks. Many stocks can have massive short interest that is hidden through the swap derivatives. + +But in my opinion, **GameStop is the backbone to it all** because it had an alleged reported SI% of 226% in January. Note that the 226% was **reported** SI. **The shorts from the swaps are unreported.** + +GameStop had a massive reported SI. So it was, and is, the most overexposed short position of the SHFs. Melvin and other SHFs got cocky and shorted the stock directly rather than entering into swaps because it's a more profitable bet. They exposed themselves to the world - significantly - and here we are. + +Rest In Peace, Dumbass(es). + +That all being said, the swaps are just one part of the picture. The stocks are being shorted and have been shorted through 'synthetic prime broker' derivatives. + +**WHAT** is driving the price spikes every quarter? That's how I dove into futures. Because having an understanding of **why** the prices move every quarter and fitting the price movements with swaps gives you complete Zen mode. You can go out and enjoy life instead of watching the ticker 24/7 knowing that all the puzzle pieces fit together. + +# 3. Future Roll Dates; Loss Of Hedging The Swaps Causes Quarterly Squeezes + +I made a post about futures roll dates because they oddly lined up with the price surges: + +[https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/p37osl/are\_futures\_or\_swaps\_the\_secret\_sauce\_to\_price/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/p37osl/are_futures_or_swaps_the_secret_sauce_to_price/) + +With futures Roll date deadlines of: + +|Futures Expiration Date|Deadline of Futures Rolling| +|:-|:-| +|March 19th|March 11th| +|June 18th|June 10th| +|September 17th|September 9th| +|December 17th|December 9th| + +These deadlines I'd refer to as the end of "volatility" because all futures must be rolled by this date. Once the roll period ends, the quarterly squeezes end. + +The settlements of the swaps is also around these quarterly dates. So, there's a wombo combo around the "Quad Witching Days" of March 19th, June 18th, September 17th, and December 17th. This wombo combo of the futures roll period and swap settlement forces them to hedge their swaps by buying the underlying stocks. + +Because the counterparties don't want to buy-in the shares to hedge their position for the Equity Total Return Swaps, the counterparties instead hedge the swaps with other derivatives. + +And from the following, they could be using futures (maybe even forwards) to hedge risk against these swaps: + +[https://www.clarusft.com/the-imm-roll-for-swaps-what-is-it-and-what-are-the-volumes/](https://www.clarusft.com/the-imm-roll-for-swaps-what-is-it-and-what-are-the-volumes/) + +These futures can't protect them year-round, because the future/forward contracts **require** the underlying asset to be bought or sold unlike options if they go to expiration. + +To avoid the forced purchase/sell of the underlying asset, futures can be settled for cash or rolled forward to a later expiration date before a specific deadline date called the "Roll Date". + +In the case of settling the futures, they are settled prior to the "First Notice Day". The "First Notice Day" is the third business day prior to the start of the month that the contract expires in. They settle **before this date** to avoid physical settlement. Which gives: + +|Futures Expiration Date|Dates Futures Are Settled (On or before this day)| +|:-|:-| +|March 19th|February 23rd| +|June 18th|May 25th| +|September 17th|August 26th| +|December 17th|November 24th| + +But once they settle the futures, it leaves their swaps exposed to the volatility of the upcoming futures expirations and during the roll period until the deadlines of March 11th, June 10th, September 9th, December 9th. Their hedge against the swaps is practically gone, and they are forced to start buying-in the stocks to go delta neutral: + +>... (3) In effect, **the cash-settlement of the first future removes all risk of this contract, and traders are left with the risk from the underlying swaps that were hedged by this expiring contract.**...Of most importance during this process is managing the effect of (3). This is the so-called “Stub” position that a trader is running – a position that is almost unhedgeable and certainly very difficult to manage. **This is because all liquidity is concentrated in the first futures contract – such that hedging any risk that settles before the expiry of this front contract is virtually impossible.** + +This ends up creating the following time periods where the counterparties must hedge by buying the underlying stock and driving gamma squeezes across the meme stocks: + +|Squeeze Start (First Notice Day)|Squeeze End (Futures Roll Date Deadline)| +|:-|:-| +|February 23rd|March 11th| +|May 25th|June 10th| +|August 26th|September 9th| +|November 24th|December 9th| + +They're not only putting the SHFs at risk by driving the prices, but putting **themselves** at risk because if the SHFs go under then they have to buy up the short positions anyway due to being the bagholders. Which then brings the entire set of dominoes down. + +Trading is a tough game . Don't you think? + +**HUGE Note:** The cycles are getting more violent each time. This cycle **could be** the MOASS. And with everything lining up for September being a crackdown of margin requirements + a possible market crash, you may lose **big time** if you try to day trade. Not to mention selling shares hurts the squeeze plays. + +**Other Note:** The cycles don't necessarily have to start on these dates. The futures can be settled at any date prior to the "First Notice Day", causing a loss of hedging against the swaps at an earlier date. Today's run could have been for an entirely different reason such as T+2 settlement from August monthlies. But in my opinion, I'd say this run is due to the lack of hedging because they have fewer DOOMPs to hedge with. I'll discuss the DOOMPs later on. + +Gamma Neutral spikes during these squeeze events, as provided by /u/yelyah2 or as I say "hell yah 2". The first ape who ever helped me out when I started researching. She inspired me from the get-go. + +Stealing a chart from /u/yelyah2, "Gamma Neutral" has spiked above $10,000 in the previous March and June runs, signaling that indeed a hedging problem occurs to drive the price runs: + +[ https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Superstonk\/comments\/pasn91\/190\_maximum\_gme\_gamma\_point\/](https://preview.redd.it/cmfw8ud30fj71.png?width=1135&format=png&auto=webp&s=7e4864c268bb17b8c3e042e4266158ae4eff7dd8) + +From /u/yelyah2's post explaining the spike of Gamma Neutral: + +>Gamma Neutral (GN) and Gamma Maximum (GM) - This helps identify **momentum. The GN** represents the underlying price that would create a total market gamma of 0 across all GME options (all expiration dates) for a given date, whereas the GM represents the underlying price that would create the maximum gamma across the market. +> +>In general, a sudden increase in gamma indicates a sharp upward in momentum that continues until that gamma drops. +> +>The GM seems to act like a ceiling, but fun things happen when the underlying crossing that threshold! + +And right now, gamma girl is seeing evidence of their bullish signals flashing for another quarterly price run - lining up with the futures roll period and the quarterly patterns as identified by other apes such as /u/pwnwtfbbq and /u/Minimal_Effort_73. + +I know many other apes have identified the quarterly runs as well. I'm very sorry if I did not mention you. The two apes above are the main posts I have been tagged in, so I know them off the top of my head! It's so difficult to remember all of the posts over the past few months. + +Putting it all together based on the futures roll period and loss of hedging against the swaps results in the following chart. The green shaded area is not arbitrary. It is the period between the "First Notice Day" and the "Futures Rollover Deadline". It's scary how closely it lines up. And kablam - just as expected - it's getting ready to rocket off: + +[ Quarterly Price Movements And ETRSs](https://preview.redd.it/dljirbi50fj71.png?width=2435&format=png&auto=webp&s=0bc7787ac68fac52d80ec34a12d73edd69bee41a) + +# 4. ITM CALLs; SI% Dropped From 226% In January - Where'd It Go? + +Bringing up these charts from /u/broccaaa that you've probably seen a million times now, an anomaly of ITM CALLs appeared in great numbers in January, February, and March: + +[ \/u\/broccaaa Suspicious ITM CALLs](https://preview.redd.it/fsi8lxw60fj71.png?width=1712&format=png&auto=webp&s=deb2b5b7991073a473a72981378ae95cc598a830) + +These ITM CALLs were bought and immediately exercised. Their OI never appeared on options data which leads us to conclude that they were exercised on the same day. Doing this transfers shares to the exerciser since the options are fully hedged against. + +The ITM CALLs were paired with an absolute ungodly amount of DOOMPs (Deep Out Of The Money PUTs), roughly 110 million shares worth, that have been untouched and allowed to expire worthless: + +[ \/u\/broccaaa GME Option Open Interest; PUTs and CALLs](https://preview.redd.it/blyxvbf80fj71.png?width=1716&format=png&auto=webp&s=42ccdec9a915e004e83d845a8a342c0ff32ad204) + +From [my post over here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/oc4f79/well_there_it_is_more_mathevidence_pointing_to/) I did some math and came up with the ITM CALLs and OTM PUTs lining up with roughly the amount of shares that SI% dropped by in January from 226% to 30%. Meaning that these were most likely used to hide SI%: + +[ Rough Calculation of SI Dropping Based On ITM CALLs](https://preview.redd.it/grxh4pl90fj71.png?width=2030&format=png&auto=webp&s=c485f03b8cfd21d489495c9717384ebd5dd9dc9e) + +But wait... [the SEC document](https://www.sec.gov/about/offices/ocie/options-trading-risk-alert.pdf) describes these anomalies as a "Buy-Write Trades" to reset failure to delivers? + +If a failure to deliver is reset, it won't pull the SI% away because the short is still on the shorter's balance sheet. On top of this - the failure to deliver would cause another failure a few days later. So if it was used for a FTD reset then we should have seen these anomalies of ITM CALLs non-stop, which we did not. + +Likewise, we did not see nearly enough FTDs at the time to justify this many buy-write trades. + +So what happened? + +My friend "Assets" on Discord described that the ITM CALLs could have been used as a pure risk-swap of the short position from the SHFs to fake-out to the world that the shorts have been closed. /u/quiquealfa also kept hammering this theory my way. And yep, sure as hell makes sense. + +What happens is that Citadel (or another counterparty) pulls the short position from the SHFs books by giving them synthetics to cover with through the ITM CALLs, and then they enter into Equity Total Return Swaps to reposition their portfolio so that they're still effectively short the stock. + +**Reposition**? + +Hmmm? + +[ https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-gamestop-melvin\/hedge-fund-melvin-capital-has-closed-gamestop-position-spokesman-idUSKBN29X0EN](https://preview.redd.it/ovjp9h0b0fj71.png?width=908&format=png&auto=webp&s=c2ab0828cf012915425aea0277859293ceb789d0) + +Legally speaking... they're not lying. + +I do believe that Melvin closed their original short position (directly shorting GameStop) but they're still effectively short through the exposure of Equity Total Return Swaps and that Citadel took the short position bag: + +1. Melvin and other SHFs buy up ITM CALLs with low OI so that the counterparties are guaranteed. +2. Melvin and other SHFs exercise the ITM CALLs to obtain synthetic shares from the counterparty (Citadel, Virtu). +3. Melvin and other SHFs deliver the shares to the clearing house to close out of their original short position. +4. By delivering synthetics through the ITM CALLs, the counterparty (Citadel, Virtu) is now net short the trade and must hedge the short position to avoid forced buy-ins. +5. Melvin and other SHFs open Equity Total Return Swaps with the counterparty to reposition their shorts and still have short exposure - only this time, the shorts aren't on their balance sheets. +6. Short Interest drops because it is no longer reported on the SHFs balance sheet. Rather, it's on the broker-dealers who have special privileges for the sake of liquidity. +7. Counterparties open up DOOMPs to hedge these synthetics/Equity Total Return Swaps. +8. If the stock goes up, the SHFs are still screwed because they are "short" through the derivative exposure. Citadel and Virtu are also screwed by taking on the bag. Why would they do this and take the risk? They probably already have bags with other Equity Total Return Swaps or are involved in them through their own Hedge Funds. + +And thus, it is a fake-out that the squeeze is "over". + +Sure. They "covered". With synthetics. But they went straight back into the short position through derivative exposure and the entire short position is even bigger than before because they doubled down. + +The anomaly in February, honestly, could have been them pulling the risk from Archegos if Archegos was indeed short GameStop. Pull them off of the table before they go under and **really** bring things down. + +And we can be pretty damn sure of this whole risk-swapping bullshit because of: + +* The mechanics around Equity Total Return Swaps hiding Short Interest +* The mechanics around Portfolio Swaps and how "meme" stocks move in tandem +* The "losses" of Melvin over the quarters from premium payments for the ETRSs. Seriously - how do you lose 54% in January, get 22% gains in February, and then go back to 54% losses in this bull market? +* The ITM CALL and OTM PUT anomalies +* The fact that futures/forwards/other derivatives can be used to hedge against Equity Total Return Swaps +* The quarterly price runs happening exactly around the time when derivative settlements occur and volatility is injected into the market, especially for swaps. + +Hey Shorties. Citadel. Virtu. Banks. You guys ever watch IT 2? 🖕**🐶**🖕 + +[ Not Scary At All](https://preview.redd.it/tv3rkipc0fj71.png?width=1908&format=png&auto=webp&s=18d6a4876d280bdfc583f4f83eb23b10d91cdeb5) + +# 5. OTM PUTs (DOOMPs) Hedged The Swaps/Shorts; Each Cycle is More Explosive + +To leave you, I have a theory for the OTM PUTs that were opened in January. The near 1.1 million OI worth, or 110 million shares worth. + +This can be even **more** tit jacking for you guys. + +From the following study: [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326471260\_What\_Drives\_the\_Price\_Convergence\_between\_Credit\_Default\_Swap\_and\_Put\_Option\_New\_Evidence](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326471260_What_Drives_the_Price_Convergence_between_Credit_Default_Swap_and_Put_Option_New_Evidence) + +There's statistical evidence of DOOMPs (very low DOOMPs, in our case <$5 strike) being used to hedge against swaps and short positions. This paper discusses Credit Default Swaps (CDS) but, Equity Return Swaps are roughly equivalent in structure and can be applied here. + +[ What Drives the Price Convergence; Pg 9](https://preview.redd.it/1c5qeh8f0fj71.png?width=721&format=png&auto=webp&s=cf77c1c46616f8474d6e02021e81adb97f42e257) + +[ What Drives the Price Convergence; Pg 23](https://preview.redd.it/w420lzgf0fj71.png?width=724&format=png&auto=webp&s=4664041890372cf5a63d9971155c0a07411ce0b6) + +These DOOMPs are further described to hedge risk here if you want more fun reading: [https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/39665201.pdf](https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/39665201.pdf) + +>The common features amongst credit derivatives is their ability to transfer credit risk from one counterparty to another, and their payoff is materially affected by credit risk. + +When they pulled the (reported) short position from the SHFs balance sheets, the counterparties had to hedge against those additional shorts and (possibly) the new swaps. How to do so? Open up DOOMPs. The following is a chart that shows total PUT OI (not Deep OTM) but it is a great visual to see the PUT anomaly: + +[ \/u\/broccaaa GME Option Open Interest; PUTs and CALLs](https://preview.redd.it/vtj04ash0fj71.png?width=1716&format=png&auto=webp&s=a6b51839693e60048bdbfe94ad82096666a9c332) + +And by "DOOMP" this means **deep** out of the money PUTs. Like, bankruptcy-low bets. It's **impossible** that the stock would go this low. So rather, these were used as bankruptcy credit bets for the credit hedging. + +In the study, they state in their sample of hedging that the majority of DOOMPs are opened and mature within six months. They found roughly 77% of their sample did so: + +[ What Drives the Price Convergence; Pg 2](https://preview.redd.it/dxdymr3j0fj71.png?width=719&format=png&auto=webp&s=aaa820860740e19cd434b282e68b45f90d017146) + +It would be curious if 77% of the DOOMPs opened in January expired as of July 16th, right? + +/u/Quiquealfa did some quick maths regarding this. Because he's my goddamn quant (also my original source of the swap DD that I stole from). Guess what? He came up with \~76.5% DOOMPs (under $3.5 strike) that expired as of July 16, 2021. + +Looks pretty close, statistically, to a risk hedge for those shorts that they took on from the SHFs: + +[ \/u\/quiquealfa DOOMP Data - Expirations Within 6 Months](https://preview.redd.it/onj1inik0fj71.png?width=1453&format=png&auto=webp&s=58f4349f7baacaf7581e2165c44c9b00d43a9b40) + +If the culprit of the runups is hedging the swaps via buy-ins, then they were mostly protected for the March and June runs due to the DOOMPs. + +It was a slow runup in March and we didn't see the price boom until the final 3 days of the roll period. There were about 1,200,000 OTM PUTs (all strikes) during this time. Lots of hedging protection for the runup. + +But then June comes around, and it was a much more violent roll period. I believe Gamma Neutral started to spike more frequently here as well. I was expecting Gamma Neutral to spike around June 4th but /u/yelyah2 showed that it spiked two days earlier than expected. There were about 800,000 OTM PUTs during this time. The loss of PUTs made it harder to hedge during this runup. + +And here we are, days before the expected run to start, with the price starting to surge. It could be other underlying reasons but I think it's due to the additional loss of DOOMP hedging, as OTM PUT OI is now down to roughly 500,000. + +Here's /u/broccaaa's chart, once again, for a visual of what I mean. It has arrows pointing roughly to when the price runs occurred. I shittily drew in what the OI for PUTs is as of today. You can see that the majority of their hedging through the DOOMPs is **gone** and has been decrementing for each quarterly sneeze: + +[ \/u\/broccaaa's Chart Extended](https://preview.redd.it/ybnvmhyl0fj71.png?width=2298&format=png&auto=webp&s=9733213bd1100e51574a4cc59b75d0fa40ffa420) + +It's quite frightening that the price is already above $200 and it hasn't even hit "First Notice Day". + +Maybe there's an even **MORE** violent squeeze coming due to lack of hedging with the DOOMPs. + +Guess we'll just have to wait and see. + +[ Quarterly Price Movements Compared](https://preview.redd.it/6og6cdon0fj71.png?width=2438&format=png&auto=webp&s=514c9850ff0f32cd7ea2d3ed439f4cd15dcb78f1) + +Much love. May MOASS come soon. 😎 +# 0. Preface + +I am not a financial advisor and I am not providing you financial advice. + +I know that many, MANY people have looked into swaps, equity swaps, total return swaps, and so forth over the months. There's quite a few DDs on the matter! I either never saw the posts or did not dig into them until lately. So please know that the Equity Total Return Swap stuff is **not** my original theory. I've just tried to expand on it to fit the pieces together. The price movements, the Deep OTM PUTs (DOOMPs), ITM CALLs, and where Short Interest went. Which I'll discuss here. + +I'm stealing this image from u/Chucry. Really sorry - I love the picture too much. + +[ \/u\/Chucry pup](https://preview.redd.it/nztuwxstzej71.png?width=1596&format=png&auto=webp&s=6c036251c00072a7400a7cd4ceaecfd1d65d0c22) + +[https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/p5rxo0/exclusive\_footage\_of\_ucriand/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/p5rxo0/exclusive_footage_of_ucriand/) + +# 1. Equity Total Return Swaps - Hidden Short Interest + +[/u/quiquealfa](https://www.reddit.com/u/quiquealfa/) described their theory about Equity Swaps being the main culprit in the meme stock price movements to me. So we started digging into the theory. + +I was googling in a chain about Credit Default Swaps that led me to Equity Default Swaps which led me to 'Synthetic Prime Brokerages' which then led to Total Return Swaps, which finally led me to this post: + +[https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/ojh2eh/ultimate\_wargame\_theory\_the\_beginning\_total/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/ojh2eh/ultimate_wargame_theory_the_beginning_total/) + +Which I think is so amazing. It discusses Total Return Swaps and all of the players who may be involved in this "meme stock" situation. As u/Blanderson_Snooper calls them - the "Voltron Fund". This isn't just Melvin Capital and a few other SHFs being short. It's likely to be a massive amount of SHFs and SFOs around the world that abused naked shorting on a basket of stocks, putting not just the SHFs and SFOs at risk but the market makers and banks at risk as well. + +Basically, they're all fucked if these stocks squeeze. The SHFs. The SFOs. The Market Makers. The Banks. All of them involved. + +[ https:\/\/www.investopedia.com\/terms\/t\/totalreturnswap.asp](https://preview.redd.it/0q8bjzzvzej71.png?width=768&format=png&auto=webp&s=cd83ff1f210cb56545f1393fde8e0d109c2fe96f) + +The thing with Equity Total Return Swaps is that it's a type of derivative that, essentially, allows naked shorting. It's not an uncommon derivative either - it's a very popular instrument used by Hedge Funds which has blown up in popularity over the past decade. + +There's actually a term for this type of exposure. And it'll probably piss you off. It's called a "synthetic prime brokerage" because of how you're borrowing the prime broker's benefits. + +[ https:\/\/www.hedgeweek.com\/2005\/09\/08\/equity-swaps-alternative-trading-equities](https://preview.redd.it/fry8cqhxzej71.png?width=856&format=png&auto=webp&s=95041fc94556d1ae86d6dffcddc8f2b5cc6bbe0c) + +The way that it allows naked shorting is because the Hedge Fund "borrows" prime brokerage privileges through the swap. **The Hedge Fund is not short on its balance sheet but they are effectively short through the exposure of the derivative**. The counterparty of the swap is the one who is short the underlying. But, because the broker dealer can short for the sake of liquidity, **they do not need to report short interest on the stock by internalizing the orders and selling against their own "inventory".** + +Reg Sho must have pissed them off how they couldn't "legally" naked short - so they went off and created a new derivative so the game could continue on. + +The Hedge Funds can enter into many of these swaps and get short exposure to the stock without directly shorting it. They can enter into **tons** of these swaps and create tons of synthetic shares without ever worrying about the short interest being reported. + +Sneak attack! Any stock could have an actual SI% which is well over 100% and it isn't even reported! + +This doesn't come without risk however. The liability of locating the share for the short position is now on the counterparty rather than the Hedge Fund. + +But if you know of a few stocks which retail doesn't care about and are bankruptcy jackpots, you can abuse the hell out of the Equity Total Return Swaps. Churning away that synthetic share machine. + +Unless of course, one stock (GME) gets overexposed with **reported** SI and causes a short squeeze play where retail and institutions pile into the stock. + +What happens from the start: + +1. The Hedge Fund opens a Equity Total Return Swap with a counterparty. +2. The counterparty is the one with the short position on their balance sheet. SI is not reported due to broker dealer privileges. +3. The Hedge Fund gets returns if the stock goes down. +4. The Hedge Fund will go under if the stock shoots up in price too much. They're not short on their balance sheet but they are short the swap. +5. If the Counterparty did not hedge the position, the counterparty is on the hook to buy up shares that were shorted. +6. If Equity Total Return Swaps were abused to add too many synthetics to the share pool, and a short squeeze play occurs, the counterparty is **absolutely** fucked. + +# 2. Portfolio Swaps and "Meme" Stocks + +Something fun you can do beyond an Equity Total Return Swap is something called a "Portfolio Swap". Which is basically a basket of Equity Total Return Swaps. Read the below and think of how all the "meme stocks" move in tandem: + +[ https:\/\/www.investment-and-finance.net\/derivatives\/p\/portfolio-swap](https://preview.redd.it/ts1rr5kzzej71.png?width=1014&format=png&auto=webp&s=a2cbe08d27fb53604bd3cc832154333febd5b97b) + +There's a basket of "meme" stocks that move in tandem, signaling that some counterparty (or counterparties) are on the hook for a ton of swaps and that these "meme" stocks are most likely shorted as a basket through Equity Total Return Swaps. + +Here's a sample of just a few stocks and how their prices are quite related. GME, AMC, KOSS, BBBY, EXPR: + +[ GME, AMC, KOSS, BBBY, EXPR](https://preview.redd.it/342a50w00fj71.png?width=2428&format=png&auto=webp&s=bfb7ecef36fd6e7a6131279ba0ea3973ec764a5c) + +The prevailing theory is there's a massive amount of Portfolio Swaps against these meme stocks, where so many entities can be pulled under if these squeezes occur. + +Hmm. + +Why is BoA closing locations and why are they lit up like a Christmas tree every night? + +Why are other banks and Citadel doing those night shifts all the time? + +Because if they are on the other end of these swap trades which were abused to create short squeeze plays across the market, then they are **screwed**. + +Which means many meme stocks can be decent squeeze plays. Because if the SHFs go down (and consequently the counterparties of the swap trades), then they liquidate all positions and buy back the short positions on these stocks. Many stocks can have massive short interest that is hidden through the swap derivatives. + +But in my opinion, **GameStop is the backbone to it all** because it had an alleged reported SI% of 226% in January. Note that the 226% was **reported** SI. **The shorts from the swaps are unreported.** + +GameStop had a massive reported SI. So it was, and is, the most overexposed short position of the SHFs. Melvin and other SHFs got cocky and shorted the stock directly rather than entering into swaps because it's a more profitable bet. They exposed themselves to the world - significantly - and here we are. + +Rest In Peace, Dumbass(es). + +That all being said, the swaps are just one part of the picture. The stocks are being shorted and have been shorted through 'synthetic prime broker' derivatives. + +**WHAT** is driving the price spikes every quarter? That's how I dove into futures. Because having an understanding of **why** the prices move every quarter and fitting the price movements with swaps gives you complete Zen mode. You can go out and enjoy life instead of watching the ticker 24/7 knowing that all the puzzle pieces fit together. + +# 3. Future Roll Dates; Loss Of Hedging The Swaps Causes Quarterly Squeezes + +I made a post about futures roll dates because they oddly lined up with the price surges: + +[https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/p37osl/are\_futures\_or\_swaps\_the\_secret\_sauce\_to\_price/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/p37osl/are_futures_or_swaps_the_secret_sauce_to_price/) + +With futures Roll date deadlines of: + +|Futures Expiration Date|Deadline of Futures Rolling| +|:-|:-| +|March 19th|March 11th| +|June 18th|June 10th| +|September 17th|September 9th| +|December 17th|December 9th| + +These deadlines I'd refer to as the end of "volatility" because all futures must be rolled by this date. Once the roll period ends, the quarterly squeezes end. + +The settlements of the swaps is also around these quarterly dates. So, there's a wombo combo around the "Quad Witching Days" of March 19th, June 18th, September 17th, and December 17th. This wombo combo of the futures roll period and swap settlement forces them to hedge their swaps by buying the underlying stocks. + +Because the counterparties don't want to buy-in the shares to hedge their position for the Equity Total Return Swaps, the counterparties instead hedge the swaps with other derivatives. + +And from the following, they could be using futures (maybe even forwards) to hedge risk against these swaps: + +[https://www.clarusft.com/the-imm-roll-for-swaps-what-is-it-and-what-are-the-volumes/](https://www.clarusft.com/the-imm-roll-for-swaps-what-is-it-and-what-are-the-volumes/) + +These futures can't protect them year-round, because the future/forward contracts **require** the underlying asset to be bought or sold unlike options if they go to expiration. + +To avoid the forced purchase/sell of the underlying asset, futures can be settled for cash or rolled forward to a later expiration date before a specific deadline date called the "Roll Date". + +In the case of settling the futures, they are settled prior to the "First Notice Day". The "First Notice Day" is the third business day prior to the start of the month that the contract expires in. They settle **before this date** to avoid physical settlement. Which gives: + +|Futures Expiration Date|Dates Futures Are Settled (On or before this day)| +|:-|:-| +|March 19th|February 23rd| +|June 18th|May 25th| +|September 17th|August 26th| +|December 17th|November 24th| + +But once they settle the futures, it leaves their swaps exposed to the volatility of the upcoming futures expirations and during the roll period until the deadlines of March 11th, June 10th, September 9th, December 9th. Their hedge against the swaps is practically gone, and they are forced to start buying-in the stocks to go delta neutral: + +>... (3) In effect, **the cash-settlement of the first future removes all risk of this contract, and traders are left with the risk from the underlying swaps that were hedged by this expiring contract.**...Of most importance during this process is managing the effect of (3). This is the so-called “Stub” position that a trader is running – a position that is almost unhedgeable and certainly very difficult to manage. **This is because all liquidity is concentrated in the first futures contract – such that hedging any risk that settles before the expiry of this front contract is virtually impossible.** + +This ends up creating the following time periods where the counterparties must hedge by buying the underlying stock and driving gamma squeezes across the meme stocks: + +|Squeeze Start (First Notice Day)|Squeeze End (Futures Roll Date Deadline)| +|:-|:-| +|February 23rd|March 11th| +|May 25th|June 10th| +|August 26th|September 9th| +|November 24th|December 9th| + +They're not only putting the SHFs at risk by driving the prices, but putting **themselves** at risk because if the SHFs go under then they have to buy up the short positions anyway due to being the bagholders. Which then brings the entire set of dominoes down. + +Trading is a tough game . Don't you think? + +**HUGE Note:** The cycles are getting more violent each time. This cycle **could be** the MOASS. And with everything lining up for September being a crackdown of margin requirements + a possible market crash, you may lose **big time** if you try to day trade. Not to mention selling shares hurts the squeeze plays. + +**Other Note:** The cycles don't necessarily have to start on these dates. The futures can be settled at any date prior to the "First Notice Day", causing a loss of hedging against the swaps at an earlier date. Today's run could have been for an entirely different reason such as T+2 settlement from August monthlies. But in my opinion, I'd say this run is due to the lack of hedging because they have fewer DOOMPs to hedge with. I'll discuss the DOOMPs later on. + +Gamma Neutral spikes during these squeeze events, as provided by /u/yelyah2 or as I say "hell yah 2". The first ape who ever helped me out when I started researching. She inspired me from the get-go. + +Stealing a chart from /u/yelyah2, "Gamma Neutral" has spiked above $10,000 in the previous March and June runs, signaling that indeed a hedging problem occurs to drive the price runs: + +[ https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Superstonk\/comments\/pasn91\/190\_maximum\_gme\_gamma\_point\/](https://preview.redd.it/cmfw8ud30fj71.png?width=1135&format=png&auto=webp&s=7e4864c268bb17b8c3e042e4266158ae4eff7dd8) + +From /u/yelyah2's post explaining the spike of Gamma Neutral: + +>Gamma Neutral (GN) and Gamma Maximum (GM) - This helps identify **momentum. The GN** represents the underlying price that would create a total market gamma of 0 across all GME options (all expiration dates) for a given date, whereas the GM represents the underlying price that would create the maximum gamma across the market. +> +>In general, a sudden increase in gamma indicates a sharp upward in momentum that continues until that gamma drops. +> +>The GM seems to act like a ceiling, but fun things happen when the underlying crossing that threshold! + +And right now, gamma girl is seeing evidence of their bullish signals flashing for another quarterly price run - lining up with the futures roll period and the quarterly patterns as identified by other apes such as /u/pwnwtfbbq and /u/Minimal_Effort_73. + +I know many other apes have identified the quarterly runs as well. I'm very sorry if I did not mention you. The two apes above are the main posts I have been tagged in, so I know them off the top of my head! It's so difficult to remember all of the posts over the past few months. + +Putting it all together based on the futures roll period and loss of hedging against the swaps results in the following chart. The green shaded area is not arbitrary. It is the period between the "First Notice Day" and the "Futures Rollover Deadline". It's scary how closely it lines up. And kablam - just as expected - it's getting ready to rocket off: + +[ Quarterly Price Movements And ETRSs](https://preview.redd.it/dljirbi50fj71.png?width=2435&format=png&auto=webp&s=0bc7787ac68fac52d80ec34a12d73edd69bee41a) + +# 4. ITM CALLs; SI% Dropped From 226% In January - Where'd It Go? + +Bringing up these charts from /u/broccaaa that you've probably seen a million times now, an anomaly of ITM CALLs appeared in great numbers in January, February, and March: + +[ \/u\/broccaaa Suspicious ITM CALLs](https://preview.redd.it/fsi8lxw60fj71.png?width=1712&format=png&auto=webp&s=deb2b5b7991073a473a72981378ae95cc598a830) + +These ITM CALLs were bought and immediately exercised. Their OI never appeared on options data which leads us to conclude that they were exercised on the same day. Doing this transfers shares to the exerciser since the options are fully hedged against. + +The ITM CALLs were paired with an absolute ungodly amount of DOOMPs (Deep Out Of The Money PUTs), roughly 110 million shares worth, that have been untouched and allowed to expire worthless: + +[ \/u\/broccaaa GME Option Open Interest; PUTs and CALLs](https://preview.redd.it/blyxvbf80fj71.png?width=1716&format=png&auto=webp&s=42ccdec9a915e004e83d845a8a342c0ff32ad204) + +From [my post over here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/oc4f79/well_there_it_is_more_mathevidence_pointing_to/) I did some math and came up with the ITM CALLs and OTM PUTs lining up with roughly the amount of shares that SI% dropped by in January from 226% to 30%. Meaning that these were most likely used to hide SI%: + +[ Rough Calculation of SI Dropping Based On ITM CALLs](https://preview.redd.it/grxh4pl90fj71.png?width=2030&format=png&auto=webp&s=c485f03b8cfd21d489495c9717384ebd5dd9dc9e) + +But wait... [the SEC document](https://www.sec.gov/about/offices/ocie/options-trading-risk-alert.pdf) describes these anomalies as a "Buy-Write Trades" to reset failure to delivers? + +If a failure to deliver is reset, it won't pull the SI% away because the short is still on the shorter's balance sheet. On top of this - the failure to deliver would cause another failure a few days later. So if it was used for a FTD reset then we should have seen these anomalies of ITM CALLs non-stop, which we did not. + +Likewise, we did not see nearly enough FTDs at the time to justify this many buy-write trades. + +So what happened? + +My friend "Assets" on Discord described that the ITM CALLs could have been used as a pure risk-swap of the short position from the SHFs to fake-out to the world that the shorts have been closed. /u/quiquealfa also kept hammering this theory my way. And yep, sure as hell makes sense. + +What happens is that Citadel (or another counterparty) pulls the short position from the SHFs books by giving them synthetics to cover with through the ITM CALLs, and then they enter into Equity Total Return Swaps to reposition their portfolio so that they're still effectively short the stock. + +**Reposition**? + +Hmmm? + +[ https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-gamestop-melvin\/hedge-fund-melvin-capital-has-closed-gamestop-position-spokesman-idUSKBN29X0EN](https://preview.redd.it/ovjp9h0b0fj71.png?width=908&format=png&auto=webp&s=c2ab0828cf012915425aea0277859293ceb789d0) + +Legally speaking... they're not lying. + +I do believe that Melvin closed their original short position (directly shorting GameStop) but they're still effectively short through the exposure of Equity Total Return Swaps and that Citadel took the short position bag: + +1. Melvin and other SHFs buy up ITM CALLs with low OI so that the counterparties are guaranteed. +2. Melvin and other SHFs exercise the ITM CALLs to obtain synthetic shares from the counterparty (Citadel, Virtu). +3. Melvin and other SHFs deliver the shares to the clearing house to close out of their original short position. +4. By delivering synthetics through the ITM CALLs, the counterparty (Citadel, Virtu) is now net short the trade and must hedge the short position to avoid forced buy-ins. +5. Melvin and other SHFs open Equity Total Return Swaps with the counterparty to reposition their shorts and still have short exposure - only this time, the shorts aren't on their balance sheets. +6. Short Interest drops because it is no longer reported on the SHFs balance sheet. Rather, it's on the broker-dealers who have special privileges for the sake of liquidity. +7. Counterparties open up DOOMPs to hedge these synthetics/Equity Total Return Swaps. +8. If the stock goes up, the SHFs are still screwed because they are "short" through the derivative exposure. Citadel and Virtu are also screwed by taking on the bag. Why would they do this and take the risk? They probably already have bags with other Equity Total Return Swaps or are involved in them through their own Hedge Funds. + +And thus, it is a fake-out that the squeeze is "over". + +Sure. They "covered". With synthetics. But they went straight back into the short position through derivative exposure and the entire short position is even bigger than before because they doubled down. + +The anomaly in February, honestly, could have been them pulling the risk from Archegos if Archegos was indeed short GameStop. Pull them off of the table before they go under and **really** bring things down. + +And we can be pretty damn sure of this whole risk-swapping bullshit because of: + +* The mechanics around Equity Total Return Swaps hiding Short Interest +* The mechanics around Portfolio Swaps and how "meme" stocks move in tandem +* The "losses" of Melvin over the quarters from premium payments for the ETRSs. Seriously - how do you lose 54% in January, get 22% gains in February, and then go back to 54% losses in this bull market? +* The ITM CALL and OTM PUT anomalies +* The fact that futures/forwards/other derivatives can be used to hedge against Equity Total Return Swaps +* The quarterly price runs happening exactly around the time when derivative settlements occur and volatility is injected into the market, especially for swaps. + +Hey Shorties. Citadel. Virtu. Banks. You guys ever watch IT 2? 🖕**🐶**🖕 + +[ Not Scary At All](https://preview.redd.it/tv3rkipc0fj71.png?width=1908&format=png&auto=webp&s=18d6a4876d280bdfc583f4f83eb23b10d91cdeb5) + +# 5. OTM PUTs (DOOMPs) Hedged The Swaps/Shorts; Each Cycle is More Explosive + +To leave you, I have a theory for the OTM PUTs that were opened in January. The near 1.1 million OI worth, or 110 million shares worth. + +This can be even **more** tit jacking for you guys. + +From the following study: [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326471260\_What\_Drives\_the\_Price\_Convergence\_between\_Credit\_Default\_Swap\_and\_Put\_Option\_New\_Evidence](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326471260_What_Drives_the_Price_Convergence_between_Credit_Default_Swap_and_Put_Option_New_Evidence) + +There's statistical evidence of DOOMPs (very low DOOMPs, in our case <$5 strike) being used to hedge against swaps and short positions. This paper discusses Credit Default Swaps (CDS) but, Equity Return Swaps are roughly equivalent in structure and can be applied here. + +[ What Drives the Price Convergence; Pg 9](https://preview.redd.it/1c5qeh8f0fj71.png?width=721&format=png&auto=webp&s=cf77c1c46616f8474d6e02021e81adb97f42e257) + +[ What Drives the Price Convergence; Pg 23](https://preview.redd.it/w420lzgf0fj71.png?width=724&format=png&auto=webp&s=4664041890372cf5a63d9971155c0a07411ce0b6) + +These DOOMPs are further described to hedge risk here if you want more fun reading: [https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/39665201.pdf](https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/39665201.pdf) + +>The common features amongst credit derivatives is their ability to transfer credit risk from one counterparty to another, and their payoff is materially affected by credit risk. + +When they pulled the (reported) short position from the SHFs balance sheets, the counterparties had to hedge against those additional shorts and (possibly) the new swaps. How to do so? Open up DOOMPs. The following is a chart that shows total PUT OI (not Deep OTM) but it is a great visual to see the PUT anomaly: + +[ \/u\/broccaaa GME Option Open Interest; PUTs and CALLs](https://preview.redd.it/vtj04ash0fj71.png?width=1716&format=png&auto=webp&s=a6b51839693e60048bdbfe94ad82096666a9c332) + +And by "DOOMP" this means **deep** out of the money PUTs. Like, bankruptcy-low bets. It's **impossible** that the stock would go this low. So rather, these were used as bankruptcy credit bets for the credit hedging. + +In the study, they state in their sample of hedging that the majority of DOOMPs are opened and mature within six months. They found roughly 77% of their sample did so: + +[ What Drives the Price Convergence; Pg 2](https://preview.redd.it/dxdymr3j0fj71.png?width=719&format=png&auto=webp&s=aaa820860740e19cd434b282e68b45f90d017146) + +It would be curious if 77% of the DOOMPs opened in January expired as of July 16th, right? + +/u/Quiquealfa did some quick maths regarding this. Because he's my goddamn quant (also my original source of the swap DD that I stole from). Guess what? He came up with \~76.5% DOOMPs (under $3.5 strike) that expired as of July 16, 2021. + +Looks pretty close, statistically, to a risk hedge for those shorts that they took on from the SHFs: + +[ \/u\/quiquealfa DOOMP Data - Expirations Within 6 Months](https://preview.redd.it/onj1inik0fj71.png?width=1453&format=png&auto=webp&s=58f4349f7baacaf7581e2165c44c9b00d43a9b40) + +If the culprit of the runups is hedging the swaps via buy-ins, then they were mostly protected for the March and June runs due to the DOOMPs. + +It was a slow runup in March and we didn't see the price boom until the final 3 days of the roll period. There were about 1,200,000 OTM PUTs (all strikes) during this time. Lots of hedging protection for the runup. + +But then June comes around, and it was a much more violent roll period. I believe Gamma Neutral started to spike more frequently here as well. I was expecting Gamma Neutral to spike around June 4th but /u/yelyah2 showed that it spiked two days earlier than expected. There were about 800,000 OTM PUTs during this time. The loss of PUTs made it harder to hedge during this runup. + +And here we are, days before the expected run to start, with the price starting to surge. It could be other underlying reasons but I think it's due to the additional loss of DOOMP hedging, as OTM PUT OI is now down to roughly 500,000. + +Here's /u/broccaaa's chart, once again, for a visual of what I mean. It has arrows pointing roughly to when the price runs occurred. I shittily drew in what the OI for PUTs is as of today. You can see that the majority of their hedging through the DOOMPs is **gone** and has been decrementing for each quarterly sneeze: + +[ \/u\/broccaaa's Chart Extended](https://preview.redd.it/ybnvmhyl0fj71.png?width=2298&format=png&auto=webp&s=9733213bd1100e51574a4cc59b75d0fa40ffa420) + +It's quite frightening that the price is already above $200 and it hasn't even hit "First Notice Day". + +Maybe there's an even **MORE** violent squeeze coming due to lack of hedging with the DOOMPs. + +Guess we'll just have to wait and see. + +[ Quarterly Price Movements Compared](https://preview.redd.it/6og6cdon0fj71.png?width=2438&format=png&auto=webp&s=514c9850ff0f32cd7ea2d3ed439f4cd15dcb78f1) + +Much love. May MOASS come soon. 😎 +If you feel you might be suicidal, and live in the United States, I urge you to call the Suicide Hotline at 800-273-8255 or navigate to http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ for a live chat and additional resources. + + If it's not an emergency, but you want to know more about mental health, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) offers information on their website https://www.nami.org/ and a free HELPLINE 800-950-6264. + + If you do not live in the United States please seek out local resources. /r/SuicideWatch has a list that may cover your country: /r/SuicideWatch/wiki/hotlines + +Let others know if you need any other guidance to people who help. + +--- + +**EDIT:** People from /r/all or those outoftheloop, here is what the market looks like this right now: https://i.imgur.com/ZmypTLd.png + +And Bitconnect has evaporated/exit scammed. + +--- + +**EDIT2: For those confused what happened,** here: https://np.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/7qvp08/whats_up_with_bitcoin_and_other_coins_dropping_so/dssiuai/?context=0 + +**How bad is it?** + +The hardest hit people are one of the following: Newcomers, Margin Traders, or Day-Traders (and those in Bitconnect) + +The vast majority of people who have held for more than 60+ days are still in green. +I decided to go out on a limb and post my (almost) FatFire story in the hopes that maybe it will encourage others who do not have family money, who are not in tech, and who do not have an ultra high wage job, and also so I can look back in a few years when I am finally ready to FatFire and post an update post. + + I am not here to say my exact results are replicable, but just one example of how I was able to put myself on a path towards fat-fire. I think every Fatfire story also has a bit of luck involved, and this was definitely true at points for me. + +A little bit of background, I am a 33F who grew up incredibly poor. My parents were drug addicts and physically and emotionally abusive. We regularly had eviction notices on our door and I slept in a one room apartment with three brothers, we rarely had clean clothes and never had enough food. I was always in the gifted program and while my brothers dropped out of school early on in life (6th grade or earlier), I absolutely loved school and would make sure I was there every day as my escape. I also would read non-stop anything I could possibly get my hands on and lived in the library to escape my home. + +After a really bad episode of physical abuse when I was 13, I moved out. I declared myself a homeschool student and because I had already taken several high school courses at that time (along with the SATs as part of a gifted program through Duke University), I was able to go right to college at 13 as a dual enrolled student. Unfortunately, living on my own and couch surfing and being put in adult situations, I ended up being a teenage mom at 16. Despite this hurdle, I worked at night as a waitress and went to college during the day, and graduated college at 18. At 19, I enrolled in law school and graduated law school at 22, while working full time. + +My fat-fire journey really began in 2015 when a friend married a physician and he had owned a medical practice, but wanted to relocate and sell the practice. The medical practice was barely making money after expenses, but they agreed to sell me the practice for no money upfront and to make bi-weekly payments on a seller note. After physician payments and the seller note, there was a little money leftover and the practice began to grow at a fairly good rate. + +However, at this point, I made big mistake #1, I let my dad manipulate me into letting him "manage" the practices since I lived out of state and had a family and full time legal job. He basically siphoned out all of the money in the practices, he would take 90%+ of the profit as a management "fee" and then threaten me if I ever cut him out that he would ruin the practices. At this point, the profits were about $1M per year (2019), and the prior seller note had been paid off. Despite this, he was over drafting checkbooks, and we even were unable to pay a large bill that came due for the practices ($80K) because nothing had been left in reserve. I let this happen because of many years of abuse and felt paralyzed. However, in 2019, I hired an attorney to try and mediate a way to get him out of the practices while not ruining them, and even offered a very generous annual salary to just walk away. He was infuriated. + +Mistake #2, I did this all while I was 9 months pregnant, and he knew I couldn't travel to the practices. He pretended like he was going to go along with everything, meanwhile he had convinced the physicians to leave with him and all the patients and start a competing practice. I had a feeling something was happening (while he was telling me everything was fine), so I had my friend who sold me the practices fly back to them and see what was going on. She walked in and called me and told me the practices had been completely cleared out and emptied. As soon as she told me this, I immediately went into labor. I called a locksmith and was giving him my credit card number to change the locks as I was in the middle of contractions. My baby was born 30 minutes later in my bathroom with just my husband and I there because I had no time to get medical assistance. + +At that point, I had just had a baby, no income, and medical practices with no patients and no physician. I started working 20 hour days immediately. I had to file suit to get access to my Comcast accounts that he changed all passwords on (for our phone systems) as well as our Electronic Health Records System. All I had to my name at this point was $40,000 in savings. I did however, own longterm medical practices, with all the required licensing in place. I immediately started recruiting for a physician, and contacting all of our patients (who had been told our practice was shutting down). Finally, after about 2 weeks, I got a physician to agree to come into this mess (probably because a hormonal new mom was crying into the phone begging, but he was honestly my savior at this time). + +I immediately drove the 12 hours to the clinic site in the middle of the night, for him to start the next day. All computers/printers/equipment/even the toilet paper had been taken out of the offices, so I had to bring my baby, my home computer, my home printer, and anything I could bring so I didn't have to buy it. I arrived at 6 am and started setting up for a 9 am opening, and I was frantic. That first day back we didn't even make enough money to pay the physician his daily contracted rate, but he said I could owe it to him. There is a lot more between this and the next parts, but to spare all the long details, suffice to say I was working 20 hour days with a newborn strapped to my chest in order to rebuild the practices. I lived away from my family and my husband and I slept on a couch of a friend with my baby because I had no where else I could afford. + +Also, important to note that while this was all going on, I went into survival mode. I looked at my husband and said "remember when we went axe throwing about 6 months ago, it was packed and overhead was low, I have no way to make money right now so we need to open up an axe throwing range immediately." This was stupid and crazy, I admit, but I had always thought about doing it because I evaluated the potential ROI, knew they were always busy, and it was a ton of fun. We did it during a date night several hours from our home and realized that our medium sized city didn't have a range within an hours distance. I immediately started sourcing locations and submitting zoning applications. I don't even know how I did it, but in three months, start to finish, we opened our small local axe throwing range for less than $25K. I had my baby in March and we opened July 4th weekend. All the while, I was working non-stop to re-open the practice. + +Finally, after about a year after the birth, I had recovered, not only had I recovered, I had done better than I ever had financially because there was no "manager" siphoning off the majority of profits. But to be honest, I was EXHAUSTED. I literally would cry every other week getting on flights to go back to the practice to make sure all was okay and manage the day-to-day details. I decided to sell my practice. I met a cool, young investor who seemed like a good guy, but only had enough money to purchase about 70% of the practice. I agreed, and put a management agreement in place whereby he would manage the day to day and I would be a passive owner and retain 30% of the profits. Based on my experience with "partners" this was a huge risk for me, but I couldn't continue to work non-stop and had to de-risk. He paid $1.7M for 70% of the practice. I held a seller note of about $500,000, and received the other $1.2M upfront. + +With my $1.2M, I started investing in real estate in 2020. I purchased an old historical building in a super popular area close to a major national park and invested about $200k in renovations. It had been sitting on the market for 3 years at that point and because of the state of disrepair I got an AMAZING deal, $500k (total investment about $700K). Additionally, in order to keep renovations on track I had to move up to the location for two months and jump in with construction, including working 18 hour days sun up to sun down to get it ready for rental, even tiling and grouting myself when progress lagged. + +Also important to note, that also because I was in survival mode, I started applying for legal positions, and landed an in house remote position that I held this whole time as well. I was on conference calls while grouting my bathroom, and when I wasn't working on the house, I was working my W2. + +After I finished the historical building and put it up for a vacation rental, I invested in 6 other properties last year, leveraging the money I had from the partial purchase of the medical practice, as well as the 30% cash flow, along with the money from the axe throwing range, and my w2 job. I made sure that if any one thing failed, I was never going to be in a position like that again, where I had no money and no way to pay my bills. I have made sure I have about 100 contingency plans, even if it would kill me. + +So, there is a LOT more to all the story, but I realize that if this gets too long, no one will read it anyways, here is where I am at now: + +\-Medical practice, 30% passive owner earning about $30k monthly + +\-Historical property, paid off, invested about $700K, currently worth about $2M, and earning about $150K annually in vacation rental income + +\-Beach vacation rental, purchased last June for $1.2 million, leveraged with a loan for $900K, after mortgage and expenses, profit is about $80K/annually (conservatively), additionally, the appreciation has been huge, the same property a few houses up just went on the market for $2.4M, realistically, I think it would sell for $2M if listed today. + +\-5 long term rental townhouses, I purchased each one outright for between $105K and $125K, no loans, and they earn about $60,000 profit annually + +\-Axe throwing range, we are currently in the middle of a large expansion, but conservatively earning about $150k/annually + +\- I am still working as in house corporate counsel, I make about $170K annually after bonus + += Total annual income, about $970K + +Assets: + +\- 30% passive ownership, I value this at $0 when calculating my net worth, I am too worried about it disappearing one day + +\-$500K seller note, expected to be accelerated and paid off in full this year + +\-$600K stocks + +\-Approx. $1.8M for historical home after selling costs + +\-Approx. $1M for beach house after mortgage and expenses + +\-5 townhomes at about $130K each, about $650K total + +\-Axe throwing range, $0, bringing profit but no tangible assets + +\-Primary home, bought before the market went crazy, and did a full house renovation, total equity about $1M but calculate this as $0 in net worth as well. + +\-$100K cash, and $60K in retirement + += Total NW $4,710,000 + +This is after having only $40,000 in savings in 2019 and not having a job or any income at that point. + +With all of this said, I am exhausted. I feel like I aged 10 years in the last three years. I can't let go of any of the jobs, or investments, or businesses because I am terrified of not only what happened in 2019, but also because it brought up all of the insecurity of my childhood and not having food or a place to live. I don't know when I will "Fat Fire" or what it will look like. I do hope to give up the W2 at some point, but right now its my safety blanket. I am expanding the axe throwing range, and always looking at additional real estate investment. My passion is home design and renovation, I love bringing things back to life and showing other people my vision for homes they thought were totally beyond saving. I hope that one day that can be my focus, but right now, I find myself getting more cold feet when jumping into opportunities. When I had nothing to lose, I was taking risks left and right, I am definitely finding myself more hesitant to risk-take. Hopefully something to evaluate and overcome in the future. Also a future fat-fire goal, summer in Italy and learn Italian, we will see how that pans out. + +I was previously verified by mods, but happy to verify anything I can, because I know this has been a crazy journey. I can't give any sage advice just yet, I am still in my own process, but I hope this story gave some encouragement to others when things in their fat-fire journey have gotten tough. Also, in case anyone is wondering, my baby I had when I was 16, is an amazing honor student, champion wrestler, and is currently 17 now and headed off to college where he wants to study pre-med and become an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine physician. My #1 goal in life was to raise my kids in a totally different environment from the one I had growing up, and the thing I am most proud of is being able to break the cycle (and if anyone is wondering, I haven't spoken with my dad since that day in March 2019, and this is definitely one of the best things to come out of what I went through). +"Further, they propose to increase the inclusion rate on capital gains tax to 75 per cent. That would be a big increase from 50 per cent at present. + +Singh’s plans to soak the rich reflect his obvious disdain for the wealthy." + +[https://epaper.nationalpost.com/national-post-latest-edition/20210826/281741272510483](https://epaper.nationalpost.com/national-post-latest-edition/20210826/281741272510483) + +[https://www.investmentexecutive.com/news/industry-news/ndp-pledges-to-raise-top-marginal-tax-rate-capital-gains-inclusion-rate/](https://www.investmentexecutive.com/news/industry-news/ndp-pledges-to-raise-top-marginal-tax-rate-capital-gains-inclusion-rate/) + +Hopefully such an increase will be phased in over time (ie. several years)! +⬆️ EverRise - $RISE | Launching EverOwn dApp to change the DeFi space Forever | Introducing the EverRise Ecosystem | September 8th + +&#x200B; + +⬆️ EverRise ($RISE): [https://www.everrisecoin.com](https://www.everrisecoin.com) + +&#x200B; + +🌐 EverRise Ecosystem: [https://www.everrise.com](https://www.everrise.com) + +&#x200B; + +EverRise, the original buy-back hyper-deflationary token. EverRise is becoming the new standard of security in DeFi, starting with the BSC space and soon ETH. + +&#x200B; + +We are back here to remember our first steps, and also to celebrate the launch of our first dApp, EverOwn, the first dApp ever to introduce Community Contract Ownership in the crypto space. + +&#x200B; + +September 8th is the date - 1:00 PM EDT is the time. EverOwn dApp will be launched and we will be doing a live event to renounce the EverRise contract to EverOwn. + +&#x200B; + +If you want to assist at this historical moment in crypto, join us now, don’t hesitate to, because there’s things in life that only happen one time. + +&#x200B; + +With EverRise, we all $RISE together. + +&#x200B; + +👉 Telegram: [https://t.me/everriseofficial](https://t.me/everriseofficial) + +&#x200B; + +⬆️ \*\*EVERRISE ($RISE)\*\*⬆️ + +&#x200B; + +EverRise is establishing the new standard of DeFi tokenomics with its innovative Buyback system and game changing use-cases. + +&#x200B; + +On the EverRise protocol, $RISE tokens are bought back from the market, resulting in an immediate effect on the price. These repurchased tokens are then instantly burned, permanently removing them from the circulating supply. + +&#x200B; + +Once the $RISE tokens are bought back, the new BNB amount is added to the liquidity pool and the $RISE tokens bought are immediately burned. This creates a true burn and guarantees the price per token will increase every time a buyback is activated. + +The Strategic Buyback feature is deployed at specific moments to create stable floor prices during downward market trends, chart manipulation, or whale dumps. + +&#x200B; + +Holders are additionally "auto-staked" instantly receiving 2% of the transaction volume and you can watch your wallet grow in real-time. + +&#x200B; + +💎 THE EVERRISE ECOSYSTEM 💎 + +&#x200B; + +EverRise’s game-changing ecosystem and EverRise dApps will bring a true revolution to the cryptocurrency space. + +&#x200B; + +Our dApps: EverOwn, EverWallet, EverSwap, EverLock and EverSale will solve key problems in the crypto industry and will bring a new dimension in personal and project security for crypto. + +&#x200B; + +A relevant percentage of the revenue from the dApps will be used to support $RISE and its community, giving both revenue to the Buyback Reserves and directly to holders via token reflections. + +&#x200B; + +📄 TOKENOMICS AND PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY 📄 + +&#x200B; + +The EverRise contract is coded to collect 11% in fees from all transactions (buys, sells and transfers), to be dedicated into the following: + +&#x200B; + +\* 6% for strategic buyback funds + +&#x200B; + +\* 2% as commission to holders (rewards through reflection) + +&#x200B; + +\* 3% contribution to project sustainability: enhancements, operations and marketing + +&#x200B; + +✅ ACHIEVEMENTS ✅ + +&#x200B; + +\* CoinPayments integration for payments on Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce + +\* MyCryptoCheckout integration for payments on Wordpress Sites + +\* Listed on CMC, CoinGecko & Blockfolio + +\* 80K+ Holders + +\* 33K+ Members on Telegram + +\* $29m+ Market Cap + +\* 4K BNB ($2M USD) Strategic Buyback Funds + +\* 21,5K BNB used in Strategic buy-back burns (26.1%) + +&#x200B; + +🔐 SECURITY 🔐 + +&#x200B; + +\* Dev & Core Team Doxxed + +\* Contract to be Renounced with EverOwn on September 8th + +\* Liquidly locked for 1 year + +\* Code audited by Certik ([https://www.certik.org/projects/everrise](https://www.certik.org/projects/everrise)) + +\* Dev wallets locked until January 2022 + +&#x200B; + +💰 MARKETING 💰 + +&#x200B; + +\* Big marketing wallet for non-stop promotion + +\* DAVID GOKHSHTEIN joined the Core Team as Branding Consultant + +\* Luna PR as agency of record + +\* Targeted Ad campaigns on social media and DeFi platforms + +\* Full fledged press, media & influencer campaign + +\* NY and London Billboards + +&#x200B; + +🔼 NEXT STEPS 🔼 + +&#x200B; + +\* Launching EverOwn dApp - September 8th + +\* EverRise to become a registered company + +\* Upcoming interviews and AMAs with relevant leaders in the crypto + +\* dApp EverLock (Liquidly locking) + +\* dApp EverSale (Pre-sales) + +\* dApp EverWallet (Wallet) + +&#x200B; + +✍️ Contract: 0xc7d43f2b51f44f09fbb8a691a0451e8ffcf36c0a + Q4 2018 +Application release and back office consolidation +Q1 2019 +Blockchain integration throughout the platform +Q2 2019 +Integration of XDT tokens throughout the application +Q4 2019 +Marketplace deployment and its interface +Q1 2020 +Integration of an exchange platform within the system +Q2 2020 +Collection optimization +Extension to the collection of all physical data +Q3 2020 +Enhancement of the marketplace +Full automatization of the marketplace data licensing +Q4 2020 +Member to member interaction functionality +Q1 2021 +Merchants interactions solution +Artificial int + +johnbosco aghaonu, \[28.06.18 17:49\] +elligence +Q2 2021 +Extension of the marketplace to future solutions +Q3 2021 +App enhancement to additional functionalities +***Context***: About a month ago, I [*posted in this sub*](https://www.reddit.com/r/realestateinvesting/comments/erjrqa/just_learned_tenant_was_laid_off_work/) *about my tenant losing his job and falling behind on rent. Responses to that post ran the gamut from "have a heart, you bastard" to "kick his ass out yesterday." When I see posts like that one, I usually wonder how the landlord actually handled it, and what the outcome was. I'm here with an update, which is by no means me telling you what to do. It's simply how I chose to proceed and the results.* + +After my previous post, I called Mr. Tenant and asked him if I could buy him a beer. He agreed to meet me at a local bar. I filled out and printed a Notice to Quit, leaving the date blank, and brought it along with me. + +I started by thanking him for meeting me and explaining that I'm not trying to be a jerk, but this is a business and my livelihood. I asked about his job prospects and whether he had considered finding another place to move, since my rental was too expensive for him to handle comfortably. He shared that he had just completed a second interview and hoped to hear back in a couple days. Additionally, his girlfriend had also accepted a new position. Their income prospects were looking up. He also told me that he was now getting joint custody of kids, after a bitter divorce from last year, so they would need more space. I offered to help with the search, because I know other landlords around town. + +He told me that he and his girlfriend should have paychecks in the next 2-3 weeks, and that he would pay as much as he could when those came in. Additionally, they expected tax returns by the end of February, and would pay everything current, including late fees. + +I decided to give this a chance to work. I explained the Notice to Quit to him, and I wrote in 2/15/20 as the date I would begin the eviction process, if he had not paid at least a full month's rent (he was past due for Jan and Feb). He agreed, signed the document, and thanked me for working with him. + +The next day, I called around to see if any of my contacts had a 3-bed house available. One did, so I explained the situation to him. He is more comfortable dealing with the "edge cases," so he agreed to let them move in, once they had proven they could get current with me. We set the tentative move date for 3/15. Mr. Tenant texted me to confirm he had been hired at the new job. + +Two weeks later, I got a payment for January rent + late fees! Today, I got the remaining payment for February rent + late fees and an unpaid pet fee!! They're now paid completely current, and they're going to be moving into a less-expensive 3-bedroom house just down the street. I'm so happy with the way things turned out. I recognize that I took additional risk by being patient with them, but it has definitely paid off in more ways than one. + +**TL/DR - I decided to be patient and work with a tenant, who had fallen on hard times, and was two months behind on rent. The situation worked out well for everybody, and I've now been paid in full.** +I read a lot of posts asking about surviving or at least building a financially smart life on a 'meagre' 60k wage. I earn about 30k as a social worker and do alright. I mean I have to manage spending of course, but I'm not in trouble or anything, and seem to be able to use advice here as well. But I'm just wondering: is this mainly a sub for the more wealthy? +Isn’t the stock market mostly an indicator of how well corporations are doing? If they are doing well than why is the stock market falling at unprecedented rates? +**The gears are in motion. Strap in for the ride.** + +The last 24 hours we’ve seen **parabolic growth** from $HAPPY. Despite Pancake swap migrations causing a stir (Use Bogged swap for the best buy price) Happy is still making **huge gains.** Many people thought HappyCoin was moving sluggishly for the past 2 weeks... **the paper hands left** and what remained a few days ago was an incredible project at an undervalued marketcap, and **a solid community with 30,000 holders..** The fundamentals were all setup to **launch happy into the stratosphere.** + + +**The fully doxxed founder** has laid the foundations [(easy how to buy page)](https://thehappycoin.co/buy) A-List influencers, 24/7 support on their website) to prepare for a **HUGE** marketing push, and as a result the price is up 600% in just over 24 hours with way more fuel left in the tank. **This week alone there’s going to be a CoinMarketCap listing, WhiteBit marketing push, Certik audit, merch, 2nd centralized exchange announcement, and a huge influencer marketing + community push for mental health awareness week..** Which is solidifying HAPPY as a token with **staying power.** + + +Here’s the juicy news.. **The fully doxxed HappyCoin founder is flying out to LA this Sunday for a month.** Yep, you heard that right. It looks like they’ve already locked Jesse Wellens (10m + youtube subs), who is best friends with **Casey Neistat.** The devs can’t help but leak easter eggs. + + +When all is said and done, **$HAPPY** has all the makings of a token and brand designed for mainstream success. With a huge liquidity pool, and a community that stuck with it through thick and thin, I have a feeling by the end of this week, this market cap will look like a speck on the chart. **I’m bullish as ever on this one. I won’t be surprised to see it at $1B+ by June.** + +Check out their site, watch the AMA’s, meet the dev, and you’ll be just as sold as me. Stay $HAPPY friends :) + + + +🌐 Website: https://www.thehappycoin.co/ +💸Bogged Swap (still uses pancakeswap, just way easier 😊): https://bogged.finance/swap?token=0xb0b924c4a31b7d4581a7f78f57cee1e65736be1d +Good morning San Diago, + +I am Rensole, + +Do you smell that? pass that! + +\*insert flashy intro card\* + +&#x200B; + +https://preview.redd.it/fyovn831fau61.png?width=680&format=png&auto=webp&s=8553a0769e002c1296f071c3d82c800d627be4c9 + +As always none of this is financial advice, just a typewriter ape + +# Yolo with Domo + +[https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mtnian/official\_ama\_justin\_dopierala\_founder\_and/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mtnian/official_ama_justin_dopierala_founder_and/) + +today at 4:20 + +# DFV FUD + +Ok let's start with the obvious one in the room, I've seen loads of people/new accounts say DFV sold. + +No he didn't, why? he is a value investor, he sees deeper fucking value in a company, and it would be stupid to put this much in and pull out BEFORE the transformation of the company is over. + +So the argument of him having pulled out is nonsensical. + +He will at one day though because doing a stock market is to make money, but don't expect any value investor to stop halfway through. + +https://preview.redd.it/5kk3rbmifau61.jpg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4cf73fc2a0b5c982c876d63b2bb74503aa6aee70 + +# Twitcher offered a 1000 to lie, lied yo + +People were quick to jump on this but the dude who said he was offered a 1000 bucks to post bad shit about GME was lying, again be sceptical even if it feeds into your bias. + +the post got removed, as the person himself confirmed later that it was fake. + +&#x200B; + +https://preview.redd.it/4kbktjbbgau61.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=7ef84f21d959c5958fa231405c0e792d7cba35c0 + +# Team for the man with a plan + +[https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2021-68](https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2021-68) + +Gary named his initial team, give it a read and know who you'll be working with. + +Again yes I know the SEC had been lacks to say the least, but again I believe that this guy can bring big changes. + +Also a brief overview of the recent filings. + +[https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/msh5mt/a\_brief\_overview\_of\_recent\_filings\_from\_the\_dtc/gv61tmd/?context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/msh5mt/a_brief_overview_of_recent_filings_from_the_dtc/gv61tmd/?context=3) + +https://preview.redd.it/mqdfevbqgau61.jpg?width=660&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ab21c159ab44463e5619d180050424f89c26daf8 + +# MacD + +good thread about MacD + +[https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mu5m16/macd\_on\_gme\_is\_showing\_bullish\_signs/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=ios\_app&utm\_name=iossmf](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mu5m16/macd_on_gme_is_showing_bullish_signs/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) + +&#x200B; + +[Not sure if the correlation is caustation](https://preview.redd.it/pkf3emfliau61.png?width=828&format=png&auto=webp&s=bf929a22cad13a01a95537f3c0dc3f79c9536117) + +# 60% of the time time it works a 100% of the time + +6 out of 7 of the biggest american banks have made a statement in the past week. + +Give it a decent read. + +[https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mu8a5m/6\_out\_of\_the\_7\_top\_listed\_us\_banks\_have\_made/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=ios\_app&utm\_name=iossmf](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mu8a5m/6_out_of_the_7_top_listed_us_banks_have_made/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) + +hmmm [https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mty87p/domino\_effect\_drumroll\_whos\_next/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=ios\_app&utm\_name=iossmf](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mty87p/domino_effect_drumroll_whos_next/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) ?? + +&#x200B; + +&#x200B; + +https://preview.redd.it/1szuo8pciau61.png?width=380&format=png&auto=webp&s=b73f21d1d0237d18640fe4c5909596714ede6ffb + +# They're watching + +[https://www.reddit.com/r/GME/comments/mu6a4n/psa\_remember\_hfs\_are\_watching\_us\_dont\_give\_them/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=ios\_app&utm\_name=iossmf](https://www.reddit.com/r/GME/comments/mu6a4n/psa_remember_hfs_are_watching_us_dont_give_them/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) + +So as that thread stipulates they are watching us, I mean I would if I were them. look at all the free data we offer them + +but we are doing the same + +[https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mug1th/citadels\_late\_night\_google\_searches/gv6d1x4/?context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mug1th/citadels_late_night_google_searches/gv6d1x4/?context=3) + +Again not sure how accurate those google results are but interesting none the less. + +&#x200B; + +Can't stop won't stop + +[https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mu6y3m/𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽\_𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲\_𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺\_𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱\_𝗼𝗳\_𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀\_𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mu6y3m/𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽_𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲_𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺_𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱_𝗼𝗳_𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀_𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) + +NEW GAMESTOP + +&#x200B; + +&#x200B; + +https://preview.redd.it/g69yaf7klau61.png?width=256&format=png&auto=webp&s=02221009c8b259515a07195b05ed338aa95a76e6 + +So at this point you might think "ok Rennie, it's missing it's OOMPH today", and you're right I've been focussing on something else, yesterday I got pulled aside by some friends and how r/superstonk is looking right now and I had to take a good hard look at the sub and the mentality we hold. + +And I personally didn't like some of the stuff I've seen, people who are trying to help are getting called shill because they come with lower numbers, people who want to help and immediately getting kicked to the side as shill, this is not what I want guys. + +Again we need to keep our head straight and look at every possible scenario. + +**None of this is financial advice, but I do feel people should examine their risk/rewards.** + +I know many of us will jerk react to what I am about to say and think it is FUD, but I feel it is something we need to explore as the MOASS is impending. There are several things that you need to know when it comes to extremely high market volatility. Selling isn't as easy as pressing "sell at market" and expecting the number you "sold at" to appear in your brokerage account. When trading in extremely volatile conditions, like the upcoming squeeze, it's important to know exactly HOW to exit your position and not fall victim to these traps. + +**I know that the DD on this sub is good but in trading nothing is a 100% guaranteed** + +This is not meant as FUD in any way, but rather to get everyone to think about their own positions and what they want to do, and how they want to do it. also if possible to get people talking and have different conversations so people make an educated estimation/decision of what they want and how they want it. + +**This is a personal choice for everyone, so listen to your own logic, reasoning and research.** + +I've seen a lot of people talk of 100 million is a "sure thing", I'm sorry I know you all like this but I want everybody to be grounded for this. + +The statistical probability this will even reach 1 million is an anomaly, I'm not saying it won't happen I'm saying in my personal opinion I don't expect to reach that level. Yes I know the memes of 1 million and everything, but let's be honest there is a high likelihood that before that happens the government would step in, the nasdaq would stop trading or something else can happen. + +We do not know how far it will go. + +And just as much the [gmefloor.com](https://gmefloor.com/) thing, please realise it's a meme. + +The thing is with a short squeeze it is impossible to know how high it can, or will go to or how long it will last, I've seen people post it would be minutes, I've seen others post that it will be days. One thing I do have to say is that I rethought my own exit strategy, it used to be "catching the falling knife" but it has changed as I think it would be closer to catching a falling piano. + +so this leads me to my other point. + +Everyone here should evaluate **their own** Risk vs reward situation. + +And at the same time I'd ask you to be realistic, no one knows what will happen and anyone telling you that ANY price is a 100% is wrong. We can have all the specific indications for a Moass/squeeze but we don't know what will happen. + +So in order for people to make a well educated decisions on their own stock they should ask themselves some questions. + +1. how much money do I want to make with this stock +2. how high can it go? +3. how much can I afford to lose? (for example if the stock goes back down at some point) + +\^ these are important questions that people need to ask themselves and act on them. + +An exit strategy for me is covering my initial cost of investing at a "lower hanging fruit" number, when it squeezes, as it's more likely I'll cover that point, from that point on I can let it ride to higher numbers and be sure I'm playing with the house's money. (this means lowering exposure and still have a possibility of reward). + +&#x200B; + +**Everyone should think on his own how he or she wants to exit.** + +There is no perfect plan, unless you're DFV and you're the time traveler. + +But let's look at a few different versions of exit strategies. + +https://preview.redd.it/nqyzxkxamau61.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=d25af6b3270d19faee5f0df3b85b26a310c92223 + +**"The Tiered exit"** + +One I've heard a lot about is a "tiered exit" a tiered exit is putting everything in tiersfor example: + +15@ 10 + +10 @ 15 + +20@ 20 + +etc etc, this depends fully on how you want to place this and what you think is a logical step, this could be at 5000, a 10000 or any number whatsoever. **(remember I'm giving examples, I'm not setting numbers for you to follow).** + +Another exit strategy is + +https://preview.redd.it/utw7mkazlau61.png?width=1600&format=png&auto=webp&s=e26c4adbe667c2dc006505bd33b2b48b9d1bf91c + +**"The value investor"** + +This is what DFV did, he saw an opportunity with a company and invested on a number he thought the company would be low, but he will ride this to a certain set point for him and either cash out then, or do so in layers like in the tiered exit. + +This means he said to himself X number is low, I want to have Y number for returns etc etc, this is also called the long play. + +or how he got his name, seeking deeper value in things and seeing them before others do. + +But even DFV has a number set in his head where he want's to take profit. + +&#x200B; + +https://preview.redd.it/m43dw07umau61.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=203f6be178ae92085ab49f0637408639f185276f + +Another would be + +"**the mixer"** + +The mixer is a simple concept of my own tbh, just take a bit from the **Tiered exit,** a bit off the **Value Investor**. + +You can choose to get some of your initial investment out at a certain point, have another part you want to leave with that company, and a part you'll sell at a higher point. + +Or any mix you'd like, remember this is fully up to you and up to your own risk assessment. + +Some examples of other exit strategies: + +[https://www.netpicks.com/trading-exits-vital/](https://www.netpicks.com/trading-exits-vital/) + +[https://www.investopedia.com/articles/active-trading/020915/mustknow-simple-effective-exit-trading-strategies.asp](https://www.investopedia.com/articles/active-trading/020915/mustknow-simple-effective-exit-trading-strategies.asp) + +[https://www.ig.com/en/trading-strategies/trading-exit-strategies--a-complete-guide-for-traders-210208](https://www.ig.com/en/trading-strategies/trading-exit-strategies--a-complete-guide-for-traders-210208) + +[https://www.jumpstarttrading.com/trading-exit-strategies/](https://www.jumpstarttrading.com/trading-exit-strategies/) + +There are loads of exit strategies out there, but be sure to research what is best for **YOU!** (seriously google is a thing people, use it, do your own DD and your own legwork). + +Again I don't question the DD at all, I do however think people here need to take a good hard look at their risk/reward system and at reasonable numbers, I personally don't think 10m is something that can happen, again I could be a 100% wrong and if it does hell I'll be just as excited as everyone else, I just think the chance of happening is low to none. + +What I am saying is what I've said before, you should not risk more than you are comfortable with. + +&#x200B; + +https://preview.redd.it/cdkr5x32nau61.png?width=462&format=png&auto=webp&s=cd02d4b9b9033840c294dd16a73f3ee0bec89cf0 + +Now something else I want to touch on. + +You have to realise that yeah sure it's all fun and games checking out all those buildings and what's going on in them, but what if we have one idiot in here that's mentally unstable?what if they think it's ok to go there and he hurts someone or worse? + +Seriously everyone have a sense of decorum. + +Do not under any circumstances pester the personal that works there, as these are still people who just have a job, you may not agree with what they have done but that's what the courts are for. + +we need to stay on our best behavior always, because we are better than they are. I want everyone to be logical and decent here, and everyone here does his or her own part in that. + +So I'm asking you please, PLEASE guys chill, we are in what people can say is a "high stress" situation, and tempers can run high. + +Don't call people SHILL because you don't agree with them, I've said before go into conversation with them and you may be able to learn why they think a certain way.If it's logic then you can learn, if it's a troll you'll notice soon enough.But don't kneejerk react that everyone who disagrees is wrong. + +&#x200B; + +https://preview.redd.it/oxpvu1oooau61.png?width=554&format=png&auto=webp&s=ca6e9670df6055dbb33a60d9ada07412f85bd0d4 + +# EXCELLENT! + +Be friendly, help others! + +as always we are here from all different walks of life and all different countries. + +This doesn't matter as we are all apes in here, and apes are friends. + +Doesn't matter if you're a silverback a chimp or a bonobo. + +We help each other, we care for each other. + +**Ape don't fight ape, apes help other apes** + +this helps us weed out the shills really fast, as if everyone is helpful, the ones who aren't stand out. + +remember the fundamentals of this company are great, so for the love of god if someone starts with trying to spread FUD, remind yourself of the fundamentals. + +There is no sense of urgency, this will come when it comes, be a week, be it a month be it six. + +We don't care, just be nice and lets make this community as Excellent as we can! + +Remember one of the only ways to counter the Cointelpro we have seen is by being overly nice, so treat all the other apes as if you're dating and you wanna get to first base. + +&#x200B; + +https://preview.redd.it/lsyole5roau61.png?width=400&format=png&auto=webp&s=0f21c9bcfa23dfac3fc0b600741e9fdd2021973f + +Remember none of this is financial advice, I'm so retarded I'm not allowed to go to the zoo 'cause they'll put me in the cage with the rest of my ape brothers. + +If anything happens throughout the day I will be adding it here. + +backups: + +[https://gmebackup.tumblr.com/](https://gmebackup.tumblr.com/) + +[https://twitter.com/rensole](https://twitter.com/rensole) + +[https://twitter.com/HeyItsPixel1](https://twitter.com/HeyItsPixel1) + +[https://twitter.com/warden\_elite](https://twitter.com/warden_elite) + +[https://twitter.com/RedChessQueen99](https://twitter.com/RedChessQueen99) + +And I'll be posting updates as they happen here: +&#x200B; + +https://preview.redd.it/yyqfv0thufq71.jpg?width=1568&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5bdf185ad893ded06ed7f32f2cdb64f25560c3d8 + +(Edit) Note: US IPs are experiencing this across the board, while Euro IPs are reporting they are not. + +TLDR; For the last several days Go0gle has stopped associating (auto filling) the word perjury with Ken Griff1n when searching (try it yourself). Virtually every other name you search (including 'random name' and 'mickey mouse' will complete the word perjury when you start to type it. DRS is the way. + +======= + +A couple days ago [I posted about this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/pwm32v/the_social_dilemma_a_case_study_into_evidence/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3), and it was lost in the noise. Since this is still actively happening, I felt it was worth bringing it to light again so more people can see the lengths K3n will go to to protect himself. You think when you search Go0gle (or any other search engine), you're receiving an unbiased view of the internet, free from manipulation, and that hasn't been massaged based on monetary incentives. You think you live in a world of free information flow on the internet. + +Guess who else is being protected... + +https://preview.redd.it/mgwojerqxfq71.jpg?width=1585&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6570c54f9038fa667d365b0c04e3abb999e56e1d + +Recommend watching the following documentaries on this topic to learn more about what's going on with your internet searching: + +The Creepy Line (Amaz0n Prime) + +The Social Dilemma (N3tflix) + +&#x200B; + +Please let me know what other names associated with this mess are hiding from the public through this subtle yet blatant search manipulation. + +&#x200B; + +# DRS is the way. + +&#x200B; + +Edit: It brings a smile to my face to imagine a Google analyst deep in he bowels of Alphabet HQs getting a pop-up notification of a **trending search** that hits their blacklist *'Ken Griffin + perjury'* and wondering "Hm... what's this?" thinking to himself *'why did thousands of IPs from all over the globe just now search this?'*, as he took off his Google hat for a second, placing it slowly down on his desk, he clicks the disable button on the "don't show Griffin + perjury news" (camera pans to the side of this noble character... to reveal an Ape riding a rocket to the moon tattoo (one of us, can be heard chanting in the background as the scene cuts to Ken's trial)... likely there is no analyst like this, but one can dream. The movie deserves it... if I were the one writing :D + +Edit 2: Worth noting. This post is at 98% upvoted (at 7.5k votes) at 11:03am EST and I've added the phrase "DRS is the way." in two places. I'm curious to see if that upvote diminishes with this phrase being included. I will report back later. + +Edit 3: Checking back in... 30 minutes later. This post is now 94% upvoted (at 11.1k votes). I'm an engineer, so I think I can do this math, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong (I assume upvotes cancel downvotes in the total represented)... in that case a drop from 98% (at 7.5K upvotes and 150 downvotes = 7.65k total at edit 2 above) to now 94% (11.1k upvotes and 667 downvotes = 11.7k total as of this edit) means the last 4.1k voting between edit 2 and this edit required 517 (or 667-150 = 517) downvotes to bring the average to 94% on the total upvote of 11.1k as of now. + +So... + +After the words "DRS is the way" were added to this post. The percentage of downvoting increased from 2% (150 of the first 7.65k) to 12.6% (517 of the last 4.1k votes) to make the total 94% upvotes at 11.1k upvoted (as of the time of this edit). + +or... if I'm being fair in considering alternative explanations... it's possible that being at the top of the sub brings a lot more "this isn't directly about what I want to see... so I'll downvote" sentiment. That said, the post was at the top for a good 30 minutes prior to edit 2 above and was fluctuating between 98-99% since it started. So I see this as unlikely to be the main contributing factor to the uptick in downvoting here. + +Just providing the data and some thoughts of my own. I'll let others draw their own conclusions. + +Edit 4: Looks like my edit 3 section included the name of the sub triggering the automod to remove this post. I'm hoping it can be fixed. I've edited that part to read "the sub" instead of the name. + +Edit 5: It's back up. Thanks mods, appreciate you. + +Edit 6: Searching the term now brings you directly to this post. + +"Fate it seems is not without a sense of irony." + +https://preview.redd.it/sunfzznwygq71.png?width=2125&format=png&auto=webp&s=f38d9b7a482e60226b0e6a528cb0f172ced486c4 + +Edit 7 (1:45pm EST): continued analysis of the voting ratio... current upvote total is 22.1k with 91% upvoted (continuing to fall and approach the 12% rate we've seen since edit 2 above). This means there are a total of approximately 1,989 downvotes as of now. From previous points of reference we know that 150 of the first 7.65k were downvotes (2%). From Edit 3 we know that about 517 downvotes (12.6%) came with the next 3,600 upvotes (the time between edit 2 and 3). Since edit 3 another 11,000 upvotes have been registered along with approximately 1,322 downvotes (1989 - 150 - 517) which represents 12.02% downvoting since the last recording at edit 3. + +**The downvoting percentage has been holding steady at 12%** since edit #3 and after the words "DRS is the way" were added to this post. + +To summarize. This post saw the front page here about an hour after it was posted. It made it to the top post by the 90 minute mark. At the 2 hour mark I noticed the upvoting was steady between 99-98%. During edit 2 (about 30 minutes after this post was at the top spot) I added "DRS is the way" to it in two places... after sitting at the 1-2% downvote mark the first 5k votes, the post drastically changed to a consistent 12% downvote right after the mention of DRS was included. + +To me, this is proof that either approximately 1 in 8 apes dislike DRS enough to downvote posts that mention it, but not enough to comment about it under the post (I don't see many comments saying anything negative about DRS since I've added it), or the more simple conclusion might be that a network of accounts are downvoting DRS mentions. + +========== + +Edit 8: Since I was asked... here is the TLDR for the edits (downvoting analysis in real time; and how it relates to DRS mention)... + +TLDR edits; Before the mention of DRS being added to this post (second edit) the first 5k votes were 1-2% downvotes (I'd say 1.5% based on it fluctuating between the two at that time). Since I added "DRS is the way" to this post the downvoting has steadily been 12-13%. + +There is no explanation I can think of to explain this sudden change from consistent 1.5% downvote to suddenly a 12% downvote... other than to point to the obvious conclusion that: + +# a network of bot accounts are downvoting posts that mention DRS. +The new car is on avg. $40,000, and the homes people buy are usually way above their pay grade. I see people making minimum wage buying a PS5 and fast food and unlimited data, etc. I make alright money and am frugal, no debt, and still I'm struggling to plan for kids, a home, and retirement. Is everyone just in massive debt? Is this sustainable or will it cause another crash? +How do I get one of these $150k per year jobs? + +I've been busting my ass for years for way less and feel lucky to make $80k. + +But then I come here and everyone talks about earning hundreds of thousands per year like it's no big deal. + +I'm 33/M with a master's degree, veteran. Live in MCOL USA. + +What am I doing wrong? +To buy, simply visit the MicroPets dApp at [https://pets.micropets.io](https://pets.micropets.io) and click the “2D NFTs” menu item. + +Each 2D NFT is just .25 BNB and will be used to fund incredible initiatives that support the growth of MicroPets. There are ONLY 10,000 available! + +🚀 Major Centralized Exchange (CEX) listings + +🌏 Metaverse development + +💝 When 50% of the NFT’s are sold, MicroPets will donate $100K to charity! + +💥 When fully sold out, $100K will be given to a random winner during a livestream in addition to $50k split between 10 random winners ($5k each). To be eligible, the winners must hold at least 1 MicroPets 2D NFT and NOT have any sells of PETS tokens in their wallet from Dec 11, 2021 9pm EST / 2 AM UTC until the winner is drawn! + +🚀 Each .25 BNB purchase is an entry into the $150K giveaway. + +To add further utility and value to the MicroPets 2D NFT’s, we’ve just actioned a brand new feature with our development team! + +Wallets that hold a 2D NFT will be Whitelisted to receive early access to new crate launches, such as Season 2. + +🔥 Aside from utility within the future Metaverse expansion, this drives real utility much earlier, further increasing the value in the short-term of these 2D NFT’s. + +Season 2 may be coming sooner than you think! 😎 + +&#x200B; + +Thank you, + +The MicroPets Team + +&#x200B; + +Website: [micropets.io](https://micropets.io) + +dApp: [pets.micropets.io](https://pets.micropets.io) + +Telegram: [https://t.me/MicroPets](https://t.me/MicroPets) + +2D NFTS: [https://pets.micropets.io/twodmint](https://pets.micropets.io/twodmint) +I'm sure I'll be downvoted to oblivion, but $180k is a very low tier to start taking half of earnings. + +The $180k top bracket hasn't changed in over a decade. House prices, wages, cost of living has gone up substantially since '09. + +The median salary has gone up 30% since '09, so we should see all tax brackets adjusted $235k should be the new top bracket. + +To be clear, I'm no just advocating for the top bracket increase but when you're talking about 1/2 being taken, it's no wonder we see so many trying to minimise tax through less productive ways (negative gearing/trusts etc) + +(Yes, I get how progressive tax brackets work...) +Would a group of new grads who just graduated from college with Bachelor's degrees in Economics do a fairly good job at running the Federal Reserve, or would they most likely lead the country to economic ruin given the amount of knowledge that their degree has taught them? + +Let's say this is their first job and they are tasked with running the Federal Reserve and creating U.S. federal economic policy. + +I'm curious as to what necessary on-the-job training in economics you all felt like you acquired that you did not learn in school that would be necessary in government positions like this. +No stamp duty. + +Flexibility to move around to pursue better job opportunities. + +The chance to experience multiple different lifestyles, suburbs, restaurants, parks, other local highlights. + +Move overseas for a while. See a bit of the world. + +Invest in shares, pump up your super, take advantage of compounding. + +Live in multiple parts of Australia; go on road trips to highlights in each state. + +Equity Builder for leverage if you desire. + +Dealing with landlords? Yeah, but no dealing with tenants. + +No maintenance costs. + +Live in a nicer place than a mortgage would cost. + +More friends, in more places. + +Invest in businesses, not unproductive assets; be a more useful member of society. + +End up in a place with screaming neighbours? No worries, move in 6 months at no real cost. + +You are not a "failure" as a renter. The narrative needs to change for us to progress as a country. + +Edit: it seems some people are taking this the wrong way. **This is not saying "renting is BETTER than buying"**. It is for the people who are down on themselves/depressed that they can't scrape together a deposit - or choose not to - and have people looking down on them for it for no real reason when there are actually *multiple* positive aspects to renting. +When the stock market crashed in 2000, it took 12 years for the S&P index to recover all its losses for a **net gain of 0%**. + +However, the cash dividends from one's running balance in the S&P index **grew by 80.5%** (not by 0%) from 1999 to 2012, growing at an annualized rate of 5.04%. See [S&P gains & dividends table from 1940-2020](https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-1ee44e88749a778947e5165f2d48d107). + +Why weren't cash dividends adversely affected by the stock market crash and the ensuing drawn out economic recession? + +IMPLICATIONS: [Can a retiree who draws dividends to cover 120% of living expenses **keep stock/bond allocations at 90/10 for life** (instead of 50/50) to let the stock assets (including future dividends) double in value every 7-9 years from $2M to $4M, $8M, $16M in another 21 years?](https://www.reddit.com/r/dividends/comments/nq3kuh/comment/h08y440?context=3) +Jokes aside, with everything that's being going on, we keep hearing about fuel,groceries,CO2 and a million other shortages, and then apparent housing crisis coming, evergrande(a huge Chinese real estate company, that if it collapses will effect the worlds stock market) on the brink of collapse apparently, etc etc. Its all doom and gloom. + +Does anyone think a crash is coming? + +If you think there is a crash coming, what will your strategy or plan be? + +Selling out soon, and buy back in during the crash? + +Just ride it out, time in the market beats timing the market? + +There is no crash coming, stop panicking and shut up? LOL + +The market has all things considered, performed well since March 2020, I personally believe cyclical stocks are going to perform tremendously when we finally break free from the limitations and worry of covid, but I worry(maybe a bit to much) that other factors are going to cause us issues. + +I say all this relatively light hearted and without trying to panic myself or cause panic, i keep hearing all these issues and wonder what the general consensus and thoughts of the community are. + +TIA for replies. + +_I feel like this is within the rules after reading them and seeing other post, I really dont want to get banned, I hope this is OK._ +At current time, should I hold my QQQ or sell part of it and switch to other value ETF like SPYD or DIA? Just the last year performance of QQQ is so good that I am afraid it will be lagging this year. +Welcome to the Community Discussion thread of r/EthTrader. + +This thread is a place for community meta discussion - to learn or make suggestions for how community members could be better served. Donuts are a welcome topic here as is non-donut related discussion. + +[Earn donuts for providing uniswap liquidity on the DONUT-ETH pair](https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/QmajDWDWim8r6muJP1DgFysEAiWVYFf5spw9itY5MgX24W): 100k donuts distributed each week. + +[How to register for Donuts](https://www.reddit.com/r/ethtrader/wiki/donuts/how_to_register) + +[Previous Community Discussion](/r/ethtrader/comments/hcjo38/community_discussion/). +I'm sorry for this rant, this might be common knowledge, but I've just wasted about 10 hours of my life trying to understand how private insurance works, do I need it, and finally, begrudgingly, trying to buy it. + +To start, I'm a doctor, new to Australia. I have 4ish years of experience providing health care in Australia, all in the public system. From my point of view, as a provider, the public system seems to work pretty well. I have almost no experience as a consumer, though my partner has a little bit more. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't even consider private health coverage. + +The existence of the medicare levy surcharge means people who earn over 90K (180K for couples) must consider it (i.e. me). Looking at plans, the most obvious thing to me is that 1) They are expensive 2) They don't seem to cover very much. + +Even the most expensive plans don't seem to offer a guarantee that you'll never pay out of pocket. So, even with private health insurance, if you're in a private hospital, you're *probably* going to be out of pocket. The breakdown seems to be this: The government sets out the recommended price for stuff in the MBS. If you go public, 100% is covered by the medicare. If you go private, medicare will cover 75% or 85% of the MBS. If you're covered for whatever thing you're accessing (and I couldn't find a plan that covered common things like scans or blood tests) then private health care will pay that 15% or 25% difference. If your private provider chooses to charge more than what's recommended on the MBS then you have to pay "the gap". Your insurer might cover some of the gap; they might cover all of the gap (expensive plans only); they might cover none of the gap (e.g. the specific provider is not covered by your insurer, even if you a fancy and expensive plan). + +I think a realistic example of this is: You have fancy insurance. You need an operation, it can wait a couple of weeks but not a couple of months. You decide to go private because you have fancy insurance. Your operation is covered, so is the 3 day hospital stay that follows. You intentionally choose to see a surgeon whose gap is covered by your insurer. But it turns out that your anaesthetist isn't covered, so you have to pay that gap out of pocket. So, in summary, you pay a lot of money for expensive insurance and you're still out of pocket. Alternatively, you go public, maybe (maybe not) wait a bit longer and pay nothing. (And I know there are plenty of anecdotes of the public health care letting people down; but there are plenty of anecdotes of the private system letting people down too.) + +And, to state the obvious, insurance companies exist to make money. That means on average over the course of your life, you will probably pay more to the company than you would have if you just paid for private care out of pocket. Also, I would like just say here that paying for "Extras" plans is probably always a money loser for you. + +I assume it's because private health insurers offer so little value for money, is the reason the government has stepped in to prop up the industry. + +* Carrot: [The government rebate](https://www.privatehealth.gov.au/health_insurance/surcharges_incentives/insurance_rebate.htm). A discount applied to policies based on age/income (subsidised by the Australian tax payer) +* Stick: [Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS)](https://www.privatehealth.gov.au/health_insurance/surcharges_incentives/medicare_levy.htm) A tax on high earners who don't have hospital coverage. (Extras don't matter) +* Stick: [The Lifetime Health Coverage (LHC) levy](https://www.privatehealth.gov.au/health_insurance/surcharges_incentives/lifetime_health_cover.htm) This very stupid policy is designed to scare young people (who are profitable for insurance companies) into buying insurance they don't need. It also acts as disincentive for older people (who are expensive for insurance companies) to buy insurance for the first time. This government policy is designed for the benefit of insurance companies at the expense of Australians and is very gross. That grossness aside, [it probably isn't a good reason to buy insurance you don't need.](https://www.choice.com.au/money/insurance/health/articles/how-to-pay-the-lifetime-health-cover-loading-and-save) + +So back to me. I'll have to pay the MLS if I don't buy insurance I don't want. So, it only makes sense to buy this if it's cheaper than the MLS I'll pay. In my experience of trying to buy the cheapest insurance possible, I found the language used by almost all websites were to encourage/scare you into buying expensive plans. Comparison sites are almost all run by the insurance companies. The government comparison tool is good, Choice is good (but their comparer is only available for paid subscribers). I found the cheapest plan that would cover me in my state (the policy was not available on the insurers website, but both Choice and the government said it was available). So I got on the phone, spoke with a sales rep. He tried to upsell me by telling me that while the cheap plan is good enough for the MLS, it's not good enough for the LHC and I should get a bronze plan (which is not true). + +To recap: I was lied to in order to buy a more expensive version of a product I don't need, but want to buy in order to save money because of policies enacted by the Australian government at the expensive of Australian tax payers to prop up an industry that doesn't provide value for money. + +Anyways, for anyone who read this far, thanks for reading this rant. + +So yeah +I heard that only a small fraction (like 7%) actually goes to social programs like food stamps and whatnot, while over 50% goes to military. Is this true? +Saturday I was at work at the grocery store. At the end of my shift my boss comes by and thanks me for helping him find mistakes in the inventory a bit earlier. I go along well with my boss, he's cool and jokes easily so I just go like "yeah you know I've become aware that this place can't function without me. My services are about to become more expensive, you pay me $7.50 but I'm more like a $9.00 employee". It was just a joke and I thought he would laugh it off but he goes "you know, you're not wrong, I'll think about it". An hour ago at the end of today's shift he told me that I would now be paid $9.25/hr. I really wasn't expecting it! As you can imagine I'm very happy about it, this is a big pay bump for me! So nice to see my hard work (and stupid jokes) recognized for once. +Burner account. 37 recently ex big law attorney who quit after hitting 10M liquid, and I feel like I’m on the top of the fucking hill after turning in my company laptop. + +I been practicing in an AM 50 firm for the last ten years. Saved a lot and invested wisely in stocks, options, crypto, futures, and was an OG eth and doge miner. I like practicing law but I made more this month through investments than big law paid me over the last five years. + +Head of my practice group called on the last day to offer a one time $25k forgivable loan that will be paid off if I stick it out another 2 years 😂 ##### please! Most hilarious part is that one of the boilerplate sections of the written offer even stipulates that my widow must return all $25k if I happen to die within the next 2 years 😂 😂 . + +I spent 10 years working 6-7 days a week protecting billions of profits for trillion dollar fortune 5 companies, making tens of millions for my away from the office bosses, and getting crumbs. Next Monday will be my first day as an attorney for the local pro bono organization that is dedicated to helping those who are too poor to pay for legal representation. My new salary is 30k a year (organization refused my offer to work for $1 due to legal reasons), which I intend to donate. +US airlines would not need the bailout if they didn't spend their recent enormous profits buying back stock. They could've set up emergency funds. They didn't. The money spent for the stock are gone. Now they are bailed out with taxpayers' money. Mismanagement squared times recklessness = our loss + +"American airlines has spent $12.9 billion over the last six years on its own stock. People are mad because $12.6 billion is what it cost to pay the employees' salaries for an entire year " + +[https://www.businessinsider.com/airline-stock-buybacks-versus-employee-compensation-2020-4](https://www.businessinsider.com/airline-stock-buybacks-versus-employee-compensation-2020-4) +**The gears are in motion. Strap in for the ride.** + +The last 24 hours we’ve seen **parabolic growth** from $HAPPY. Despite Pancake swap migrations causing a stir (Use Bogged swap for the best buy price) Happy is still making **huge gains.** Many people thought HappyCoin was moving sluggishly for the past 2 weeks... **the paper hands left** and what remained a few days ago was an incredible project at an undervalued marketcap, and **a solid community with 30,000 holders..** The fundamentals were all setup to **launch happy into the stratosphere.** + + +**The fully doxxed founder** has laid the foundations [(easy how to buy page)](https://thehappycoin.co/buy) A-List influencers, 24/7 support on their website) to prepare for a **HUGE** marketing push, and as a result the price is up 600% in just over 24 hours with way more fuel left in the tank. **This week alone there’s going to be a CoinMarketCap listing, WhiteBit marketing push, Certik audit, merch, 2nd centralized exchange announcement, and a huge influencer marketing + community push for mental health awareness week..** Which is solidifying HAPPY as a token with **staying power.** + + +Here’s the juicy news.. **The fully doxxed HappyCoin founder is flying out to LA this Sunday for a month.** Yep, you heard that right. It looks like they’ve already locked Jesse Wellens (10m + youtube subs), who is best friends with **Casey Neistat.** The devs can’t help but leak easter eggs. + + +When all is said and done, **$HAPPY** has all the makings of a token and brand designed for mainstream success. With a huge liquidity pool, and a community that stuck with it through thick and thin, I have a feeling by the end of this week, this market cap will look like a speck on the chart. **I’m bullish as ever on this one. I won’t be surprised to see it at $1B+ by June.** + +Check out their site, watch the AMA’s, meet the dev, and you’ll be just as sold as me. Stay $HAPPY friends :) + + + +🌐 Website: https://www.thehappycoin.co/ +💸Bogged Swap (still uses pancakeswap, just way easier 😊): https://bogged.finance/swap?token=0xb0b924c4a31b7d4581a7f78f57cee1e65736be1d +My friend is an economist who tries to stay updated with the latest economic news for his job. He mostly watches major news channels and tickers on TV. + +However, a lot of the media on major news networks is decidedly negative, sensational, biased, and not entirely accurate (usually by omission) and it is making him go insane. It is affecting his mental health, making him more afraid of our world, extremely depressed, and causing him to develop views that aren't accurately reflected in society. I really worry about him and wish he could be happier. + +There has got to be a better way to get up-to-date economic information. Do y'all have any ideas? +# The GameStop Reddit + +If you’re looking for the GameStop Reddit, you’ve come to the right place. r/superstonk is a one stop shop for all things GameStop. Financial news about GME, updates on GameStop Earnings, and discussions on the upcoming short squeeze. + +r/superstonk’s over 500,000 members have cemented this subreddit as the GameStop destination addressing questions like… + +- GameStop Stock manipulation? 👍🏽 + +- [What is Direct Registered Shares otherwise known as DRS?](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/ptvaka/when_you_wish_upon_a_star_a_complete_guide_to/?utm_source=share&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;utm_medium=ios_app&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;utm_name=iossmf) ✅ + +- What is ComputerShare? 💫 + +- Do I own my GameStop Shares? 🙋 + +- [The GameStop x Immutable Partnership](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/sjhi6f/gamestop_forms_partnership_with_immutable_x/?utm_source=share&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;utm_medium=ios_app&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;utm_name=iossmf) 🤝 + +- Was GameStop Stock Manipulated? 😡 + +- What are synthetic or phantom shares? 😶‍🌫️ + +- What is naked short selling? 😳 + +- Why is GameStops Stock Still High Reddit? 💨 + +- Why are Reddit users buying GameStop? 💰 + +- Is it Too Late to Buy GameStop? 👎🏼 + +Learn the story of GameStop Chairman Ryan Cohen, Keith Gill also known as DFV, and hedge fund manipulation to suppress the worlds best Gaming company. + +Dive deep into our GameStop Reddit r/superstonk and learn about the Immutable X partnership, NFT marketplace, and future of Gaming as we know it. Get a better understanding of how Loopring, Immutable, GameStop, and other potential mega partnerships are creating the next phase of human connectivity. + +## Information on GameStop 👈🏽 + +The answer lies inside of r/superstonk. Be sure to check out our [GME Daily Discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/spuz09/gme_daily_discussion_new_to_the_sub_start_here/?utm_source=share&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;utm_medium=ios_app&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;utm_name=iossmf), the [Beginners Guide to GME](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/njwv6n/the_gme_masters_guide_a_dd_campaign_for_apes/?utm_source=share&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;utm_medium=ios_app&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;utm_name=iossmf), and the [GameStop Due Diligence Library](https://fliphtml5.com/bookcase/kosyg) for more information on all the above. + +Start by exploring our subreddit’s “About” and “Menu” section. And If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to any 🦍 , we welcome all. + + +——————————- + +Don’t forget to Buy, Hold, DRS, and support the best company in the world. 💎 🙌🏽 + +This is not financial advice, I just like the stock. + +TLDR Read my comment + +Edit* [MOMMA WE MADE IT!](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/sq5our/we_did_it_stop_search_result_for_the_term_were/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) + +Edit* +I also eat crayons and paint water color paintings with my wee wee +I get it, a famous person doing memes in our favor is fun. We all love the wolf of Wall Street movie. But let’s be real here. + +Belfort is the epitome of what we’re up against as retail. He’s a convicted con artist who actually did so much fucked up shit he didn’t just get a slap on wrist from the SEC, he actually went to prison. + +He was just anti-GME a few days ago, and now he’s meme-ing in its favor? A meme repeating the sentiments being echoed in this sub? + +It’s pretty clear to me. Belfort came to the realization that this is the next generation of decentralized hedge fund. There’s power when a bunch of apes all like the same stonk. He sees the popularity and realizes the potential and impact that crowd sourced DD will do. He knows communities like this will grow. And he wants to use you. + +this is nothing more than seedy opportunist bullshit because Belfort realizes you’re the exact type of person who makes him rich- a retard who yolos into risky investments at the idea of massive % gains. he wants to capitalize on the popularity of GME and this sub. He wants to sell you his shitty motivational book and the idea that he can teach you how you can be rich and famous with his “miNdSeT” when really he got rich by scamming people, and famous for being caught. + +Please. Stop. He is not your friend. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him try to leverage popularity gained here to a “trading community” of his own: + +> “Belfort will share his favourite market sector in “Wolf Report” and give 10 lessons in “Wolf Mentality”, which includes tips on “what it takes to be a trader, how to handle emotions, the intangibles of success, how to take advantage of opportunities, and how to learn from your mistakes”.” + +https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/wolf-of-wall-street-jordan-belfort-to-teach-tips-to-armchair-traders-in-new-tie-up-20200819 + +Yeah, how about you eat my stinky dick instead. I want nothing to do with this shit and this sub should not be strengthening any kind of association with criminals of the finance world. +And I am so proud of myself!! I've never had this much in savings before. + +Two months ago I was homeless with a young baby. One month ago I signed a lease to an apartment and started working. Now I have all of my bills covered for this month *and* next, and I even have some money in a savings account!! + +If you're going through a hardship, remember the bad times are just times that are bad. + + +A new era has come Technologies are changing the world. What previously seemed to be impossible, today is already the reality. Cryptocurrencies are already transforming the business world by providing a decentralised platform that enhances business and would make cryptos more real in the minds of consumers. +Cryptocurrency is an innovative ecosystem, already doing its magic in business all over the world, and it is here to stay. In case you do not know, cryptos are digital currencies, that do not depend on banks to transact due to its blockchain security, which records every transaction in an open-source list that lives in every single computer that becomes a part of this technology. Transactions with cryptos are done directly from one person to another, without the need of a third-party like PayPal. + + +Today we will talk and analyze the working principle of the new 4NEW project. To begin with, I will say that this is not just a project, but the world's first environmentally friendly waste treatment for a power plant, a blockhouse and a crypto-mining facility. Sounds too good, but it's true! 4NEW products are based on consumerism, resolve the lack of two public problems, excess waste and energy. The blockage platform is created in the improvement of infrastructure, covering the entire supply chain from waste collection to the power plant, trade in power units in the domestic network or the industry associated with buyers. Recalling the practical nature of the service, I can report that the enterprise safely integrates network units in applications with the goal of transforming waste into an extensive statement and modifying energy. + +4NEW Purpose + +4 NEW contains a significant goal in order to produce a built-in scalable conclusion, the localization of the transformation of waste for the purpose of the opposite relationship and the energy provided to this user. Because this caused the position, what does this have the opportunity to appear in the clock, is carried out with transparency the technological processes of blockchain, used highly. + +4NEW Purpose + +4 NEW contains the task of producing a likely fine representative, they have all the chances to accumulate balances for processing into energy consumed by buyers. 4 NEW enough fine conclusion later in society, let's take a look, as well as use the blockage that they use. + +The great goal and task, as the result of 4NEW owns, attract traders. This is expressed in the implementation of the ICO, which happened within the ability to make the most $ 25 million. This is an excellent result from the number of hundred-ruble notes of other plans, working in this case because time + +4 NEW creates a platform that customers directly use to enable them to make payments with accumulated and used waste energy. + +The chain of blockage is that in addition they are used to provide 4NEW unchanged current relationships with the user next to the use of energy, merge with the mental counter. This is enough to monitor and verify 4NEW and enough to guarantee a steady supply of power to any user. + +Expansion strategy + +However, taking into account that the same group of workers disposes of a licensed website and initial regionalization in England, it is planned to launch our pilot product. + +Selection of the upcoming market + +4NEW By getting an interest in the approval of the network source chains that go into the final ten, 4 another represented increase with exponential speed, if the site has entered the main stage. The information generated by this company will require additional servers defined in developing countries in the continents, like the Continent and the Continent. With the purpose of this server, a lot of energy is needed to successfully operate. Emerging states have met with a huge shortage of energy. The 4NEW solution can help fill the period, the locking line, forming structures in perspective in direct similarity from the middle of the town, where the information computer is located, hence the social galvanic bond load. In the world of the energy gap, be kind, dispose of the type that 4NEW contains the probability put treatment facilities in the energy area in every place on the planet. + +4NEW Strategy + +4NEW had thoughts, and the theory is adequate, in order to release a strategy later, 4NEW carries out a follow-up strategy: + +\- From business to business + +\- Business with the purpose of consumers + +\- Consumers to consumers + +Ecology + +4 NEW contains the ecosystem in the following way: + +4NEW Coin Limited - gives "coins as a service" to industry partners, customers and unique users. This site connects the calculated direct diagrams and makes it possible to easily and easily exchange transactions among businessmen (B2B), among buyers (B2C) and among buyers (C2C) in connection with balances and energy markets. I implement this. + +4NEW Limited - The remains of wasteful energy without energy. + +4NEW Smart Meter Limited is a leasing and ruling enterprise of smart meters. + +4NEW Assets Co., Ltd. - The initial enterprise according to the real estate subjects, including the main resources. + +4NEW is the platform of the society, and also public ties. For the purpose of interconnection with other platform partners in public networks; + +[https://4new.io/](https://4new.io/) +US airlines would not need the bailout if they didn't spend their recent enormous profits buying back stock. They could've set up emergency funds. They didn't. The money spent for the stock are gone. Now they are bailed out with taxpayers' money. Mismanagement squared times recklessness = our loss + +"American airlines has spent $12.9 billion over the last six years on its own stock. People are mad because $12.6 billion is what it cost to pay the employees' salaries for an entire year " + +[https://www.businessinsider.com/airline-stock-buybacks-versus-employee-compensation-2020-4](https://www.businessinsider.com/airline-stock-buybacks-versus-employee-compensation-2020-4) +How is there not some legality behind this bullshit, why do I need to call and ring back over and hassle these guy's just to find out the price. This entire market is set up for the people who are already in it. + +Also other things that kill me + +Photos of the best spot in the surrounding area instead of the actual property + +No pictures of the actual building making it hard to find prices in the area. + +Demanding to know your exact buying situation over the phone before opening the home (It is your fucking job) + +Trying to turn your economic outlook and arguing with you + +Signing you up to loads of their subscription emails without ever asking permission + +I am sure there is plenty of people out there looking to sell without all the nightmares so why is it that we have allowed these blood sucking scum and the associated websites to rule the property market and skew the truth by hiding numbers etc? + +EDITThanks for ranting with me guy's and thanks for the award's haha + +Made my morning better. +https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/24/tesla-earnings-q3-2018.html + +2.92/share is actually much more than even I was expecting as a Tesla Bull. What does /r/investing think about this earnings? +A few assumptions: + +1. The gifts are made by elves who are paid nothing. + +2. The materials for the gifts are magically created, not purchased from a supplier. + +3. Every child in the world 0-16 gets $400 in gifts. I know that's totally unrealistic but so is Santa. + +4. The gifts cannot be returned or sold. + +5. All of the gifts are delivered on December 24th. + +6. The economy is "average". + +7. The real toy manufacturers don't get any royalties or anything, and demand for them does go down as the supply is flooded. + +That would roughly be 1.925 billion people, a total of $770,000,000,000 worldwide being created in a very short period of time. The biggest hit would probably be on the companies who Santa is screwing over, right? + +And some follow-up questions: + +1. Would its predictability lessen any potential impact? + +2. If the gifts *could* be returned for cash value, would the (greedy) kids be creating even more money? +Now is the time to buy. It could be rough for 1 year, 3 years, 5 years etc. but show me a time where after 10 years the market did not rebound and it’s a very small percentage. + +You think the upper class invests only when the market is hot? No. They invest when the market is shit. They invest in real estate when it is shit. They invest in crypto when it is shit. They invest when proven assets are shit and real the reward when they are hot. + +Don’t fret. Ride the wave and keep buying SCHD, VOO, VTI, DGRO, and VYM if able. Also, if the stock market tanks for 10 straight years we have much bigger issues on our hands and you won’t give two shits about your portfolio +In April 2013, The Consumerist awarded EA the title of Worst Company in America for the second year in a row. Just a friendly reminder to ignore the mobs after the recent backslash experienced by EA due to Battlefront 2. Microtransactions are a very profitable business model and will likely continue to be in the future. +[Link](https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/12/redfin-realtor-dot-com-to-stop-including-crime-stats-on-listing-due-to-possible-racial-bias-concerns/). + +What do you all make of this? +Did you miss GraviToken which has hit 100M Mcap in few days? Don't miss GravitX ($GRX) 🌑 🛰 + +THE NEXT X1000 GEM FROM OUTER SPACE ! 🪐 + +☄️ GRX is an elastic supply token build on the Binance smart chain, designed to rise by a minimum of 12% every 8 hours. That's the best rate of rise guarantee you can find ! + +📈 The price of one token can ONLY GOES UP ! + +Tokenomics : + +☄️ 12% Buy/Sell taxes : + +⚛️ QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT : 4% +(added to liquidity to create solid price floor) + +⚫️ BLACKHOLE : 4% +(Strategic buy back mecanism) + +🛸 GALACTIC MARKETING :4% +(To support the growth of GravitX and make our communuty known by everyone in the cosmos) + + +Experimented team of professionnals (development, marketing, etc.) 📡 + + +🚀 Just launched on Pancakeswap ! + +💥 CONTRACT : 0x8FbA8C1F92210f24fb277b588541ac1952e1aAC8 + +📈 OUR CHART : +https://www.dextools.io/app/bsc/pair-explorer/0xc961f140fdf14ef985a406ab898f907646c97776 + +Incoming marketing : + + - Poocoin ads + - CG/CMC application + - Price mathematically guaranteed to rise 12% every 8 hours +- Twitter, youtube influencers +- Dextools Trending is planned +- Private investors AMA +- Press releases +- Coingecko & CMC listing +- Banner ads on high crypto traffic sites +- Telegram AMA + +Marketcap target : 500M ! 📈 + +And more to come .... + +🎆 Website: https://gravitx.space +🎆 TG: https://t.me/Gravit_X +🎆 Twitter : @GravitX_token +I read about GME investors being a bunch of nut job conspiracy theorists and I get it. I read the shit on these forums and a lot of it is some of the dumbest shit I've ever read. Some of it sounds like intelligent analysis and some of it sounds like pure tin foil batshit insane conspiracy theories. + +But can we step back and appreciate how FUCKING INSANE it is that the buy button was turned off? Un-fucking-precedented. Turned off right when Wall Street was about to get 2008'ed? The chairman of the SEC straight up said, "We had to protect the clearinghouses." Aka, the core of Wall Street was about to get 🍆 in the 🍑. + +WHY? Why does people investing in a "dying brick and mortar" result in a multi trillion dollar industry getting destroyed? How has everyone just moved on from that to calling GME investors insane? HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? How come the average person that got fcked in 2008 had to just take it? Why were they not similarly protected? And how does 1 tiny company nearly shut down the entire world's financial system????????? + +These are the questions GME investors were asking. The questions EVERYONE ON PLANET EARTH should have been asking. + +As insane as all of the above is. And I cannot stress enough how insane it really is. Get this, there have been NO CHANGES SINCE. WHAT. THE. FUCK. + +Ok, fuck the consequences. Fuck sending people to jail. Fuck even fining the idiots/criminals that caused the above. At least make some changes to the market? Fucking do *SOMETHING*? + +How have there been no changes to the market to stop the above? Nothing? Really? 1 year from the day a <10 billion dollar "dying brick and mortar" nearly took down multi trillion dollar wall street and NO CHANGES? Billionaires were crying on national television. They didn't do that in 2008 as far as I can remember. + +How are the answers to any of the above questions not going to sound like a crazy bat shit insane conspiracy theory? +Hello! + +I did something recently that I’d like other people to do - so I thought this might be a good format to lay it out. The financing was $0 out of pocket, but we paid for repairs / did a lot ourselves. + +Last Summer, I went in with family and bought a 43 bed hotel. Over a few months it was converted to small efficiency apartments, with a large commercial kitchen, dining room, meeting area and a lobby. + +Why? Because we are very, very short housing in the Midwest. We met up with the local housing authority and got all the rooms inspected and ready to accept section 8 vouchers. After the conversion we have 42 rooms, roughly 320 SF each. There’s a large courtyard in the middle. + +Our local bank was able to do an 80% loan, with a wraparound product that also had the 20% gap, plus gave us about $50,000 for some repairs. We’ve spent probably $170,000 in total on the updates so far, which I don’t think it’s bad considering. For the rooms we put in a medium size apartment refrigerator, they each have a private bathroom, and the sink is on the outside so it doubles as the kitchen sink. New microwaves, hot plates, updated some furniture. Thankfully the rooms had recently been rehabbed and had a nice new laminate flooring as well as beds and bedding. The courtyard was a complete disaster and we spent a good chunk of money re-designing that. The commercial kitchen in the dining room we had converted the apartment where the owners originally had stayed but also took some money. But it’s totally functional now, we also added two laundry rooms with eight coin washers and dryers, new window heating / cooling units in all rooms. + +We are able to charge $850 a month, Which more than covers the bills. We probably have another 150k on capital improvements, I would like to add new windows, work on the parking lot, and the septic system needs update. But in addition to a cash flowing beautifully to pay for these improvements, it’s a huge gain for the community. + +Roughly, We have $15,000 going out every month that covers the insurance, property taxes, gas, payroll for two full-time employees, TV, Internet, miscellaneous. We are always full, average income is 41 rooms paid a month. + +I will say the key to this is volunteers, who are helping because they see it as an asset to the community. some tenants were through rehab, we also have a dozen disabled veterans, mainly older folks who just need somewhere small and quiet to live. We’ve had great support with people dropping off clothes,food, household items. While technically we are “just” apartments, we’re trying to be a little bit more than that and provide support with meetings, job training, community functions. + +While it is set up in an LLC it’s acting as benefit corporation. So far me and the other two owners have not taken out a dime. The goal is to get this totally self-sustaining and then maybe sell it and build another one. We owe about 475k on it, in total will have spent maybe 750k, which is pretty good for 42 doors that will soon be turnkey. + +So I’m just posting this to encourage you to look into alternate avenues of housing, especially if you can work with your local voucher program. It’s really sad that nine out of 10 in my area do not find a landlord who is weren’t willing to work with them, so the vouchers expire. Only 3% of vouchers are used rural areas, that is where I am. I don’t have an angle for posting this, other than I would really like to see some other people try to do something similar. It is possible, it can work. +Was in a discussion with friends about how much liquidity they would need to retire. One guy was adamant that you could live like a king on $1M in the US. + +He refused to do the math, but I reasoned he could pay off his house (about $300K) and have $28K/year assuming a 4% SWR of the remaining $700k. His salary now is roughly $120K/year, so he would have to make DRASTIC changes to lifestyle to live off that $28K. + +EDIT: Some more details, he has a family (4) and probably spends $50,000/year on expenses. He seems to think that his lifestyle would elevate indefinitely and he could stop working if he had $1M. + +He says that $1M is "life changing." I disagree. Who's right(er)? + +EDIT 2: The number of thirsty DMs asking for $1M is funny +I've been doing some research into a few UK listed companies, noted below. + +**Velocys LON: VLS -** [https://www.velocys.com/](https://www.velocys.com/) + +Velocys aim is to work with aviation & aerospace to create sustainable fuels and help achieve net zero emissions. + +Their process transforms waste into clean fuels using a process called the Fischer–Tropsch process, which converts carbon monoxide and hydrogen into liquid hydrocarbons + +Basically domestic refuse and woody waste is received, sorted and prepared at their plant. The solid waste is then heated to a high temperature to break it down and convert it into synthesis gas (carbon monoxide & hydrogen), which is used to synthesise hydrocarbons using the Fischer -Tropsch technology. This is fundamentally different to incineration; instead of being burnt, the carbon is converted into fuel. This is much better use of household waste than incineration or landfill, plus this fuel would see a 70% reduction in greenhouse emissions compared to conventional jet fuel, and a 90% reduction in particulate matter from engine exhausts. + +Notably, their sustainable biofuels require no aircraft engine modification or change of airport infrastructure. + +Collaborating with British Airways and Shell, planning permission was successfully granted earlier this year for the Altato Immingham plant in Lincolnshire ([https://www.altalto.com/immingham/](https://www.altalto.com/immingham/)), a project that will take over 500,000 tonnes of household and office waste each year, and convert them into over 60 millions litres of clean jet fuel. The plant aims to be operational in the mid 2020s. Velocys are leading this project, assembling and licensing all the technology components into an integrated design. They are also developing a plant in Mississippi that will create fuel for road transportation in the US, from paper and lumber industry waste. This plant is Pre-FEED (completion by end of Q1 '21), and federal permitting completed. + +I found this extract very interesting applicable for their primary project, taken from the the UK Gov White Paper on our Net Zero future ([https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-white-paper-powering-our-net-zero-future](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-white-paper-powering-our-net-zero-future)). “Jet zero and green ships: By taking immediate steps to drive the uptake of sustainable aviation fuels, investments in R&D to develop zero-emission aircraft and developing the infrastructure of the future at our airports and seaports, we will make the UK the home of green ships and planes.“ + +Share Price: 8.10p + +Market Cap: £87.05m + +Previous Month Performance: +24.53% + +I suspect this hasn't exploded yet, because of tie ins to aviation and subsequent lower demand. However if you believe aviation will make a comeback, and the future is green, then this could be a solid play over the next 12-18 months. I've already taken a 40,000 share position in this and will just sit on this. Perhaps Greta Thunberg may pass on the boat trip and fly to the USA next time. + +**SIMEC Atlantis Energy LON: SAE-** [https://simecatlantis.com/](https://simecatlantis.com/) + +SIMEC Atlantis aim to become the leading independent sustainable power generator in the UK. They are involved with the design, construction, installation, testing, operation and maintenance of power projects across the globe with more than 1,000 megawatts of power projects in various stages of development, aiming to have 250 megawatts operational by 2021. + +Their core offering is tidal power generation from Atlantis, where they are recognised as world leaders in the sector, with operations and projects across the UK, Canada, India and China. The worlds largest tidal energy plant currently under construction in Scotland, entitled 'MeyGen', is an Atlantis project, phase 1A of this is already operational. + +Compared with offshore wind, tidal hasn't been able to compete in recent years, which is probably why you don't hear too much about it, however the UK government has also proposed a restructuring of the CfDs pots in 2021, where they are looking to separate offshore wind and tidal into separate pots. In simple terms, tidal will have a greater chance of winning CfDs and therefore increased revenue support which will massively benefit the Atlantis MeyGen and other UK projects. + +They also operate in the Waste-to-Energy space following their acquisition of the Uskmouth Power Plant, Newport, Wales. This formal coal powered station is in the process of being converted to use a waste-derived energy pellet as fuel and deliver 220 MW of power to the grid. This project will be a world first conversion of a coal fired power plant, and if successful will provide a blueprint for other conversions across the world. There is growing public concern about what happens to your household waste, to put it in perspective across a 20-year life of the project, the waste used to produce the pellets would will a volume equivalent to more than 46,000 Olympic sized swimming pools - waste that would otherwise end up in landfill. + +They also have a Turbine and Engineering Services division that designs, supplies and maintains tidal turbines and subsea connection equipment. + +Share Price: 19.01p + +Market Cap: £93.98m + +Previous Month Performance: -19.09% + +I'm bullish on Tidal especially where the gov CfD proposals apply, plus unlike wind, the moon rarely takes time off so it's a fairly reliable source of power. Additionally if they're able to show commercial success at the Uskmouth Power Plant then the potential here for growth is incredible, with thousands of coal plants worldwide approaching their end of life and being phased out, conversion to a waste pellet fuel (as opposed to biomass like the Drax powerplant) would be the most sustainable way to both manage excess waste and also improve the environmental performance of a coal plant. I have taken a 10,000 share position in this. + +**Biome Technologies LON: BIOM -** [https://biometechnologiesplc.com/](https://biometechnologiesplc.com/) + +Comprises of two operations, Biome Bioplastics and Stanelco RF Technologies. + +Biome Bioplastics is a developer of highly-functional, naturally-based plastics. Bioplastics are designed so that the biodegrade or compost at the end of their useful life. They are made to be chemically identical to their oil-based counterparts, and can be directly substituted. The production process requires much less energy, and is overall a much more sustainable method of providing plastic in our day to day lives whilst also managing the end-of-life process. Growth here is driven by new product launches, and the trajectory of demand for bioplastics increasing with pressure for a low carbon economy and better management of plastic waste. End of 2019 saw this division report revenue of £3.4m compared to £1.9m in 2018. Quarterly revenues ending Sep 2020 were £1.6m, 48% ahead of the previous quarter and 131% ahead of the same period last year. + +Stanelco RF Technologies designs, builds and services advanced radio frequency systems. Whilst historically a large part of their business, demand for products produced by this division has been reducing, and as such my focus is more on the aggressive growth on the bioplastics side becoming dominant. + +Share Price: 185p + +Market Cap: £6.87m + +Previous Month Performance: +0.81% + +My view is that plastic isn't going anywhere, and bioplastics sit in a rapidly expanding market to help mitigate the downsides associated with plastic use. A handful of big clients could easily multiply the sales for this company. I expect aggressive growth for bioplastics to continue, but since this is a nano-cap level and AIM being AIM, really it's a gamble, so I'm only going to put a small amount in this, circa £100 / approx 500 shares. + +\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ + +I hope others find this useful. As always DYOR. Comment below if you want to add anything, I know these aren't all pure green plays, we do really need to move away from burning things for power and move to renewables and electric vehicles, however that isn't going to happen over night. The best way to kickstart and maximise value of this transition is to make use of the existing infrastructure in a more sustainable way and managing our waste in the process. If anyone has any other suggestions then let me know. +Further, what are your biggest pet peeves with your peers. What do you see other economists saying or doing that makes you think, “we’re all full of crap” + +Spill the tea +In Canada inflation is 5% now. A 5% increase on everyday goods isn't too noticeable, but Often prices are going much higher than a 5% increase. Why is this? +Hi everyone, + +I'm a 32 year old female teacher from Germany and live a very minimalistic lifestyle. My dream is to own a farm house in the south where the rivers and mountains are (very important!:)) and adopt at least one child, have my own animals and a growing business. I don't see myself in this conservative and humiliating teaching job for more than 5 years. + +Righ now I have 25.000€ and think about a 5 year plan, with 23.000 € savings for each year... Is anybody here who could help me out with financial advices? I am a german, wood work and history teacher and have no idea about finances or crypto etc.. And I know 100.000 € is peanuts for some.. I wish I could have started MUCH earlier but I had a terrible childhood and am on my own and work and study since I'm 18. So many hardships I needed to take care of first. Glad I don't have any debt for now. + +Have a nice day! +Hey guys, I just came here to ask how do you do it if your group of friends show no interest at all in investments... With whom do you discuss news, company breakdowns etc? I am having this problem now. + +I want to get other opinions, other ideas, what I might be doing wrong, what is correct etc.. + +I just want a bunch of guys to chat and talk normally about investments, If you're in this situation, you're not alone lol +Seems like a lot of people have flocked over here from WSB. Thetagang went from being a strategy for building *small* and *consistent* gains, to just being another way of trading options on meme stocks. + +If you're new and don't understand the basics of how selling options works, you're setting yourself up to lose just as much money as you did when you were buying options. Maybe even more—at least when you buy an option your losses are capped at 100%. + +I used to read this sub every day because it was a great way to learn more about trading mechanics, greeks, and finding good trade recommendations. Now the top posts are usually people panicking about how their underlying is tanking because they thought selling an option on a WSB stock is the inverse of buying it (spoiler: it's not). + +If the MODS don't do their jobs to regulate this sub, it's never going to recover. Top posts are often loss porn and stock recommendations based solely on premium. Most upvoted comments are frequently promoting advice that is flat out *wrong* on a basic level. No one reading wikis or learning the basics before they start confidently handing out advice. + +This is just a short and poorly written rant, so I'll leave it at that. +Hello All, + +Just a reminder, I've heard and seen so many posts about people who are willing to **reduce their food spending** and eat industrial food or fast food in order to save and invest more money. + +Please keep in mind that y**our health is your most valuable investment**. + +Don't be afraid to invest in your health by purchasing high-quality foods and following a healthy diet, according to your budget, of course. + +I think that many people are only focused on money and forget to take care of themselves, which includes **exercising and eating well**. + +What's the point if you only think about money and ignore yourself? What's the point of saving for retirement if your life expectancy is decreasing and you won't probably be able to enjoy it? + +Now don't get me wrong: this may sound arrogant or rude, I get it. But, it's just a small caring message for those who may have forgotten to care for themselves and the fundamentals. + +I wish you all a pleasant and healthy journey to freedom. + +Take care. +Found this 2018 article, interesting/fun fact: [The Stock Market Works by Day, but It Loves the Night](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/02/your-money/stock-market-after-hours-trading.html) + +* If you had bought the SPY at the last second of trading on each business day since 1993 and sold at the market open the next day — capturing all of the net after-hour gains — your cumulative price gain would be 571% +* On the other hand, if you had done the reverse, buying the ETF at the first second of regular trading every morning at 9:30 a.m. and selling at the 4 p.m. close, you would be down 4.4% + +Chart: [https://i.imgur.com/YPTjg3v.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/YPTjg3v.jpg) + +Disclaimer - I'm not posting this to endorse the above strategy, I prefer to buy and hold. +Hello, I just wanted to post because after seeing all of this [r/wallstreetbets](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/) craziness I felt the need to post. I (19M), am in college and started regularly trading stocks/options in September 2020. I began with $1000 that I had saved up over the summer, and I created my own method of using my 3 day trades to day trade SPY options. It worked really well for a fair amount of time, I lost a couple hundred bucks a few instances, but overall I made about $20-$80 off each day trade, where I was only wagering \~$600 at a time. My account peaked last week at around +$1600 from when I began day trading. (I took money out to buy food, clothes, etc.) and I was sitting at about $1200 in my account. After reading all the hype surrounding GME, I had some serious FOMO and wanted to get in on some of those hype stocks. I ended up being stupid and making multiple bad investments that eventually brought my account to about $200. + +I'm sure all of you know how mentally challenging losing that much (percentage) money can be. (especially when everyone was making thousands of dollars). Considering that my day trading was my only method of income, it really sucked to see all that money disappear into the NYSE. However, I have learned a lot of things, and I am going to continue to build my portfolio, being smart about it as I do it. On another note, it is sad to see [r/wallstreetbets](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/) fall, because it used to be a great sub with some really smart people, but now is drowned out by all the hype. I am going to spend more time in this sub, because the people here seem genuine and smart, and I am looking forward to learning from everyone. Best of luck in your trades, congratulate your wins, and learn from your losses. + +EDIT: Thank you so much for the encouraging and funny responses. I’ve been reading them but I can’t respond to them all. Best of luck trading tomorrow🚀💎 +It is a hard time for all crypto investors right now. Literally everything is red, esp after it has been a hard couple weeks on the crypto markers. Many of us are holding bags, many of us have lost money that we couldn't afford to lose, some of us might not be able to pay rent or mortgages or possibly even buy food... + +&#x200B; + +Most of us invested in crypto to 'get rich' or at least escape poverty... weather we like to admit it or not we invest because we want a better life for ourselves, our family, our children etc + +&#x200B; + +Sure people who are on their high horse will say don't spend money you cant lose, dont over leverage, dont buy crypto, dont xyz - But that doesn't help in this moment and it isnt fair to be kicked when you're down. + +&#x200B; + +There have been many crashes in crypto and probably many more to come. I'm not here to tell you to Hold or buy the dip or even sell. I'm just here to tell you that you're not alone, tomorrow is another day. + +&#x200B; + +So where ever you are around the world, whatever you do just know others are all hurting just like you right now and we will be better investors for this experience and for those that are HODLing like me just know we will see better days again and not to give up on chasing a better financial future for yourself. + +&#x200B; + +TL: This is Pastry1 from Australia tell you to stay strong! +With Christmas coming up and costs continuing to rise, I thought it might be useful to repost this list of ways you can earn some extra money here in the UK. I know when people typically think of using sites/apps to earn a few extra quid that "50p surveys" are the first thing that comes to mind, so I'm sharing this list to show that there are much better options out there for folks in the UK who have some spare time on their hands and could use an extra few hundred pounds. + +So with that said, I decided to create this guide detailing how I would approach a few different scenarios because, after 2 years of earning money from online work and having tried out many different means of generating extra income, I'd like to think I can offer some advice in this area. + +The 3 Scenarios are: + +**(1)** How I would go about Earning **£200-£300** in the next 30 days if I had no money to spare. + +**(2)** How I would go about Earning **£400-£500** in the next 30 days if I had £100-£200 to spare. + +**(3)** How I would go about Earning \~**£150** from referral offers. 1-2 days needed to complete, Payout times vary from one day to several weeks. + +&#x200B; + +# Part 1: Earning £200-£300 in 30 days (No money needed) + +If I was dead set on making an extra £200-£300 in the next month or so, the sites below would be my target for online earning. Of course, I can't guarantee exactly how much I will earn from using these sites every month, but below you can see how much I earn on average from using them. + +I don't have any special skills or qualifications. When I started working on these sites, I had no experience in any of the types of work that I do now. If I can work on these sites and Earn £200-£300 per month, then you definitely can too. + +&#x200B; + +**Userlytics** **/** **Ustertesting** **(£30-£60 per month):** With this site, you test out the usability of apps and websites and get paid for it. The pay can be very good and the work itself is actually very engaging. I quite enjoy using this site. + +Your work will consist of completing a series of tasks and instructions and interacting with prototype or production websites or mobile apps while speaking out loud to share your thoughts, emotions, criticisms, and suggestions. It probably sounds very different to the type of online work you usually do because, well, it is. It's certainly a site where the work doesn't feel like a chore, I would highly recommend it. + +&#x200B; + +**Appen** **(£50-£200 per month):** So this is a site where you can apply to work on various projects and tasks online. I open the Appen app daily and there's never a day when I'm not greeted by a variety of tasks that I can apply for. The rate of pay is very competitive, with some jobs paying up to $20-$25 per hour. Most jobs pay around $15-$20 per hour (which is still fantastic for online work) and I have never found it difficult to qualify for projects. + +The site is legit and it actually feels like real work for good pay. The potential earnings from this site over the course of a year can easily enter the £100s or even £1000s, so if it's not on your radar it really should be. + +Apply for as many projects as you can, it's well worth taking the time to apply because even if you get one project, that's hours of work at a great hourly rate. + +&#x200B; + +**Prolific** **(£20-£60 per month):** I would go as far as saying it's one of the top task/survey/study sites out there. With Prolific you get paid cash for engaging in the research of Academics and Universities from around the world. There are Surveys and studies about scientific research, new products and public opinion. From minutes to hours, to multi-part studies over longer periods, there's a respectable range of studies to participate in. + +It Pays out to Paypal, has a range of interesting surveys and the studies on the site pay a minimum of $6.50 per hour. + +You should also install the browser extension for chrome so that you get surveys while they're going. + +&#x200B; + +**Neevo** **(£30-£40 per month):** Companies submit projects to Neevo to help improve their AI systems. When you’re a match for a project, you’ll be asked to complete a set of simple tasks, which could be in the form of text, audio, images or even video. + +It's a straightforward 'task for pay' site. They payout through Paypal and the variety of projects is good. Also, I think it's cool that you're helping to train AI, although this is the basis for most of these 'task for pay' sites nowadays. + +My advice would be to keep your eyes peeled for projects with bigger payouts, Some of the lower-paying projects aren't really worth it for the time you need to put in. + +&#x200B; + +**Dscout** **(£20-£50 per month):** So with this site you are rewarded for helping with Market Research. The way this works is that you are given "missions" where you offer your opinions/feedback on various products or services in exchange for payment. + +The Pay is very good and payout is received promptly through Paypal. I also like that you answer photo and video questions, it keeps me that bit more engaged. + +Check as often as you can for available missions and apply for all of them. It may take a little bit of time to get your first mission but once you do, more and more will appear. + +&#x200B; + +**Respondent** **(Payout varies quite a bit but definitely has high earning potential):** + +I'm sure some of you have heard about Respondent, It's a site where you get paid for taking part in various studies. The studies can be both remote and in-person but these days most of the available studies are remote. + +It doesn't take long to apply to studies so even if you don't qualify, you haven't wasted too much time. Also, the pay is excellent when you do qualify, with studies paying between $15-$200, depending on the type of study and the amount of time it takes (Generally ranges from 15 minutes to an hour). + +It's not a site that you can depend on for frequent payouts, but even if you land a few studies that pay $50, $100, $150 etc each, you're doing very well for the time you put in, So I think this one is worth checking every day if you have 5 minutes to spare. + +&#x200B; + +**Intellizoom** **(£20-£40 per month):** This is a site similar to Respondent where you get paid to take part in studies. It doesn't take long to set up your profile and get started and some people I know have had a lot of success using this site. + +&#x200B; + +**UserInterviews (£30-£60):** Another site where you can take part in studies and get paid for it. Some people seem to have a lot of luck with this site, and it pays quite well too. + +&#x200B; + +# Also: + +These Earners are a little different since they aren't really 'online work', but they have served me well in the past too... + +&#x200B; + +**Facebook Marketplace:** Sell your old stuff. This one should honestly be mentioned in every thread where someone has asked how to make some extra cash in a hurry. + +We all have stuff we don't use anymore lying around the house and as obvious as it may sound, the items that seem old and worthless to you will be new and exciting to someone else. + +I'm talking anything, literally anything: Old clothes, books, plant pots, technology you don't use anymore, pots and pans, empty jars, homemade crafts etc. + +Old Clothes seem to really sell fast, which isn't surprising because people get excited when they see something that's their style and really cheap. So clear out your wardrobe. + +If you're into crafts, you could sell stuff you've made there too. Last summer I made large painted flower beds out of pallets and sold them, just because I had some pallets and paint laying at home. + +The point is, You could easily make £50-£100 or more if you do a thorough sweep of your house for stuff you don't want/use anymore. + +&#x200B; + +**Vinted:** A fantastic Site/App where you can sell your old clothes. Maybe it doesn't sound like your thing or you don't think you have anything fashionable enough to sell. Believe me, You can sell any item of clothing here. + +Old hoodies, shoes, gifted clothing that you never wore etc. I've sold my old clothes here in the past and been pleasantly surprised with a nice few sales. + +&#x200B; + +**Fiverr:** Offer your services as a Freelancer and get paid. You can earn a lot from the "gigs" you post, but you'll need to have some kind of service you can offer that people will pay for. I'd recommend taking a look at what other people are posting and seeing if you could offer similar work. + +&#x200B; + +**Rover:** Saving the best for last. This one is quite a lovely site where you can offer your services as a dog sitter/dog walker. You can have dogs dropped off at your home and get paid to look after them for a duration of time. + +It's ideal for people who miss having pets or who get a bit lonely working from home sometimes. The pay is usually around £20 per day for dogsitting, maybe £6-£10 for dog walking. If you're at a loose end anyway or just feel like having a furry companion during your free time, This site is a lovely way to earn a little money and make some canine friends. + +You just make a profile and enter your address so people in your area can find you, Bonus points if you have a dog in your profile photo with you. + +&#x200B; + +&#x200B; + +&#x200B; + +# Part 2: Earning £400-£500 in 30 days (£100-£200 needed) + +This one is quite a unique means to make extra money in a short period of time, It's called Matched Betting. It's a very simple process but it's imperative that you read the Guides in full before you begin. + +Matched Betting is where you use bookmaker sites to complete various 'Free Bet' offers (e.g Bet £10, Get £30 in Free bets), but the whole idea behind the process is that every time you "make a bet", you match that same bet on the exchange (meaning the value of your qualifying bet will always be returned to you). + +So for example, if I bet £10 for Real Madrid **to Win** on the Bookmaker Site at odds of 2.5, I then also make a Matched bet on the Exchange (This is a separate site such as Smarkets or Betfair) where I bet for Real Madrid **not to win** at odds of 2.5 (or as close as I can get to those odds). In this way, I am covered in all outcomes (win, lose or draw), and it allows me to fulfil the requirements of the bookmaker's offer (e.g Bet £10 and get £30 in Free bets). The money from my initial bet has now been returned to me and I also have a £30 free bet credited to my account. + +When I receive my £30 free bet, It's the same process of matching again but this time using my free bet on the bookmaker site. This is where I secure a profit, because I'm not using 'real money', and even if I lose on the bookmaker site, I will be paid out on the exchange. + +This one is great if you can spare some money to get started. Your money isn't 'invested' or 'tied up' in anything, It's just that you'll need cash in order to complete the various free bet offers. You can withdraw your money at any time, but most people leave £100-£200 in their accounts just because it's easier than depositing money every time you want to do an offer. Over the course of 30 days, that £100-£200 or so will grow to £600-£700. + +The main advantage of Matched Betting is that it really doesn't take a lot of time to hit that £500 profit mark. Over a 4 week period, I worked my way down through the list of welcome offers, nice and handy, and having completed 20 offers at 15 minutes per offer, I came out at **£470 for 5 hours total of work.** + +Not to knock paid projects/survey sites, but if you don't have the time or desire to invest in that kind of online work, the obvious advantage with Matched betting is speed and simplicity. + +EDIT: I've received a lot of messages asking for more resources on matched betting. For those interested, you can find the process explained in full detail in this [**Guide**](https://www.reddit.com/r/beermoneyuk/comments/wvr98r/a_guide_to_matched_betting_how_to_make_your_first/)**.** + +**NOTE:** If you have a history with gambling, do not come near Matched Betting. Matched Betting is not gambling, but the fact you will be using betting websites to facilitate a profit is too much of a temptation- It's not worth it. + +&#x200B; + +# + +# Part 3: Earning ~£150 from Referral Offers + +The offers below will allow you to earn a minimum of \~£150. This is a handy list if you need to earn a decent amount of money in a short amount of time. For a lot of these offers, you can withdraw the money you earn back to your bank account in the same day, but for a few of the offers, it will take longer. + +**Important:** In order to get the bonuses from the offers below, you will need to sign up to each app/site through a referral link. There is a subreddit called 'beermoneyuk' where you can find referral links for any of the below-mentioned offers by searching the subreddit for 'Zilch', 'Luno', 'Snoop' etc. and you'll find plenty of posts with referral links and more detailed steps on how to complete each of the offers below: + +&#x200B; + +Zilch **(£5):** Sign up through a referral link, Verify your ID and you will see 500 points (worth £5) appear in your account. + +Shares **(£5):** Sign up through a referral link and verify your ID. Deposit £1 and you will Instantly receive £5 which you can withdraw after 30 days. + +Snoop **(£5):** Sign up and link a bank account. After 28 days you will receive an amazon voucher by email worth £5. + +Luno **(£10)**: No referral link needed for this one, Just download the Luno app, sign up & verify ID (5 mins) and enter a BP code into the 'rewards' section of the app. You will instantly be credited with £10 BTC. Absolutely free, No Deposit or Purchase necessary. + +Monese **(£10)**: Deposit and spend £1 to receive £10 to your account. + +Monzo: **(£5)** Deposit and spend £1 to receive £5 to your account. + +Mode **(£10)**: You make a deposit of £20, buy £20 worth of Bitcoin, sell the £20 worth of Bitcoin back to GBP again and you get your £10 credited Instantly (It will show as pending and be available to withdraw in 24 hours). + +Blockchain **(£10):** You make a deposit of £20, buy £20 worth of Bitcoin, and you get your £10 credited Instantly. You can then sell everything back to GBP and withdraw your £10 bonus after 7 days. + +Cashapp **(£10):** Free £10 when you sign up through a referral link and send £5 to another Cashapp user (Someone you know who will send the £5 back to you). + +Wombat **(£20):** Sign up and open a general investment account, you will receive £20 for free. Invest your £20 and hold it for 90 days. + +Coinbase **(£27)**: No deposit or purchase needed, just go to the site and earn \~£15 by learning about different cryptocurrencies. Earn an additional £12 by signing up to the site through Quidco and making a single transaction. There is no minimum amount for this transaction, simply buy the smallest amount of a cryptocurrency that you can on Coinbase and you will be eligible for the cashback. + +Revolut **(£12):** Sign up to Revolut and go to the "learn" part of the crypto section of the app, you can earn around £12 for completing the cryptocurrency quizzes, which you can then convert to GBP and withdraw. + +Remitly: **(£23):** Make a transfer of £100 ( to yourself) and only pay £75, securing you a profit of around £23 after Remitly's transaction fees. + +Swissborg **(€1- €100):** Deposit £100/ €100, Don't buy anything. As soon as you make the deposit you will get a Reward Token, you 'scratch it' to reveal an amount between 1-100 euros in the app's currency, sell it back to euros/GBP and instantly withdraw your original deposit + Profit. + +&#x200B; + +&#x200B; + +And that's it, I hope this guide will be of help to some people, if you have any questions or suggestions don't be afraid to comment. + +Cheers +[Some good news](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/business/irs-phone-scams-jeff-sessions.html) for those who have experienced this scam or know people who have been duped by the same: + +>With stiff sentences for 21 conspirators last week in the United States and a round of indictments in India, the Justice Department says it has broken up what appeared to be the nation’s first large-scale, multinational telephone fraud operation. + +>Over four years, more than 15,000 victims in the United States lost “hundreds of millions” of dollars to the sophisticated scam, and more than 50,000 individuals had their personal information misused, the department said Friday. The money was routed through call centers in India back to the ringleaders in eight states. + +>The fraudulent calls came suddenly and frequently while the scam was active from 2012 to 2016, according to court documents. A person posing as an Internal Revenue Service or immigration official was on the phone, threatening arrest, deportation or other penalties if the victims did not immediately pay their debts with prepaid cards or wire transfers. + +>In an announcement on Friday, the department said 21 people living in eight states — Illinois, Arizona, Florida, California, Alabama, New Jersey and Texas — were sentenced last week in Houston to prison for up to 20 years for their role in the scheme. + +>In addition, 32 contractors in India involving five call centers in Ahmedabad, a city in western India, have been indicted on wire fraud, money laundering and other conspiracy charges as part of the operation, the department said. + +As always, remain vigilant about supposed IRS claims, and never accept or believe any calls from people purporting to be the IRS. The IRS never demands immediate payment (e.g. wire transfers or gift cards), or threatens to bring in the police, immigration officers or other law-enforcement. Communication always begins over snail mail. Hopefully these arrests will serve as a warning to others trying to prey on vulnerable populations. +There is this website titled [WTF happened in 1971](https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/) which is on the one hand a compilation of economic and related charts showing what can be inferred as a massive change for the worse, while on the other hand basically an ad for crypto + +*(Please refrain from shilling both for and against crypto in your replies as it is off topic and will hopefully be removed by mods as such.)* + +Of course the literal answer is not difficult to figure out: + +[On 15 August 1971, the United States unilaterally terminated convertibility of the US dollar to gold, effectively bringing the Bretton Woods system to an end and rendering the dollar a fiat currency](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretton_Woods_system) + +but I'm really puzzled about all these effects, their desirability, whether it was worth it ,and if not, how can such a bad thing persist to this day. Idk... I can't even figure out how to formulate what I want to ask. Looking at all that stuff is just really unsettling and likely consistent with the experience of most of us, I would just like to see a discussion on it to understand why, and why for 50 years and still going. + +I have a very hazy and layman-like understanding of the drawbacks of the gold standard... it's just hard to imagine that this is better. + +(nth) edit: also... what are the alternatives to this? Is this the best we can do? +Doesn't dedicating resources to building new houses when we already have many vacant houses a bad allocation of our land, labor and capital -- not to mention unnecessarily bad for the environment? + +Hear me out. The airline industry has asked for $50bn in support to avoid bankrupty. Meanwhile these same companies have spend 80-98% of their free cash buying back their own company stock over the last 10 years. American Airlines alone has spent $12.5bn to buy back stocks. This of course is done to reduce overall divident costs and increase the share price. + +On top of that, under the new US corporate tax code all of these companies have lowered their tax bills by billions of dollars. The idea of the tax bill was that this money would be used for investment in technology/R&D and go to employees. Again a lot of this money ended up being used to buy back stocks. + +Individuals are expected to save up 3-6 months of emergency funds but yet these giant corporations can’t whether any storm. Let them fold and in a free market the void left in supply will be filled by somebody else. +Throwaway account, but hope to be more active here now that I can be anonymous. I’ve posted a couple times to my personal account that were well received and popular, but I ended up deleting because I was nervous about anonymity. + +31, married, no children, LCOL. + +Told my wife tonight that we became millionaires today... she said, “Ok” then proceeded to reheat leftover pasta while I celebrated with a protein shake. + +I thought this was pretty humorous and don’t really have any close confidants to share with, so hopefully you all can help me celebrate! + +Cheers! +Over the past 5 years, I always struggled with taking profits. Often, I end up riding things up then down then back up then down. Idk if its Greed or Fear of Missing out on Potential Profits. What strategies do you guys use to take profits? Anyone here takes a small percentage weekly or monthly? When you sell stuff, do you keep a small percentage like 10-15% just in case the coin pumps later? A lot of times I sell something that hasn’t been moving for months and then it conveniently pumps after I sell it as if they were all waiting for me to leave haha. + +I watched my portfolio go from $200 in Early December 2020 to around $43,000 during the first week of May 2021 (Thanks to all the Meme Tokens). Then it dropped a lot, but now its recovering. I still have PTSD from the January 2018 crash, but what I learned from that is that HODLing through that crash would have made me back everything that I had if I had faith and patience. I watched the same thing happen again last month. My guts and instincts were telling me to Buy stuff when they’re red even when they’re dipping daily. It was hard tbh. + +I remember everyone wishing for low prices and saying “If xxx goes back to $$$, i’m buying a lot” and “If I bought xxx last month or last year at those prices, I would have been rich”. Everyone says things like that and how if they bought Bitcoin or any other coin, they would be millionaires, but the reality is that if they bought any coin early, they’d sell it early or panic sell it at a Loss after any of the annual/yearly FUDs that come and go. + +I don’t trade on emotions and I am unfazed/desensitized to FUD. I can’t tell if that’s part of the issue since I suck at taking profits. Yes, I know that historically things tend to go up if you zoom out, but I lost around a million dollar’s worth of profits between this bull run and the last one mainly because of my HODLer mentality. I tried switching back and forth between being a Trader and Holder, but I just couldn’t convince myself to do it. How do you guys do it? Any tips or suggestions or advice? And for profits, what kinda strategies do you guys use for taking them? (A percentage of the profits? Taking only your initial investment?). Don’t tell me that we Never Take Profits here. + +Holding is easy, Taking Profits is Hard. Looking for Genuine advice. +I hear a lot about how American malls are dying and struggling when they used to thrive. This is interesting to me as someone in Denmark where malls are still very much thriving, we have so many in the Copenhagen area alone. What is happening in the US that causes this and why isn’t it happening in Denmark? +We all agree that the idea of budgeting yourself out of poverty is utter bullshit, but one thing I never see anyone talking about is how hard it is to have self-control when you're poor + +You chronically don't have enough money to do what you want to do. + +Your car breaks down? You're fucked. + +A relative or yourself get sick? You're fucked. + +And there's bills, food, gas, rent. + +If you're poor, most likely you work a lot and earn very little. You are deprived of energy, nutrition, and happiness. + +Then you get like, 300 extra bucks. You've wanted to get pizza for three months. You've walked past that expensive book you've wanted to buy for months. There's that bicycle you've wanted for years. That nice phone (yours sicks, of course). That pretty dress. Those nice shoes. + +For MONTHS you've wanted that. MONTHS. Willpower is a limited resource. You've been forced to economize every dollar for necessities for a lengthy period of time. + +Chances are that you're going to spend those 300 hundred dollars in something you don't need because you are TIRED. Deprived. Unhappy. You have these 300 hundred dollars now. You don't know when the next 300 hundred will come. You could indeed put them aside... but that byke? When will you have the money again? + +You've worked 12 hours and you're coming home. Your fridge is empty. You should go to the grocery store, pick food, get home, get the bags home, cook the food, eat the food 2 hours later. You are too tired for that. You still have to clean your house up and have a shower. It's three weeks that you want pizza. You say "fuck it" and buy pizza even if you can't really afford it. + +Rich people spend their money better because they know they are going to have more money. There's no rush because if they can't buy the bicycle this month, you will be able to another time. They could afford pizza last week, so it's easier to say no to pizza this week. They worked 8 hours, there's time to clean up. Other money is going to come. + +We are just human beings. We are constantly bombarded with ads and things and new needs created by new markets (smartphones didn't even exist in 2007. Now you literally can't function in society without one and an internet connection. You literally can't find a job if you don't have at least a smartphone). Poor people do tend to do poor choices when it comes to money, but it's just physiological (I, at least, do many). You can only go so far with depriving yourself of pleasurable things. + +Sooner or later you are going to break and spend your money on something dumb because you are exhausted. + +It's not just a matter of not materially having money. No one considers energy, time and willpower, resources that you quickly finish when everything you have to do it grind your teeth and keep going. + +EDIT: I meant 3 hundred not 300 hundred sorry lol I'm tired +Convinced her to buy some when it was at around 30’000 back in July and has now doubled her investment . Granted it wasnt a huge investment but I think she now has a false sense of reality that doubling an investment in 4 months is easy and common. If she ever tries to invest in stocks she going to be hit with a hard reality. + +Update: No I’m not going to dump my girlfriend because of her lack of her financial knowledge and limited perspective. Don’t want my girlfriend to be ray dalio or Warren buffet …but there is some tempting ideas of leveraging her as an asset +###🔥GET IN EARLY! TOKEN FEW HOURS OLD 🔥 + +***Together we can save dogs!!*** + +NEWINU is a community driven and fair launched token that rewards holders while also burning the supply on each transaction. When you invest in NEWINU, you will directly save dogs from shelters while also earning yield through taxes from our tokenomics. On launch, liquidity has been locked 1Y to ensure that your money will be safe. + +##🐥**Telegram**: [TELEGRAM](https://t.me/NewGuineaSingingDog) + +##🌐**Website**: [WEBSITE](https://newinu.org/) + +##🦜**Twitter**: [TWITTER](https://twitter.com/NEWINU1) + +##🍰**1inch** : (https://app.1inch.io/#/1/swap/NEWINU/ETH) + +##📈**Chart** : [Dextools](https://www.dextools.io/app/uniswap/pair-explorer/0xebee0cf6ab1bf5b9e9be1a9348632c79089d3b6a) + +##📑 **Contract** : [CONTRACT](https://etherscan.io/token/0x1997830B5beB723f5089bb8fc38766d419a0444d) + +##🔒 **Liquidity Locked** : [LiquidityLocked](https://team.finance/view-coin/0x1997830B5beB723f5089bb8fc38766d419a0444d?name=New%20Guinea%20Singing%20Dog%20Inu&symbol=NEWINU) + +**###**Facts about the upcoming token $NEWINU: (TOKENOMICS) + +| Burn | Profit from Holding +- | - | - +| We reward holders with a 2% transaction tax which puts $NEWINU directly into your wallet every time someone buys or sells. | 2% Majority distributed to holders. A very small amount added to the burn wallet +The market is full scam coins and useless tokens, and as a blockchain enthusiast, we are going to work on exposing all the coins that have no value whatsoever and are marketed in such a way to just take your money. Would you guys be interested? What coin do we start with first? +I'm just curious on why people even choose to sell options and run the wheel strategy , when all i ever hear is "buy and hold is superior to all" If someone could help explain to me why selling options is actually useful it would help me out tremendously. I do know all the basics + +-Calls +-Puts +-buying +-selling +-greeks + +I just have found my self in a scary dark place where I don't know if options are ever going to actually be useful overall to me , in comparison to just buying and holding stocks. Thanks in advance guys, I know it may be a stupid question . +Edit 6: I created r/ClassActionRobinHood for people to gather around so that my reddit won't crash under the sheer force of autism that my inbox is receiving. This post was just out of frustration and memes over RHs bullshit corruption; I am not a laywer nor am I claiming that i'm going to create a class action by creating this post. You retards do as you wish, feel free to join if you want. Hell, use it as a backup in case something happens to WSB, I don't give a fuck + +Edit: Stop giving me these beautiful awards you retards, use the money on GME. + +This is the way. 💎🙌💎. GME GANG FOREVER 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 STRAIGHT TO THE Nth DIMENSION BOYS 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 + +Edit 2: I will be acquiring more shares today. I have 17.7k liquid money in my TD. Bought 15 shares @327. Waiting for another dip to yolo 12.7k into the rest. I have 18 shares holding on RH with average cost of $112. 1000EOD Boys. Fuck the shorts, fuck the establishment. Melvin and friends can suck my fat diamond encrusted cock. Don't forget to leave RH a nice review on the app store thanking them for your gains + +Edit 3: I convinced my mother to yolo her stocks into GME early on @90. She still continues to add onto it and as of now she holds 147+ shares and is profiting well over 60k. I don't know what her cost average currently sits at but if my mother can 💎🙌💎 then so can you. She's more diamond-handed than me. Do your part brothers. We'll all be feasting on tendies from our golden plates and washing it down with Shitron tears as we wipe our asses with Melvin bucks by end of next week. + +Edit 4: I can't believe how much this is blowing up. I wasn't expecting it. But while I have the spotlight, I just wanted to thank every single one of you from the bottom of my heart. You tards have done absolute wonders for the community and started a financial revolution fueled by memes and autism. + I read all these stories about how this community has helped people pay off their debts, care for sick loved ones, allowed people to give back to their local communities, and so much more. You guys are the true unsung heroes of this generation and are some of the most wholesome degenerates i've ever seen. This fight isn't about just tendies anymore, its about justice and equality, it's about sticking it to the corporate elites who run the world. Don't let these greedy scumbags take what's rightfully yours, for too long the little guy has been pushed and shoved around but now it's our time to shine. Keep up the good fight and don't back down. 💎🙌💎 for days boys, WE WILL NOT STOP UNTIL WE SEE ELON SHOOT A GME THEMED ROCKET FILLED WITH THE BURNT ASHES OF THESE BASTARDS TO MARS. FUCK SHORTS. THIS ONE IS FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS! 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 GME 5,000 IS NOT A MEME NOW. POWER TO THE PLAYERS! + +EDIT 5: Stop spamming me with awards and upvotes, you retards are crashing my inbox! Put forth all this glorious energy into GME. + + + + +TL;DR: GME to 1,000 EOD, GME 5000 EONW. THE SUQEEZE HAS NOT SQUOZEN YET, BUY AND HOLD 💎🙌💎🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 +Hi all, + +I have been looking into the above. I understand these houses do not cost €1 and all is well. I know that this is an investment into a property that will be needing lots of renovation work and lots of support to bring back into a liveable state. + +I am looking for honest, open opinions as to the investment process and likelihood of it being a good idea - generally speaking. + +I am aware that it would be a case by case basis, and that you’d need to check the level of work needing to be done and costs, per property. + +Has anyone done this, or know anything about it? Is it worthwhile? Or actually… not that great of an idea, at all! Just a good marketing ploy to reel you in to buy a property? + +I would like to look into it if worthwhile as family have moved to mainland Europe and I’d like to be on the continent too. It wouldn’t be to live all year, but certainly a place that would be visited often and would be accessible to family (France). + +Please only helpful replies. I am here to be enlightened, not made fun off as I know this not an opportunity to buy a cheap house. + +Thank you! + Indonesia's e-commerce market is estimated to reach 52 per cent of e-Commerce in the Southeast Asia region. From Nielsen's percentage entitled Indonesia Ocean of Opportunities for Overcoming Dead Win and Riptide 2017, Indonesia's e-Commerce in 2025 will reach the US $ 46 billion, equivalent to Rp 612 trillion compared to 2015 which able to reach the US $ 1.7 billion. + +The large population of the middle class, increasing internet access, the growth of small cities, and the limited access to the retail market make domestic e-Commerce overgrow. In 2015, the electronic transaction market in Indonesia was less than one per cent of total retail sales, but by 2025 it will increase to 8 per cent of total retail transactions. + +The total e-Commerce of six ASEAN member countries in 2025 will increase to the US $ 87.8 billion compared to 2015 which only reached the US $ 5.5 per cent. Not only that, digital transactions in these countries will all reach more than the US $ 4 billion. + +https://i.redd.it/peq275ngwby11.jpg + + [https://e-so.co](https://e-so.co/) \- [ESO Reddit Account](https://www.reddit.com/r/EntrepreneurShop) + +&#x200B; + +PREAMBLE + +The buzz about cryptocurrency is increasing, people have heard about it, and more and more people want to find more about it, and find a way to be a part of it. When blockchain technology came, so many things changed, for better, we say. So many businesses have improved, so many companies have started using crypto currencies in their work. The new ideas are coming every day. People want to invest in the new projects. We have the biggest tool in the world, and it is called the Internet. The internet is a enormous base of information where we can do anything. Internet has connected the entire world. One of these projects is Navibration, a Spain-based technology company with a patented technology that has been backed by the Government of Spain, is creating a next-generation navigation system which will redefine not only the way we move in unknown places but all of the details and secrets of them. + + +The KaaS blockchain network defines the infrastructure of the current hardware-based, decentralized, democratized, skill-oriented global computing system and algorithm market that is currently used for the adoption of crypto money ... Today, thousands of computer systems are used for crypto currencies, but neither GPUs nor other components have been specifically created for this purpose. Therefore, most of the available resources of these systems are inadequate. Carry out an existing GPU mining hardware, as well as other processing tasks such as crypto-money mining, machine learning and co-processing power - rewarding both events - making RIGs even more profitable. This machine learning will be used in Artificial Intelligence processes that will produce ıla machine functions Bu. When new machine functions are used in a new dataset, the machine gains skill awards to the block chain for learning. This process runs on a Distributed Infrastructure Service architecture, divides the workload between multiple miners and optimizes the minimum runtime with minimal data flow. All this system represents the information as a service and the backbone KAASY ... + +[https://kaasy.ai/faq/](https://kaasy.ai/faq/) +BENEFITS OF NAVICOIN + +Holders of Navicoin will be a privilege to unlock all the functionality of the platform. + +Holders of Navicoin will be rewarded continuously. + +Purchasing products on the platform with Navicoin will attract a 30% discount. + +Navicoin is an access to the Navibration ecosystem thereby bringing togetherness. + + + +PREAMBLE + +The buzz about cryptocurrency is increasing, people have heard about it, and more and more people want to find more about it, and find a way to be a part of it. When blockchain technology came, so many things changed, for better, we say. So many businesses have improved, so many companies have started using crypto currencies in their work. The new ideas are coming every day. People want to invest in the new projects. We have the biggest tool in the world, and it is called the Internet. The internet is a enormous base of information where we can do anything. Internet has connected the entire world. One of these projects is Navibration, a Spain-based technology company with a patented technology that has been backed by the Government of Spain, is creating a next-generation navigation system which will redefine not only the way we move in unknown places but all of the details and secrets of them. + + +Hello All, + +Just a reminder, I've heard and seen so many posts about people who are willing to **reduce their food spending** and eat industrial food or fast food in order to save and invest more money. + +Please keep in mind that y**our health is your most valuable investment**. + +Don't be afraid to invest in your health by purchasing high-quality foods and following a healthy diet, according to your budget, of course. + +I think that many people are only focused on money and forget to take care of themselves, which includes **exercising and eating well**. + +What's the point if you only think about money and ignore yourself? What's the point of saving for retirement if your life expectancy is decreasing and you won't probably be able to enjoy it? + +Now don't get me wrong: this may sound arrogant or rude, I get it. But, it's just a small caring message for those who may have forgotten to care for themselves and the fundamentals. + +I wish you all a pleasant and healthy journey to freedom. + +Take care. +My girlfriend and I ran into this couple that told us they are both retiring this year. We had a super genuine conversation and they seemed very nice! They said they met this “person” that have them all the tools and resources to make this happen. Before we were gonna go on about our day, they said they would love to introduce us to that “person” and put in a good word. + +my question is: is this some type of investing opportunity or some sort of scam? I’ve never met anyone IRL that’s retired young so I’m a little skeptical. I’ve only heard stories online about it lol. + + +TLDR; Couple said retiring early, said they’d introduce us to their friend that helped. Is this a scam? +I've noticed a significant increase in the cashback program, reward points and credit cards in the last 5 years + +Some of the examples: + +1. Do a recharge of Rs 100 to win Rs 10 cashback + +2. Get our free credit card and spent 5 Lakh in a year to get annual fees cancelled + +3. Maintain 10L as the minimum balance in our bank to become a privileges member which will give you extra benefits. + +4. Create a bank account with us and fund with 10K to win a 100Rs voucher. + +Here is the reality. You will spend much more with your credit card than you wanted to, just so you get the relief that you didn't have to pay annual fees. Your 10L minimum balance would have made you 10K per month if you have invested instead. Free demand drafts you will get as a privileged member will never amount to 10K in a month. + +In nutshell, all these programs are just an illusion of savings and you are not only spending more but also saving less. So next time instead of spending 1 hour trying to find the best deal for 100rs recharge, invest that time in your education instead, learn new things. Your increased income in upcoming years will be much higher than 10rs saving. Same with bank account. Don't try to match the high balance requirement. Don't keep a penny higher than your liquidity needs in a saving account. + +**Finally, I wanted to add that some deals are really good and are worth it. But 90% of the deals are crap and not worth your time.** + +**Update: Many people are just missing the point of this post. Just because you use everything wisely doesn't mean everyone is. If it was the case, credit card companies would bankrupt. So I'm not talking about you. Don't argue, just smile. Don't comment and brag either. It doesn't help the people who need to understand this.** +This question is inspired by Adam Something's video [City Review - Prague: Beautiful and Disappointing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnVvlhhqWtw) + +In it, he repeats the common argument that a city centre became unaffordable to live in because people who intend to rent them out for Airbnb snap up all the properties and rent them out to tourists. But does that mean that tourism is the real driver of the unaffordability problem? + +If so, why does Airbnb get the blame, and not other tourist infrastructure like hotels? Just like Airbnb, if land in a city centre is purchased to build a hotel on, it would increase demand for land and therefore increase prices. +Hi guys, + +I've posted in here before, but my name is Emma. I'm a reporter for VICE News covering poverty and civil rights. I'm watching all sorts of bill payments, but I understand a lot of folks are really worried about eviction amid COVID-19 because how sudden the consequences are in many states. A lot of civil rights advocates right now are fighting for both suspended mortgage and rent payments, considering how many folks could lose pay (and their homes) during this outbreak and all its resulting economic turmoil. I know we're not at the first of the month, but if this applies to you and you're worried, reach out. You can PM, post here, or email [emma.ockerman@vice.com](mailto:emma.ockerman@vice.com) and I'll get in touch. +Sorry if I am late to the party on this issue but I stumbled on a story today about how the Federal Reserve is struggling to unwind their bond portfolio that was purchased after the housing crisis. It turns out that early last year the Federal Reserve had accumulated around $4.5 trillion in government debt (treasuries, mortgages, etc...). I knew the balance sheet was big, but I honestly had no idea it was at this scale. + +As the economy started to improve the Fed decided to unwind the portfolio. It sounds like that plan is not going so well and they have only been able to sell around $300 billion so far over 1 year into the program of unwinding. + +I guess the point of my post is two fold... 1) Why isn't this a bigger deal? The entire national debt is close to $20 trillion, the Federal Reserve has 25% of this amount on their books? And 2) What happens if they can't sell most of it before the next recession? I would imagine they are not selling because if they flood the market with Treasuries and MBS's interest rates will skyrocket, but it seems like continuing to artificially depress interest rates forever could backfire someday. I don't know how exactly, but it just doesn't feel right. + +Thoughts? +Welcome to the ETH Daily Discussion thread of /r/EthTrader. + +*** + +The thread guidelines are as follows: + +- All sub rules apply here. Please review our **[rules page](https://www.reddit.com/r/ethtrader/about/rules/)** to become familiar with them. The rules page is also linked in the announcement bar above. +- General discussion topics include, but are not limited to, events of the day, technical analysis, alternative Ethereum projects, or support issues. +- Breaking news or other important content should be submitted as a separate post. +- In-depth altcoin discussions should be referred to the /r/CryptoCurrency discussion thread. To view the thread, [follow this link](https://np.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/search?q=%5BMonthly+General+Discussion%5D&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and choose the latest entry on the search page. +- Pumping, venting, trolling, or any other similar behavior **should be reported** and redirected to the /r/CryptoMarkets trollbox thread. To visit this thread, [follow this link](https://np.reddit.com/r/CryptoMarkets/search?q=Trollbox+Thread&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) and choose the latest entry on the search page. + +*** + +* For newcomers who have basic questions about Ethereum, you can find answers by visiting /r/EthereumNoobies or our [Ethereum Education wiki page](https://www.reddit.com/r/ethtrader/wiki/education). + +* **[EXPERIMENTAL]** - To view live streaming comments for this thread, [click here](https://reddit-stream.com/comments/auto). Account permissions are required to post comments through Reddit-Stream.com. + +*** + +Thank you in advance for your participation. Enjoy! + +But I am scared. And I will still have enough cash to last me 6months after this. You guys - say something to make me brave. Was raised to stay away from stock market so this is hard. +I have been following GME since mid-September and over that time I have banked myself a %1300 return in the process. However, the whole time I was a little puzzled with how severe the reactions from Wall Street have been, especially this week. "The company had more than 100% of its stock sold short! That's never happened before!", you say. I know, I know, but that's [not actually not a new thing](https://www.forbes.com/2006/08/25/naked-shorts-global-links-cx_lm_0825naked.html?sh=f59ff078400b). A short squeeze, even one of this magnitude, should have squoze by now with GME up more than 10x in the span of weeks. Something is just not right. **I think there is something much, much bigger going on here. Something big enough to blow up the entire financial system.** + +Here is my hypothesis: I think the hedge funds, clearing houses, and DTC executed a coordinated effort to put Game Stop out of business by conspiring to create a gargantuan number of counterfeit shares of GME, possibly 100-200% or more of the shares originally issued by Game Stop. In the process, they may have accidentally created a bomb that could blow up the entire system as we know it and we're seeing their efforts to cover this up unfold now. What is that bomb? **I believe retail investors may hold more than 100% of GME** (not just 100% of the float, more than 100% of the actual company). This would be definitive proof of illegal activity at the highest levels of the financial system. + +For you to follow this argument, you need to go read the white paper ["Counterfeiting Stock 2.0"](http://counterfeitingstock.com/CS2.0/CounterfeitingStock.html) so you understand how the hedge funds can create fake stock out of thin air and disguise it so it looks like real shares. They use these fake shares in [short attacks to drive the price of a company down until they put them into bankruptcy](https://seekingalpha-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/seekingalpha.com/amp/instablog/11442671-gerald-klein/3096735-anatomy-of-a-short-attack?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQHKAFQArABIA%3D%3D). This practice seems to be widespread among hedge funds that go short. There is even a term for it, "strategic fails–to–deliver." Counterfeiting shares is extremely illegal (similar level to counterfeiting money) but it's very difficult to prove and even getting the court to approve subpoenas because of the way the financial industry has stacked the deck against investigations. + +This completely explains why so many levels of the financial system seem to be actively trying to get in the way of retail investors purchasing more GME. It's not just about a short squeeze, it's about their firms' very existence and their own personal freedom. We have the opportunity to put all these people in jail by proving that we own more than 100% of shares in existence. + +There are are **71 million shares** of GME that have ever been issued by the company. Institutions have reported to the SEC via [13F filings](https://fintel.io/so/us/gme) that they own more than **102,000,000 shares** (including the 13% of GME stock is owned by Ryan Cohen). Now, I don't know the delay/variance on these ownership numbers, but I think there is a pretty solid argument that close to 100% of GME is owned by these firms, if not more. + +Moreover, there are now more than 7 million people subscribed to r/wallstreetbets\~\~. I know lots of people here are sitting on a few hundred shares that they bought back when it was under $50. Some of us are even holding thousands. If the average number of shares owned by each subscriber is even close to 5-10, we have a very good shot at also owning a similarly enormous amount of GME.\~\~ **Even if the average was just 10 shares per legit subscriber, that puts the minimum retail position at about 30-50% of the entire company.** + +GME has been on the NYSE threshold list for almost a month. We don't have January data yet, but I just analyzed the data from the [SEC's fails–to–deliver list for December](https://www.sec.gov/data/foiadocsfailsdatahtm) (all 65,871 lines of it) and looked up the number of shares that were likely counterfeit. For comparison, I did the same for a couple random tickers. Most companies have close to no shares not show up. Of those that do, it's a relatively small number of shares. For example, two random companies: Lowes ($LOW, \~$125B market cap) had 13,960 shares fail to be delivered at its highest point that month, Boston Beer Company ($SAM, $11.5B market cap) had 295 shares fail to be delivered. + +How many shares of GME failed to deliver? **1,787,191.** As the white papers points out, the true number of counterfeit shares can be 20x this number. How bad do you think that number will be when we get the numbers for January? I'm willing to bet its many times that. Look at how that compares to other companies' stock: + +[Histogram showing number of shares that weren't delivered in December \(x-axis\) vs the number of companies that fall into that bin \(y-axis\). GME is an extreme outlier.](https://preview.redd.it/g723jvyhine61.png?width=445&format=png&auto=webp&s=39bad6c47b428d364de36e9888de35b79572d1da) + +I think this explains all the shenanigans going on the last few days. There is way too much counterfeit GME stock out there and DTC, the clearing houses, and the hedge funds are all in on it. That's why there has been such a coordinated effort to disrupt our ability to buy shares. **No real shares can be found** **and it's about to cause the system to fall apart.** + +*TLDR; We probably own way more of GME than we think and that is freaking out Wall Street because it could prove they've been up to some extremely illegal shit and the whole system could implode as a result.* + +Disclaimer: I'm just a starving engineering PhD student and I don't work in finance. I have no inside knowledge of how the financial system works and I may be wrong on some of this. This is not financial advice and you shouldn't trade based on it. I am book-smart but I still eat crayons like the rest of you. Obligatory rocket: **🚀** + +&#x200B; + +EDIT 0: Looks like I truly belong on this sub. On the first version of this post I didn't read the file description properly and summed a cumulative distribution. My numbers were wrong, but I have updated the plot and post with the correct numbers. + +EDIT 1: You should also note this is the distribution for NASDAQ tickers, not the entire NYSE. I doubt that the distribution trend is any different though. + +EDIT 2: Evidence that Fannie May and Freddie Mac were killed in 2008 via short attacks using counterfeit shares: [report](https://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-08-09/s70809-407a.pdf). Exactly what I think they were trying to do to GME. + +EDIT 3: A lot of people were hung up on the "3 shares per wsb subscriber thing". I know many accounts are bots, I was intentionally underestimating that number. I have adjusted to 10 shares per "legit subscriber" to reflect this without changing the total amount I think retail owns. + +EDIT 4: What I'm seeing on Twitter makes me think I'm being interpreted a little too hyperbolically when I say "Something big enough to blow up the entire financial system.**" We're not going to go back to mud huts, people.** This could just be really disruptive for a short amount of time and cause a number of firms to face liquidity problems, possibly bankrupting some of them. Life will go on and I'm confident regulators and government will step in and protect people if necessary. Hopefully they pay more attention to enforcing securities laws going forward to prevent this from happening again. + +EDIT 5: [Backup link for white paper.](https://web.archive.org/web/20210131014127/counterfeitingstock.com/CS2.0/CounterfeitingStock.html) + +EDIT 6: I am getting thousands of messages. I won't be able to respond to all of them. Here is an FAQ: + +1. *How do I learn investing?*I am not an authority on this, but my personal opinion is to first learn how to read a company's financial documents and value businesses and only then start thinking about putting your money into specific stocks. Read "the intelligent investor" by Benjamin Graham for this. Then learn how to think about picking stocks. I like Peter Lynch's books for this. +2. *What is going to happen this week?*I have no idea and I wouldn't dare to guess. +3. *Are you going to be killed?*I don't know where people are getting this idea. I have no special knowledge or insider contacts, and I am in no way, shape, or form an expert on the market or the system behind it. Please treat my tinfoil-hat conspiracy theories as just that. There is nothing to gain from harming me and I have no doubts about my safety. These are just personal opinions and I don't have any schemes to "take down the shorts" or anything like that. I do not advocate for you to buy, hold, or sell. I'm just postulating on how we might have found ourselves in this place. +Day traded for 7 months, and failed. Thought to myself you guys were just gamblers, and some of you got lucky. Day trading was a scam etc (the usual things people when they fail). Then came May, I found a strategy I liked by trading the same exact stock everyday which is NIO, and just scalping it with 1000 shares. I've done this so much I'm practically a nio expert. In the month of May I was green every single day other than the 13th and 26th averaging 450 per day. So far I have been green everyday in June, and hoping to continue it. + +I just wanted to say I was wrong, this is not strictly gambling, this is finding patterns that give you a higher success than failure, then control risk so that even if you are right 50% of the time 1.5 risk/reward will leave you profitable. + +Also trading the same stock everyday is so much easier, you only keep track of the news on 1 stock, and you begin to pick up its patterns, it's all time ranges etc. It's so beautiful when it starts to make sense. + +i will not get cocky, and everyday I am green I say "thank you" and close think or swim, I have to keep humble and respect the market. +So I’m having some guilt about evicting all the tenants of a property. + +I closing on a quad that I plan on BRRRRing. All 4 units need pretty severe rehabs. All 4 units are occupied. All 4 units are month to month. + +My plan is to submit 30 day notice to vacate the day after closing. Take whomever to court that does not want to leave and start my rehab. + +I did think I’d have any issue doing this until now. As I ask my attorney to draft up the notices I’m feeling guilt for the first time in my real estate investing journey. + +I’ve done BRRRRs for multi families but they are typically been either empty or with delinquent tenants. + +Thoughts? +Hi all, + +I have little to no experience with cars or the legal aspect of this and need advice. + +I opened the passenger side door of colleague A's car with a nasty wind blowing and dinged cleague B's driver side door. I informed colleague B and said we we could come to an agreement (I saw evidence online of £200-600 bills for similar work). + +Colleague B has 2 quotes from independent garages. They can fix the small dent, but say the paintwork requires a 1/2 car respray on pearlescent paint. Colleague B is now asking for £2,000 in cash to cover this. Which I don't have. Not by a long shot. + +I asked if I could just cover his insurance premium instead and he could claim that way. He refused because he didn't want to affect it. Which I can appreciate. + +However, it strikes me as unfair that I would be required to pay £2000 for a respray on a £12,000 car, whereas for him it isn't even worth a £250 excess claim. It is his car after all, and he keeps highlighted how it will bother him if it doesn't get fixed. + +I'm not sure what to do. I'm already paying off a lot of debt each month as per the flowchart and can't afford to take a loan out for another £2,000 (I doubt I would even get approved). + +What are my options here? Can he take me to a small claims court? How can I raise the money if I'm unable to get another loan? I could maybe pay £50 a month right now but that is all I can afford and I have the impression that won't cut it. +**\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* I am not a financial advisor, this is not financial advice \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*** + +# Introduction (DD starts below) + +Apes, did you know that there are usually about 80 confirmed cases of deadly shark attacks per year. You know what nobody ever talks about though? The fact that sharks have TWO, count it TWO, FUCKING PENSIS. I am not making that up. Imagine what I could do with two penises. I'd have twice the total dick length. I might have to rename myself HomeDepotHank3InchesTotal. + +On the topic of cocks, did you know that many reptiles have two penises as well? They call them hemipenes. SUCK MY HEMI PEEN SHILLS. + +As many of you know, I am a music aficionado. I like to listen to my fair share of classical music like Megan Thee Stallion and Linkin Park, Jazz music like Fifth Harmony, and even heavy metal like Coldplay and Carly Rae Jepsen. However, I recently came across a beautiful artist who I was not previously aware of. He is a contemporary opera singer named Wheeler Walker Jr. Some of his most popular songs reminded me of this current situation: + +"Fuck you bitch" - how I feel about shorts + +"Pictures on my phone" - my DD + +"Pussy King" and "Rich Sumbitch" - apes when the squeeze is over + +"Finger up my butt" - me sitting on the toilet scrolling through this sub every morning + +"Sleeping on the Blacktop" - shorts after they go bust + +"Drop 'em out" - shorts getting squeezed out of their positions + +"Sit on my face" - me every time I see my wife's boyfriend + +"Still ain't sick of fuckin you" - apes when the shorts beg for mercy + +"Dicked down in Dallas" - shorts who live in Texas during the squeeze + +"I like smoking pot (a lot)" - my wife + +(These are the actual titles and this guy is actually real, I love the internet). + +**Alright apes, enough joking around, it's time to get serious** + +# Where the DD actually starts + +There has been an absolute slew of data in the past month about FTDs, dark pools, and rule changes. As many of you know, I have been pumping out a bunch of DD about the FTD cycle. After reading tons of posts about dark pool DD and DTCC rule changes, I think I now understand how all of this fits together and have thus made this GME theory of everything. The DDs that I read on dark pools and OTC trading are the glue that connects everything together IMO. + +In this post, I will be me connecting my own DD about FTDs to other users' DDs about dark pools, DTCC rule changes, and ETF shorting in order to give us a bigger picture of what all of this is and means. Thus, there will be absolutely no prediction in this post, however, it should help you understand how everything is tied together and the fact that because we don't know the exact extent of shorts' exposure, it is impossible to predict when the MOASS will occur. I am confident though that we are nearing the light at the end of the tunnel. With that, Apes, I present to you: HOMEDEPOTHANK69's DEFINITIVE GME THEORY OF EVERYTHING. Enjoy.... + +**Roadmap** + +Alrighty apes, I am going to first briefly explain my own DD on the FTD cycle. Next, I am going to summarize some DD from a user about OTC trading and dark pools relating to GME. After that, I will summarize some DD from other users about how new DTCC and other agency rules affect GME in the future. Finally, I will summarize how ETF shorting plays into GME. After that, I will go into how all of these fit together in one big beautiful orgy that explains where the HFs are at with GME and why they are there. This will allow us to understand our current position. + +# Summarizing DD of FTD Cycle, new rules, OTC trading, and ETF shorting of GME + +**FTD Cycle** + +Below are the links to my posts on the FTD cycle: + +[Post 1](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/myxei0/hank_returns_with_some_ftd_cycle_dd/) [Post 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mzd0sf/dd_update_from_hank_ftd_cycle/) [Post 3](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mzzb65/quick_update_from_hank_ftd_cycle/) [Post 4](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/n1dy1a/a_hankdate_gme_ftd_cycle/) [Post 5](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/n1wqlg/huge_ftd_cycle_dd_update_from_hank/) + +Essentially, the FTD cycle is the idea that because shorts have continuously shorted GME, covered it with borrowed shares, and used naked shorts, their short exposure is multiples higher than the actual shares of GME in existence. Because of this and SEC rules forcing them to cover every 35 days, there are predictable price and volume hikes on the chart that coincide with them covering. As every FTD cycle passes, the price to cover gets more and more expensive, and more and more shares are required (naked or not) to maintain their position, which makes it progressively more expensive and progressively increases their position. This increase in expense is going up exponentially, so each cycle is more expensive for them to keep their positions, and eventually, the pressure will be too much for them and they will be forced out. Because heavy naked shorting probably started in early 2020 for GME, with each passing month their exposure increases drastically because a naked short gives them double the obligation (they must cover the short and the nakedly created share). This is why I believe that their current short position is multiples higher than the amount of GME shares in existence. Therefore, they've dug themselves into a hole (hole is an understatement, it's more like an abyss) that they cannot get out of and are trying to slowly unravel the FTD cycle, which is only possible if apes sell. Because apes have not sold, the FTD cycle continues and gets progressively more expensive and they cannot get out of the abyss, they can only kick the can down the road. Similar to the January squeeze, eventually the pressure will be too much and they will be forced out. Here is a picture of the FTD cycle on the charts from one of my posts: + +https://preview.redd.it/aptkte0kvhx61.png?width=1518&format=png&auto=webp&s=f95b969d4b3acd1ef5c318065d224cfb192271cd + +This doesn't give you the full picture of the FTD cycle but it gives you a generalization of its thesis. If you want to learn more about it, see my other posts. + +**OTC/Dark pool trading** + +*All credit for this goes to the absolute KING who is* u/nayboyer2*. Here is his* [*original post*](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/myf505/probably_the_last_dd_youll_ever_need_to_read_the/)*.* + +According to his post, Citadel, Virtu, and Two Sigma are and have been trading MILLIONS of GME shares in dark pools and OTC exchanges. He used publicly available data from FINRA and converted it into charts and spreadsheets (again FUCKING KING). He plotted the ownership of GME shares of these firms. He found that these firms are trading over 1000 shares of GME for every one that they own (let that sink in). He also found that an exorbitant amount of shares are trading in dark pools when compared to the float. This data is irrefutable because, again, it is publicly available FINRA data (i.e. he's not just making a theory, he's just saying what the data shows). Here are some important screenshots from his post: + +https://preview.redd.it/owemuaknvhx61.png?width=1386&format=png&auto=webp&s=f7523a863e97c3f8ecdb9e277cedfc3f0c729b26 + +https://preview.redd.it/uck7fejovhx61.png?width=1150&format=png&auto=webp&s=f213f69fb05c91d7fff17739fba96b4c0782457c + +https://preview.redd.it/gjinhpepvhx61.png?width=1206&format=png&auto=webp&s=94760b5e594291ca78e7bf6a66e7e97c7daeebf2 + +The takeaway: there is a massive amount of dark pool and OTC trading of GME, it's multiples higher than the actual float. This is just publicly available data that they've reported, so I would guess there's even more to this than we can see from public data. Seriously, check out this post if you haven't, it is a masterpiece. + +*I am just scratching the surface of this, it's only meant to be a summary, I encourage you to read his post. I'd let him have a night with my wife ANYTIME.* + +**New Rules** + +*All credit for this goes to the absolute KING who is* u/c-digs*. Here is his* [*original post*](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mu9xed/why_were_still_trading_sideways_and_why_we_havent/)*.* + +In his post, he theorizes that all of Wallstreet knows what's going on with GME and that we have been trading sideways for so long because Wallstreet is waiting on several crucial rules from organizations like the DTC and OCC to be passed that will essentially ensure that Citadel can't completely break the market when they go bust. The user believes that once these measures are passed, a firm (he thinks BlackRock) will put tons of buying pressure on GME and cause the squeeze because the measures would make the blow to the financial system more containable. He also points out that in a single week multiple banks broke the record for bond offerings (i.e. they want to have cash on hand). This user believes that a few institutions are in GME too deep and everyone knows it and the influx of rules is meant to make the unraveling safe for Wallstreet, therefore, Wallstreet is waiting to pounce on GME until the middle of the summer when these rules would be passed (at the latest). He gives specific rules, how they will essentially take exposure off of clearing companies and put it on members and the defaulting institutions, and shows the latest possible dates that these proposed rules may go into effect. + +*I am just scratching the surface of this, it's only meant to be a summary, I encourage you to read his post. I'd let him have a night with my wife ANYTIME.* + +**ETF Shorting** + +*All credit for this goes to the absolute KING who is* u/leenixus*. Here is his* [*original post*](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/n4axra/95_gme_etfs_3_months_of_ftds_visualized/)*.* + +There are tons of posts about how ETFs are being shorted in order to a. put indirect pressure on GME and b. hide FTDs. I particularly liked this post because of all the charts, which make my smooth brain tingle. I won't go too far into this because most of us already know that another tactic used by HFs is to use these ETFs to put more pressure on GME and to hide FTDs. Here are some important screenshots: + +https://preview.redd.it/skufmdpvvhx61.png?width=1410&format=png&auto=webp&s=27cfc9c831e755a0e15705128e1fb12ef87c0d27 + +https://preview.redd.it/ulxh5cmwvhx61.png?width=1284&format=png&auto=webp&s=9f189cc3a4023fadaf2e099dd57ec72b3eb5b443 + +*I am just scratching the surface of this, it's only meant to be a summary, I encourage you to read his post. I'd let him have a night with my wife ANYTIME.* + +&#x200B; + +\*\*I am not taking credit for the above three DDs. I am using their DD to contribute to my overall theory. Please see their posts as they are spectacular. These are truly KING apes\*\* + +# How all of this fits together + +https://preview.redd.it/isdrqz6yvhx61.png?width=1396&format=png&auto=webp&s=2e36c37b3e968f156657bb9b7bdd47063b038b1c + +So, we have the FTD cycle, Dark pool/OTC activity, ETF shorting, and upcoming rules that could benefit us. But how do all of these fit together? (again, this is just my opinion and it could be wrong). I will guide you through the conclusions I make as I go by bolding them. + +First, the dark pool/OTC data indicates what we all already know: HFs are in a giant fucking hole, an abyss. They borrowed shares, covered those borrowed shares with borrowed shares, shorted with borrowed shares, covered those with borrow shares, and so on. They have been repeating this forever, which is why the price of GME is still so high and volatile. They do most of this covering in dark pools to suppress buying pressure and do other shady things in these dark pools so it goes unnoticed (more on that below). + +Moreover, GME's OBV has always perplexed me. How could OBV still be this high post squeeze? The DD on dark pools explains that (i.e. they are covering on dark pools to suppress buying pressure and OBV shows that). This means that apes did not sell post-squeeze and that the HFs did indeed use naked shorts to create artificial selling pressure (OBV is the yellow line): + +https://preview.redd.it/m4175igzvhx61.png?width=902&format=png&auto=webp&s=17b67302299d87b4d33a5d5c088c7f43dbc0fbcb + +The OTC data also explains the low volume. The funds are covering in dark pools in an attempt to suppress buying pressure, which is why volume has been so low lately. This also explains the random 1pm jumps in buy volume that I noted in a previous post. Finally, this further explains why GME reacts so strangely to catalysts - there are outside forces (OTC trading) that are currently bogging down the price. If a catalyst happens to line up with when they have to cover (i.e. February 24), then we will see positive volume, if not, there is still massive selling pressure on even positive news. + +Furthermore, the dark pool/OTC data provides almost irrefutable evidence that 1. there is still fuckery afoot with GME, 2. the shorts have indeed dug themselves into a hole that they cannot get out of 3. the exposure that the short funds have is astronomical, and 4. unless for some odd reason all apes sell, the MOASS will in fact happen and it will happen big. Essentially, I believe that we now know exactly what's going on, we just don't know the exact numbers of it (i.e. we don't know their precise exposure or how many shares they borrow or use to short during an attack). The fact that GME's price is still insanely volatile and is trading over 5x what most analysts think it should be and the fact that an INSANE amount of volume is coming from OTC markets demonstrates that shorts still indeed have large positions are still very much IN THIS BITCH. + +**Conclusion 1: HFs are indeed in a deep hole, have not covered, and are trading in high volumes in dark pools in an attempt to kick the can down the road. All of this explains the low volume.** + +In the OTC data post, the user shows that the institutions involved in these dark pools do in fact own shares of GME; however, they are trading over 1000x the shares that they own. A few days ago, I remember seeing a post from someone who contacted Interactive Brokers asking why the borrow fee was so low (I don't remember the post but if you do please link and give user credit). The person said that GME is one of the hardest stocks to short right now but the reason that the borrow rate is so low is because there is almost zero demand. + +**Conclusion 2: GME is insanely hard to borrow right now and there is very little demand to short it** + +Next, dark pool activity helps us to further explain the FTD cycle. Why do we see these spikes in price and volume every 35ish calendar days? SEC regulations force them to cover. Why does it keep happening? The OTC data shows us that they are STILL naked shorting. Why else would there be this much OTC activity. That shows us that HFs are continuing to naked short and cover with borrowed shares every day, thus digging themselves in a deeper hole (because naked shorting creates 2 obligations - covering the short and covering the naked share) and it's getting more expensive to do so as time goes on (FTD cycle) because their short position is increasing rapidly as shown by the OTC data. + +https://preview.redd.it/luan1b21whx61.png?width=817&format=png&auto=webp&s=22488dac3696615829aa4853b16daa22e9b2abd8 + +**Conclusion 3: The OTC data adds credence to the idea that the FTD cycle is getting more and more expensive and that shorts are increasing their short positions rapidly as time passes** + +So if all of this is true, why isn't some whale coming in to take advantage of it and benefit from a squeeze as many of them did in January? That's where the new rules DD comes into play. Because Wallstreet has access to better, more accurate data than is publicly available, they probably already know what we are just starting to figure out. Why else would the DTC and OCC put in all these rules related to liquidation, bankruptcy, and oversight right after the GME squeeze? Therefore, potential whales are purposely sidelining themselves until these rules are passed, so that they don't completely destroy the financial system in unraveling these short positions. If some whale came in and tried to start the squeeze now, there's a good chance that it would cause a collapse in the financial system because clearinghouses would go bankrupt from having to cover for the shorts who default, which would tank the whales' other assets; however, because of the proposed rules, doing so would only make a few institutions collapse, which would save the whales' other positions in the market. + +**Conclusion 4: Whales have purposely sidelined themselves and are waiting for the proposed regulatory rules to take effect so the squeeze doesn't destroy the financial system.** + +Back to OTC data. Why would an institution want to trade on a dark market? The first reason is to suppress buying pressure. The second reason is so that the broader market cant see what they're doing (without taking a deep dive like our ape KING did). The third reason is because they may be employing trading strategies that are borderline illegal, would cause a lot of suspicions, and would make GME dangerously volatile. Because dark pools allow institutions to trade with each other absent an exchange, I believe that this is what they're doing on those pools: they are buying and selling back and forth between each other at a rapid rate in order to drop the price. These are the short attacks that we see. Ever notice that it seems to take about half the volume for the price of GME to go down $5 (arbitrary number) as it does for it to rise $5 (arbitrary number)? This could be why. Moreover, I also believe that they are limiting their covering ONLY to dark pools to suppress buying pressure in public exchanges. Why do I believe this? If there was nothing crazy going on with GME then why is there still an asininely high amount of dark pool activity similar to what we saw during the squeeze? + +**Conclusion 5: Shorts are using dark pools to suppress buying pressure and to drop the price by rapidly trading between each other.** + +Back to the fact that it is getting harder and harder to borrow GME and there is very little interest. What I believe is happening is, as said above, these funds are rapidly trading back and forth between each other to drop the price, are borrowing shares from each other, are covering with borrowed shares, and continue to use naked shorts. HOWEVER, because the availability of borrowed shares in the broader market is drying up and because the shorts only own so many shares that they can borrow and trade between each other, their supply is drying up, so they can't continue this forever. Because apes continue to buy, the amount of shares available is further drying up. The longer these funds continue to borrow shares, make naked shorts, cover with borrowed shares, and borrow each other's shares, the more the shares available to borrow dry up. As the FTD cycle rages on, this also becomes more expensive over time. Thus, they are playing a losing game but financially cannot stop playing this game because they're in so deep. Therefore, the squeeze will happen when the supply of shares completely dries up and their short positions slowly (or rapidly) start to unravel or when the FTD cycle makes continuing their game too expensive. + +**Conclusion 6: The squeeze will happen once the availability of shares to borrow is completely dried up, which seems to be rapidly approaching.** + +https://preview.redd.it/4bcl5rm2whx61.png?width=1018&format=png&auto=webp&s=5d5ba7fc4d299220b605b278ee50b76331747fa4 + +Moreover, many people have also noted that GME and AMC trade disturbingly similar in price and volume. I'll also add that this seems to be true for other stocks that were squeezed in January. Why do you think stocks like AMC, GMC, KOSS, BB, NOK, EXPR move so similarly? It's because they are all victims of the FTD cycle as well. Why do you think all of these stocks squeezed at around the same time and why do you think brokers simultaneously halted trading on all of these stocks? Because naked shorting is a cancer infecting the market. Shorts got too risky during covid and thought that all of these companies would go bust, so they abusively shorted them hoping to get the bankruptcy jackpot. Bankrupting these companies would let these funds be off the hook for covering because the company would no longer exist, so there would be no share to cover. However, J Pow then turned on the money machine and we saw the greatest recovery of all time. Realizing how bad HFs fucked up, brokers had the choice of facing bad press for restricting buying or allowing the FTD cycle to unravel and let the financial system collapse. They did the rational thing. Then, realizing that the problem was still grossly persistent, financial regulatory companies started implementing more and more rules to prevent the unraveling of this from destroying the economy when it does happen. + +No one says this but why do you think literally every brokerage did exactly what RH did? Do you really think they all had liquidity issues? No. It's because they all knew what was happening because they had the access to the data. They knew that if they let it squeeze, it would bankrupt Citadel and they'd be on the hook for it. However, now that there are all of these new rules in place, they can allow it to happen once all of the rules are passed. + +**Conclusion 7: The FTD cycle is persistent and exemplifies the naked shorting problem in Wallstreet that Dr. Trimbath discussed.** + +https://preview.redd.it/jtxacny3whx61.png?width=772&format=png&auto=webp&s=8fea66e244ed1e994aa7423affaf1d618ddd1276 + +Back to GME specifically. In one of my previous posts on the FTD cycle, I used this chart to make sense of T+35: + +https://preview.redd.it/cht9r9c6whx61.png?width=1304&format=png&auto=webp&s=a424f956cc9fbed4a6e23f13923f2bf1794a6556 + +Notice the low volume in February. I have long said that I don't think that the CFO being ousted is what caused GME to double in February, it just doesn't make sense. Instead, I believe that once brokerages turned off buying power in January, the HFs again amped up their naked shorting to get the price down to where they could possibly cover. Obviously, some people sold but OBV tells us that it wasn't enough people to get the price all the way down to $40. What explains this? Naked shorting in dark pools to disguise what's really going on. Then, at the end of February, T+35 starts coming in to play and HFs must cover for what they did to end the January squeeze. Obviously, they continued to apply more naked shorts throughout this (March 10th anyone?), so their short positions continue to grow and the FTD cycle continues to persist. Perhaps today's low volume, slightly downward price action is similar to what was happening in February (just a thought). + +**Conclusion 8: The February rise was the result of forced coverings from the January drop and demonstrates that the shorts still have large positions.** + +Back to the dark pool data. One of my favorite things from that was the fact that there is not just one player. There are multiple players in this game, which suggests that they are working in tandem. What I posit happened is that these funds all saw the same thing in early 2020: GME is struggling, covid will likely bankrupt it, so let's take some risk and apply naked shorts to hit the bankruptcy jackpot. Instead, the market roared back, GME had a slew of good news in mid-late 2020, and the shorts got themselves in this abyss because they continued to apply more and more pressure on GME. Again, a naked short makes your obligation double because you have to pay back the share that you borrowed and you also have to fulfill the obligation of the share you nakedly created. So every time they apply more pressure, sure the stock goes down, but their net short position goes up exponentially. This is why the FTD cycle persists. Just to kick the can down the road, they use synthetic longs and ETFs to hide and delay their FTDs. + +**Conclusion 9: Funds are working in tandem because they are both in too deep but it is futile and is just delaying the inevitable.** + +But what are some of their other tricks? As we know, they like to hide/delay their FTDs through synthetic longs (ITM calls). But what they also do is short the ETFs that contain GME. This applies much less efficient pressure to GME and shows that they are getting really desperate. How do we know that they are doing this? Well, just look at the FTD numbers of those ETFs. + +**Conclusion 10: Their activity on GME-containing ETFs demonstrates how desperate they are getting** + +But wait a minute, Hank. Do you have any actual hard data that can back up the FTD squeeze theory? If you would've asked me this any other day except for today the answer would have been no. Thanks to u/AOCsquad126 and u/leenixus [for this beauty of a post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/n5trot/i_dont_to_tout_the_horn_without_knowing_anything/). In short, the post uses a model with a linear margin call price trigger on GME. It's very fascinating and I suggest you take a look. In short, I believe this post gives further credence to the idea that the shorts are bleeding more day by day because it is getting more and more expensive to maintain their positions. Why do you suppose it gets more expensive day by day? Oh I don't maybe it's because of they keep borrowing and borrowing. Finally, the OP makes an excellent point here that, when they get margin called, we will not know for up to T+35 days (he gives the example that Archegos was margin called in February but the effects weren't seen for another month). This gives further credence to the idea that the MOASS will come randomly and out of nowhere. Here's a screenshot from the post: + +https://preview.redd.it/q2xvimp7whx61.png?width=1354&format=png&auto=webp&s=edeefebb873ff9330aae2bd294d931f6deb7daa3 + +**Conclusion 11: I like the stock. I like the FTD cycle.** + +&#x200B; + +**Putting all of the conclusions together and putting them in context:** + +Below is what I believe is the timeline of GME thus far. This is a summary of my theory of everything: + +https://preview.redd.it/3sn7qdio0ix61.png?width=822&format=png&auto=webp&s=cde72d5259a47902b70d41ea9fba052b531322f0 + +**Conclusion 12: Tendies** + +https://preview.redd.it/jjldjgb9whx61.png?width=705&format=png&auto=webp&s=49ce44de339ed741405e21fffe1fe2bc90d1eaf6 + +# Some other thoughts + +**Catalysts** + +It has long been a sentiment that a catalyst will cause the MOASS. Though I wholeheartedly agree that this COULD be true, I want to emphasize that is not the only option. First, as I've said above GME reacts strangely to catalysts because of FTDs and shorting (doubled on CFO ousting but went down on RC being named daddy/master/lord/senpai of the board). We still have many possible catalysts: CEO announcement, partnerships, crypto shit, etc. However, it's important to remember that January was not caused by a catalyst. Sure, the events leading up to January were caused by catalysts (SI being sky-high, media coverage, RC, tweets, etc.); however, the actual squeeze in January wasn't spurred by a catalyst. It was just the shorts being forced to cover due to the price rising. After seeing how GME reacts to catalysts, I believe that the squeeze will not happen because of a catalyst but will happen in a similar fashion to January: completely unexpected because the shorts were forced to cover. Could a catalyst cause the squeeze? Hell yes. I personally think that a catalyst might cause it to rocket, but similar to January, the real squeeze will happen after an initial rocket due to catalysts and will be the result of the shorts being forced to throw in the towel, not a catalyst squeezing them out. Essentially: catalyst-> rapid price jump but not squeeze (think early January) -> parabolic price jump caused by rapid price jump squeezing out shorts (think January squeeze). + +**How this is disturbingly similar to 2008** + +In 2008 institutions sold risky mortgages to people who shouldn't have qualified for them. That was bad. They also created mortgage-backed securities with these risky mortgages in them and sold them across Wallstreet, which gave the entire financial system exposure to bad mortgages. That was worse. They then created collateralized debt obligations that were essentially bets for and against a default on these loans (i.e. they made derivatives of these MBS). That was fucking terrible. They then made synthetic CDOs, which were bets on the reverse side of the CDO (i.e. a derivative of a derivative). That was a nuke. All the while half of Wallstreet was buying credit default swaps, which are derivatives that bet for a default to happen. This was Wallstreet canabalizing itself. That was a huge generalization of 2008, though. So essentially, the derivates market for these bad mortgages was about 10-50x more than the value of the actual underlying asset (the MBS), which is why when the underlying failed, it almost caused another Great Depression. By making bets on bets on risky assets, they created a web that, once volatility happens, would unravel (because once the underlying fails the derivatives fail and the derivatives of the derivatives fail). They essentially dug themselves into a hole that you couldn't get out of because they made all of these derivative bets that far exceeded the actual value of the underlying asset. Sound familiar to what I said above? Financial crises happen when institutions place risky bets and make bets on these bets. When they make layers of derivates like this, it makes the system seem like it's booming for a while but as soon as something goes bad, it all unwinds in a tragic way. That's what's happening now with these webs of naked shorts. + +# The Future + +With all of this in mind, here are my thoughts about the future. As I have said, I believe that the FTD cycle is slowly chewing away at the shorts, and I think that the dark pool data helps confirm this. I also believe that the timing and contents of the aforementioned rules is very interesting. + +Therefore, I believe that either A. the pressure on the shorts will overwhelm them and their positions will be forced to unravel, or B. with the safeguards put in place from the new rules, a whale will come in and unravel the positions for them. + +This post has no dates. I personally like posts with dates if they have a ton of research behind them and are logical. However, as we've seen, though some people can predict certain price action, no one can predict the MOASS. The MOASS will come, we just won't know when because we don't know exactly how much blood the MMs have lost yet and how close they are to dying. All we know is that they've lost a lot of blood and keep losing more. So, none of us will see the MOASS coming, but it will come (just like my wife when she's with the mailman). + +Though I have no dates as to the happening of the MOASS, I leave with this: + +https://preview.redd.it/paptvkxbwhx61.png?width=577&format=png&auto=webp&s=2f7e28415c832a42569db24ad4c22274933b4814 + +# If you have FUD, read this + +I, like all of you, have been a victim of FUD. I often think to myself, "they know more than us, there's no way they'll let this happen again" or "it's been trading sideways, it's all over" or "they have more resources than us and will end this quick." FUD is a bitch. FUD is the type of girl that your wife's boyfriend avoids. To help some of you who are experiencing FUD, here is what I always remember whenever those thoughts enter my head: + +The thesis of this part of the post is that what's happening to GME is not normal, which validates all/most of the topics discussed in this sub. Yes, a short squeeze to that magnitude is abnormal, but what really gets me with GME is what happened AFTER the squeeze. Find any stock that has been massively squeezed, and you will see that it doesn't behave like GME has been for the past few months. If GME would have held around $30-50 like it did post-squeeze and didn't rocket up to 100>200>300 in the past few months with all of this crazy trading action then all of these theories would be very farfetched. However, as I have said a billion times, the chart and data are all that you need to see to know that this stock is still not normal. + +Therefore, + +It is not normal for a stock double in the span of a few hours on news of a CFO getting fired (2/24). It is not normal for a stock to open at above 250, go to 350 before noon and then fall down to 172 all before 2pm on absolutely no news (3/10). It is not normal for a stock to tank on earnings and then literally make back those losses the very next day on absolutely no news (3/25). It is not normal for a stock to double on news of the CFO being ousted but to go down 5% on news that the key player (Cohen) is being announced as the senpai of the board of directors. It is not normal for a stock to stay above $150 when every Wallstreet analyst says it's not worth more than $50. It is not normal for a stock to have an extremely negative beta. It is not normal for a stock to fluctuate in value by 10x over the span of a few months (up AND down) on very little fundamental news. It is not normal for multiple forums talking about the same stock to be infiltrated repeatedly by suspicious accounts trying to create FUD (i.e. shills really on exist on forums discussing GME, not regular retail investing forums like [r/investing](https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/) and [r/stocks](https://www.reddit.com/r/stocks/) (which I am banned from hahahaha)). It is not normal for a stock to be universally hated by mainstream finance yet still be trading over 5x what they believe the fair value to be. It is not normal for a stock to get squeezed, fall back down, then almost regain its squeeze price on no fundamental news. It is not normal for a stock to have OTC activity that is multiples higher than its daily volume and float. It is not normal for that OTC volume to be comparable to the January squeeze levels despite "ThE sQuEeZe BeInG oVer." It is not normal for DTC to be implementing a slew of rules about the very things we are talking about. It is not normal for a stock to have random volume spikes in the middle of the day on absolutely no news. It is not normal for ETFs containing said stock to be abusively shorted as well. I could go on and on. If you have FUD, come back to this, and you'll realize that though we might be early, we're not wrong. + +Does it really make sense for GME to be trading on volume below 5 million consistently (on Wednesday we hit a number we haven't seen since early October) when every boomer analyst says it's 5x overvalued in price and there's an insane amount of interest from retail investors? No. It makes zero sense. On one hand, you'd expect those boomers to short it because it's so overvalued, but they're not. That's because it's almost impossible to borrow (unless you're a MM) and they know what's going on. On the other hand, you'd expect the media to be saying "this is crazy, it shouldn't be 5x overvalued, short short short" every day, but they aren't. That's because they know what's going on. Apes, I'll say it again, THIS ISN'T NORMAL! + +# Conclusion + +Well apes, if you've made it this far I applaud you. That was a mouthful to say the least. Thank you for sticking with me to the end of it, this was probably my most in-depth DD and also the one I enjoyed making the most. Please take this with a grain of salt and remember that it is just my opinion, you should always do your own DD before making any decisions. + +Apes, I hope you realize what this community has done because it's astounding. Between WSB, GME, and SuperStonk, regular, novice investors have pieced together the puzzle that only large financial institutions are usually able to do. What's even more amazing is that this was done using limitedly available, often incomplete public data. The level of complexity of some of the DDs that I've read is on the level of publishable. The volume, complexity, and completeness of data in this sub is spectacular. Fuck Robinhood's "DeMoCrAtIzIng iNvEsTiNg" bullshit. This sub is democratizing investing, and let me tell you, it's been an honor to be a part of this community. As always... + +Stay strong, apes. + +**TL;DR** + +See "**Putting all of the conclusions together and putting it in context"** section with the 17 numbered points. + +**\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* I am not a financial advisor, this is not financial advice \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*** +It seems to be a consensus among economists that immigration is generally beneficial. + +However, I came across this paper (https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.25.3.83) which argued that removing all restrictions on labor mobility could increase world gdp by roughly 50-150%. + +Is this true? Is this paper reliable? + +On one hand, I'm generally sceptical of claims that big and that grandiose. On the other hand, it seems like a legit paper (and it has over 700 citations) + +Thanks in advance! +Found this nice moneysense article that has a list of 100 dividend stocks. Thought I would share + +&#x200B; + +[https://www.moneysense.ca/save/investing/stocks/top-100-dividend-stocks/](https://www.moneysense.ca/save/investing/stocks/top-100-dividend-stocks/) +So my company had an employee stock ownership program. I have about $100k in it. Our company is 8 years into a 15 year plan to release all the shares . It was bought out by an investor and we were told all the shares will now be released and expect that figure to double. So now I’m looking at approximately $200k. + +I am in the US and am 46 years old. I can cash that out at about a 34% tax rate plus a 10% penalty or roll it all into my 401k without any taxes or penalties. + +My boyfriend of 8 years whom I’ve been living with for 3 years wants me to cash it out and pay off his mortgage of $138k. His idea is that he will pay me back over the next 15 years. He says he will pay me about $350 per month. He is subtracting the $600 a month rent I currently pay from the money he will pay me back. + +He thinks it’s a great idea and better to invest in real estate than the stock market. So if I did this he would put my name on the deed and I would have equity in the house. He thinks it makes sense. + +I don’t because once I retire we would either have to sell the house or do a reverse mortgage for me to have income (retirement) to live off of. + +Would there be any future financial benefit for me to follow his plan? Is a 401k still a better option? + +I don’t come from money, I have no family that will ever leave me an inheritance. I feel like I will never have this opportunity to save for the future again and I don’t want to mess this up. + +I also am not financially in a spot where I can just up and leave him and buy a house on my own. These last 2 years have been extremely financially difficult for me. +I read about GME investors being a bunch of nut job conspiracy theorists and I get it. I read the shit on these forums and a lot of it is some of the dumbest shit I've ever read. Some of it sounds like intelligent analysis and some of it sounds like pure tin foil batshit insane conspiracy theories. + +But can we step back and appreciate how FUCKING INSANE it is that the buy button was turned off? Un-fucking-precedented. Turned off right when Wall Street was about to get 2008'ed? The chairman of the SEC straight up said, "We had to protect the clearinghouses." Aka, the core of Wall Street was about to get 🍆 in the 🍑. + +WHY? Why does people investing in a "dying brick and mortar" result in a multi trillion dollar industry getting destroyed? How has everyone just moved on from that to calling GME investors insane? HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? How come the average person that got fcked in 2008 had to just take it? Why were they not similarly protected? And how does 1 tiny company nearly shut down the entire world's financial system????????? + +These are the questions GME investors were asking. The questions EVERYONE ON PLANET EARTH should have been asking. + +As insane as all of the above is. And I cannot stress enough how insane it really is. Get this, there have been NO CHANGES SINCE. WHAT. THE. FUCK. + +Ok, fuck the consequences. Fuck sending people to jail. Fuck even fining the idiots/criminals that caused the above. At least make some changes to the market? Fucking do *SOMETHING*? + +How have there been no changes to the market to stop the above? Nothing? Really? 1 year from the day a <10 billion dollar "dying brick and mortar" nearly took down multi trillion dollar wall street and NO CHANGES? Billionaires were crying on national television. They didn't do that in 2008 as far as I can remember. + +How are the answers to any of the above questions not going to sound like a crazy bat shit insane conspiracy theory? +People in my circle don't talk about financial problems. Only me really. My family is upper middle class. They've been going on vacations and stuff and talking about how good they're doing. They specialize in industries that actually thrive under the pandemic. I specialize in buisness travel and tourism. + +I'm just anticipating what the next blow to me will be. I was doing good in 2019. Now I'm probably below the poverty line. The past several months nothing short of dumb luck has kept a roof over my head. Month after month. + +Let's talk about what this pandemic has done to us. Please. I feel so alone. Let's just air out our problems. + + +The goal is to build a nation, operating on a decentralised governance model, that empowers the people with abilities to achieve their goals independently through the power of technology. The DAO’s government structure will be determined by a constitutional convention of experts elected by the early citizens. + +The platform will consist of a network of incorruptible, interconnected decentralized services, each optimized for their purpose, together greater than the sum of their parts. Transparent by design, the platform will operate as a self-regulating entity or DAO, governed through an impartial consensus mechanism and constitution. Practical in approach, the DAO works in conjuncti + +The Government Network is building a borderless Nation powered by Blockchain Technology, operating from a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO). Its purpose is to innovate governance one step at a time through the implementation of applications serving direct market needs as drivers for the ecosystem. The goal is to build a nation, operating on a decentralised governance model, accessible and free for all, that empowers its citizens with abilities to achieve their goals independently through the power of technology. + +The framework under which the different branches and procedures of the Government Network will operate, will be determined by a Constitutional Convention. Here, an equally represented group of prominent experts, businessmen and humanists will be tasked with rethinking the role of government as we know it. The Constitutional Convention will be organised starting from March 2019. + + + + +The goal is to build a nation, operating on a decentralised governance model, that empowers the people with abilities to achieve their goals independently through the power of technology. The DAO’s government structure will be determined by a constitutional convention of experts elected by the early citizens. + +The platform will consist of a network of incorruptible, interconnected decentralized services, each optimized for their purpose, together greater than the sum of their parts. Transparent by design, the platform will operate as a self-regulating entity or DAO, governed through an impartial consensus mechanism and constitution. Practical in approach, the DAO works in conjuncti + +The Government Network is building a borderless Nation powered by Blockchain Technology, operating from a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO). Its purpose is to innovate governance one step at a time through the implementation of applications serving direct market needs as drivers for the ecosystem. The goal is to build a nation, operating on a decentralised governance model, accessible and free for all, that empowers its citizens with abilities to achieve their goals independently through the power of technology. + +The framework under which the different branches and procedures of the Government Network will operate, will be determined by a Constitutional Convention. Here, an equally represented group of prominent experts, businessmen and humanists will be tasked with rethinking the role of government as we know it. The Constitutional Convention will be organised starting from March 2019. + + + + +The goal is to build a nation, operating on a decentralised governance model, that empowers the people with abilities to achieve their goals independently through the power of technology. The DAO’s government structure will be determined by a constitutional convention of experts elected by the early citizens. + +The platform will consist of a network of incorruptible, interconnected decentralized services, each optimized for their purpose, together greater than the sum of their parts. Transparent by design, the platform will operate as a self-regulating entity or DAO, governed through an impartial consensus mechanism and constitution. Practical in approach, the DAO works in conjuncti + +The Government Network is building a borderless Nation powered by Blockchain Technology, operating from a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO). Its purpose is to innovate governance one step at a time through the implementation of applications serving direct market needs as drivers for the ecosystem. The goal is to build a nation, operating on a decentralised governance model, accessible and free for all, that empowers its citizens with abilities to achieve their goals independently through the power of technology. + +The framework under which the different branches and procedures of the Government Network will operate, will be determined by a Constitutional Convention. Here, an equally represented group of prominent experts, businessmen and humanists will be tasked with rethinking the role of government as we know it. The Constitutional Convention will be organised starting from March 2019. + + +The following is an excerpt from an [article](https://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/us-currency-watchlist-an-intrusion-official/article34369954.ece) in The Hindu: + + +>The U.S. Treasury Department had recently retained India in a watchlist for currency manipulators submitted to the U.S. Congress, citing higher dollar purchases (close to 5% of the gross domestic product) by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). +> +> Our overall reserves have been fairly steady at $500 bn to $600 bn + +Q: why is RBI buying dollars? + + +I read that it supports building exports and it's used as a reserve in times where inflows would drop dramatically. I didn't understand the second point completely though. + + +Also, what happens to this reserve if USD($) gets devalued? +(it can benefit US as well right? - US products will be competitive in global markets, they can get some relief on the debt they have as they will be paying money which is less valuable, helps stimulate local economic activities or this could happen due to hyperinflation - been reading about this quite a lot since warren buffet's QnA) +I'm a newbie to value investing and have been binging on Roaring Kitty's Youtube videos for the past couple of weeks. I see he takes into consideration a lot of factors to figure out if the company is undervalued or if the company won't go bankrupt (which I believe is his style of investing) .But how does he figure out the value of a stock. Say even if he's ballparking , what is that based on? I'm sure it can't be a simple straight forward formula where you plug in the numbers and outputs the value. If he says a particular company at this current price will be a 4-5 bagger, or sometimes he says "I'd prefer this stock under 10$" how does he determine the value ? + +(p.s I'm a beginner so any article or books or tips y'all think would help me out in this learning process would be appreciated ) +I just wrote this on another thread as a comment. But I think it’ll go wasted as a comment so I’d like to share this here for complete newbies to reference. Please note, this might differ from state to state. I’m speaking from experience in VIC in the year of 2020. It can be more simple or more complicated as not all sales are the same. But here’s a general idea: + +1. You contact a bank or a mortgage broker to help you get a pre-approval. The bank will assess your financial situation. That’ll give you an estimate of how much you can afford to purchase. Try to get all your finance assessed as much as you can during pre-approval. The pre-approval will take into account your situation, including any government grants/deposit/gifts (my situation), then based on your income and job history, credit rating, and other lending criteria, the bank will provide you with a number they’re comfortable lending you. Using this number (the loan amount + deposit + give it some room for additional fees - conveyancing, building inspection, any stamp duty or title transfer if the bank is not paying those, etc. I had a room of about $10k just to be sure, but this is specific to my situation) you should know what your maximum budget is to put in an offer. + +In courtesy of u/septembers57: Pre-approval is the amount up to which the bank will lend to you, but it is also dependant on what the bank evaluates the property you intend to buy is worth. For example, you can have preapproval of up to 600k, but the bank evaluates the property to be worth 580k. Therefore, they will only lend you 580k. + +2. Once you got a pre-approval, you can start looking at properties, inspect, negotiate, review contract of sale. When you’re inspecting the property, make sure you check everything. I mean everything. Turn on every single button/tap/machine you can find. Check for scratch/cracks on the walls. Is the exhaust fan working? What about all the lights - inside and outside? Are the doors working? Can they be closed tightly? Oven, dishwasher, range hood, are they still working? Is there any damage? What about cupboards? Are they intact? Any sign of pest? If possible, pay $400 for a building inspector to thoroughly inspect the property for you. This is expensive, but is much less expensive than having to fix all the defects yourself down the track. I also strongly recommend to have a conveyancer to review the contract. They will point out clauses that are strange/not standard, tell you what they mean, and you can ask for recommendations. If you want to negotiate anything here, this is also the step. Your conveyancer will help you put those conditions in the contract of sales. I recommend to put the subject to finance clause and subject to pest and building inspection clause. Subject to finance is to protect you - in case you can’t get an official approval from the bank for any reason, this clause will help you walk away risk free without any penalty. Same thing for subject to pest and building inspection. If the house is not of good condition and the building inspection presents that, you can walk away risk free. Please note, these will be your negotiation strategy, because if two offers come in with the same price, it’s very likely the vendor will agree to the one WITHOUT these clauses because that means the vendor is protected. If you work with a mortgage broker and they’re sure they can get you a final approval within x days, you can also put a subject to finance within x days (as a precautionary measure) to make your offer more attractive. After x days you’re fully bound to the contract and if you walk away you’ll get hit with penalty and lose the deposit. Also, you can negotiate settlement term here (30 days, 45 days, 60 days, 90 days). The shorter the settlement term, the more attractive your offer is because that means both you and the vendor will finalise the sales more quicker. But also comes with a risk - if for any reason you can’t get all your finance and paperwork done during this time and you miss settlement date, you can be charged. Also you can ask to have the withholding clause to be added here (i’ll explain further below). Please make sure everything you need to negotiate is reviewed and put into the draft contract during this step, especially if you’re buying off auction. Because in auction, there’s no cooling off period and the purchase is unconditional. If you win at auction and change your mind or walk away, you’ll lose the deposit. + +If you buy into an apartment or a townhouse that is a part of a body corporate, don’t forget to walk around the block or the building to check for damages on the block/building during your inspection. Make sure to check if there’s any flameable cladding as well. Also, check strata reports. The contract normally includes the body corp’s Annual General Meeting minutes (AGMs), and will tell you the BAUs of the building, any item the owner corp has agreed to pay annually (e.g. windows cleaning, caretaking, etc.) how much money is allocated to admin fund and how much money is allocated to sinking fund. How much money was raised throughout the year as a special levy to fix up a damage. + +From there, you just gotta make your own judgement. If the AGMs and the finance looks healthy, e.g. no major spending on major damage, then the building is fine to live in. If there’s damage, clarify with the body corp manager (they’ll have a number to call on the AGM). Reach out to them and ask what it is, how it happened, is it the apartment owner’s duty to fix it, or is it the owner corp’s duty to fix it through sinking fund or a special levy has to be raised. If so, how much was quoted. When will the work be carried out. Then justify for yourself, whether it’s worth living in and paying for all these damage, or walk away. + + +Side story: I once inspected a ground floor apartment that has a big crack on the wall. And it’s a step crack so it identifies structural damage. When walking around the building to inspect, there are cracks in other apartments as well. The building inspection came back saying that it was because the garden bed sits right next to the walls. Long term watering caused the soil below to move, and caused the cracks to occur. To rectify, structural engineers need to inspect and provide recommendation. The garden bed needs to be removed or stablising measures need to be added. Then the building foundation needs to be strengthen, and then we can think of fixing cracks for cosmetics. In the AGMs report in the past 3 years, nobody has mentioned anything about it. So I went further and use the login credentials in the AGMs report to log into the body corp’s portal and read reports in the past 10 years. Nobody has mentioned anything about fixing the cracks. I pulled out because in my personal opinion there’s no way in 20 years time I wouldn’t be whipping out big $$$ to fix that building. And the cracks are so obvious, so if nobody has ever mentioned it, this means the people living in that building seem to not care. Who knows after putting all your life saving down, it’s not suitable to live in and we’ll be forced to vacate and lose a home. Even if I move in, I still need to raise the concern with the owner’s corp, get their agreement to carry out the work, and then money will be raise to fix it. And that doesn’t mean everyone will agree to fix it because some of the apartments are not cracking so they won’t be willing to get the money out. Too much hassle for me so I walked away. The apartment ended up selling 25k more than I could afford though. Guess we’re not meant for each other. 😕 + +In courtesy of u/septembers57: Be VERY CAREFUL of the wording about being subject to a building inspection. You need to be specific that it is subject to the building inspection being satisfactory to your liking, otherwise the clause is meaningless if there is no significant structural issues to be addressed. A building inspection is worth it’s weight in gold, or alternatively get a builder, plumber, and electrician friend to look at the house for $$$. Also, find a conveyancer before you find a property. They’ll talk you through the wording of how to make sure you aren’t taken advantage of by the real estate agents. + +3. If you have to go through auction, and have had your special conditions reviewed and amended by the conveyancer, send the contract of sales back to the vendor. If the vendor is happy with your conditions, they’ll proceed with your contract of sales if you win at auction. Normally what you can negotiate in an auction contract is just settlement term or deposit % or strike out some weird conditions that are not on the standard contract. Be aware that if you win at auction, you’ll have to sign the contract straight away and the contract is unconditional, so subject to finance clause won’t apply for auction contract. You just have to hope your finance game is strong and the bank will lend you the money enough to pay for the price won at auction. That’s why it’s important to know when to say no at auction. + +Otherwise, if it’s a private sales and both you and the vendor are happy with the contract, you will then sign and exchange contract. This is when the contract is executed. The contract of sales will also tell you on what date settlement will happen. The REA will send you details of their trust account, and the amount you need to pay. Normally 10% of the purchase price, and you’ll have to make this transfer. If there’s a limit on your transfer, ring your bank. They’ll temporarily increase your transfer limit for 24 hours. + +4. After you’ve got the executed contract of sales, bring that to the bank/mortgage broker to apply for the final approval. Provided the bank hasn’t tightened their credit policy, the closer your finance situation now to what it was when you got the pre-approval, the higher the chance you can secure the approval. Also, if you have a subject to pest and building inspection clause in the contract and haven’t organised a building inspector yet, organise a building inspector at this stage. If the building report comes back not satisfactory, this is where you can pull out. Again, this is not applicable for auction. So, get the pest and building inspection done and justify whether you still want the place or not before decide to fo to auction. To book a pest and building inspection, provide the building inspector with the REA’s details and the property address. They’ll organise an inspection and come back and write up a report for you. + +5. At this stage, you’ll do a lot of paperwork. The bank will ask for your IDs, payslips, bank statements, and send you a loan document to read and sign. Make sure to read and understand all. The loan document will also tell you how much they’ll pay on settlement. Please note, at this stage the bank also evaluates the value of the house. If they think the purchase price is ok, they’ll lend you the loan amount. If they think the house worths less, they’ll only lend you whatever they feel comfortable with. You will then need to organise the shortfall on settlement yourself, or find another lender that’s willing to lend you more. This happens more frequently during off the plan purchase. If the bank rejects, and you can’t find any other bank that is willing to lend you, the subject to finance clause will protect you at this point so you can walk away. + +6. Once you’ve signed everything, then they’ll grant you a final approval. Now there’s not much you can do except for waiting for settlement to happen. + +7. During this period, your conveyancer will help you prepare documents to transfer the land title to your name and help you calculate the final amounts to be paid on settlement (the settlement shortfall). This settlement shortfall includes outstanding body corps on a pro-rata basis (if applicable), any fees and charges proportionately, council rates, water rates, land and title transfer fees, any government grants and stamp duty concessions and the remaining of the deposit. If there’s a request from the vendor for early release of deposit from the REA trust account, your conveyancer will get you to sign form to release it. You’ll have to release it at the end anyway, so if you don’t see any need to withhold it in the REA’s trust account, you can release it early as a nice gesture. + +8. A few days before settlement - depending on where you are, you’re entitled for pre-settlement inspection to ensure the property is of the same condition as when you signed the contract. Contact the REA and arrange that. + +9. If you discover any defect, immediately notify your conveyancer, so they can get in touch with the vendor to rectify. Perhaps when the REA moved the staging furniture out, they left scratches and holes on the wall. If the defect is huge, this might delay the settlement. If the defect is small, then ask for a compensation (as an adjustment on settlement) or withhold the money on settlement. I know in Victoria you’re entitled to withhold up to 5k on settlement to fix for damages (of course if the withholding clause is on the contract - on a standard contract, it’s always there, but some vendors will choose to remove it to protect them). At this stage, the contract is unconditional. You can’t walk away anymore. So make sure you sort everything out before settlement. + +10. 1 day before settlement, the conveyancer will send you a final calculation on how much you need to pay on settlement. If the bank pays all of this amount and you don’t need to pay anything that’s fine. If you need to pay this amount to the bank, your loan document should already tell you how, normally they’ll have a section to direct debit that amount from your account. Otherwise, this settlement shortfall has to be paid to the conveyancer’s trust account. If this is the case, make sure you ask your current bank to do a RTGS transfer (Real Time Gross Settlement). This means they’ll transfer a large lump sum of money to the receiving account on the same day. Otherwise, if the money takes a few days to clear, settlement can be delayed and you can get charged. + +11. On settlement date, if you do online settlement, you don’t need to do anything. The people from your bank with meet up with the vendor’s bank to finalise paperwork and exchange money. + +12. Once settlement has gone through, the bank will notify the conveyancer, the conveyancer will notify you. The vendor’s bank will notify the vendor. You can then meet the vendor or the REA to pick up the key. + +Good luck. + +Note: never assume your purchase will be risk-free. Always be proactive and reach out to the relevant parties to check on progress and what you need to do next and make sure you’re on top of it. Someone misspelling your name at some stage or changing your gender on the Land Title Transfer (happened to me) can lead to a disaster down the track. That means settlement can be delayed, and you’ll end up paying big $$$ on fees and charges. Or if property is wrecked one day before settlement... I’m sure reddit doesn’t lack of settlement horror stories. I once read post somewhere saying that someone’s future home was broken into by a group of bogans and the property was turned into an orgy fuck fest and was filled with piss, cum, needles and blood... +Edit: here it is https://www.reddit.com/r/auslaw/comments/em2lza/settlement_crashing_horror_stories/fdlwwdd/?utm_source=share&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;utm_medium=ios_app&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;utm_name=iossmf + +EDIT: Some words. Please pardon if I made any spelling mistake. English is not my first language. + +EDIT: updated step 2 and 3 so they’re more relevant in an auction scenario. Also updated step 7 on early release of deposit. Step 9 on pre-settlement inspection. Step 2 on pre-purchase inspection. Step 4 on building inspection. Step 1 on what pre-approval might look like. Step 2 on strata meeting minutes and step 3 on auction contract + +EDIT: Thank you kind user for gifting me my first gold ever 🙏🎊🥰 +I'm not involved in real estate much, but I can't help but think that heavily over-paying on a property (which, granted, is a long-term investment) seems a bit crazy on the surface to me. + +Many are paying cash, waiving appraisals/inspections etc just to get to the top of a list for property listed 48 hours ago. I'm in the US, and I'm a bit familiar with how much foreign investors are at play. + +Is this just a potential recipe for another major bust, or is there more to this story than I understand? +I've heard from a lot of people that say day trading is a very risky career choice because most day traders lose money and it's not worth it. Why is this so, why do most day traders lose money and if "most" lose money then there are those "some" that are doing well. So what do those day traders do so well that they've capable of having successful day trading careers as opposed to the "most" day traders that fail? +**Overview** + +Drone Delivery Canada Corp is a developmental technology company. It focuses on designing, developing and implementing a commercially viable drone delivery system within Canada. + + +*** + +I've been riding this stock ever since I bought it a few months ago at 60 cents, it's at $2.50 today and only going further up. These guys are the leaders of drone delivery in North America. As we progress more in the future, drone delivery is going to be more of a viable thing. As of right now it's mainly delivering goods to first nations, cargo ships and other places that are hard to reach. But in the futre, **as soon** as Amazon even glances at the company it will rocket. + +I'm almost certain a big company like Amazon will pick them up and once that happens, it's going to explode. + + +*** + +**Market Cap 526.66M** + +**Volume 3,807,997** + +[Quote Data](https://www.baystreet.ca/quotedata/FLT-CA/detailedquotetabchartnews/) + + +*** +https://www.marketwatch.com/story/irs-ruling-allows-401k-student-loan-benefits-2018-08-27 + +The IRS is setting up a framework for companies to match their employees' student loan repayments in the same way companies match 401k contributions. This will be cost neutral for the employer (edit: as in, it would not be more or less expensive for the company than traditional matching). + +Edit: the employer's match would go into the employee's 401k account. + +According to the article, employees with student loan debt accumulate 50% less wealth in their retirement plans (by age 30) than their peers without student loan debt. I think most of us with student debt have at one point or another felt "behind". + +Thoughts? This is definitely a cool idea and would be a great hiring incentive/perk. + +Edit 2: due to the popularity of this post, I wanted to remind everyone of some of the rules on our sub. + +>We don't allow: + • Moralizing issues + • Petitions + • Political discussions + • Political baiting + • Soapboxing + +This is meant to be a discussion of personal finance, debt, and retirement savings, not a meta review of the pros and cons of capitalism. Please keep things on topic. + + +Edit 3: Since a lot of people are confused, I'll explain how a 401k match works. A 401k is a retirement savings plan that came into popularity as pensions fell out of the mainstream. The 401k is a tax-efficient vehicle to invest your money for retirement. Like the pension, employers can contribite to their employees' 401k plans as a benefit. This is usually done via a matching mechanism: I contribute 4% of my paycheck, and my employer matches that amount. Matches are almost always capped. + +With the method laid out in the article, you would be able to make qualified student loan payments and have your company match that amount as a contribution to your 401k, up to a certain amount. So say you make $2000 per month, your employer matches 5% of your 401k contributions, and your monthly minimum loan payment is $1000 (in this example, you have a lot of debt). You aren't contributing to your 401k currently. If your company chose to take advantage of this program, they would put $100 ($2000*0.05 match) in your 401k each month you made a payment on your student loan. + +This doesn't "hurt" people without loans. This is only subsidized by the government insofaras the 401k is tax-sheltered (you still pay taxes on that money), and this doesn't constitute your company paying your loans. Participation isn't compulsory. +Just kept opening 0% credit cards for liquidity purposes when times where tough opening my practice. + +Now seems I have $129,000 absolve credit (0% usage)! +With an income of $60,000/year and 2 installment loans adding up to $1,500/ +month. + +Any ideas on how this liquidity would be helpful? +Is this good to be giving so much credit to our population? Our youth? +Look, I don't want to open a can of worms here, but I'm seeing an increasing amount of people on here who are waging classism against other posters. + +Snide remarks like "you seriously can't afford an extra $100?" or something to that effect. + +I then start to wonder if some of the posters here aren't anywhere near poverty and just use this sub as a way to look down upon others either as a form of ego boosting or just pure hatred of the lower classes. + +I grew up poor, my dad grew up even more impoverished. He lived in a house without running water, and didn't even get electricity until he was a teen, this was only 1962! + +My point is that poverty, like anything else, is a spectrum. There are people on here who are either facing homeless or homeless, people who have a roof over their heads, but have to decide between paying the power bill and having a full stomach. People who can do both, but risk overdrawing their account shortly after they get paid. Or people who don't worry about overdrawing, but are always a few hundred bucks away from being overdrawn. + +Everyone on here is looking to better themselves. You truly cannot eliminate poverty, it has existed in pretty much every society, for thousands of years. + +No one here is looking to game the system, or freeload and not work a day in their life, we all want to just have a basic standard of living, and I don't blame anyone for wanting to. + +$100 can be a life changing amount to some people. To others, they can spend it without even thinking twice. But no matter where you sit financially, it's never good to judge the people financially below you, it's not good to judge at all really. + +If you don't have something positive to say in response to someone's post, just keep it to yourself, hit the back button and be a bigger person. +I see insightful posts get downvoted only because they lack a complete faith that eth isnt going to recover instantly. Pointing out that we reached the moon to people who bought in last month asking "Wheres the moon!?" is met with downvoting, as is pointing out we were in a bubble and it popped. (definition of a bubble: 50% drop in price in 6 months or less. We did it in one). + +Someone asked if buying at 400 and holding was a mistake. One reply said "We probably wont see 400 again this year, but youll make money if you hold longer than that", implying a positive outlook as we rally into next year. stands at -4 karma + +The reply to that just says "I think well definitely hit 400 before the end of summer." +8 + +On a technicals post from today we had this: http://imgur.com/a/4ziPQ + +Dude who didnt read the chart but is pretty sure that up arrow at the end is awesome: +53 + +Dude who read the chart and understands that arrow isnt predicting price, but has reason to believe things will look great in a very short time anyway: -5 + +This forum has been a great source of joy over the past 9 months, but its on its way to being a cult similar to /btc and /bitcoin. No where near that toxic yet (the mods here are great and dont censor bad press), but I worry it will continue to decline. The forum is flooded with bandwagoners who have no idea what anything going on with Ethereum is and (the important part), have no interest in learning. + +Thoughts, rebuttals, lamentations, downvotes? +TLDR; **Melvin and gang hasn't covered shit. They've been illegally "closing out" their short positions and if we hold they will 100% get fucked. There is far more nefarious shit at play.** + +So this morning I saw the S3 and Ortex data both report significant covering of short positions for GME. This absolutely threw me for a loop because Friday morning they reported above ~120% short interest still. I could not for the life of me figure out how someone could close >50% of short positions on such a tightly held stock in ONE day with very little trading volume in the week. This got me digging around to figure out what's up. + +I started by looking into GME failed to delivers (i.e. short sellers not able to cover their position on a stock) for the first half of January and I was shocked to find that just in the first 15 days of Jan, GME had ~1.2 MILLION failed to delivers. This is before most of wsb or mainstream began buying. + +What was interesting though, is that of that ~1.2million, ~700K shares were covered in chunks throughout the two week period. I dug further back into the SEC failed to deliver reports for GME and saw that pattern extending back months. It seemed almost as if the short positions were just being kicked down the road. + +Having spent some time looking at the pattern, it's clear a large amount of failed to delivers come in, then a small chunk of coverage, then another large amount, and so on. To me this looked shady af so I looking into reasons that could cause that and discovered this article: https://www.sec.gov/about/offices/ocie/options-trading-risk-alert.pdf + +In it, a specific section is eerily similar to what we've experienced with GME: + +"Assuming that XYZ (e.g. GME) is a hard to borrow security (e.g. apes holding strong), and that Trader A (Melvin), or its broker-dealer, is unable (apes again) to borrow shares to make delivery on the short sale of actual shares, the short sale may result in a fail to deliver position at Trader A’s clearing firm. Rather than paying the borrowing fee on the shares to make delivery, or unwinding the position by purchasing the shares in the market, Trader A might next enter into a trade that gives the appearance of satisfying the broker-dealer’s close-out requirement, but in reality allows Trader A to maintain its short position without ever delivering on the short sale. Most often, this is done through the use of a buy-write trade, but may also be done as a married put and may incorporate the use of short term FLEX options. These trades are commonly referred to as “reset transactions,” in that they have the effect of resetting the time that the broker-dealer must purchase or borrow the stock to close-out a fail. The transactions could be designed solely to give the appearance of delivering the shares, when in reality the trader has no intention of meeting his delivery obligations. Such transactions were alleged by the Commission to be sham transactions in recent enforcement cases. Such transactions between traders or any market participants have also been found to constitute a violation of a clearing firm’s responsibility to close out a failure to deliver." + +It's almost like a play by play of what we've seen (in combination with the ladder attacks). My guess is we'll find out more when the failed to deliver report for the second half of Jan comes out on the 17th. + +I 100% think that Melvin is committing massive securities fraud. In fact, I would bet all my money on it - oh wait, I did 96 GME @ 290. + +I am now holding on principle to see these fucks fail. + +More DD: https://www.reddit.com/user/bcRIPster/comments/labq6u/follow_the_crumbs_gme_exposed_the_meta https://www.sec.gov/data/foiadocsfailsdatahtm + +Not a financial adviser, I eat paint chips for dinner + +EDIT: Ok, so I've been reading some comments and I wanted to clear a couple things up: + +* The failed to deliver number is reported cumulatively. So if you sum everything for the Jan time period it'd come out incorrectly as 5 million. What I'm doing is summing all the *debits* to get an aggregate view of all the failed to delivers in the time range. This process is validated and discussed in other /r/wsb posts + +* I know ETF's could have been redeemed by some MM's to gather up GME stock. However I'm not convinced there is enough GME held in ETF's to be a significant factor. Someone in the comments reported this amount to be about ~10M. We would know if a bunch of ETF's rebalanced and dumped GME. + +* My number for the Ortex short interest was incorrect, I got mixed around when I wrote this initially. The short interest reported by Ortex on Friday morning was ~80%. The 120 figure for S3 was correct. + +* Please checkout the linked DD - it goes into much more detail and covers things far better than I can. + +* Share this post and the related DD. We need to hold wall street accountable if this is true and I think that starts by spreading the word. + +* I'm going to continue to dig into this tonight / tomorrow. Look forward to a new post tomorrow evening. + + +If I take an L to 0, I take an L to 0. I don't invest what I can't lose. But you can bet your ass I'll be holding till this blows open. + +WE LIKE THE STOCK 💎🖐️ +https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/29/fast-food-restaurants-in-america-are-losing-100percent-of-workers-every-year.html + +Not big news but with McDonald's moving towards automation does that increase revenue due to not having to pay people who take orders? + +I know there will have be money being spent on upkeep of the kiosks but it has to be much more profitable than paying workers right? + +Is McDonald's a buy? +So I’m closing on my first rental on 6/2 and I got an email from the title company yesterday saying that due to the pandemic they insist on getting the wire transfer complete well before closing. The email stated that they will sending wire instructions soon and they won’t be available to talk because she was very busy that day. The email title had my property address and an official looking signature line. I was like “ok makes sense” but also they haven’t even appraised the property yet so I don’t know what the Cash to Close would actually be just the estimate. They sent the wire instructions a little while later. Now my mortgage broker has sent me some generic emails a while back about wire fraud and to always confirm wire instructions over the phone. So I did that, well the title company never sent me any emails that day!! The email signature matched perfectly but the email address with totally fake. THANK GOD I called to confirm or I would have been out 50k and likely never have tried real estate investing again. + + +Moral of story- always call to confirm wire instructions and I would also say independently confirm the telephone number of the title company before calling. +I'm **not** an investment professional or regulated to give any form of advice, so this is only how I do it (and not necessarily the best way). I am sure there are plenty of people who can offer some constructive criticism. + +Thorough stock analysis is something people should do before buying any stock for investment. I've done the classic story stocks, jam tomorrow etc, and now looking to build some investment positions for the longer term. + +I have a 15 step process which I'll explain in detail: + +&#x200B; + +1. Find an idea +2. Find the market capitalisation +3. Analyse the chart of the stock +4. Read the recent RNS announcements +5. Check the stock's EV +6. Check the stock's PE +7. Check the company website and AIM Rule 26 +8. Look at the income statement +9. Check the balance sheet +10. Understand the cash flow statement +11. Identify any sector headwinds/tailwinds +12. Understand how the company makes its money +13. Identify the drivers of the business +14. Research the company's competition +15. Check the broker forecasts + +&#x200B; + +**1. Find an idea** + +This can be from anywhere. I was surprised at how often ideas came from real life - I once got a Gear4 Music speaker from my parents for my birthday or Christmas - when I checked years later the stock had multibagged. I thought it was a cool product but didn't follow that lead. As Peter Lynch says "Behind every stock is a company - find out what it's doing". + +Ideas can come from new brands/shops popping up, friends talking about works, the news, and more. + +For example, the Guardian reported that many bars are already fully booked up for months. That suggests to me there will be a large tailwind in the hospitality sector with pent-up demand, so I may look to try and trade this. + +&#x200B; + +**2. Find the market capitalisation** + +This is important because elephants don't gallop. It's also harder to get an edge on larger companies, as there will be several teams of analysts covering the stock in detail. + +The smaller companies get less attention, therefore the opportunity to outperform is greater (but risk also increased). + +The calculation for market cap is simply share price \* shares in issue. + +I'll rarely look at stocks above £250m market cap - at the moment there are lots of small cap stocks that have slashed costs and are now leaner than they were pre-Covid. + +&#x200B; + +**3. Analyse the chart of the stock** + +Lots of investors say that charts don't matter. I find that hard to understand as the price charts tells me the money-weighted opinion of the stock over a period of time. + +I avoid charts that are trending downwards. Look for stocks trending above the 200 SMA and where the price is pointing upwards. + +&#x200B; + +**4. Read RNS announcements** + +The goal here is to understand what has been happening recently. Check the results, or trading statements, and read the narrative.  + +It’ll always sound positive, but there are always clues: + +* A focus on highlighting revenue or EBITDA growth may mean the business isn’t as profitable as directors would like it to be +* A mention of a ‘step change’ or turnaround could be a lead to dig further +* Recent directorate changes could signal an underperforming board being replaced by new faces + +Only by reading the RNS announcements do I feel I can begin to understand the story and start making sense of the share price chart. + +For example, a profit warning several months ago would explain a gap down in the share price and continued downward slump. + +&#x200B; + +**5. Get the stock's EV** + +EV is Enterprise Value. This is simply the market cap plus debt minus cash. There are other more conservative EV calculations but this is the one I use. It's a quick way of checking whether the company has plenty of cash or plenty of debt, or evenly balanced. + +For example, a company with a negative EV has more cash than its debt and market cap! Companies with discounted EVs compared to market caps show the company has net cash rather than net debt. + +Debt isn't always a bad thing but high debt companies I'll tend to steer clear from. + +&#x200B; + +**6. Calculate the PE** + +The PE is the price-to-earnings ratio for the stock, and the earnings multiple of the company (PE ratio = share price/earnings per share). + +For example, a PE ratio of 5 would tell us that the market currently rates the stock at a 5x multiple of the company’s earnings per share.  + +It also means that - all variables remaining constant - the stock will take 5 years for the company to earn its share price in earnings. + +The P/E ratio tells me the sentiment of the stock. A stock rated at 40x earnings is highly valued by the market, and a stock rated at 5x earnings is rated cheaply. + +One issue with PE though is that it doesn't factor into the earnings growth rate. Paying for a company at 30x earnings may be a bargain if it is growing its earnings at 50%. + +However, this doesn’t mean that the market is right. We may wish to check the price/earnings to growth ratio (PEG ratio) which is the stock’s PE ratio divided by the company’s growth rate in earnings per share.  + +A fairly valued stock for its growth rate of earnings will give a PEG ratio of 1. Anything above could be considered to be overpriced, and anything below could be considered to be underpriced. Hence why I prefer numbers close to 1 and below. + +&#x200B; + +**7. Check the company website and AIM Rule 26** + +The most important parts I feel here are: + +* Significant shareholders +* Directors +* Annual report + +*Significant shareholders* + +The shareholder register is important. Any notable institutions or individuals with a good track record here are signs of interest. If there are few institutions this can be a catalyst in the future if institutions decide to buy. + +*Directors* + +Directors are a big part of small cap stocks. What I look for here: + +* What companies did the directors work at before and were these companies successful? +* What size were these companies? If a CFO makes a huge jump he could be out of his depth +* Were these companies listed and did they deliver shareholder value? +* How many non-execs and do they sit elsewhere? Are they busy directors? +* What do the directors pay themselves? Is this excessive? +* Does the company have **entrepreneurial management?** + +The last bullet point is what I'm most interested in. A director who has successfully turned around companies before and has a track record is someone I'd like to see in a potential turnaround play. + +*Annual report* + +The annual report is rarely read by investors. This contains a lot of the information management doesn't want us to see for that reason. The financial notes are a must-read, as are the chair and chief executive statements, the remuneration report, the segmentation for revenue, risks report, and the audit report. I read annual reports from start to finish. + +&#x200B; + +**8. Income statement** + +Here, I want to see the revenue increasing, as well as a strong gross margin. + +The number I most look out for as a comparator is operating profit and EBIT (these will usually be the same as operating profit includes minority interests). EBIT is an earnings number before those with interests and taxes see claims. + +I also look for administrative expenses. These should be relatively flat or slowly going up, or even better going down. A company that grows its sales but also sees its admin costs rise relative to revenues is not going to go far. + +Keep an eye out for share-based payment charges. I've heard one management team tell investora to ignore these - you shouldn't because SBP charges have real consequences. These shares dilute investors (the owners of the company). + +Profit after tax is the bottom line and the line that really matters. Be careful companies aren't reporting 'exceptional' costs every single year. Companies that do will report 'adjusted profits' which are always better than the real profits - or lack of them. + +&#x200B; + +**9. Balance sheet** + +I check the cash balance here, as long as payables and receivables. I don't want to see receivables growing much faster than payables as that means cash is spending less time out of the business. With smaller companies it's inevitable but poor cash collection can lead to cash calls such as discounted placings. + +Current and non-current liabilities are always worth checking too. Debt is not a bad thing if it's manageable and even has certain advantages (tax shield). + +NAV and NTAV also worth checking to see what the company is worth in real terms (net asset value). Be careful with NAV because one company decided to capitalise its drilling costs as an asset (despite the company drilling and finding nothing) which fluffed up the NAV price. This is why I like NTAV as it only looks at the tangible asset value. + +&#x200B; + +**10. Cash flow statement** + +Check the cash flow of operations to see whether the company can generate enough cash to keep itself going. Cash is the lifeblood of the business and more important than profit. + +Also, check the investing cash flow statement to see what the company has been doing in the financial year. There will likely be capex but is this for maintenance or growth? Maintenance capex keeps the company bumbling along whereas growth capex is for growth. + +If we want to go deeper than check the depreciation and amortisation policies too. Many a profit has been overstated by management teams using discretion here. + +The financing cash flow statement shows how a company has financed itself through the year. Large inflows here often mean dilutive share placings (but not always). + +&#x200B; + +**11. Identify the headwinds and tailwinds** + +Smaller companies will be more affected by these than larger companies. + +Sector environment - if it's involved in commodities then what is the outlook here? Global outlook? + +Regulatory environment - what are the regulations like? Are there pressures to change these? + +Economic environment - important for consumer facing business. What is discretionary spending looking like in the next six and twelve months? If the company operates in another country, what is their economic environment looking like? + +Other things to consider are interest rates. When the cost of capital rises, the risk-free rate increases and so stocks become less attractive and bonds more attractive. + +Finally, political environment - mining companies in Africa? Can their assets be seized? Stocks operating in unstable or unusual countries tend to trade at discounts. Sometimes for a good reason and sometimes for no reason. + +&#x200B; + +**12. Understand how the company makes money** + +This one sounds obvious but if I can't understand how a paying client gets value out of the stock's offering and how that cash moves through the business into profit then I don't buy it. + +If a business is too hard to understand then there might be a reason for it. Or maybe I'm too dumb. But I don't take that risk. + +I like technology stocks and I'll never understand how the technology itself works, but as long as I know what it does and how the customer gets value out of it, that's what matters. + +&#x200B; + +**13. Identify the drivers of the business** + +This is where I look to see how the company can grow its earnings or justify a re-rerating. Lots of companies are listed on AIM but never achieve the scale and size to hit the inflection point and start growing significantly. + +Potential drivers include exiting a loss-making subsidiary, fast-growing product or offering, new board and management, change of strategy and business model etc, bull market for commodities.. + +&#x200B; + +**14. Research the company's competition** + +I use Michael Porter's Five Forces here and think about the threats from the existing competition, but also from suppliers and buyers, substitutions and new entrants. + +Smaller companies can adapt to threats much faster but are also more vulnerable to destroyer pricing. The company needs to have an edge to beat the giants. + +&#x200B; + +**15. Check the broker forecasts** + +Don't place too much value on broker notes. This is because you never bite the hand that feeds and so you'll never get an objective view. + +But broker notes can be useful in understanding the business better but also checking the forecasts. + +Earnings upgrades are key drivers of a stock price and if the company is on track or has a good chance of beating the consensus forecasts, this can be a catalyst for the stock price to move up over time. + +&#x200B; + +**Conclusion** + +I realise this is a long post, but I think I've covered most things I look at. + +Interested to hear what you look at or what I should pay more attention to. + +Ideally, from all of the above, I want to find a company for a fair price that has a reasonable chance of growing into a valuation or with a runway for growth, which has no big red flags and has capable management. + +I also want this to be in a stable environment where success is not too demanding, and there is little broker or institutional interest in the shares. + +If you're interested, please check out my blog on the UK stock market: [www.shiftingshares.com/blog](https://www.shiftingshares.com/blog) +Saturday I was at work at the grocery store. At the end of my shift my boss comes by and thanks me for helping him find mistakes in the inventory a bit earlier. I go along well with my boss, he's cool and jokes easily so I just go like "yeah you know I've become aware that this place can't function without me. My services are about to become more expensive, you pay me $7.50 but I'm more like a $9.00 employee". It was just a joke and I thought he would laugh it off but he goes "you know, you're not wrong, I'll think about it". An hour ago at the end of today's shift he told me that I would now be paid $9.25/hr. I really wasn't expecting it! As you can imagine I'm very happy about it, this is a big pay bump for me! So nice to see my hard work (and stupid jokes) recognized for once. +I decided to go out on a limb and post my (almost) FatFire story in the hopes that maybe it will encourage others who do not have family money, who are not in tech, and who do not have an ultra high wage job, and also so I can look back in a few years when I am finally ready to FatFire and post an update post. + + I am not here to say my exact results are replicable, but just one example of how I was able to put myself on a path towards fat-fire. I think every Fatfire story also has a bit of luck involved, and this was definitely true at points for me. + +A little bit of background, I am a 33F who grew up incredibly poor. My parents were drug addicts and physically and emotionally abusive. We regularly had eviction notices on our door and I slept in a one room apartment with three brothers, we rarely had clean clothes and never had enough food. I was always in the gifted program and while my brothers dropped out of school early on in life (6th grade or earlier), I absolutely loved school and would make sure I was there every day as my escape. I also would read non-stop anything I could possibly get my hands on and lived in the library to escape my home. + +After a really bad episode of physical abuse when I was 13, I moved out. I declared myself a homeschool student and because I had already taken several high school courses at that time (along with the SATs as part of a gifted program through Duke University), I was able to go right to college at 13 as a dual enrolled student. Unfortunately, living on my own and couch surfing and being put in adult situations, I ended up being a teenage mom at 16. Despite this hurdle, I worked at night as a waitress and went to college during the day, and graduated college at 18. At 19, I enrolled in law school and graduated law school at 22, while working full time. + +My fat-fire journey really began in 2015 when a friend married a physician and he had owned a medical practice, but wanted to relocate and sell the practice. The medical practice was barely making money after expenses, but they agreed to sell me the practice for no money upfront and to make bi-weekly payments on a seller note. After physician payments and the seller note, there was a little money leftover and the practice began to grow at a fairly good rate. + +However, at this point, I made big mistake #1, I let my dad manipulate me into letting him "manage" the practices since I lived out of state and had a family and full time legal job. He basically siphoned out all of the money in the practices, he would take 90%+ of the profit as a management "fee" and then threaten me if I ever cut him out that he would ruin the practices. At this point, the profits were about $1M per year (2019), and the prior seller note had been paid off. Despite this, he was over drafting checkbooks, and we even were unable to pay a large bill that came due for the practices ($80K) because nothing had been left in reserve. I let this happen because of many years of abuse and felt paralyzed. However, in 2019, I hired an attorney to try and mediate a way to get him out of the practices while not ruining them, and even offered a very generous annual salary to just walk away. He was infuriated. + +Mistake #2, I did this all while I was 9 months pregnant, and he knew I couldn't travel to the practices. He pretended like he was going to go along with everything, meanwhile he had convinced the physicians to leave with him and all the patients and start a competing practice. I had a feeling something was happening (while he was telling me everything was fine), so I had my friend who sold me the practices fly back to them and see what was going on. She walked in and called me and told me the practices had been completely cleared out and emptied. As soon as she told me this, I immediately went into labor. I called a locksmith and was giving him my credit card number to change the locks as I was in the middle of contractions. My baby was born 30 minutes later in my bathroom with just my husband and I there because I had no time to get medical assistance. + +At that point, I had just had a baby, no income, and medical practices with no patients and no physician. I started working 20 hour days immediately. I had to file suit to get access to my Comcast accounts that he changed all passwords on (for our phone systems) as well as our Electronic Health Records System. All I had to my name at this point was $40,000 in savings. I did however, own longterm medical practices, with all the required licensing in place. I immediately started recruiting for a physician, and contacting all of our patients (who had been told our practice was shutting down). Finally, after about 2 weeks, I got a physician to agree to come into this mess (probably because a hormonal new mom was crying into the phone begging, but he was honestly my savior at this time). + +I immediately drove the 12 hours to the clinic site in the middle of the night, for him to start the next day. All computers/printers/equipment/even the toilet paper had been taken out of the offices, so I had to bring my baby, my home computer, my home printer, and anything I could bring so I didn't have to buy it. I arrived at 6 am and started setting up for a 9 am opening, and I was frantic. That first day back we didn't even make enough money to pay the physician his daily contracted rate, but he said I could owe it to him. There is a lot more between this and the next parts, but to spare all the long details, suffice to say I was working 20 hour days with a newborn strapped to my chest in order to rebuild the practices. I lived away from my family and my husband and I slept on a couch of a friend with my baby because I had no where else I could afford. + +Also, important to note that while this was all going on, I went into survival mode. I looked at my husband and said "remember when we went axe throwing about 6 months ago, it was packed and overhead was low, I have no way to make money right now so we need to open up an axe throwing range immediately." This was stupid and crazy, I admit, but I had always thought about doing it because I evaluated the potential ROI, knew they were always busy, and it was a ton of fun. We did it during a date night several hours from our home and realized that our medium sized city didn't have a range within an hours distance. I immediately started sourcing locations and submitting zoning applications. I don't even know how I did it, but in three months, start to finish, we opened our small local axe throwing range for less than $25K. I had my baby in March and we opened July 4th weekend. All the while, I was working non-stop to re-open the practice. + +Finally, after about a year after the birth, I had recovered, not only had I recovered, I had done better than I ever had financially because there was no "manager" siphoning off the majority of profits. But to be honest, I was EXHAUSTED. I literally would cry every other week getting on flights to go back to the practice to make sure all was okay and manage the day-to-day details. I decided to sell my practice. I met a cool, young investor who seemed like a good guy, but only had enough money to purchase about 70% of the practice. I agreed, and put a management agreement in place whereby he would manage the day to day and I would be a passive owner and retain 30% of the profits. Based on my experience with "partners" this was a huge risk for me, but I couldn't continue to work non-stop and had to de-risk. He paid $1.7M for 70% of the practice. I held a seller note of about $500,000, and received the other $1.2M upfront. + +With my $1.2M, I started investing in real estate in 2020. I purchased an old historical building in a super popular area close to a major national park and invested about $200k in renovations. It had been sitting on the market for 3 years at that point and because of the state of disrepair I got an AMAZING deal, $500k (total investment about $700K). Additionally, in order to keep renovations on track I had to move up to the location for two months and jump in with construction, including working 18 hour days sun up to sun down to get it ready for rental, even tiling and grouting myself when progress lagged. + +Also important to note, that also because I was in survival mode, I started applying for legal positions, and landed an in house remote position that I held this whole time as well. I was on conference calls while grouting my bathroom, and when I wasn't working on the house, I was working my W2. + +After I finished the historical building and put it up for a vacation rental, I invested in 6 other properties last year, leveraging the money I had from the partial purchase of the medical practice, as well as the 30% cash flow, along with the money from the axe throwing range, and my w2 job. I made sure that if any one thing failed, I was never going to be in a position like that again, where I had no money and no way to pay my bills. I have made sure I have about 100 contingency plans, even if it would kill me. + +So, there is a LOT more to all the story, but I realize that if this gets too long, no one will read it anyways, here is where I am at now: + +\-Medical practice, 30% passive owner earning about $30k monthly + +\-Historical property, paid off, invested about $700K, currently worth about $2M, and earning about $150K annually in vacation rental income + +\-Beach vacation rental, purchased last June for $1.2 million, leveraged with a loan for $900K, after mortgage and expenses, profit is about $80K/annually (conservatively), additionally, the appreciation has been huge, the same property a few houses up just went on the market for $2.4M, realistically, I think it would sell for $2M if listed today. + +\-5 long term rental townhouses, I purchased each one outright for between $105K and $125K, no loans, and they earn about $60,000 profit annually + +\-Axe throwing range, we are currently in the middle of a large expansion, but conservatively earning about $150k/annually + +\- I am still working as in house corporate counsel, I make about $170K annually after bonus + += Total annual income, about $970K + +Assets: + +\- 30% passive ownership, I value this at $0 when calculating my net worth, I am too worried about it disappearing one day + +\-$500K seller note, expected to be accelerated and paid off in full this year + +\-$600K stocks + +\-Approx. $1.8M for historical home after selling costs + +\-Approx. $1M for beach house after mortgage and expenses + +\-5 townhomes at about $130K each, about $650K total + +\-Axe throwing range, $0, bringing profit but no tangible assets + +\-Primary home, bought before the market went crazy, and did a full house renovation, total equity about $1M but calculate this as $0 in net worth as well. + +\-$100K cash, and $60K in retirement + += Total NW $4,710,000 + +This is after having only $40,000 in savings in 2019 and not having a job or any income at that point. + +With all of this said, I am exhausted. I feel like I aged 10 years in the last three years. I can't let go of any of the jobs, or investments, or businesses because I am terrified of not only what happened in 2019, but also because it brought up all of the insecurity of my childhood and not having food or a place to live. I don't know when I will "Fat Fire" or what it will look like. I do hope to give up the W2 at some point, but right now its my safety blanket. I am expanding the axe throwing range, and always looking at additional real estate investment. My passion is home design and renovation, I love bringing things back to life and showing other people my vision for homes they thought were totally beyond saving. I hope that one day that can be my focus, but right now, I find myself getting more cold feet when jumping into opportunities. When I had nothing to lose, I was taking risks left and right, I am definitely finding myself more hesitant to risk-take. Hopefully something to evaluate and overcome in the future. Also a future fat-fire goal, summer in Italy and learn Italian, we will see how that pans out. + +I was previously verified by mods, but happy to verify anything I can, because I know this has been a crazy journey. I can't give any sage advice just yet, I am still in my own process, but I hope this story gave some encouragement to others when things in their fat-fire journey have gotten tough. Also, in case anyone is wondering, my baby I had when I was 16, is an amazing honor student, champion wrestler, and is currently 17 now and headed off to college where he wants to study pre-med and become an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine physician. My #1 goal in life was to raise my kids in a totally different environment from the one I had growing up, and the thing I am most proud of is being able to break the cycle (and if anyone is wondering, I haven't spoken with my dad since that day in March 2019, and this is definitely one of the best things to come out of what I went through). +From a recent article in [Money Control](https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/personal-finance/sachin-bansals-navi-offers-home-loans-at-6-4-heres-what-borrowers-must-do-7909331.html): + +> According to terms of the lender, the borrowers are not allowed to uninstall the NAVI app from mobile device until you repay the loan. Any accidental violation of this term will be tantamount to fraud, and the lender may initiate legal proceedings against you. + +It's unclear if they will actually enforce this, but it does seem risky to take a loan knowing that even accidental deletion will be considered fraud. Originally discovered this from a post on the Facebook group Asan Ideas for Wealth ([link](https://m.facebook.com/groups/asanideasforwealth/permalink/6735960589808110)). Just thought I would reshare here as well. +Don't get me wrong, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I just think it's odd that people come to this sub about dividend investing to dissuade people from dividend investing. What's up with that? +Hey, this is my first DD, I've been trading for around 6 months, and I found this very interesting penny stock with great growth potential! I'd like to hear your opinions aswell! + +Namaste Technologies (NV/NXTTF) is the largest ONLINE retailer for medical cannabis systems across the world. Majority of the market is situated in the biggest countries such as: Europe, Australia, UK, Canada, Germany, and keeps expanding into new markets such as Brazil, Mexico and Chile. Namaste Tech. is an international leader in vaporizer and accessories distribution, with great potential up ahead. We are the most bullish on the international side of the industry. Here are some keys aspects to consider upon investments: + +-Advances USA Expansion with approval from TSX Exchange, engaging in sales of smoking accessories and hemp derived CBD in the U.S. Namaste looks forward to leveraging its VendorLink technology in collaboration with DankStop and PeakBirch Logic, Inc. They also launched another brand under the name: Roilty. + +-Expects to go live for U.S customers thru CAnnmart by the end of this February 2021. This proves that their expansion is significant and should affect the attention of the company. + +-This company got approved for their launch of a new nutraceutical division and an expansion of the business into psychedelics. + +-Estimation of 100% surge on Q4 revenue to $8m + +From the looks of it, Namaste Technologies have extremely great potential for growth. Through the power of expansion and innovation, there’s no surprise that the company grew by 88% this last month. It is truly a company to watch out for closely, as they are very active with deal-breaking new ideas and constant development. +PRICE TARGET: Short Term: 2$-2.25$ - Long Term: 5$+ + +My personal position stands at 10.3k shares at 0.29$ + +NAMASTE TECH. EXTRA INFORMATION (10/02/2021): +Market Cap: 115.62M +Volume: 8,341,194 +Avg. Volume: 1,008,808 + + + + + + + + +References: +https://finpedia.co/bin/Namaste%20Technologies/ + + https://www.namastetechnologies.com/news/ +The posts are getting more and more ridiculous. + +> Rate my medium risk portfolio, it is 70% crypto, weed, NASDAQ, eSports, clean energy, and videogaming, with some junk bonds for the safe part. I know past performance is not an indicator of future gains. My strategy is to double my initial investment in five years. + +This is a personal finance subreddit, not a gambling community, and bullshit like this should be shot down. Instead we have a bunch of newly arrived shoeshine boys upvoting and encouraging each other and giving each other genius tips like "Clean energy is the future and lots of people do weed so they will outperform the market". + +This is concerning and dangerous for the people involved. Not sure what can be done about it. + +But I know what is not ok. Looking at the people who understand what is going on but write something to the effect of "Well, maybe do 20% crypto instead of 45%". Recommending moderation in gambling is just enabling gambling. + +My 0.02€ worth of opinion. +I see a lot of new posters here talking about how they are a former WSB user, lost a lot of money, but now have outsized gains "due to Thetagang." They then proceed to show CSP or even Credit Spread positions on tickers like AMC, TSLA, RIOT, PLTR, TLRY, etc. These users are still taking on massive risk. Let me explain. + +The standard thetagang strategy is selling out-of-the-money puts on a ticker the user would not mind owning. By definition, these puts are less than 50 Delta meaning as the stock increases the strategy will profit at a rate of <50% of the underlying movement (this decreases as the stock goes up more). However, you still have all the downside of the stock. This means if we get an extended downturn or even a prolonged pullback, you are open to all the downside of these uber-growth stocks that **historically perform the worst in the bear market**. + +Thetagang tends to reduce volatility on a given underlying at the expense of some returns. However, if you are targeting at +200% IV underlying, you should still expect a very high portfolio volatility. That works great when we have the longest raging bull market in history. However, if this thing turns down, you are going to be stuck holding WSB style loses with no ability to sell calls anywhere near your cost basis. + +All I'm saying is you need to pay attention to the underlying and understand how you would feel if the stock shit the bed. If you don't have a plan for your meme stock dropping by +50% over the next year, you probably should reconsider your strategy. + +I personally have allocations to CSPs on GME. However, these are: + +1. Way OTM +2. A small percentage of my portfolio +3. A stock I would not mind owning if it cratered to $20, $10 or even $5 over the next 2-4 weeks. + +Again, I'm not saying don't do these strategies. I'm just saying please be aware you can still have WSB style loses with thetagang. +I have been watching "[Garys Economics](https://www.youtube.com/c/GarysEconomics)", on youtube; he's an Economist and formerly one of the UK's most profitable investment bankers. + +[This quote of his](https://youtu.be/wpwTddHwfOM?t=1000) stuck with me: *"\[If\] Somebody's making income and is not working for it – someone else is working for it. That money doesn't just spring out of the ground, that money comes from paying rent, paying a mortgage, or when you have commercial transactions, a portion of that goes to the owners of the businesses, \[or\] the owners of the assets. There is this cash flow that's always going from ordinary people to the owners of assets"* + +Is this true, and if so does it raise ethical points about owning assets under economic conditions that favour it: + +Eg: If someone owns a house and rents it out, then their tenant's labour is paying for their income through the 'vehicle' of rent. If I sell a digital product, if the people who buy it have jobs, they pay my income with a portion of their labour. + +Or: If someone buys a house which increases £100,000 in value over time (adjusted for inflation) If they sell that house to someone with a £100,000 annual income, has the buyer done an equivalent of 1 years work for the seller? + +One could argue that the owners of assets are taking on a) risk, b) require capital to buy assets in the first place and c) circulate their income investing in ventures and buying goods and services (but only if the economy is growing). + +&#x200B; +From my own research, it seems like accounting, IT related, some trade, and vocational nurse degrees are the best bet. What do y'all think? I'm trying to make some real progress in pay without taking on debt. +i’m broke + +edit : i am not trying to get anyone to give me money, i was looking to see if there were ways to get money online or anything like that, that is all!!!! +* August 2018 - **NFC Project Created** +* September 2018 - **ESO Pay and ESO Exchange, ESO Ads Created** +* October 2018 - **Soft Launch of ESO & Preparing ICO** +* November 2018 - **Fase 1 of ICO Open** +* December 2018 - **Point Payment Online Bank, ESO Cash Launch** + +**Fase 2 of ICO Open** + +* January 2019 - **ESO Shop, ESO Beauty Launch** + +**Fase 3 of ICO Open** + +* March 2019 - **NFC Ring Connecting with Merchant ESO Land & Property, ESO Education & Training Launch** +* April 2019 - **Listing to Market** +* July 2019 - **Partnership Program** + +[https://e-so.co/](https://e-so.co/) +* August 2018 - **NFC Project Created** +* September 2018 - **ESO Pay and ESO Exchange, ESO Ads Created** +* October 2018 - **Soft Launch of ESO & Preparing ICO** +* November 2018 - **Fase 1 of ICO Open** +* December 2018 - **Point Payment Online Bank, ESO Cash Launch** + +**Fase 2 of ICO Open** + +* January 2019 - **ESO Shop, ESO Beauty Launch** + +**Fase 3 of ICO Open** + +* March 2019 - **NFC Ring Connecting with Merchant ESO Land & Property, ESO Education & Training Launch** +* April 2019 - **Listing to Market** +* July 2019 - **Partnership Program** + +[https://e-so.co/](https://e-so.co/) +Hello! + +I did something recently that I’d like other people to do - so I thought this might be a good format to lay it out. The financing was $0 out of pocket, but we paid for repairs / did a lot ourselves. + +Last Summer, I went in with family and bought a 43 bed hotel. Over a few months it was converted to small efficiency apartments, with a large commercial kitchen, dining room, meeting area and a lobby. + +Why? Because we are very, very short housing in the Midwest. We met up with the local housing authority and got all the rooms inspected and ready to accept section 8 vouchers. After the conversion we have 42 rooms, roughly 320 SF each. There���s a large courtyard in the middle. + +Our local bank was able to do an 80% loan, with a wraparound product that also had the 20% gap, plus gave us about $50,000 for some repairs. We’ve spent probably $170,000 in total on the updates so far, which I don’t think it’s bad considering. For the rooms we put in a medium size apartment refrigerator, they each have a private bathroom, and the sink is on the outside so it doubles as the kitchen sink. New microwaves, hot plates, updated some furniture. Thankfully the rooms had recently been rehabbed and had a nice new laminate flooring as well as beds and bedding. The courtyard was a complete disaster and we spent a good chunk of money re-designing that. The commercial kitchen in the dining room we had converted the apartment where the owners originally had stayed but also took some money. But it’s totally functional now, we also added two laundry rooms with eight coin washers and dryers, new window heating / cooling units in all rooms. + +We are able to charge $850 a month, Which more than covers the bills. We probably have another 150k on capital improvements, I would like to add new windows, work on the parking lot, and the septic system needs update. But in addition to a cash flowing beautifully to pay for these improvements, it’s a huge gain for the community. + +Roughly, We have $15,000 going out every month that covers the insurance, property taxes, gas, payroll for two full-time employees, TV, Internet, miscellaneous. We are always full, average income is 41 rooms paid a month. + +I will say the key to this is volunteers, who are helping because they see it as an asset to the community. some tenants were through rehab, we also have a dozen disabled veterans, mainly older folks who just need somewhere small and quiet to live. We’ve had great support with people dropping off clothes,food, household items. While technically we are “just” apartments, we’re trying to be a little bit more than that and provide support with meetings, job training, community functions. + +While it is set up in an LLC it’s acting as benefit corporation. So far me and the other two owners have not taken out a dime. The goal is to get this totally self-sustaining and then maybe sell it and build another one. We owe about 475k on it, in total will have spent maybe 750k, which is pretty good for 42 doors that will soon be turnkey. + +So I’m just posting this to encourage you to look into alternate avenues of housing, especially if you can work with your local voucher program. It’s really sad that nine out of 10 in my area do not find a landlord who is weren’t willing to work with them, so the vouchers expire. Only 3% of vouchers are used rural areas, that is where I am. I don’t have an angle for posting this, other than I would really like to see some other people try to do something similar. It is possible, it can work. +Back in my 30's I was similar to so many people who post here. I was a computer programmer making good money from my salary, stock grants, bonuses, investments, and the booming housing market. If I had stuck with it a few more years I could have retired early. + +People who haven't experienced it will never understand. "Just stick with it," they'll say, "How bad can it be?" + +If you've been in a job you hate, or are right now, you know that sometimes the money simply isn't worth it. I was bringing my work stress home with me. I wasn't a happy person and that wasn't fair to my wife or young kids. So I quit. + +I could have taken some time off, decompressed, then found another job to continue my FIRE journey. Nope, instead I bought a coffee farm in Hawaii. I wasn't at my FIRE number yet and after purchasing the farm I was even further away but I don't regret my decision. In fact, I'd say it was the best decision I've ever made. + +Farming isn't easy. If you think any idiot can be a farmer, you're wrong. Computer programming was easy, farming is not. Still, it was totally worth it. Of course I might be biased because growing coffee in Hawaii is different than growing corn in Minnesota. + +Now I'm in my 50's, the kids are grown, and I'm selling the farms. I don't have enough money to retire so I'll have to get a job. That's kind of scary. It's been decades since I had to look for a job. + +Some might think I made a huge mistake. I was close to permanent retirement but I blew it. Instead of retiring early I have spent my entire life working and now I need to keep working. "Fail!" they might say. + +I look at it different. Which is better, enjoying life while you're young or waiting until you're old? I quit a job I hated and created one I enjoyed. Whenever I wanted to go surfing, sailing, play computer games, take a nap, or hang out with my family and friends, all I had to do was ask the boss. Since I am the boss I always said yes. + +Maybe some people like the hustle of Silicon Valley, personally I have enjoyed the quiet life on a Kona coffee farm. I'm not trying to convince anyone to give up their journey to FatFIRE land. If I had stuck with it for a few more years, I might be very comfortably retired now. Or I might be a divorced alcoholic with no stories to tell. + +I have touched lava, swam with dolphins and sharks, chased a pet goat out of my living room, wrestled a wild boar, been sunburned on my private parts, been lost in the jungle, and every day I drink ridiculously expensive gourmet coffee that I grew myself. + +If I'm working at age 65, will I still think I made the right decision? +Alright you smooth brain degenerates, here’s some shit I’ve learned along the way which probably wont help you but if it even remotely helps one of you, then I have achieved the goal of this post. + +To quote that old guy: price is what you pay, value is what you get. But how do I value a company? I’ve seen it posted a bunch of times. Its more of an art than science, so let’s discuss this dark art. + +It constantly boggles my mind at how many cunts dive into buying shares but do not even attempt at trying to think of a realistic valuation, backed up by some sort of financial measure. “What price should I exit at” is almost the equivalent of setting off on a road trip before you have decided on a destination. I accept this view could, and should, evolve over time so asking the question in itself is not unreasonable provided you have your own view. I know this is a casino and this shit is irrelevant for gambling but I’ll continue regardless. + +One thing I also see a lot of which I’d like to debunk is the concept of a $5 share price being “cheaper” than a $6 one. Companies, at IPO or any time afterwards, can make their share price whatever they want. A market cap of $100m with 100m shares gives a SP of $1. If they issue less shares, the share price goes up, and the company’s equity value has not changed. Likewise when you do a stock split / consolidation you can adjust the per share price without changing the market cap. If this doesn’t make sense, get off this sub and do not invest in anything until you grasp this, seriously. The concept of “cheapness” comes from the amount of cashflows you expect to receive for a given price. As Wu-Tang told us; [C.R.E.A.M](https://youtu.be/PBwAxmrE194). literally all we care about is cashflow, so keep that in mind when you’re thinking about future value as well. + +Before I launch into valuation, there needs to be a high-level understanding of the difference between equity value (share price, market cap) and firm/enterprise value (market cap + net debt). You should also adjust firm value for minorities and associates, but let’s keep this as simple as possible. This is relevant when looking at ratios. + +The other thing to understand is: valuation (and therefore share price) is a forward-looking beast. If you imagine the hypothetical situation where a company announces a record earnings year in conjunction with a plan to cease all operations, share price would obviously tank – no one gives two fucks that they had a record year if they are closing next year. + +Let’s dive in. Broadly, there are two valuation methods: fundamental and relative. + +Fundamental: + +Few of ways to do this, but main one you’ll see finance cucks talk about is a DCF. This is all about calculating the NPV of future expected cashflows. People shy away from these because they think they are hard. DCFs aren’t complicated, but there are a shitload of subjective assumptions that go into them which, unless you’re prepared to think at a highly granular level about, these aren’t worth the paper they are written on. IRR is just the discount rate required to achieve a NPV of 0. + +There’s other ways like dividend discount models but they require stable AF dividends to work. + +Relative: + +This is referring to multiples like P/E, EV/EBITDA, PEG, EV/FCF, P/sales etc etc. These are quick and dirty and will give an answer in seconds. They’re only truly useful when comparing similar companies. i.e “is afterpay good value compared to zip?”. Rarely will using one in isolation give you an accurate or useful view of a company. + +Again, no one gives a flying fuck about what historical multiples are. So, the slightly nuanced thing here is ideally you need a forward-looking number. Historical numbers usually do provide the best guide/context available for future numbers, so we can’t say they are completely irrelevant, but always have your eyes on the road ahead, not in the rear vision. + +Examining the P/E multiple, I touched on why historical ‘E’ could be irrelevant for major changes in operations (acquisitions, divestments etc.), but as the capital structure changes this can also impact ‘E’, so you would also need to adjust for any permanent changes in that regard. Point is, be wary of the traps in historical numbers, they’re the easiest to find but not always the most useful. + +Generally speaking, people aim to use a denominator as low down on the income statement as possible, as its closest to what you receive as a shareholder. EBIT and EBITDA are sometimes used as a proxy for cash. Equity markets most commonly look to NPAT (P/E), however if its loss making you might need to go to EV/EBITDA, if its capital intensive you should look at EV/EBIT. Note that you use EV as the numerator for EBIT and EBITDA for capital structure neutrality. If it’s a meme stock with no EBITDA then maybe you are looking at a sales multiple, if no sales, well, you have to have a compelling thesis as to what you are buying if they can’t sell their products to anyone else. Some are industry specific (e.g you can’t use EV/EBITDA on a bank, and you wouldn’t value BHP on a P/sales or you’ll look like an idiot pretty quickly). + +The higher the multiple, the more growth the company has to deliver on to justify the price. If two identical companies had different multiples, you could (sort of) fairly say that the higher one was “more expensive”. Given multiples change depending on growth (i.e in a company with positive growth, multiples decline the further you look into the future), it’s easy to then understand that these must be time sensitive. If you are comparing a multiple in 12 months time, it should only be compared with other multiples in with the same time frame. + +Sometimes, if you can’t be fucked doing a heap of work it can be useful to reverse the question and ask, “what do I actually need to believe for a valuation of $x to be true?”. + +Doubt anyone is reading by now so I’ll stop there. If there’s any interest in diving further into these concepts, shout out and I will gladly help. If all the fundamental shit gets you excited there’s a bunch of better resource out there, don’t trust reddit and go read Damoderan or something. This is a very brief intro, so before someone comments “you forgot to include bullshit method xyz that my great grandad used when he was doing a leveraged buyout of Dildos Anonymous Pty Ltd in 1969”, I’ll get in first and highlight it is not even close to being exhaustive. + +Peace out and stay retarded. Here’s a rocket 🚀 + +TLDR; boring valuation shit discussed above. Not relevant to gambling. +In light of all of the "should I sell posts" I have to speak up a bit. + +2 weeks ago you look at any rate my portfolio post and nearly everyone is recommending every high-risk ETF you could name. ARKK, ARKG, ARKW, ARKQ, ICLN, YOLO, MOON, TAN, LIT, I can keep going. And these were all recommended knowing damn well that a correction was due. And nearly unanimously every person would say something along the lines of "Buy and don't sell", "Cathie Wood could sell me on immortality at this point", "There'll be a correction I'm sure, but don't sell." + +Now the second a "correction appears to happen" you all panic. The market will bounce back, bottom line. It's like people forgot about the horrible drop when the pandemic happened. Now looking back, everyone wishes they bought more stock around then. + +Go ahead and sell, it not my portfolio and I don't lose sleep over your decisions. But let me double-check how far this correction has been so far. + +Yep.. checking ... the S&P is down to where we were all the way back to... exactly one month ago. Yep. + +The NASDAQ100 is down to ... 3 months ago. Incredible. + +ARKK is down slightly where it was in January 1... 2 months ago. + +But disregard all of that. Maybe the moral of the story is that Reddit shouldn't be defining your portfolio because no one knows what they're doing. The swarm of ARK followers has sort of disappeared. I haven't seen a single renewable energies ETF post that sounds like they're keeping it. Don't just "hear what's good" and then buy it and then the second "you hear what's bad", sell it. + +Jack Bogle said it best. There's nothing wrong with the ETF (with regards to TIFs), as long as you don't trade it. + +&#x200B; + +Second bottom line. + +100 VT or VTI/VXUS. Never worry about this shit again. Do some flash cards and build that memory back up. +Hello all, + +Let's use this thread to discuss the GameStop situation this weekend, please don't open new threads about it unless it is a unique perspective or brings very valuable information. + +Do note, posts and comments are still restricted to users with a higher Karma and account age. + +##Important information + +First, let's get some things out of the way: + +* The short squeeze has not squoze yet, short interest estimates are still extremely high, I won't post the sources and encourage you to search for it yourself. +* The gamma squeeze has not happened, it may happen Monday, it may happen gradually, it may not happen (if their positions have already been covered), it isn't necessary for anything to happen, however. +* The establishment is still lying about many things for the purpose of market manipulation (Jim Cramer, CNBC, etc.). These people are SOLD. Read Canadian news channels regarding the situation, they are much less biased! +* Google and Apple and removing negative reviews from bad brokers from their app stores, put a calendar reminder in 2-6 weeks to add your review at that time, instead of now. + +--- + +##Let's make a list of the Brokers that restricted the purchasing of specific tickers + +The worst thing that happened this week were the restrictions that our brokers put on buying specific tickers. This, obviously, affected the stock market, tanked those tickers, and significantly reduced our trust in the institutions at hand. + +Now, I'm aware the reasons for this are complicated, we know that for many of them, they were forced to restrict these tickers by their Clearing Houses (Apex being the main one), we don't exactly know why, or whether that is legal or not, however. + +**One thing for certain, the communication by the brokers and clearing houses was very, very, very bad. This, in turns, significantly harmed the public's trust in them, as well as the institutions in charge of regulating this.** + +Here is my list, please comment below and let me know which ones I've missed: + +### Horrible Brokers - Restricted purchasing of certain tickets and lied/gloated about it + +* Robinhood - [Now Blocking 50 Equities](https://seekingalpha.com/news/3656437-robinhoods-50-stock-limit-list?mail_subject=bb-ino-robinhood-s-50-stock-limit-list-with-spacs-makes-mass-exodus-likelier-alpha-tactics&utm_campaign=rta-stock-news&utm_content=link-73&utm_medium=email&utm_source=seeking_alpha) - [CEO lying saying they have no liquidity issues, 1 day before getting a 1 billion bailout](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fs_lyGn4YA) - [Join the lawsuit against them if you were affected](https://robinhoodgamestopclassaction.com/) +* Interactive Brokers (US/CAN) - [Display visible contempt for Retail traders, wants GME to go to 17 before re-enabling trading](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RH4XKP55fM) - [Blocked Trading212, as their acting intermediary](https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/brokers/trading-212-blames-interactive-brokers-for-trade-execution-delay/) +* E-Toro - [Proof](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/robinhood-webull-m1-reopen-gamestop-stock-trading-2021-1-1030019926) - [Forced stop-losses](https://www.etoro.com/posts/0__entry__df95e7f0-1772-4ec7-a271-69b13ca229dd?utm_medium=Direct&utm_source=55714&utm_content=0&utm_serial=SocialSharePostcopyLink_918269&utm_campaign=SocialSharePostcopyLink_918269&utm_term) + +### Bad Brokers - Restricted purchasing of certain tickers + +* E-Trade - [Proof](https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/28/22254863/etrade-gamestop-amc-stock-reddit-wallstreetbets-robinhood) +* Ally - [Proof](https://www.wsj.com/articles/online-brokerages-restrict-trading-on-gamestop-amc-amid-frenetic-trading-11611849934) +* Public.com - [Proof](https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/28/webull-and-public-remove-restrictions-on-memestocks-after-citing-trade-settlement-firm-as-the-cause/) +* Merrill Edge - [Proof](https://www.streetinsider.com/Momentum+Movers/Merrill+Edge+said+to+have+put+restrictions+on+trading+in+AMC+Entertainment+%28AMC%29%2C+GameStop+%28GME%29/17879212.html) +* IG Broker - [Proof](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gamestop-amc-uk-trading-platform-163546937.html) +* Trade Republic - [Proof](https://www.tellerreport.com/business/2021-01-29-%0A---trade-republic-and-gamestop--patronizing-investors-%0A--.BJNYXthWl_.html) +* Webull - [Admitted they were forced to by clearing firm](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/we-bull-ceo-explains-why-trading-was-restricted-amid-the-game-stop-market-mania-172539318.html) - [Clearing firm is Apex](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RS4JIEVyXM&feature=youtu.be) - They'll be moved to neutral once they publicly confirm Apex was sole reason the trades were restricted. +* Stake - [Proof](https://hellostake.com/au/stake-updates/understanding-trading-suspensions/) +* Trading212 - [Proof](https://inews.co.uk/news/business/gamestop-uk-trading-robinhood-trading-212-gme-stock-restricted-legal-action-850465) - [re-enabled, caused by intermediary](https://twitter.com/Trading212/status/1355074914202628098) - [Intermediary is IB](https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/brokers/trading-212-blames-interactive-brokers-for-trade-execution-delay/) - [Restricted purchasing of other securities previous](https://community.trading212.com/t/gold-buying-restricted-in-larger-quantities/27987) - Based on them restricting securities before this, and countless complaints regarding other restrictions, I've put them back in the bad list. + +### Neutral Brokers - Restricted trading, publicly naming their intermediary + + +* Freetrade - [Proof, blames Barclays](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/29/gamestop-saga-uk-trading-app-freetrade-halts-purchases-of-us-stocks.html) - [CMO Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V76UGdYAdcI&feature=youtu.be) - [CMO Tweets](https://twitter.com/v18n/status/1355258696885030915?s=19) +* M1 Finance - [Proof](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/robinhood-webull-m1-reopen-gamestop-stock-trading-2021-1-1030019926) - [Blames Apex Clearing](https://twitter.com/m1_finance/status/1354837064072753152) + +* Tastyworks - [Proof, blame Apex Clearing](https://twitter.com/thetastyworks/status/1354879706991128578) +* Stash - [Proof, blamex Apex Clearing](https://twitter.com/Stash/status/1354839916761518083?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1354839916761518083%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsweek.com%2Fwebull-blocks-gamestop-amc-transactions-stock-market-robinhood-1565172) +* TD Ameritrade/Canada - [Proof](https://www.cnet.com/news/reddits-amc-and-gamestop-stocks-swing-wildly-after-robinhood-td-ameritrade-restrict-trades/) - [Proof2](https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/robinhood-gamestop-1.5891363) - (Margin requirements increased, Covered call and short put orders may only be placed with a broker and support times are > 2h, other trades restricted) - Neutral because they didn't restrict the purchase of stocks with cash. +* Revolut - [Proof](https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/brokers/gamestop-buyers-suffer-another-setback-as-revolut-bans-trading/) - Blames DriveWealth LCC + +### Good Brokers - Did not restrict trading + +* Most Canadian Brokers (Questrade, Qtrade, Disnat, BMO, HSBC, RBC, TD, etc.) +* Most European Brokers (Swissquote, TradeStation, Degiro) +* Fidelity +* Vanguard +* WealthSimple (CAN, US) +* Schwab (Margin requirements increased) +* You Invest (JP Morgan/Chase) +* Capital.com +* Wells Fargo - [allowed trades but banned its advisors from talking about GameStop](https://www.barrons.com/articles/wells-fargo-blocks-advisors-from-recommending-gamestop-amc-51611870929) +* Nordnet +* Citibank + +--- +### Note regarding the clearing houses + +The first step is to know why brokers restricted the trading. The second step is to investigate what happened with the clearing houses. Currently, the following clearing houses seem to have had the most issues: + +* Apex Clearing +* Barclays +* IKBR + +We don't know if these firms acted maliciously (protecting themselves before protecting the free market), or because they literally had no choice. If the former, they need to be punished. If the later, then laws need to change. EITHER WAY, something needs to change, this post is merely here to put attention on the problem, I don't claim to have the solution. + +Additionally, there needs to be open communication about this issue, currently, they are not saying anything on social media regarding this. Once they do, I'll update this post with it. + +Note: /r/ THICC_DICC_PRICC tried to explain this in some detail [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/stocks/comments/l90an8/an_explanation_of_what_caused_the_trading_halt/). I cannot attest to the accuracy/validity of his explanation, feel free to discuss that on his post. + +--- +We might keep this information on the sidebar...forever. Please help me build this list to completion. If you are using a broker in the bad list, even if you are not invested in the tickers that have been restricted, please consider moving to a better broker. + +Thank you all for your patience, we are sorry new members are not able to comment yet, we promise you will be allowed to once this is over! +Hello everyone. First and foremost I'm hoping everyone is safe and sound during this time. + +Welcome to the world of trading. I will make this post very simple and straight to the point because newcomers that I am aware of are making me CRINGE by the way they speak and are investing into stocks, not only in this sub, but including people I personally know. Here it goes: + +1. DO NOT spill your life savings into trading. + You have worked very hard to make that money. The last thing you need is all that money disapearing in a blink of an eye. Start off with an amount you can truly play around with - and do not jump into the get rich quick scheme by dumping everything. Even if it's just $100.00, it's a great amount to get a feel for the market. + + +2. DD - Due Dilligence + This means to investigate on a particular stock you are interested in investing into. How so? View their accessible financial records, see how they have performed in the previous years, what situation they are in, etc; That doesn't mean, "Oh, someone told me Daddy Tesla tweeted about a Woof Woof currency so I'm going to dump my money there." +Or another example is with people claiming that a certain stock will jump extremely high so "get in right now!!! 🚀." +NO. Just no. +I am not saying ALL those individuals are ill-minded or trying to get you, but if you come across something like this, then research "Pumping and Dumping". +PLEASE, do your own research. I understand everyone wants to make money, especially during this horrific time, but you must do your own part as a trader and not ENTIRELY rely and leech of others. Be Smart. + + +3. Set a target price and limit for a stock and don't be GREEDY. + As you see the stock you have invested in is slowly increasing in value, your mouth will get watery. Pretty soon it will get to the point where it gets high that in an instant it can DROP, causing water to now come out of your eyes. +I know we want more and more, but if you're especially trading for short term, set a price you would want to sell at. Example: + +BAD: +Let us purchase this stock at $0.25, we shall sell at $0.30. Oh wow it's at $0.30, okay let's sell at $0.32, it will surely hit. Ah shit, it dropped $0.22, we have to sell this just so it doesn't go lower. + +Set a limit order ! This will automatically sell at the target price you want it to. Once you get your profits, take off and don't look back saying you wish you invested much more and longer, if the stock value decides to increase. Be happy! Any profit is better than no profit and/or losses! + + +4. Educate yourself + Read up on stocks ! How they work, the meaning of stocks, puts, NASDAQ, ETF's, etc; Familiarize yourself with trading terms. Watch YouTube videos on how to get comfortable with the market, beginner videos on trading, live trading with professionals, etc; Feed yourself knowledge. The more educated you get, the more serene your experience will be within the market. +"Any fool can know. The point is to understand." ~ Albert Einstein. + + +5. Handling losses. + If you are losing a substantial amount of money from what you have deposited and it is affecting you mentally, physically or is causing you to be in a depressive state you can't escape, then you shouldn't be trading anymore. You have to learn to handle losses. Every trader goes through a loss or failure as so does every human being excluding trading. It was your idea to get into trading, so you should be aware of risk consequences. +Learn to enjoy the whole journey man regardless of what happens. Have fun every step of the way and don't let certain things get to you. I've had my losses in the market and I am glad to say it hasn't bothered me one bit. Life is meant to be enjoyed, not to be lived with sadness. + +Best of luck to all of us traders and I wish you nothing but success for this brand new year and the years to come. Please feel free to post other pieces of advice as I am fairly new to the stock market as well (roughly one year). Thanks for reading. +I've noticed a lot of anger, frustration, and confusion towards CryptoKitties in the daily thread over the last few days (along with plenty of joy, wonder, and excitement). + +For those who don't understand and/or lack the imagination, pretend for a moment that the [ERC 721 tokens](https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/issues/721) which represent all the individual kitties on the blockchain didn't represent cats at all. Imagine, instead, that they represented: + +* loot items in World of Warcraft +* rare cards in online collectible card games +* plots of land in Arizona +* corporate stocks from Fortune 100 companies that trade on NASDAQ or the NYSE + +Does that make more sense to you now? People aren't necessarily excited about the actual cats themselves, they're excited by *the endless possibilties* that this demonstrates. + +Go look at the online marketplace they've created. Look at the user interface. Fire up your imagination and envision a world where 'digital drawings of cats' are just one of the many, many, MANY assets being traded in the Ethereum eco-system. + +THIS is precisely what gives Ether its value: the ability to create, tokenize, and trade things **on the blockchain.** And this is the reason that CryptoKitties was deployed to the Ethereum blockchain and NOWHERE ELSE -- not Bitcoin, not Dash, not ETC (lol ETC). If you're mad about CryptoKitties, you're missing the whole point -- this isn't a distraction from the price, this is *exactly the reason that ETH rose 5000% over the past year.* + +Yes, it's silly and it's goofy, but it's a proof of concept. It demonstrates to the world what is currently possible, RIGHT NOW, in the Ethereum eco-system. ETHEREUM, and nowhere else. It's not about the cats, it's about the future potential of the whole protocol. +The conditions seem ripe for the next 2008/1930 like crisis. Interest rates have dropped to an all time low, some stocks are ridiculously overpriced, noob investors now have access to brokerage free trading, and cryptocurrencies are soaring to new highs. Just like the mortgage backed securities from 2008, we have SPACs now in 2021. The wealth that's being created in the market is highly disproportionate to the actual economic value in terms of goods and services being generated. Even though COVID was predicted to be the great crash of this decade, markets sailed through it, rather they thrived better than any time in the history. Should we be worrying about an impending disaster? If yes, what can I as an individual can do mitigate the impact of it on my personal life? +Transport in Goa is awful so car rentals are quite common. Ive just seen the rates - even a 6L car costs 1500/day to rent. + +Even taking assumption that you are able to rent your car just 10 days a month and sell your car in 5 years for only 65k, that's 9.5L in 5 years on a 6L investment. + +That's a 10% CAGR being extremely conservative. + +Am I missing something or is this a very lucrative business? +I've noticed a trend on this forum of people trying to learn the mechanics of a valuation process without understanding what the numbers they are using mean or the basic finance assumptions that underly different valuation processes. For example, posts will commonly ask about a particular part of a DCF model while at the same time mixing up free cash flows and earnings. If you don't know finance and accounting as a value investor, to use a Mungerism you are a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. The great value investors learn all the time and get to the core of important subjects, they don't try to figure out how to avoid learning about GAAP rules. + +When you read Warren Buffett's letters to shareholders you would be surprised at just how much thought he has put into GAAP rules and the basic tenants of finance. There are ideas in both fields he disagrees with, but he takes learning about the subjects very seriously. Knowing accounting and finance is not sufficient to be a successful value investor, but it is hard to argue that it is not necessary. + +TLDR: Take the time to learn accounting and finance. +To all economists out there, I'm starting to learn more about economics but there are some lessons that I struggle with because of lack of examples and sometimes I'm having a hard time understanding it. Hoping you guys would share some simple examples about my question. Thanks a lot +Y’all I have never made this much money in my life. I don’t know what it’s like to be able to put money in savings only to not have to pull it out almost immediately. This is life changing. I am so excited. + +EDIT: Wow I wasn’t expecting this to blow up- THANK YOU for all the upvotes, the awards and the excellent advice I’ve received!! + +To answer some of your questions, I took this position back in March, as an assistant in an administrative/ accounting type capacity. I’d had about five years of related experience. My immediate supervisor abruptly resigned in June, and I stepped in to fill the role. In the process I discovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in discrepancies (which I have managed to mostly correct.). My initial salary offer (the 2k raise) was made before these problems came to light and it was supposed to take place at the beginning of the year. + +I am not rich by any means not even after the increase- I went from making low five figures to mid range five figures, but the increase is probably all the more significant because it boosts me and my kids from “low income” into “living wage” territory. It’s thrilling for me to see some light at the end of the paycheck-to-paycheck tunnel after years of being dead broke and unable to even afford normal basics. + +Yes I am paying this forward already (see my comment history for details). + +And yes- I am meeting with the company’s financial advisor (they provide one free to employees) to determine my best course of action moving forward as I don’t have much experience with saving successfully. I am determined to build a nest egg and buy a house as soon as I can. +I'm seeing a sudden spike in posts trying to push for the SEC to intervene. This is pretty sus to me. First of all, flooding the sub with a unified talking point is the playbook that shills use as part of their propaganda strategy. We've seen it before from topics ranging from pump and dumps with silver and other stocks, to when they try to foment divisiveness based on popular users, to stupid shit like trying to scare us with taxes. The shills, HFs, and whatever PR firm they might have hired are so obvious with their message bombing campaigns that any time I see an unnatural rise in one particular topic I am sus of the intent of that messaging. + +Secondly, this push to try to force the SEC's hand, through hashtagging or whatever, has the same tone of urgency that shills also employ. It reminds me of the "must act now" posts to bombard the SEC with comments regarding proposed rule changes that only acted to delay the review of those rules. This campaign seems the same in that it is urgently pushing apes to act regarding something that they really don't know a lot about with unforeseen consequences. + +And what are those unforeseen consequences? Well, what do you think would happen if the SEC did intervene? I fear that it would result in a halting of the MOASS that would not benefit retail investors. + +I've done research on historical short squeezes, runs on the market and market crashes. In the overwhelming amount of cases, short squeezes and runs on the market, even to the extent that the market crashed, were allowed to play out without government or regulatory intervention. Action only came after the fact and usually resulted in efforts to increase funds to cover the obligations and debts from the squeeze or market crash. + +In other words, the free market was allowed to operate and prevail. That is what retail investors want in the case of a MOASS. The Shorts need to pay the price for their actions and that price needs to be determined by the market price that the holders of the stock dictate. + +Take a look at this FINRA page describing market interventions through history: [https://www.finra.org/investors/insights/cushion-crash-market-interventions-through-history](https://www.finra.org/investors/insights/cushion-crash-market-interventions-through-history) + +Time and time again, the market has not been interfered with and short squeezes and even market crashes have been allowed to play out with intervention only coming after the fact. + +In March of 2020 the NYSE experienced it's greatest single day loss in history. The market was allowed to play out and intervention came after the fact in the form of COVID relief bills. + +In 2015 KBIO was short squeezed resulting in the stock price increasing by 10,000% in 5 days. Again there was no intervention and the squeeze was allowed to play out. + +In 2008 the VW short squeeze resulted in that stock becoming the most valued stock in the market within 4 days. There was no intervention to prevent that. + +Also in 2008, the mortgage CDO and housing crisis caused the market to crash and powerful hedgefunds, like Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, to go bankrupt. Even that big crash was allowed to happen. Intervention only came after the fact through the TARP relief fund and money bail outs for banks that were notoriously "too big to fail." + +Even going back to the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which was so catastrophic that it likely was a big contributor to the Great Depression (among other important factors), it was allowed to occur and play out with intervention only coming after the fact in the form of banks (and not government) buyouts of big chunks of shares (as described in the FINRA link above). + +There are other examples of short squeezes, runs on the market and even market crashes that were allowed to play out without government or regulatory intervention, both in the US and markets abroad, that I will not cover because this post is already too long. But allowing the free market to play out is definitely the norm and not the exception. + +In fact, the only case I could find of intervention was during the LTCM crisis in 1998 when the Fed Reserve Bank of NY and most of the major HFs worked out a negotiated settlement price. And guess what? That intervention was not good for the investors of LTCM at all. + +So no, we don't want the fuckin SEC or any other body to intervene during the MOASS! We want it to be allowed to be played out based on the free market! + +Finally, these calls to urgently act in some way to force the SEC to intervene are not only sus but ignores the fact that actions are already being undertaken that do indeed seem to favor retail investors and the free market. JUST BUY, HODL, AND WAIT! + +The new DTCC, DTC, OTCC, and NSCC rules are already in motion and highly suggest that the market is preparing for the MOASS to occur. So no "urgent" intervention is needed nor wanted. The rules are already changing and the MOASS needs to be allowed to be resolved via the free market so proper tendies will be given. I know apes may be impatient but check out this good DD regarding the upper time limit for the new rules to be in place and how they will benefit retail investors and the MOASS result: [https://www.reddit.com/r/DDintoGME/comments/n21ml0/amc\_and\_gme\_why\_share\_price\_doesnt\_matter\_right/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/DDintoGME/comments/n21ml0/amc_and_gme_why_share_price_doesnt_matter_right/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) + +So who would benefit from the SEC intervening during the MOASS? The Shorts. The HFs. I think it's their last ditch effort to try to squirm out of paying what apes are going to force them to pay. + +Don't listen to the latest shill campaign to force the SEC to intervene. Don't listen to their played out tactics or false urgency and emergency. Let the free market handle this situation like the American free market should. That's how apes get all the bananas owed to them. + +I know this post will get downvoted to hell by all the shills and their thousands of fake accounts. I also know they will try to engage me with dumb ass obfuscating misinformation questions in the comments. Fuck you shills, I said what I needed to say. + +Edit: replaced the link to the DD because it was reposted. +I decided to go out on a limb and post my (almost) FatFire story in the hopes that maybe it will encourage others who do not have family money, who are not in tech, and who do not have an ultra high wage job, and also so I can look back in a few years when I am finally ready to FatFire and post an update post. + + I am not here to say my exact results are replicable, but just one example of how I was able to put myself on a path towards fat-fire. I think every Fatfire story also has a bit of luck involved, and this was definitely true at points for me. + +A little bit of background, I am a 33F who grew up incredibly poor. My parents were drug addicts and physically and emotionally abusive. We regularly had eviction notices on our door and I slept in a one room apartment with three brothers, we rarely had clean clothes and never had enough food. I was always in the gifted program and while my brothers dropped out of school early on in life (6th grade or earlier), I absolutely loved school and would make sure I was there every day as my escape. I also would read non-stop anything I could possibly get my hands on and lived in the library to escape my home. + +After a really bad episode of physical abuse when I was 13, I moved out. I declared myself a homeschool student and because I had already taken several high school courses at that time (along with the SATs as part of a gifted program through Duke University), I was able to go right to college at 13 as a dual enrolled student. Unfortunately, living on my own and couch surfing and being put in adult situations, I ended up being a teenage mom at 16. Despite this hurdle, I worked at night as a waitress and went to college during the day, and graduated college at 18. At 19, I enrolled in law school and graduated law school at 22, while working full time. + +My fat-fire journey really began in 2015 when a friend married a physician and he had owned a medical practice, but wanted to relocate and sell the practice. The medical practice was barely making money after expenses, but they agreed to sell me the practice for no money upfront and to make bi-weekly payments on a seller note. After physician payments and the seller note, there was a little money leftover and the practice began to grow at a fairly good rate. + +However, at this point, I made big mistake #1, I let my dad manipulate me into letting him "manage" the practices since I lived out of state and had a family and full time legal job. He basically siphoned out all of the money in the practices, he would take 90%+ of the profit as a management "fee" and then threaten me if I ever cut him out that he would ruin the practices. At this point, the profits were about $1M per year (2019), and the prior seller note had been paid off. Despite this, he was over drafting checkbooks, and we even were unable to pay a large bill that came due for the practices ($80K) because nothing had been left in reserve. I let this happen because of many years of abuse and felt paralyzed. However, in 2019, I hired an attorney to try and mediate a way to get him out of the practices while not ruining them, and even offered a very generous annual salary to just walk away. He was infuriated. + +Mistake #2, I did this all while I was 9 months pregnant, and he knew I couldn't travel to the practices. He pretended like he was going to go along with everything, meanwhile he had convinced the physicians to leave with him and all the patients and start a competing practice. I had a feeling something was happening (while he was telling me everything was fine), so I had my friend who sold me the practices fly back to them and see what was going on. She walked in and called me and told me the practices had been completely cleared out and emptied. As soon as she told me this, I immediately went into labor. I called a locksmith and was giving him my credit card number to change the locks as I was in the middle of contractions. My baby was born 30 minutes later in my bathroom with just my husband and I there because I had no time to get medical assistance. + +At that point, I had just had a baby, no income, and medical practices with no patients and no physician. I started working 20 hour days immediately. I had to file suit to get access to my Comcast accounts that he changed all passwords on (for our phone systems) as well as our Electronic Health Records System. All I had to my name at this point was $40,000 in savings. I did however, own longterm medical practices, with all the required licensing in place. I immediately started recruiting for a physician, and contacting all of our patients (who had been told our practice was shutting down). Finally, after about 2 weeks, I got a physician to agree to come into this mess (probably because a hormonal new mom was crying into the phone begging, but he was honestly my savior at this time). + +I immediately drove the 12 hours to the clinic site in the middle of the night, for him to start the next day. All computers/printers/equipment/even the toilet paper had been taken out of the offices, so I had to bring my baby, my home computer, my home printer, and anything I could bring so I didn't have to buy it. I arrived at 6 am and started setting up for a 9 am opening, and I was frantic. That first day back we didn't even make enough money to pay the physician his daily contracted rate, but he said I could owe it to him. There is a lot more between this and the next parts, but to spare all the long details, suffice to say I was working 20 hour days with a newborn strapped to my chest in order to rebuild the practices. I lived away from my family and my husband and I slept on a couch of a friend with my baby because I had no where else I could afford. + +Also, important to note that while this was all going on, I went into survival mode. I looked at my husband and said "remember when we went axe throwing about 6 months ago, it was packed and overhead was low, I have no way to make money right now so we need to open up an axe throwing range immediately." This was stupid and crazy, I admit, but I had always thought about doing it because I evaluated the potential ROI, knew they were always busy, and it was a ton of fun. We did it during a date night several hours from our home and realized that our medium sized city didn't have a range within an hours distance. I immediately started sourcing locations and submitting zoning applications. I don't even know how I did it, but in three months, start to finish, we opened our small local axe throwing range for less than $25K. I had my baby in March and we opened July 4th weekend. All the while, I was working non-stop to re-open the practice. + +Finally, after about a year after the birth, I had recovered, not only had I recovered, I had done better than I ever had financially because there was no "manager" siphoning off the majority of profits. But to be honest, I was EXHAUSTED. I literally would cry every other week getting on flights to go back to the practice to make sure all was okay and manage the day-to-day details. I decided to sell my practice. I met a cool, young investor who seemed like a good guy, but only had enough money to purchase about 70% of the practice. I agreed, and put a management agreement in place whereby he would manage the day to day and I would be a passive owner and retain 30% of the profits. Based on my experience with "partners" this was a huge risk for me, but I couldn't continue to work non-stop and had to de-risk. He paid $1.7M for 70% of the practice. I held a seller note of about $500,000, and received the other $1.2M upfront. + +With my $1.2M, I started investing in real estate in 2020. I purchased an old historical building in a super popular area close to a major national park and invested about $200k in renovations. It had been sitting on the market for 3 years at that point and because of the state of disrepair I got an AMAZING deal, $500k (total investment about $700K). Additionally, in order to keep renovations on track I had to move up to the location for two months and jump in with construction, including working 18 hour days sun up to sun down to get it ready for rental, even tiling and grouting myself when progress lagged. + +Also important to note, that also because I was in survival mode, I started applying for legal positions, and landed an in house remote position that I held this whole time as well. I was on conference calls while grouting my bathroom, and when I wasn't working on the house, I was working my W2. + +After I finished the historical building and put it up for a vacation rental, I invested in 6 other properties last year, leveraging the money I had from the partial purchase of the medical practice, as well as the 30% cash flow, along with the money from the axe throwing range, and my w2 job. I made sure that if any one thing failed, I was never going to be in a position like that again, where I had no money and no way to pay my bills. I have made sure I have about 100 contingency plans, even if it would kill me. + +So, there is a LOT more to all the story, but I realize that if this gets too long, no one will read it anyways, here is where I am at now: + +\-Medical practice, 30% passive owner earning about $30k monthly + +\-Historical property, paid off, invested about $700K, currently worth about $2M, and earning about $150K annually in vacation rental income + +\-Beach vacation rental, purchased last June for $1.2 million, leveraged with a loan for $900K, after mortgage and expenses, profit is about $80K/annually (conservatively), additionally, the appreciation has been huge, the same property a few houses up just went on the market for $2.4M, realistically, I think it would sell for $2M if listed today. + +\-5 long term rental townhouses, I purchased each one outright for between $105K and $125K, no loans, and they earn about $60,000 profit annually + +\-Axe throwing range, we are currently in the middle of a large expansion, but conservatively earning about $150k/annually + +\- I am still working as in house corporate counsel, I make about $170K annually after bonus + += Total annual income, about $970K + +Assets: + +\- 30% passive ownership, I value this at $0 when calculating my net worth, I am too worried about it disappearing one day + +\-$500K seller note, expected to be accelerated and paid off in full this year + +\-$600K stocks + +\-Approx. $1.8M for historical home after selling costs + +\-Approx. $1M for beach house after mortgage and expenses + +\-5 townhomes at about $130K each, about $650K total + +\-Axe throwing range, $0, bringing profit but no tangible assets + +\-Primary home, bought before the market went crazy, and did a full house renovation, total equity about $1M but calculate this as $0 in net worth as well. + +\-$100K cash, and $60K in retirement + += Total NW $4,710,000 + +This is after having only $40,000 in savings in 2019 and not having a job or any income at that point. + +With all of this said, I am exhausted. I feel like I aged 10 years in the last three years. I can't let go of any of the jobs, or investments, or businesses because I am terrified of not only what happened in 2019, but also because it brought up all of the insecurity of my childhood and not having food or a place to live. I don't know when I will "Fat Fire" or what it will look like. I do hope to give up the W2 at some point, but right now its my safety blanket. I am expanding the axe throwing range, and always looking at additional real estate investment. My passion is home design and renovation, I love bringing things back to life and showing other people my vision for homes they thought were totally beyond saving. I hope that one day that can be my focus, but right now, I find myself getting more cold feet when jumping into opportunities. When I had nothing to lose, I was taking risks left and right, I am definitely finding myself more hesitant to risk-take. Hopefully something to evaluate and overcome in the future. Also a future fat-fire goal, summer in Italy and learn Italian, we will see how that pans out. + +I was previously verified by mods, but happy to verify anything I can, because I know this has been a crazy journey. I can't give any sage advice just yet, I am still in my own process, but I hope this story gave some encouragement to others when things in their fat-fire journey have gotten tough. Also, in case anyone is wondering, my baby I had when I was 16, is an amazing honor student, champion wrestler, and is currently 17 now and headed off to college where he wants to study pre-med and become an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine physician. My #1 goal in life was to raise my kids in a totally different environment from the one I had growing up, and the thing I am most proud of is being able to break the cycle (and if anyone is wondering, I haven't spoken with my dad since that day in March 2019, and this is definitely one of the best things to come out of what I went through). +[https://www.joshuakennon.com/janitor-ronald-read-leaves-behind-8000000-secret-fortune/](https://www.joshuakennon.com/janitor-ronald-read-leaves-behind-8000000-secret-fortune/) + +It's an old story, but it really evokes the qualities of a good dividend investor + +Ownership > Trading + +Companies > Stocks + +Boring Quality > Reddit Stocks + +Time in the Market > Timing the Market +I'm gunna get downvoted to oblivion but... it seems everyone on this sub is doing the opposite of time tested advice - as in trying to time the market; short term investing; not buying bonds; allocating unreasonable portions of portfolio to a single specific sector; performance chasing; subscribing to "actively managed" etfs/indexes with high ERs. + +It's like...this sub is a culmination of everything we're not suppose to do when we're investing. + +There has to be more to investing besides just VTI + tech tilt. Like, we just had 10 years of rocketing tech growth and the idea this is just going to go on and on forever and you should pile more money into these over valued assets is going to leave a lot of people hurt. + +To answer like, 90% of the questions you have: No, going VTI then doubling up on QQQ is not a good move- it is not diversified - you are just taking unnecessary extra risk to double down on tech stock performance chasing. +**Holy shit at the money people spend on food!** + +And I was the exact same way when I landed my first job out of college. You know what I'm talking about--biscuit and Starbucks on the way to work, lunch out with coworkers and pizza and beer at the local tavern for dinner! Every night! All week! Professional money spender! And more beers and dinners on the weekends! Woohoo! + +Wait. Where did all my money go? And how the hell did I gain 40 pounds in six months? If you're nodding your head you've fallen into the brand-new-job-big-salary-eat-out-because-I-can trap. And you have to stop it. It's killing your bank account, it's killing your financial freedom and it's killing *you*. (Literally--I was on the edge of type 2 diabetes and had hyperglycemia during routine physicals.) + +**What you know you need to do: *STOP EATING OUT*** + +But how??? How do I stop eating out??? Fast food is *soooo* good! And cooking is *soooo* hard! Well, first off, not really--you're just attuned to that garbage 'food'. You're going to break free of both these stereotypes and someone has already invented it..... + +>Crockpot. It's the crockpot. Crockpot. Crockpot. Maybe you call it a slow cooker, but I'm from Georgia and here it's a crockpot. + +***!STOP!***--If you do not own a crockpot I highly recommend you go buy one from Amazon and buy the biggest one you can afford! + +Get one with a timer that switches to warm after the cook settings: *JUST GOOGLE IT CAUSE MODS DONT LIKE LINKS!* + +**BOOM!** $39 investment. We're going to make that back in.... *three days*. Are you ready? We're going to make enough food for dinner *AND* left overs for lunch. + +I'm going to give you some of my super-secret-I-eat-this-every-week-crockpot-meals that are delicious, cheap, filling and easy. Yes. The crockpot makes *all* of those possible. + +**MEAL 1: Thick Cut Porkchop with Potatoes and Carrots** + +>Servings: 4 + +>Ingredients: + +>1 Can Beef Broth (50 cents) + +>1 Packet Brown Gravy Mix (50 cents) + +>1 Packet Onion Soup Mix (50 cents) + +>1 Package of 4 Thick Cut Porkchops ($7) + +>6 Carrots (50 cents) + +>4 Large Gold Yukon Potatoes ($2) + +>Sack o' Salad ($2) + +>Total cost for lunch and dinner: $13/4 about $3 each. + +>Spray or wipe crockpot with cooking oil. Add beef broth, gravy mix and onion soup mix and stir. Place porkchops in broth. Chop carrots and potatoes and add to top of porkchops. That's it. + +>PREPARE THIS BEFORE YOU GO TO BED FOR THE NEXT DAY! Put it in the refrigerator and pull it out in the morning. Cook on low for 8 hours. When you get home make your salad and dig in. Use the left overs for lunches and/or dinner for during the week. + +**MEAL 2: Sausage, Potato and Kale Soup** +>Servings: 4 + +>1 Pound Italian Sausage ($4) + +>1 White Onion ($1) + +>1 32 Oz Box of Chicken Stock ($1.50) + +>1 Bag of Prewashed Kale ($3) + +>3/4 Cup Heavy Cream ($1) + +>5 Large Gold Yukon Potatoes ($2) + +>1 Head of Garlic ($1) + +>Total cost: About $14/4 = 3.50 a serving + +>Brown italian sausage with chopped garlic and chopped onion. While meat is browning add to crockpot the 3/4 cup of heavy cream, chicken stock, and chopped yukon potatoes. Add browned sausage and top with half the bag of kale. (I get two recipes per bag of kale). + +>PREPARE THIS BEFORE YOU GO TO BED FOR THE NEXT DAY! Put it in the refrigerator and pull it out in the morning. Cook on low for 8 hours. When you get home dig in! Use the left overs for lunches and/or dinner for during the week. + +**MEAL 3: Super Awesome Easy Chili** +>Servings: A Lot (6-8?) -- I eat this *all* the time and it's delicious. Stores really well in the refrigerator (and chili gets better over time!) + +>3 Cans of Black Beans ($2) + +>2 Cans of Hot Chili Beans ($1) + +>2 Cans of Red Kidney Beans ($1) + +>8 Cans of Diced Tomatoes ($6) + +>1 Pound of Ground Beef ($4) + +>1/2 Cup of Chili Powder ($1) + +>1/4 Cup of Garlic Powder ($1) + +>1/4 Cup of Onion Powder ($1) + +>3 Tablespoons of Cumin ($1) + +>3 Tablespoons Black Pepper ($1) + +>Edit: The spice proportions are correct! This makes nearly two gallons of good (about 7L). + +>Edit: Salt to Taste($1) + +>Total cost = $20/8 = About $2.50 per serving + +>Drain the tomatoes and kidney beans but don't drain the black or chili beans. Brown the ground beef. Add everything to the crockpot and stir like crazy.... and that's it! + +>PREPARE THIS BEFORE YOU GO TO BED FOR THE NEXT DAY! Put it in the refrigerator and pull it out in the morning. Cook on low for 8 hours. When you get home dig in! Use the left overs for lunches and/or dinner for during the week. + + +It's easy guys. It's really easy. You spend 15 minutes a night and you make *tons* of food for lunch and dinner and you save a LOT of money! AND ITS GOOD FOR YOU! (better than Wendy's--that's for sure!) AND ITS EASY! + +**Stop spending your money on eating out and go full crockpot! I am much happier and much wealthier!** + +EDIT: For our vegetarian friends. You can't get any more simple than this! + +**MEAL 4: Baked Potato** +>Servings: As many potatoes as you bake + +>1 Potato + +>Cover in tin foil and place directly in crockpot. Cook on low 4-6 hours or keep on warm all day. + + +**MEAL 5: Vegetable Soup** +>Servings: However much you want to make + +>Tomatoes, Potatoes, Green Beans, Zucchini, Carrots, Peas, or Onions + +>Vegetable Stock + +>Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Salt and Black Pepper + +>Add vegetables in any proportion you desire to crockpot and add vegetable stock until covered. Season to taste. Cook on low until vegetables are tender. + +EDIT 2: I live in Georgia and shop at Kroger--prices may vary. If you live in Canadia or buy organic free range vegetables harvested by hipsters with a minimum of a master's degree you will obviously pay more. + +EDIT 3: "Just learn to cook!"--Yeah, okay guys. I agree. I cook more than just in a crockpot. This post was inspired after I read a /r/personalfinance about a single guy who spends $1300 a month on food because "he didn't have enough time to cook with work". I wrote a very long comment and just made it into a post. The point was you can eat decent food in a short amount of time and save money by planning one day ahead. + +EDIT 4: I agree fresh vegetables are better and these aren't the *healthiest* recipes. This post was just to encourage those that eat all the time to transition to something healthier... and then they can transition to something even healthier... and on and on until they've become a raw vegan, growing their own vegetables, saving the whales and composting regularly. + +EDIT 5: Electricity costs: Crockpots seem to consume between 200W and 700W per hour. That's between 2 and 6 kWhs for 8 hours of cooking. That's about 15 to 60 cents. It seems insignificant relative to the overall cost of food. + +EDIT 6: I'm not a shill or marketing person for crockpot. I'm a mechanical engineer. Don't believe me? My first post on reddit ever was about bolt failures: https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/3e20vs/bolt_failure_modes/ctatj1y/ + +Take off your tin foil hat..... and use it to wrap a baked potato to put in your *new crockpot!!!* +Burner account. 37 recently ex big law attorney who quit after hitting 10M liquid, and I feel like I’m on the top of the fucking hill after turning in my company laptop. + +I been practicing in an AM 50 firm for the last ten years. Saved a lot and invested wisely in stocks, options, crypto, futures, and was an OG eth and doge miner. I like practicing law but I made more this month through investments than big law paid me over the last five years. + +Head of my practice group called on the last day to offer a one time $25k forgivable loan that will be paid off if I stick it out another 2 years 😂 ##### please! Most hilarious part is that one of the boilerplate sections of the written offer even stipulates that my widow must return all $25k if I happen to die within the next 2 years 😂 😂 . + +I spent 10 years working 6-7 days a week protecting billions of profits for trillion dollar fortune 5 companies, making tens of millions for my away from the office bosses, and getting crumbs. Next Monday will be my first day as an attorney for the local pro bono organization that is dedicated to helping those who are too poor to pay for legal representation. My new salary is 30k a year (organization refused my offer to work for $1 due to legal reasons), which I intend to donate. +We have grown to the kind of size we only dreamed of in the time it takes to get a bad nights sleep. We've got so many comments and submissions that we can't possibly even read them all, let alone act on them as moderators. We wrote software to do most of the moderation for us but that software isn't allowed to read the Reddit new feed fast enough and submit responses, and the admins haven't given us special access despite asking for it. + +We're suffering from success and our Discord was the first casualty. You know as well as I do that if you gather 250k people in one spot someone is going to say something that makes you look bad. That room was golden and the people that run it are awesome. We blocked all bad words with a bot, which should be enough, but apparently if someone can say a bad word with weird unicode icelandic characters and someone can screenshot it you don't get to hang out with your friends anymore. Discord did us dirty and **I am not impressed with them destroying our community** instead of stepping in with the wrench we may have needed to fix things, especially after we got over 1,000 server boosts. That is pretty unethical. + +To add to this, people are co-opting our name on twitter. I won't mention their accounts, but lots of handles with "wsb" and "wallstreetbets" in them are pretending to speak for us. They're saying things that we don't agree with, driving traffic to derivative communities and shitty pixelated merch stores, and generally making it harder for us to define who we are. There's also too much political bullshit in a community that was never *ever* political. The only way I want to occupy Wall St is in a suit myself or rent-free in the mind of a blown up short. + +~~That is why I'm throwing my support behind the Twitter handle in general. We need a way to PUBLICLY reach out to the staff of the infrastructure that is failing us so the world can see that we aren't doing anything wrong here if they don't respond. We need to be able to respond directly to a reporter that is lying to the world about our clubhouse. We can't be expected to meet any expectations when we aren't given the tools we need.~~ + +~~That's not to say I approve of every message or will even be in the loop for all of them, but it's clear to me we can't do nothing and we need a megaphone.~~ + +~~We'll do our best not to pretend to speak for you, but to try to speak with the volume our name now seems to command to get shit done for us.~~ + +EDIT: As of recent developments the aforementioned twitter handle is obviously not legit anymore. Phew. + [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy\_of\_the\_Inca\_Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_Inca_Empire#Currency_in_Incan_Economy) + +The Incan empire did not use coins or markets, it was centrally planned. "Taxes" were paid via labor to the state. The state provided key services, " People of the [Inca Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca_Empire) received free clothes, food, health care, and schooling in exchange for their labor " (source was the wikipedia link). + +Sounds almost like the dream of soviet planners right? + +Granted, industrialization massively increased the complexity of an economy, but with modern computing technology that complexity could be reduced no? So, then the question becomes, why did the Soviets fail where the Incans succeeded? Was it just due to that complexity? If the soviets had modern computing technology, could they have matched Incan success? + +Thanks! +***Context***: About a month ago, I [*posted in this sub*](https://www.reddit.com/r/realestateinvesting/comments/erjrqa/just_learned_tenant_was_laid_off_work/) *about my tenant losing his job and falling behind on rent. Responses to that post ran the gamut from "have a heart, you bastard" to "kick his ass out yesterday." When I see posts like that one, I usually wonder how the landlord actually handled it, and what the outcome was. I'm here with an update, which is by no means me telling you what to do. It's simply how I chose to proceed and the results.* + +After my previous post, I called Mr. Tenant and asked him if I could buy him a beer. He agreed to meet me at a local bar. I filled out and printed a Notice to Quit, leaving the date blank, and brought it along with me. + +I started by thanking him for meeting me and explaining that I'm not trying to be a jerk, but this is a business and my livelihood. I asked about his job prospects and whether he had considered finding another place to move, since my rental was too expensive for him to handle comfortably. He shared that he had just completed a second interview and hoped to hear back in a couple days. Additionally, his girlfriend had also accepted a new position. Their income prospects were looking up. He also told me that he was now getting joint custody of kids, after a bitter divorce from last year, so they would need more space. I offered to help with the search, because I know other landlords around town. + +He told me that he and his girlfriend should have paychecks in the next 2-3 weeks, and that he would pay as much as he could when those came in. Additionally, they expected tax returns by the end of February, and would pay everything current, including late fees. + +I decided to give this a chance to work. I explained the Notice to Quit to him, and I wrote in 2/15/20 as the date I would begin the eviction process, if he had not paid at least a full month's rent (he was past due for Jan and Feb). He agreed, signed the document, and thanked me for working with him. + +The next day, I called around to see if any of my contacts had a 3-bed house available. One did, so I explained the situation to him. He is more comfortable dealing with the "edge cases," so he agreed to let them move in, once they had proven they could get current with me. We set the tentative move date for 3/15. Mr. Tenant texted me to confirm he had been hired at the new job. + +Two weeks later, I got a payment for January rent + late fees! Today, I got the remaining payment for February rent + late fees and an unpaid pet fee!! They're now paid completely current, and they're going to be moving into a less-expensive 3-bedroom house just down the street. I'm so happy with the way things turned out. I recognize that I took additional risk by being patient with them, but it has definitely paid off in more ways than one. + +**TL/DR - I decided to be patient and work with a tenant, who had fallen on hard times, and was two months behind on rent. The situation worked out well for everybody, and I've now been paid in full.** +Hey everyone! I recently read a great book on Warren Buffett called Buffettology. The book lays out a whole set of criteria that Buffett looks for when buying stocks so I thought… alright, let’s see if we can grade all the stocks! Here, in this post, are the results. + +# The Rules + +First, the rules. Each rule below receives a point for a pass, and no points for a fail, much like the Piotroski Score. The points were gathered from insights in Buffettology (I’d recommend a read if you haven’t already). + +* Rule 1 - Consistent Earnings (5yr / TTM growth > 0%) +* Rule 2 - Good debt coverage (can pay down debt in <3yr) +* Rule 3 - High Return on Equity (>15% average over 5yr) +* Rule 4 - High Return on Invested Capital (>12% average over 5yr) +* Rule 5 - FCF Generation (TTM FCF > $0) +* Rule 6 - Buying Back Shares? (Share count today < share count 5yr ago) +* Rule 7 - IRR greater than Long-Term Treasury (initial rate of return > 1.1%) +* Rule 8 - ERR greater than 12% (expected rate of return > 12% - calculated using analyst growth estimates) + +Now, the data. Like always it’s in a Google sheet. I have ranked the stocks from 8 on down. If you’re interested in a particular stock, search for it within the document. + +# The Data + +The data: [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GLuUXKGBg7Rq0LgkdVPcybHKnsEl44eQ1cadtz84oZ0/edit#gid=0](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GLuUXKGBg7Rq0LgkdVPcybHKnsEl44eQ1cadtz84oZ0/edit#gid=0) + +# Feedback + +Got a rule you think should be in there, or something confusing about the score? Let me know. I make quirky things like this quite frequently for my YouTube channel (won’t link to avoid breaking any rules), and would love to take some feedback on continue iterating on this Warren Buffett checklist. +Found this 2018 article, interesting/fun fact: [The Stock Market Works by Day, but It Loves the Night](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/02/your-money/stock-market-after-hours-trading.html) + +* If you had bought the SPY at the last second of trading on each business day since 1993 and sold at the market open the next day — capturing all of the net after-hour gains — your cumulative price gain would be 571% +* On the other hand, if you had done the reverse, buying the ETF at the first second of regular trading every morning at 9:30 a.m. and selling at the 4 p.m. close, you would be down 4.4% + +Chart: [https://i.imgur.com/YPTjg3v.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/YPTjg3v.jpg) + +Disclaimer - I'm not posting this to endorse the above strategy, I prefer to buy and hold. +For my Economics class I have to play some weird ASX game where you get a fake $50,000 dollars to trade over an ASX simulation for the next few weeks, any advice on what the hell to invest in? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you. + +&#x200B; + +Edit: thanks for all the good advice, I will invest now +I’m very new to investing and really appreciate the solid DD’s of this group and the lack of memes and jokes so thank you for that. + +As a new investor (more like gambler, since that’s how I’m behaving) I’m looking for some sound input on how those who have been at this for a long time control your emotions. I only put in what I was comfortable playing with and losing to begin with as I work on expanding my market education. + +I’m currently in and out of news articles daily, Reddit posts daily, cannot stop watching tickers, and good lord I’m a loser to FOMO. Even with FOMO I tend to do my own DD on the company and if it’s not something I truly believe in, I won’t move on it, but if it’s something I see profit in I will make a move, my problem is patience, I begin to panic in the red, and hold too long in the green. + +So how do you all do it? How do you constantly stay sound throughout all of this. Is this something all new investors go through behaving like? Or am I the odd one? I think my problem is I want to achieve what everyone wants (big profit) but let me emotions take over and mentally weigh me down. + +Don’t worry none of this has been affecting my personal life or my full time job. This is simply a new hobby which I’ve taken interest in and again have only put in “fun” money to learn and expand. + +Any advice is great on controlling the emotions. + +Thanks everyone. +The bill was being autopaid on his credit card. I think he was aware he was paying it (I'm assuming), but not sure that he really knew why. Or he forgot about it as I don't believe he receives physical bills in the mail and he autopays everything through his card. + +He's actually super smart financially. Budgets his money, is on track to retire next year (he's 56 now), uses a credit card for all his spending for points, and owns approximately 14 rental properties. + +I don't think he's used dial up for at least the last 10....15 years? Anything he can do other than calling and cancelling now? + +EDIT: AOL refused to refund anything as I figured, and also tried to keep on selling their services by dropping the price when he said to cancel. + +I got a little clarification on the not checking his statement thing: He doesn't really check his statements. Or I guess he does, but not in great detail. My dad logs literally everything in Quicken, so when he pays his monthly credit card bill (to which he charges pretty much everything to) as long as the two (payment due and what he shows for expenses in Quicken) are close he doesn't really think twice. He said they've always been pretty close when he compares the two so he didn't give it second thought. +In my US History class in high school we learned that one factor that lead to the Great Depression was items that were "too good." The explanation was that in the beginning of the 1920's people bought many appliances and other stuffs. However, since the products were built-to-last, products were being bought less and less over time leading to a less stimulated economy. +FINAL UPDATE: Computershare has communicated to me that they do NOT have any knowledge of Gamestop releasing an NFT in the form of a dividend. Debunked by Computershare. +If Gamestop confirms in the future I would like Ryan Reynolds to play the part of the CS ape. + +http://imgur.com/gallery/I2ZewJB + + +Lots of speculation on an NFT dividend from Gamestop. I thought it would be a good idea to run that by computershare. + +I used Computershare's general inquiry tool to ask a hypothetical question about dividends and what would happen with an NFT if I were holding as book entry or dividend reinvestment. I wanted to ensure I had total control over the dividend if that were to happen... + + +This is the response I received: + +https://imgur.com/YnvxRWj + +"Dear Sir/Madam: + + + +Thank you for contacting Computershare, the transfer agent for GAMESTOP CORP. We appreciate the opportunity to be of service to you. + +GameStop is still preparing to release a Non-Fungible Token (NFT). The shareholders will be notified once it is declared. + +Should you have other account related questions, please call us at (800) 522 6645 during regular business hours. Please note that any available representative can assist you. + + + +Sincerely, + + + +Computershare Investor Services + + + +Our ref: GME / ######### / ######## + + (removed the reference numbers) + +Attachment: None(1) + + + + + +Online Account Access: Most shareholders can manage their holdings online with free access to Computershare’s Investor Center website. Use this simple tool to quickly and easily update account information, sign up for electronic delivery of documents and more. + +Enroll FREE today at www.computershare.com/investor. + +Got a question? Ask Penny, Computershare’s virtual agent, at https://www-us.computershare.com/Investor/Help. + + +I contacted CS immediately to verify the email address it came from. It was confirmed via phone that it was in fact their email. I've reached out to GameStop investor relation via phone and email without a response. + +Confirmation bias to the max! + +EDIT: I've been sitting on this since yesterday. Didn't want to post because the email addresses seemed off to me. If somone wants to initiate a chat with Penny and confirm for themselves and respond back here go for it. I confirmed over the phone. + +MOD team can message me and I can provide anything need to confirm. The email is legit. +Heres the modmail I sent yesterday +https://i.imgur.com/gUXIzGd.jpg +(fixed link again) + +UPDATE #1: I appreciate all the skepticism and feedback. I want to be clear that my intent with this post was to raise awareness on the surprising content of the email and get some help digging into it. I made an effort to reach out to computershare multiple times as well as several phone calls to Gamestop investor relations including an email. I went as far as messaging Gamestop on a social media platform asking for help to get ahold of someone from the investor relations team before posting here. I'm not advocating for anyone to make any financial decisions based on this. I'm not a financial advisor. The DD previously posted on reddit speaks for itself. If you don't understand any of this, read the DD. + +I'll update if I learn anything new. This can not be confirmed by anyone but Gamestop. Do I believe it? Yes. I like the stock. + +Update #2: Received a call from CS supervisor and reaffirmed the email is real. On their internal update board there is no information on an NFT from Gamestop. The CS liason to GS is making contact to speak about the content in the email. CS is investigating internally who and how this info was sent. It is not a BOT generated response. It had to be sent by whoever reaponded. There is no agent user ID in the notes. I will likely have a follow up from them on Monday. Still trying to make contact with GS investor relations as well. + +Update #3: +Received two more emails from computershare. 1800 yesterday and another 34 minutes later. + +http://imgur.com/gallery/VxpXDLq + +Update #4: Got another email today. I have no idea why they sent another one. I've had zero contact since my last call. I guess they needed to let me know they sent the info in error for a 3rd time.. +CS email #3 https://imgur.com/gallery/6e5qvwV +Update 3: $3332 returned! + +Update 2: Holy moly! $2361 returned to redditors so far! If you reached out for help, don’t forget to share your update here! + +Update 1: WOW! Thanks for your votes and gold and sweet notes. Adding more resources below and an ask to share this post with people who might need it. +— +All of these companies are regulated — a government agency is paid by your taxes to make sure you’re not ripped off. These companies also rip you off in small amounts in part because they assume you won’t do anything about it. When you complain about it to the government agency that regulates them, they not only fix your problem but if enough people complain, they’ll fix the whole system, which helps other people. + +The types of problems could be billing (they overcharge you), service (you’re not getting what you’re paying for), unfair and deceptive practices (you were tricked) or more. All of these complaint systems work in 2 weeks or less and it’s awesome. It’s sort of crazy more people don’t know about them. + +Internet: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=38824 + +Banks/student loans/credit reports/debt collectors etc: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/ + +Health insurance: Google “[state where you live] health insurance complaint” and select the government agency that will let you file a consumer complaint. It’s usually an insurance commissioner. Here’s the form for Texas for example: http://www.tdi.texas.gov/consumer/complfrm.html#four + +Cable: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=33794 + +Cell phone: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=39744 + +Other company (home security system, eBay, Amazon, contractors): google “[your state] attorney general consumer complaint.” + +Your landlord (won’t return your deposit, won’t fix the heat etc): google “[your city] tenant advocate.” They typically have excellent, free advice. + +Kind of everything falling apart (out of money, need housing help, low cost/free health or mental services etc): Call 211 (works in many us cities but not all). It’s like an artisanal version of this post — they will personally help you find all the local services. + +If you’re not sure where to complain, share your issue in the comments and I’ll help you find the right spot! +As of 2018, statista reported that there are over 28 billion Blockchain wallets. This clearly shows just how cryptocurrencies have taken the world by storm. Thanks to the many cryptocurrencies and exchanges available out there, crypto enthusiasts can now travel, spend, and earn cryptocurrencies almost anywhere from their Blockchain wallets. However, there is a catch. + +Unless you have access to a reliable exchange with support for the most useful cryptocurrencies and a superb customer care, spending or earning crypto can be a little tricky. In fact, even having the most popular crypto assets is not enough. + +There are just too many unreliable and unsecure crypto apps and exchanges. For instance, reports indicate over 980,000 Bitcoins have so far been stolen from exchanges. Other reports indicate that over 50 percent of exchanges and crypto apps are unsecure. Additionally, even the most secure exchanges and crypto app resources have failed to entice crypto enthusiasts as they have no significant rewards yet that makes mad profits from stored tokens on their platforms. Furthermore, the issue of high transaction costs and increasing network congestion especially with top crypto assets is something we cannot avoid. +As of 2018, statista reported that there are over 28 billion Blockchain wallets. This clearly shows just how cryptocurrencies have taken the world by storm. Thanks to the many cryptocurrencies and exchanges available out there, crypto enthusiasts can now travel, spend, and earn cryptocurrencies almost anywhere from their Blockchain wallets. However, there is a catch. + +Unless you have access to a reliable exchange with support for the most useful cryptocurrencies and a superb customer care, spending or earning crypto can be a little tricky. In fact, even having the most popular crypto assets is not enough. + +There are just too many unreliable and unsecure crypto apps and exchanges. For instance, reports indicate over 980,000 Bitcoins have so far been stolen from exchanges. Other reports indicate that over 50 percent of exchanges and crypto apps are unsecure. Additionally, even the most secure exchanges and crypto app resources have failed to entice crypto enthusiasts as they have no significant rewards yet that makes mad profits from stored tokens on their platforms. Furthermore, the issue of high transaction costs and increasing network congestion especially with top crypto assets is something we cannot avoid. +I just won £125,000 on an online casino!! I am not kidding, I can show proof if you'd like. + +I am literally over the moon, my savings before this were around £20,000 so this is completely life changing money. I am 18 (on a gap year) and this money would be able to pay for my entire uni course and more. I am so happy, this feels unreal. I don't want to do anything wrong now though. What do I need to do, who should I tell, and should I seek professional advice for investing some of the money? +# Introduction + +Without a doubt 2021 has been the most pivotal year for the uranium industry in more than a decade. The markets, politicians and corporations appear to have recognised that without nuclear power being a part of the energy conversation, a sustainable, zero carbon emission future will be near impossible to achieve. + +This recognition, coupled with multiple other factors including; major supply deficits, the exponential growth of the EV industry and its increasing power requirements and, more recently, the emergence of the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (SPUT), has helped the spot uranium price hit near decade long highs. + +As a result we have seen massive gains across the uranium equities, particularly those on the ASX. But the best part is that the current cycle is still in its infancy. It is unlikely new production will come online during the next 12 months and further uranium price increases will be necessary for brownfield and almost all greenfield projects to commence. + +To put how small the uranium market still is into perspective: The WHOLE global market is worth only about US$42 billion (to date). That is all the uranium equities all around the world, the ETFs and major funds are worth a combined $42billion. Now Glencore is just a single major coal producer and has a market cap of US$64.46 Billion ! Let that radiate for bit. + +**This post will cover**: + +* Performance of ASX Equities for the past year and past 3months (Charts) +* The different types or stages of the ASX Uranium Equities (miners vs explorers) +* Comparison of the key mining and mine development companies +* Company Briefs and Updates + * Activities Last 12 months + * Pros and cons for each +* ETF Inclusion and re-balancing +* Punt’s Rocket Rating Update 🚀 + +For details of the [Uranium Bull Market Background](https://www.reddit.com/r/ASX_Bets/comments/lftl86/the_emerging_global_uranium_bull_market_a_summary/) \- see this post originally from September last year which was revamped in Feb 2021. + +For a detailed post on **everything** Nuclear Power, The Uranium Market update, SMR technology, managing waste, nuclear costs and much more - see \*\*this\*\* detailed u/Mutated-Cunt and +u/Calculated-Punt collaboration post **\*\*"this" is due soon and will be linked here\*\*** + +# ASX Uranium Performance - Chart Comparison + +[1 Year Performance Graph \(weekly\):](https://preview.redd.it/r2gw70k8viy71.png?width=903&format=png&auto=webp&s=5b8088ee7ad93633339b95c4850da5c55168ad1e) + +[3 Month Performance Graph \(weekly\)](https://preview.redd.it/eekpklneviy71.png?width=903&format=png&auto=webp&s=6da50e215841d79079ed6a5ba5dda3fa624338e9) + +# Types of ASX Uranium Companies + +The uranium companies can be divided into 3x Key Categories: **Miners** or near term producers, **mine developers** and **exploration** companies. There is also one uranium enrichment technology company on the ASX - Silex Systems (ASX: SLX) - but that is not included in the coverage. + +**ASX Uranium Miners / Producers** + +This covers the few ASX companies that have a uranium mine somewhere in the world that uranium can be produced from though may require some capital investment to restart. Currently ALL ASX dedicated uranium miners have their mines shut-in on care and maintenance while uranium prices are too low to sustain operation of the mine. The uranium miners will be the first to re-introduce supply to the uranium market when higher contract term prices are signed. Some of these miners, even though shut-in, have been purchasing physical lbs of uranium (like BOE to PEN) as a strategic stockpile investment and to also meet existing contract deliveries. There are also companies like BHP and Rio Tinto that have some uranium production, though this is not a primary asset, and for the likes of BHP uranium is a by-product from the copper Olympic Dam mine. These companies are not included in the coverage. Below are the main ASX uranium miners + +* **Peninsular Energy** (ASX: PEN) ---- Lance Project ISR Mine in Wyoming. Previous Producer. On care and maintenance. +* **Lotus Resources** (ASX: LOT) ------ Purchased the open-pit Kaylekera mine in Malawi from Paladin in March 2020. On care and maintenance +* **Boss Energy** (ASX: BOE) ----- Purchased the Honeymoon ISR mine from Uranium One in 2013. On care and maintenance +* **Paladin Energy** (ASX: PDN) ---- Retained the Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia - developed in the last cycle. On care and maintenance + +**ASX Uranium Mine Developers** + +These companies are those that have proved up a significant uranium resource and have conducted a series of studies or pilot plants for a large mine development. The Uranium Mine developers include: + +* **Aura Energy** (ASX: AEE) ----Tiris Project in Mauritania +* **Bannerman Energy** (ASX: BMN) ---- Etango Project in Namibia +* **Deep Yellow** (ASX: DYL) ----- Tumas Project Namibia +* **Toro Energy** (ASX: TOE) ----- Wiluna Project - Western Australia +* **Vimy Resources** (ASX: VMY) ----- Mulga Rock Project - Western Australia + +**ASX Uranium Explorers** + +Not necessarily dedicated to just uranium exploration as many exploration companies are in the search for other minerals such as gold, vanadium, battery metals and rare earths and will jump between what is hot at the time. This selection has some drilling or exploration committed to uranium exploration with at least 40-50% of the company and funding focused on the asset. + +* **GTI Resources** (ASX: GTR) Exploration in Utah and Wyoming (USA) +* **92 Energy** (ASX: 92E) Exploring Athabasca basin (Canada) +* **Elevate Uranium** (ASX: EL8) Largest tenements of exploration in Namibia +* **Alligator Energy** (ASX: AGE) Exploration tenements in SA and NT (Aus) + +There are a number of additional “uranium exploration companies” that don’t meet the criteria for worthwhile assessment. + +# ASX Uranium Miners and Developers Comparison Chart + +Credit to u/gloriathehippo for helping compile this table. NOTE: if you copy this table - then give credit where credit is due please. + +[Comparison Table of ASX Uranium Miners and Mine Developers. ](https://preview.redd.it/nql9eukzwiy71.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2b6a3f549a1143c23e327f430c3a594168e78a75) + +# ASX Uranium Companies Brief and Update + +# Lotus Resources (LOT) + +**Brief History** + +Lotus purchased the Kaylekera mine (Malawi) from Paladin in March 2020 along with the surrounding exploration leases and infrastructure. Kaylekera previously produced 11Million lbs under Paladin operation from 2009-2014. + +**Key Activities Last 6-12months** + +* Ore Sorting Trials - Results of increasing grades by up to 100% with higher recoveries >92% (i.e. they autonomously sift through the ore to dispose of excess waste material before it goes through the mine plant). +* Increased ownership in Kaylekera from 65% to 85% (remainder 15% with Malawi Government) +* Near mine exploration - very under-explored with high upside potential +* 5,000m RC Exploration drill program - exploring for uranium AND rare earths + * 4,000m focused on Uranium and 1,000m focused on RE - results due late 2021 +* Acquired tenement with proven 6M lb in ground resource for $0.004/lb (total $25k) +* Cash of $29.1million with many options yet to be converted + +**Potential Catalysts and Forecast Activities** + +* Exploration Drilling results due late 2021 --> increase uranium resource size +* Rare earth discovery +* Definitive Feasibility study (DFS) due out in June/July 2022 +* Looking to go into contract negotiations in 2022 + * “Plan is to lock in multiple contracts in a layered approach with some produced lbs kept to the side for sale into spot market to maximise capital value” + +**Timeframe to production** + +* DFS +6months to negotiate capital and on contracts → end of 2022 for FID +* Refurbishment of plant to take 12-15months to complete → be producing uranium by Q1 2024 + +[Lotus Resources Pros vs Cons](https://preview.redd.it/mwq0q5fzxiy71.png?width=719&format=png&auto=webp&s=7e0763fd77883ae43d942da53410f1bdeec22fd0) + +# Boss Energy (BOE) + +**Brief History** + +Boss Energy (formerly Boss Resources) purchased the HoneyMoon mine and plant in central South Australia from US company Uranium One in December 2015. BOE has since increased the JORC resource size from 16.6Mlbs to 71.6Mlbs (\~331% increase), undertaken a number of studies and plant optimisation improvements and purchased 1.25 Mlbs of U3O8 as strategic stockpile. + +**Key Activities Last 6-12months** + +* Feasibility Study (FS) - Released in January 2020 +* Completion of Enhanced Feasibility Study (EFS) - Released in June 2021 + * Plans to remove the existing SX plant and replaced it with IX capacity to increase the production profile to 2.45Mlb/annum over a 10+ year mine life and reduce operating costs to achieve industry benchmark goals for low-cost producers of AISC of US$25/lb and cash costs lower than US$20/lb. +* Completion of two significant capital raisings: first for $15 million(@ $0.067/share Oct 2020) and an additional $60 million (@ $0.14/ share) during March 2021. +* Purchase and acquisition of 1.25 Million lbs of physical U3O8 @ US$30.15/lb - March 2021 + * Total cost of US$37.68M (A$49.69M) . This inventory is now valued at US$53.75M (A$73.83M) at spot price of US$43.00/lb. A$24mill book return on investment. +* Accelerated development of the exploration program which has already seen a JORC increase from 16.6Mlbs to 71.6Mlbs. + +“In addition to the substantial profit we stand to make on this investment, the stockpile de-risks our start-up process and therefore strengthens our hand in negotiations with potential customers.” - Duncan Craib (MD) + +**Potential Catalysts and Forecast Activities** + +* Ramping up of exploration activities with drill programs commencing in the December quarter 2021. +* Signing of first long term contract(s) +* FID and expediting time-frame to mine and plant restart + +[Boss Energy Pros and Cons](https://preview.redd.it/lqfvuuj3yiy71.png?width=704&format=png&auto=webp&s=d80183476c81d5259dcf989511b1cfc6b61f45d3) + +# Peninsula Energy (PEN) + +**Brief History** + +PEN is an Australian listed uranium mining company which commenced in-situ recovery uranium operations at their flagship 100% owned Lance Project (Wyoming) in December 2015. They have an existing contract book with about US$8mill revenue per year despite having their mine shut-in for the past 3 years. They are currently embarking on a trans-formative initiative to change from an alkaline ISR operation to a low pH (acidic) operation with the aim of reducing the cost profile and improving production efficiency. PEN requires approx US$6mill to convert the whole mine from alkaline to pH operation and approx 8months time frame following FID. + +**Key Activities Last 6-12 Months** + +* Advancing transition to low pH ISR process through field demonstration + * Demonstration has been operating for 12month - with uranium grades indicating that Lance is better suited to the planned low pH process than previous alkaline based operations. +* FY2021 uranium sales of 275,000 lbs - continue to generate cash for PEN +* An increase in lbs sold and for a higher recognised price per lb +* Cap raise of A$15.4 million (@ $0.015/share) to purchase 300,000 lbs or uranium at US$31.35/lb +* As of June 30th 2021, Net cash of US$6.7mill + 309,507 lbs of uranium inventory (book value of US$9.7mill @ $31.37/lb) + +**Potential Catalysts and Forecast Activities** + +* US Dept of Energy progressing Uranium Reserve - PEN seeking to be active participant (potential funding from reserve or offtake agreements) +* Completion of field demonstration (started in August 2020, expected to run 18-24months) +* FID and restart of operations (will require some additional funding \~US$6mill) +* Likely to develop additional fields to replace depleting ISR operations ($$) + +[Peninsular Energy Pros vs Cons](https://preview.redd.it/190mwq4fyiy71.png?width=726&format=png&auto=webp&s=5c9badcec97a356437db0b896786cd1339005dec) + + What does an insitu-recovery mine look like? Those black barrels are ISU wellheads and pumps. + +[Lance Project ISR Uranium Mine - Wyoming USA](https://preview.redd.it/5u1ou5miyiy71.png?width=602&format=png&auto=webp&s=bb9f7fb2d7527893c12d9808285a39b85f3beb97) + +# Paladin (PDN) + +**Brief History:** Paladin is one of the very few OG uranium miners that are still around from the previous major 2005-2011 cycle. They built the flagship Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia and later the Kaylekera mine in Malawi that they sold to Lotus Resources in March 2020. PDN own 75% of the Langer Heinrich mine with the remainder shared between Namibian government and CNNC. The mine produced over 43Mlb of U3O8 but was suspended in 2018 due to low uranium prices. Paladin also own a large global portfolio for uranium explorers assets. + +**Key Activities Last 6-12 Months** + +* Progress restart plan elements + * Optimise pit design, tailings management and mining schedules + * Appointment of key contractors +* Capital raise of A$218.7M to redeem and cancel US$115m senior notes (i.e. debt repayment) +* Company held US$30.7mill of cash and cash equivalents by June 30th 2021 + +**Potential Catalysts and Forecast Activities**. + +* Sell of some exploration assets to raise funds +* FID to expedite mine restart +* Likely need a capital raise going into CY2023 + +[Paladin Pros vs Cons](https://preview.redd.it/o57ve1btyiy71.png?width=695&format=png&auto=webp&s=1b791d427e00ae79354bba7c332c62341b3fbe11) + +[Paladin's Langer Heinrich Mine \(Namibia\)](https://preview.redd.it/pnxrtgwuyiy71.png?width=602&format=png&auto=webp&s=89fec94ceda2c4fbda90a612ddf74bb2bbf781fa) + +# Bannerman Energy (BMN) + +**Brief History:** BMN is an exploration and development company focused on Etango Uranium project in Namibia since 2005. One of the few companies around from the previous bull market. Globally significant resource endowment (207.8Mlbs!) - one of the world’s largest undeveloped uranium deposits. + +* Low technical risk - truck and shovel, heap leaching and de-risked with a pilot plant. +* Scalability from Etango-8 to Entango-20 (8Mtp.a. Up to 20Mtp.a. Plant throughput). + +**Key Activities Last 6-12 Months** + +* Aug-21 Completed Pre-feasibility study on 8Mtpa (Etango-8) project + * Strong economics and development of mine with initial 3.5Mlb pa - with expansion potential +* Feb-21 Capital raise of AU$12mill at $0.15/share + * Funds for PFS and DFS + * Buy-back and extinguish of the 1.5% revenue royalty held by RCF Funds +* DFS underway - expected cost of $4mill +* BMN added to both URA and HURA ETFs +* Value of company has increase several-fold since Sep 2020 ( +* Oct-21 Company founder and two MDs sold down some of their positions to institutional funds + +**Potential Catalysts and Forecast Activities** + +* Completion of DFS - due Q3 CY2022 + +[Bannerman Pros vs Cons](https://preview.redd.it/g1bmdr37ziy71.png?width=713&format=png&auto=webp&s=32f4aef35b7003bcb3a1b9a0e6a56782e32bb38c) + +# Deep Yellow (DYL) + +**Brief History:** Deep Yellow has the management play behind them with the ex-Paladin CEO, John Borshoff at the helm. A PFS was completed in early 2021 on developing their Tumas Project in Namibia. DYL’s plan is to establish a multi-project, globally diversified uranium portfolio targeting to deliver 5-10Mlb annually. John Borshoff was appointed CEO and MD in Oct 2016. + +**Key Activities Last 6-12 Months** + +* Tumas DFS commenced in Feb-21 following PFS proving sufficient for a 20+ year LOM +* The PFS only incorporated a portion of the known ore bodies in the study +* Resource upgrade drilling and exploration. Over 21,467m drilled over FY21 +* Capital raise of A$42mill in July 2021 - to advance feasibility studies and “M&A activities” + +**Potential Catalysts and Forecast Activities**. + +* Significant resource upgrade +* Merger and acquisition activity expected +* Completion of DFS and progress to FID + +[Deep Yellow Pros vs Cons](https://preview.redd.it/5n5xthngziy71.png?width=687&format=png&auto=webp&s=0a2af74b071ca939fdd93d3608dc0c1aa4a4220f) + +# Aura Resources (AEE) + +**Brief History** + +Aura Energy is an exploration and development company which is now focussed on the Tiris Uranium project, a major greenfields uranium discovery in Mauritania (Africa), with 56Mlb U308 in current resources from 66 million tonnes @ 334 ppm U308. Additionally Aura owns the HÄGGÅN vanadium project with a 15.1 billion lb Vanadium Resource (inferred) in Sweden. Aura also owns the Tasiast South Gold project in Mauritania. + +**Key Activities Last 6-12 Months** + +* Shares recommenced trading on the ASX on 23 September 21, with a renewed focus on progressing the Tiris uranium project and a significant re-rating upon listing. +* Updated DFS, reconfirming Tiris as a low capital cost development opportunity +* Resource upgrade of 10% or 5.0 million lb to the Tiris Uranium deposit in Mauritania +* US$10m Offtake Financing Agreement with Curzon in October 2021, funds will be used for working capital and commencement of production. Up to $10m in additional funds may be used by mutual consent. +* Two geophysical crews were mobilised from South Africa to carry out gravity surveying on all three of Auras tenements for Tasiast South +* $2m raise from issue of options to eligible shareholders, Stage 2 exploration underway at Tiris + +**Potential Catalysts and Forecast Activities** + +* Triple Uranium ETF entry in 2022 +* Results from Opportunity Review to lower operating costs for project +* Net Zero Emission Study, Water Drilling and Vanadium assays expected before the end of 2021 +* Gravity Survey results for Tasiast South (Gold) +* Further Offtake finance agreements and exposure to higher uranium prices + +[AEE pros vs Cons](https://preview.redd.it/vq0dkx800jy71.png?width=669&format=png&auto=webp&s=1cabaf7e3956af7e20dc8b3dd3380fd92f6b368a) + +# Vimy Resources (VMY) + +**Brief History** + +Vimy Resources is a developer with two projects, Mulga Rock and Alligator River Project, located in Australia. Mulga rock is a 90Mlbs uranium resource with a completed DFS and approvals now in place. Alligator River Project is a 26Mlbs deposit with further exploration potential. + +**Key Activities Last 6-12Months** + +* Included in Global X Uranium ETF (NYSE: URA) +* Completed a A$27.5M Equity Raise and Share Purchase Plan +* Mulga rock development + * Completed metallurgical optimisation test-work for Mulgarock: results look positive + * Early works program commenced + * Mulga Rock Uranium Project Mining Proposal and Mine Closure approved by DMIRS +* Alligator River Project - finalisation of 100% acquisition from RTX +* CEO and CFO stepped down + +**Potential Catalysts and Forecast Activities** + +* Positive exploration results from Alligator River +* Potential acquisition from a rival + +[Vimy Pros vs Cons](https://preview.redd.it/63guooef0jy71.png?width=648&format=png&auto=webp&s=cbf9da6d90693509f169d60560cdfa7e8c1d0d47) + +[Vimy Resource drilling at Mulga Rock](https://preview.redd.it/6v5uq3qh0jy71.png?width=602&format=png&auto=webp&s=08956133c8a2f250d9a553325bca8499daf18686) + +# GTI Resources (GTR) + +**Brief History** + +Minerals explorer with significant prospects: + +* Henry Mountains Uranium & Vanadium, Utah, USA +* ISR Uranium Properties, Wyoming, USA +* Western Niagara Gold Project, WA, AUS + +**Key Activities Last 6-12 Months** + +* Commencement of maiden field exploration program at Utah +* Compilation of historic open-file WAMEX records and exploration planning for Western Niagara +* Completed acquisition of Wyoming ISR Acquisition + +**Potential Catalysts and Forecast Activities** + +* NI Pumps +* Results from Jeffreys and Rat Nest Projects exploration targets in Henry Mountains (drilling Q1, 2022) +* Results from Wyoming Uranium Exploration (drilling during Dec, 2021) +* Potential triple ETF entry + +[GTR Pros vs Cons](https://preview.redd.it/x5ecnyvt0jy71.png?width=711&format=png&auto=webp&s=95c11ea2cb746e4e7c7882ee237cf153f2ee5f90) + +# 92 Energy (92E) + +**Brief History** + +Recently IPO’d in April, 92E is a uranium exploration company, exploring for high grade uranium in the Athabasca Basin. Athabasca Basin is considered a tier 1 uranium mining and exploration jurisdiction after discoveries that led to Cigar Lake, Mcarthur River, Arrow and Roughrider deposits. 92E started with 14 mineral claims in three project areas which has grown to 30 claims in five project areas in the last 5 months. They recently made a discovery at the Gemini Mineralised Zone (GMZ) with 5.5m at 0.12% U308 incl 1m @ .28% - 4th hole in their maiden drilling program. + +**Key Activities Last 6-12 Months** + +* IPO in April and SP has appreciated by \~150% +* Completed maiden drilling program and discovered on the 4th hole at the Gemini Project +* Pegged an additional 7 claims to expand the Gemini project area +* Completed a VTEM survey over the Tower Project (which is only 11km from Cigar lake) and identifying multiple prospective conductors to assist with new drilling targets +* $7.15m institutional placement at A$0.72 per share +* Appointed Kanan Sarioglu as VP exploration and Steve Blower to the board to strengthen core technical team + +**Potential Catalysts and Forecast Activities** + +* Planning for next drill program announced +* Additional technical team hire +* Drilling 7,000ma at Gemini in the upcoming Canadian winter drilling season (January - March 2022) +* Potential triple ETF entry + +[92E Pros vs Cons](https://preview.redd.it/ms61qdca1jy71.png?width=650&format=png&auto=webp&s=b8858eebc1038763c26903bd16e49d9329e09f3d) + +# Elevate Uranium (EL8) + +**Brief History** + +Elevate Uranium is a uranium explorer that owns significant resources in Namibia and Australia and has active exploration activities in both areas. Elevate is the largest tenement holder for uranium in Namibia and owns the Marenica Uranium project which is a 61 Mlb resource. Elevate value proposition extends to U-upgrade which is a patented uranium benefician process that has been demonstrated and lowers the cost base for uranium assets. + +**Key Activities Last 6-12 Months** + +* Completed Airborne electromagnetic survey across Namibia tenements and identified extensive palaeochannel systems for drilling +* Stephen Mann (Geologist with Uranium industry experience) appointed as non-executive director +* Changed name to Elevate Uranium Limited (**best name in the business**) +* Optionholders exercised options providing $2,748,906 cash to the company +* Appointed Dr Andy Wilde as Exploration manager - has worked with Paladin Energy Limited and Deep Yellow Limited in Namibia, Canada and Australia +* Namib IV Discovery - Intersected uranium mineralisation over a palaeochannel length of 17 kilometers within the main paleochannel +* Oobagooma - High-Grade Exploration target identified at Oobagooma (26 to 52 million pounds U3O8 with a grade range of 650 to 950 ppm U3O8 for its 100% owned Oobagooma uranium project.) + +**Potential Catalysts and Forecast Activities** + +Namibia + +* Koppies resource drilling results +* Namib drilling results +* Exploration activities in Hirabeb + +Australia + +* Exploration activities in Oobagooma and study results from other tenements + +Potential triple ETF entry in H1 2022 + +https://preview.redd.it/nnn4jv5l1jy71.png?width=653&format=png&auto=webp&s=1cc5e1371e18294060b13722395639f25961b238 + +# Alligator Energy (AGE) + +**Brief History** + +Alligator Energy is a project development and exploration group with uranium projects across South Australia, Northern Territory and a “Ni-Co-Cu-Au-GEs” project in Italy. The Samphire Uranium project in South Australia contains 47Mlb of inferred uranium in two deposits. Alligator Rivers in the Northern Territory contain multiple uranium targets in a well-defined region. Lastly, an EM survey has been conducted across the Big Lake Uranium prospect with drilling planned for H1 2022. + +**Key Activities Last 6-12 Months** + +* Ground magnetics and passive seismic surveys at Blackbush (Sampire project) +* Samphire Project Drilling and testwork approval obtained +* Drilling contractors confirmed to undertake drilling activities in early November for Blackpush (Samphire) +* Completion of airborne EM at Big Lake Uranium with results received, interpretation underway +* Completion of acquisition of EL adjacent to the plumbush deposit, (samphire project) +* Work program approved for geophysics and drilling at Narbarlek North, now planned for early dry 2022 (Alligators rivers) +* Share placement completed, raising a net $10.7M +* Raised an additional $11m in total to fund environmental base-line study recommencement, expand future planned field leach trial with an IX pilot plant, and increase proportion of core drilling +* Geoff Chapman (geologist and BD executive) appointed Samphire Project Manager for the immediate drilling, sampling, extraction testwork, mineral resource estimate update and scoping study + +**Potential Catalysts and Forecast Activities** + +* Drilling results from Blackbush (Samphire Project) +* IP survey and ground gravity updates from Alligator Rivers Uranium province +* Interpretation from Airborne EM at Big Lake Uranium tenement + * If interpretation is good, can expect drilling in H1 2022 +* Potential triple ETF entry in H1 2022 +* Geophysics program results from Piedmont Project, Northern italy + +https://preview.redd.it/1uossomy1jy71.png?width=661&format=png&auto=webp&s=b2f5b8c69713154a9aeecd519fdfac6395163597 + +[AGY Uranium Exploration Projects](https://preview.redd.it/c39uohy02jy71.png?width=602&format=png&auto=webp&s=14d560bb286f26fa4e405248e69727e6964d2bd5) + + + +# Uranium/Nuclear ETFs - ASX Companies + +For the u/ASX_Bets crowd here, most of us don’t know what an ETF is, except that we make fun of u/AusFinance for frothing over their 6% returns. But for the uranium market, ETFs are a very important contributor to some of your asx equity gains. + +An ETF or exchange traded fund works by holding a portfolio of assets (stocks, bonds, physical commodities, funds) that are usually tracked to an index. The portfolio will hold x% of stock AAA and y% of stock BBB and z% of the commodity for a total weighting up to 100% of tracked assets. + +* ^(When the uranium price increases, investors pile into the nuclear/uranium ETFs. If the ETFs trade above their Net Asset Value (NAV) for a period of time they are obliged to buy up additional individual stocks and assets to curve the NAV to fund value.) +* ^(The two major uranium ETFs are URA and URNM and comprise mostly of US/Canadian stocks and funds as well as Kazataprom and Paladin. But as of February-2021 a number of small ASX uranium stocks were included and added to the “buying list”. This is called rebalancing and involves stocks being added (or removed) and changes in % allocations.) +* ^(The ETFs account for significant fund flows into the ASX uranium equities as the whole market is still so small. URA “rebalances” twice per year, usually on the last day of January and July, where URNM can rebalance up to four times or quarterly throughout the year.) + +**Uranium/Nuclear ETFs and the ASX holdings** + +| **The Global X Uranium ETF** (ARCA: URA) | PDN, BOE, BMN, DYL, PEN, LOT, VMY, GGG | +|:-|:-| +| **North Shore Global Uranium Mining ETF** (ARCA: URNM) | PDN, BOE, BMN, DYL, LOT, PEN, VMY, TOE | +| **Horizons Global Uranium Index ETF** (TSX: HURA) |DYL, PEN, PDN, BMN, TOE, BOE, LOT, VMY | +| **VanEck Vectors Uranium + Nuclear Energy ETF** (ARCA: NLR) |PDN| + +Inclusions in ETFs are mostly based on market cap being over a certain value for a period of time and a few other factors. It can be worth looking into the criteria and who is not yet included in an ETF and when/what opportunities might be coming up ;) \*cough \* January 2022 \* Cough. + +For more info on [Uranium ETFs](https://www.reddit.com/r/ASX_Bets/comments/l2bbzh/uranium_etfs_and_the_solactive_global_uranium/) see this post and for [past rebalancing see this post here](https://www.reddit.com/r/ASX_Bets/comments/lbfwwj/global_x_uranium_nuclear_etf_nyseura_is_buying_us/). + + + +**Punt’s Rocket Rating** + +^(Disclaimer: This is NOT financial advice. These are my personal and subjective opinions. Rating is based on a number of factors; some mathematical and financially related, while some are based on opinions of management and projects. These ratings change overtime as company value and progress changes.) + +The rating is out of 5x 🚀. This is not an anticipated number of “x” returns but a rating of what makes up good further potential value return and strong uranium company fundamentals : good management with commodity and company leadership experience, an attractive and achievable project, solid financials, time-frame and upside potential. + +[Punt's Rocket Rating - Nov-21 \*MC and Current price are of 9th Nov 21 ](https://preview.redd.it/3gxqu8683jy71.png?width=688&format=png&auto=webp&s=1c32c4b9b9174db636c04f4ee72d0cf6810e8294) + + May your portfolio radiate green in glowing gains and you be showered in radioactive tendies ☢️🐂📈 +There is a millionaire in my country (Morocco) who works in real estate. He started trading a month ago... He has a friend who gave him a trading strategy (they trade on Nasdaq) they didn't tell us exactly what the strategy is, but they say that you should just know the point at which the price will not return again in the 1H chart and then they execute the long or short entry depends if it's bullish or bearish... (following the trend) +and they share the results on instagram 5k$ to 50k$ profite a day (they use 3 contract up to 50 in trades)... and i don't understad what the heck is this, is trading are easy like this!!! or they just gambling... this man start trading just a month ago and now he share results like this!! then why people struggle in trading and spend years learning strategies/risk&money managment +me as a newbie in trading (8 month) I did not find any answer to this +Am I a loser? Are all those who spend years learn about trading for a littel resulte are losers? and this person knows a secret that we do not know. +Is it even possible for them to trade in this way? (knowing where the price will not return) +i know that this are silly for all of you guys but I'm sorry this subject hurting me and accupy my mind alots especially when I look at the chart and i see huge moves in the 1H chart drawing evrey day so what will prevent them from not profiting in the midst of that price movment? +I hope someone can explain to me the logic behind this . +It was a headline for like 1 day and then the MSM stopped covering it. This is such a huge deal and most Americans don't even know/care about it. + + + +Federal reserve members got caught insider trading and using the Fed to pump their own stocks/options they own, at the cost of the US's long term economic health. They have now printed 25% of total USD in circulation in the last year, inflation is increasing and only gonna get worse soon. + + + +Are we just so used to corruption now that nobody cares anymore? Or is Reddit gonna pretend like huge corruption isn't happening just cause the Dems are currently in control? + + + +Our entire government is a sham and just a bunch of corrupt rich assholes using their power to get more money. +I’m tired of seeing him as a face of crypto in news. He is not one of us. He isn’t your average Joe. He is multi billionaire, one of the richest guys in the world. He doesn’t care about you, about me, about mine or your family. All he cares it’s his ego and his companies. + +Lately, we’ve seen a lot of hate towards Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook. Is sweet Elon Musk different? Maybe he isn’t lizardy as Marky is, because he is skrull from Mars. Is Elon any different compared to Mark? Both of them are shilling their own companies, Tesla isn’t different. Just because he offers you to buy Tesla with BTC, it doesn’t mean that he is on your side. He isn’t helping you, he is helping himself. + +While you’re laughing at him shilling DOGE, he is laughing at you how is he manipulating you. He is not helping crypto, he is hurting it. He isn’t same as you or me, he doesn’t have to save money for food, he doesn’t have the count if he has enough for dinner. + +He isn’t on your side, every one of the billionaires are trying to manipulate as much people as they can, to make them believe in theirs own visions and dreams. Just because he pumped your coin, it doesn’t mean that he is your lovely neighbour. + +Elon shouldn’t be used as a model for crypto. Just because he was on Joe Rogan podcast, it isn’t making him a proper role model. + +Stop giving him any reputation when it comes to crypto, this guy just shilled a shitcoin and thousands of people falls for it. +Sounds crazy but WSB just made value investing cool again. I know right now its all hype and momo investing but the guy that started it all was a value investor named deepf&ingvalue. He bought gamestop as a value play, they are celebrating michael burry for his value play. I know this is value play plus huge luck that market shenanigans amplified your play, but still it started as a value play. I think when its all over people will start looking for the next gamestock buy digging through undervalued out of favor stocks. + +plus when everyone loses money they always come to Buffett. +Seems like a lot of people have flocked over here from WSB. Thetagang went from being a strategy for building *small* and *consistent* gains, to just being another way of trading options on meme stocks. + +If you're new and don't understand the basics of how selling options works, you're setting yourself up to lose just as much money as you did when you were buying options. Maybe even more—at least when you buy an option your losses are capped at 100%. + +I used to read this sub every day because it was a great way to learn more about trading mechanics, greeks, and finding good trade recommendations. Now the top posts are usually people panicking about how their underlying is tanking because they thought selling an option on a WSB stock is the inverse of buying it (spoiler: it's not). + +If the MODS don't do their jobs to regulate this sub, it's never going to recover. Top posts are often loss porn and stock recommendations based solely on premium. Most upvoted comments are frequently promoting advice that is flat out *wrong* on a basic level. No one reading wikis or learning the basics before they start confidently handing out advice. + +This is just a short and poorly written rant, so I'll leave it at that. +From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proletariat): + +> According to Marxism, capitalism is based on the exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie: the workers, who own no means of production, must use the property of others to produce goods and services and to earn their living. Workers cannot rent the means of production (e.g. a factory or department store) to produce on their own account; rather, capitalists hire workers, and the goods or services produced become the property of the capitalist, who sells them at market. + +OnlyFans allow the proletariat (i.e. content creators) to "rent" the means or production (i.e. the OnlyFans website and platform) in order to produce and sell their "goods" (i.e. content) at "market". The content creators are not paid salary and ownership of the intellectual properties remained with them. + +I would have thought that paying monthly subscription to watch Belle Delphine half naked is a symptom of peak capitalism but apparently not? +Is it true that, "if the minimum wage had risen in step with productivity growth since 1968, it would be over $24 an hour today." + +The Federal Minimum Wage is supposed to be $24 an hour? + +[https://twitter.com/march4progress/status/1361693187849527297](https://twitter.com/march4progress/status/1361693187849527297) + +[https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/feb/18/joe-biden/joe-bidens-town-hall-mistake-about-inflation-index/](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/feb/18/joe-biden/joe-bidens-town-hall-mistake-about-inflation-index/) +So, I come in today for a consultation about getting a tumor in my leg removed. We're talking about the risks, etc., and it gets quiet as he's tying whatever doctor stuff up. + +Naturally, I am thinking about the market. + +I say, "... you got any stocks?" + +He laughs, looks me in the eye and says, "Virgin Galactic." + +At this point I laugh out loud because **why is the guy in charge of my livelihood in $SPCE.** + +I go, "space? LOL" + +He (again, SURGEON) says **"You ever hear of Wall Street Bets?"** + +I am immediately bewildered and slightly arroused. I say of course, he asks me if I was here in MARCH, and then starts talking about the "guy who was in GME before it was cool." He then asks me if I have any money in the market. + +I tell him I have 88 grand in TSLA right now, he *bursts* out laughing and says... + +##**"Yeah, you're definitely a member"** + +TLDR; A man with a PhD called me a retard, professionally, because of WSB + +Best doctor visit ever + +EDIT: I can't believe this made front page. I'm gonna show him this before the surgery lol + +EDIT2: + +[TSLA positions](https://i.imgur.com/uAHdr9y.jpg) +[https://www.reuters.com/article/cramer-interview-idUKN2036292620070320](https://www.reuters.com/article/cramer-interview-idUKN2036292620070320) + +[Direct link to Interview Video since the old in-article links aren't working](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpMEFtPZJLc) + +"What's important when you're in that hedge fund mode, is to not do anything remotely truthful. Because the truth is so against your view, that it's important to create a new view, to create a fiction." + +"Then you call the (Wall Street) Journal and get the bozo reporter in Research in Motion and you would feed that (rival) Palm's got a killer it's going to give away. These are all the things you must do on a day like today, and if you're not doing it, maybe you shouldn't be in the game." + +“It might cost me $15 million or $20 million to knock RIM down but it would be fabulous because it would beleaguer all the moron longs who are also keying on Research in Motion." + +"A lot of times when I was short at my hedge fund ... meaning I needed (a stock) down, I would create a level of activity beforehand that could drive the futures. It’s a fun game and it’s a lucrative game." + +"Who cares about the fundamentals? The great thing about the market is that it has nothing to do with the actual stocks." + +\- Jim Cramer, hedge fund manager from 1987-2001, Dec 2006 + +[Dealbook NY Times Article on Cramer's Interview](https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2007/03/20/cramer-market-manipulator/) + +[Investopedia Article: Short and Distort Bear Market Stock Manipulation](https://www.investopedia.com/articles/analyst/030102.asp#:~:text=Short%20and%20distort%20(S%26D)) + +[Anatomy of a Short Attack](https://seekingalpha-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/seekingalpha.com/amp/instablog/11442671-gerald-klein/3096735-anatomy-of-a-short-attack?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQHKAFQArABIA%3D%3D#aoh=16119453107704&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fseekingalpha.com%2Finstablog%2F11442671-gerald-klein%2F3096735-anatomy-of-a-short-attack) +Upper year Econ major here. I’ve been massively disappointed by most my courses at Uni. They’ve all been so math heavy, not that I hate math (quite the contrary), but it’s always followed by the caveat from the professor that we don’t actually know what any of these values are in real life. So what’s the point of us doing 2 hours of homework solving it then??? + +I understanding the utility of mathematical models in validating assumptions and discovering blind spots in our thinking, etc. but why does this mean my learning has to consist of hours of doing calculus with made up values. I fail to see the value. Are these just badly taught courses or is this just what Economics is like? Apart from making the subject matter incredibly boring, I also fail to see the merit of it. + +I apologize if this comes off as ignorant, I just feel like I’m losing my mind doing this mind numbing work on a subject I was once deeply interested in. +I just wrote this on another thread as a comment. But I think it’ll go wasted as a comment so I’d like to share this here for complete newbies to reference. Please note, this might differ from state to state. I’m speaking from experience in VIC in the year of 2020. It can be more simple or more complicated as not all sales are the same. But here’s a general idea: + +1. You contact a bank or a mortgage broker to help you get a pre-approval. The bank will assess your financial situation. That’ll give you an estimate of how much you can afford to purchase. Try to get all your finance assessed as much as you can during pre-approval. The pre-approval will take into account your situation, including any government grants/deposit/gifts (my situation), then based on your income and job history, credit rating, and other lending criteria, the bank will provide you with a number they’re comfortable lending you. Using this number (the loan amount + deposit + give it some room for additional fees - conveyancing, building inspection, any stamp duty or title transfer if the bank is not paying those, etc. I had a room of about $10k just to be sure, but this is specific to my situation) you should know what your maximum budget is to put in an offer. + +In courtesy of u/septembers57: Pre-approval is the amount up to which the bank will lend to you, but it is also dependant on what the bank evaluates the property you intend to buy is worth. For example, you can have preapproval of up to 600k, but the bank evaluates the property to be worth 580k. Therefore, they will only lend you 580k. + +2. Once you got a pre-approval, you can start looking at properties, inspect, negotiate, review contract of sale. When you’re inspecting the property, make sure you check everything. I mean everything. Turn on every single button/tap/machine you can find. Check for scratch/cracks on the walls. Is the exhaust fan working? What about all the lights - inside and outside? Are the doors working? Can they be closed tightly? Oven, dishwasher, range hood, are they still working? Is there any damage? What about cupboards? Are they intact? Any sign of pest? If possible, pay $400 for a building inspector to thoroughly inspect the property for you. This is expensive, but is much less expensive than having to fix all the defects yourself down the track. I also strongly recommend to have a conveyancer to review the contract. They will point out clauses that are strange/not standard, tell you what they mean, and you can ask for recommendations. If you want to negotiate anything here, this is also the step. Your conveyancer will help you put those conditions in the contract of sales. I recommend to put the subject to finance clause and subject to pest and building inspection clause. Subject to finance is to protect you - in case you can’t get an official approval from the bank for any reason, this clause will help you walk away risk free without any penalty. Same thing for subject to pest and building inspection. If the house is not of good condition and the building inspection presents that, you can walk away risk free. Please note, these will be your negotiation strategy, because if two offers come in with the same price, it’s very likely the vendor will agree to the one WITHOUT these clauses because that means the vendor is protected. If you work with a mortgage broker and they’re sure they can get you a final approval within x days, you can also put a subject to finance within x days (as a precautionary measure) to make your offer more attractive. After x days you’re fully bound to the contract and if you walk away you’ll get hit with penalty and lose the deposit. Also, you can negotiate settlement term here (30 days, 45 days, 60 days, 90 days). The shorter the settlement term, the more attractive your offer is because that means both you and the vendor will finalise the sales more quicker. But also comes with a risk - if for any reason you can’t get all your finance and paperwork done during this time and you miss settlement date, you can be charged. Also you can ask to have the withholding clause to be added here (i’ll explain further below). Please make sure everything you need to negotiate is reviewed and put into the draft contract during this step, especially if you’re buying off auction. Because in auction, there’s no cooling off period and the purchase is unconditional. If you win at auction and change your mind or walk away, you’ll lose the deposit. + +If you buy into an apartment or a townhouse that is a part of a body corporate, don’t forget to walk around the block or the building to check for damages on the block/building during your inspection. Make sure to check if there’s any flameable cladding as well. Also, check strata reports. The contract normally includes the body corp’s Annual General Meeting minutes (AGMs), and will tell you the BAUs of the building, any item the owner corp has agreed to pay annually (e.g. windows cleaning, caretaking, etc.) how much money is allocated to admin fund and how much money is allocated to sinking fund. How much money was raised throughout the year as a special levy to fix up a damage. + +From there, you just gotta make your own judgement. If the AGMs and the finance looks healthy, e.g. no major spending on major damage, then the building is fine to live in. If there’s damage, clarify with the body corp manager (they’ll have a number to call on the AGM). Reach out to them and ask what it is, how it happened, is it the apartment owner’s duty to fix it, or is it the owner corp’s duty to fix it through sinking fund or a special levy has to be raised. If so, how much was quoted. When will the work be carried out. Then justify for yourself, whether it’s worth living in and paying for all these damage, or walk away. + + +Side story: I once inspected a ground floor apartment that has a big crack on the wall. And it’s a step crack so it identifies structural damage. When walking around the building to inspect, there are cracks in other apartments as well. The building inspection came back saying that it was because the garden bed sits right next to the walls. Long term watering caused the soil below to move, and caused the cracks to occur. To rectify, structural engineers need to inspect and provide recommendation. The garden bed needs to be removed or stablising measures need to be added. Then the building foundation needs to be strengthen, and then we can think of fixing cracks for cosmetics. In the AGMs report in the past 3 years, nobody has mentioned anything about it. So I went further and use the login credentials in the AGMs report to log into the body corp’s portal and read reports in the past 10 years. Nobody has mentioned anything about fixing the cracks. I pulled out because in my personal opinion there’s no way in 20 years time I wouldn’t be whipping out big $$$ to fix that building. And the cracks are so obvious, so if nobody has ever mentioned it, this means the people living in that building seem to not care. Who knows after putting all your life saving down, it’s not suitable to live in and we’ll be forced to vacate and lose a home. Even if I move in, I still need to raise the concern with the owner’s corp, get their agreement to carry out the work, and then money will be raise to fix it. And that doesn’t mean everyone will agree to fix it because some of the apartments are not cracking so they won’t be willing to get the money out. Too much hassle for me so I walked away. The apartment ended up selling 25k more than I could afford though. Guess we’re not meant for each other. 😕 + +In courtesy of u/septembers57: Be VERY CAREFUL of the wording about being subject to a building inspection. You need to be specific that it is subject to the building inspection being satisfactory to your liking, otherwise the clause is meaningless if there is no significant structural issues to be addressed. A building inspection is worth it’s weight in gold, or alternatively get a builder, plumber, and electrician friend to look at the house for $$$. Also, find a conveyancer before you find a property. They’ll talk you through the wording of how to make sure you aren’t taken advantage of by the real estate agents. + +3. If you have to go through auction, and have had your special conditions reviewed and amended by the conveyancer, send the contract of sales back to the vendor. If the vendor is happy with your conditions, they’ll proceed with your contract of sales if you win at auction. Normally what you can negotiate in an auction contract is just settlement term or deposit % or strike out some weird conditions that are not on the standard contract. Be aware that if you win at auction, you’ll have to sign the contract straight away and the contract is unconditional, so subject to finance clause won’t apply for auction contract. You just have to hope your finance game is strong and the bank will lend you the money enough to pay for the price won at auction. That’s why it’s important to know when to say no at auction. + +Otherwise, if it’s a private sales and both you and the vendor are happy with the contract, you will then sign and exchange contract. This is when the contract is executed. The contract of sales will also tell you on what date settlement will happen. The REA will send you details of their trust account, and the amount you need to pay. Normally 10% of the purchase price, and you’ll have to make this transfer. If there’s a limit on your transfer, ring your bank. They’ll temporarily increase your transfer limit for 24 hours. + +4. After you’ve got the executed contract of sales, bring that to the bank/mortgage broker to apply for the final approval. Provided the bank hasn’t tightened their credit policy, the closer your finance situation now to what it was when you got the pre-approval, the higher the chance you can secure the approval. Also, if you have a subject to pest and building inspection clause in the contract and haven’t organised a building inspector yet, organise a building inspector at this stage. If the building report comes back not satisfactory, this is where you can pull out. Again, this is not applicable for auction. So, get the pest and building inspection done and justify whether you still want the place or not before decide to fo to auction. To book a pest and building inspection, provide the building inspector with the REA’s details and the property address. They’ll organise an inspection and come back and write up a report for you. + +5. At this stage, you’ll do a lot of paperwork. The bank will ask for your IDs, payslips, bank statements, and send you a loan document to read and sign. Make sure to read and understand all. The loan document will also tell you how much they’ll pay on settlement. Please note, at this stage the bank also evaluates the value of the house. If they think the purchase price is ok, they’ll lend you the loan amount. If they think the house worths less, they’ll only lend you whatever they feel comfortable with. You will then need to organise the shortfall on settlement yourself, or find another lender that’s willing to lend you more. This happens more frequently during off the plan purchase. If the bank rejects, and you can’t find any other bank that is willing to lend you, the subject to finance clause will protect you at this point so you can walk away. + +6. Once you’ve signed everything, then they’ll grant you a final approval. Now there’s not much you can do except for waiting for settlement to happen. + +7. During this period, your conveyancer will help you prepare documents to transfer the land title to your name and help you calculate the final amounts to be paid on settlement (the settlement shortfall). This settlement shortfall includes outstanding body corps on a pro-rata basis (if applicable), any fees and charges proportionately, council rates, water rates, land and title transfer fees, any government grants and stamp duty concessions and the remaining of the deposit. If there’s a request from the vendor for early release of deposit from the REA trust account, your conveyancer will get you to sign form to release it. You’ll have to release it at the end anyway, so if you don’t see any need to withhold it in the REA’s trust account, you can release it early as a nice gesture. + +8. A few days before settlement - depending on where you are, you’re entitled for pre-settlement inspection to ensure the property is of the same condition as when you signed the contract. Contact the REA and arrange that. + +9. If you discover any defect, immediately notify your conveyancer, so they can get in touch with the vendor to rectify. Perhaps when the REA moved the staging furniture out, they left scratches and holes on the wall. If the defect is huge, this might delay the settlement. If the defect is small, then ask for a compensation (as an adjustment on settlement) or withhold the money on settlement. I know in Victoria you’re entitled to withhold up to 5k on settlement to fix for damages (of course if the withholding clause is on the contract - on a standard contract, it’s always there, but some vendors will choose to remove it to protect them). At this stage, the contract is unconditional. You can’t walk away anymore. So make sure you sort everything out before settlement. + +10. 1 day before settlement, the conveyancer will send you a final calculation on how much you need to pay on settlement. If the bank pays all of this amount and you don’t need to pay anything that’s fine. If you need to pay this amount to the bank, your loan document should already tell you how, normally they’ll have a section to direct debit that amount from your account. Otherwise, this settlement shortfall has to be paid to the conveyancer’s trust account. If this is the case, make sure you ask your current bank to do a RTGS transfer (Real Time Gross Settlement). This means they’ll transfer a large lump sum of money to the receiving account on the same day. Otherwise, if the money takes a few days to clear, settlement can be delayed and you can get charged. + +11. On settlement date, if you do online settlement, you don’t need to do anything. The people from your bank with meet up with the vendor’s bank to finalise paperwork and exchange money. + +12. Once settlement has gone through, the bank will notify the conveyancer, the conveyancer will notify you. The vendor’s bank will notify the vendor. You can then meet the vendor or the REA to pick up the key. + +Good luck. + +Note: never assume your purchase will be risk-free. Always be proactive and reach out to the relevant parties to check on progress and what you need to do next and make sure you’re on top of it. Someone misspelling your name at some stage or changing your gender on the Land Title Transfer (happened to me) can lead to a disaster down the track. That means settlement can be delayed, and you’ll end up paying big $$$ on fees and charges. Or if property is wrecked one day before settlement... I’m sure reddit doesn’t lack of settlement horror stories. I once read post somewhere saying that someone’s future home was broken into by a group of bogans and the property was turned into an orgy fuck fest and was filled with piss, cum, needles and blood... +Edit: here it is https://www.reddit.com/r/auslaw/comments/em2lza/settlement_crashing_horror_stories/fdlwwdd/?utm_source=share&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;utm_medium=ios_app&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;utm_name=iossmf + +EDIT: Some words. Please pardon if I made any spelling mistake. English is not my first language. + +EDIT: updated step 2 and 3 so they’re more relevant in an auction scenario. Also updated step 7 on early release of deposit. Step 9 on pre-settlement inspection. Step 2 on pre-purchase inspection. Step 4 on building inspection. Step 1 on what pre-approval might look like. Step 2 on strata meeting minutes and step 3 on auction contract + +EDIT: Thank you kind user for gifting me my first gold ever 🙏🎊🥰 +China could hardly be called a developing country, the 2nd highest in GDP, but is pretty [poor](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/distribution-of-population-poverty-thresholds?stackMode=relative). Same with India even [after economic liberalization](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/distribution-of-population-poverty-thresholds?stackMode=relative&country=~IND). Switzerland has a lower GDP than both of these countries [yet poverty is pretty much close to non-existent] (https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/distribution-of-population-poverty-thresholds?stackMode=relative&country=~CHE). + +I'm starting to see a pattern where countries that should be rich have an impoverished population and are pretty [corrupt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index#Rankings) and [authoritarian](https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores?sort=desc&order=Total%20Score%20and%20Status). While the less richer countries, while less rich, have a less impoverished population. +Beginning of the year had 47k in my dividend portfolio and saved thousands in my bank. Well life happened and I had major expenses to cover on my house which in total cost me about 9k and had CC debt. Had to withdraw from my portfolio to cover it, but now I got no more debts (hopefully) and even though I had to take a large chunk from my portfolio it's down to like 38k I have free now an extra 800 a month to contribute. Just made me sick to my stomach having to sell some stock and watch my dividends go down.😫 The silver lining is I guess no debt. +I feel like half the posts on the sub are people asking for broker advice. Obviously without doing any research since the options in EU are limited and speak for themselves. +Can we either remove these low effort posts or refer to a Q&A section? + +Edit: well this blew up. I agree that there should be a place to ask questions but i would also like to incentivise new traders to do their own research. An overview on this subreddit with basic info that allows users to make a decision seems like the way to go. Mods? +Posted this on a FB group last Friday. I'm going to offer an opinion that differs from the HODL. That's not to say I'm not going to buy back in, but it's hard to take away from Reddit's bubbled crypto subreddits, whereas "everyone" has the same hive mind mentality. Here's one that's not. Anyways. + +I sold out. =\, Today's movement (+) I don't think is sustainable. I think everything is at systemic risk right now. Unlike before, this is a global sell off, and not just a concentrated one (coupled with next weeks stock action). + +People understand Mt Gox happened. There is billions tied to this market, so that is also going to put a stop on buys for awhile. + +The hype is dying down. People aren't getting crazy moon gains, so less people are wanting in, collectively. People are getting burned by the crazy price swings - so all the grandmas, aunts and uncles who got in Dec, sorry for your loss. There was a ton of ignorance from people that came in from Dec as well. + +Further, there is a systemic risk, and it starts and stops with the exchanges. I know I keep touting this horn, but I think Bitfinex sort of fucked this entire market with monopoly money. + +I don't see the market immediately recovering. A modest bump, but then back down again. At best I see Eth getting to and staying sideways $1300 for a month. At worst, $450-500. It really depends on how people treat this market, and what the hell the SEC is going to do with Tether. This is going to be a long played out process. I could be wrong, so I will stay humble. + +Psychology has alot to do with it, and with each passing day - people find out more and more about this market. + +Edit - I was forntunate to begin making the vast majority of my sales Dec31-Jan14, before everything went kaboom. I still have about 30 in the market. In VEN. Just incase anyone is wondering. **I don't want to see people burned, just because they took Internet advice from a collective group of strangers.** + +Edit 2 - **I've seen this hive mind mentality before with Wall Street Bets, /WSB/ and AMD stock. Moon moon moon. No, it didn't go to the moon.** It crashed, and its just gone sideways ever since everyone jumped on it via Reddit - and said 'hodl'. From $15.50 to $9.00. In that time, Intel (and nVidia*) has outperformed AMD's stock. Lisa Su memes, everywhere. That is this, all over again. + +Edit 3 - **Even the top post in this subreddit, is Leonardo DiCaprio saying he aint going the fuck anywhere. XD. Its the top post. Do you know from that meme, how many people are actually going to subconsciously follow that advice? It's sad.** If Facebook interferred in our election, Reddit is a transference of that same viral-attitude to get quick rich scheme. + +Edit 4 - While we like to stick to Crypto, just be aware of what's happening in the broader markets as well. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/buckle-up-this-ultimate-bear-chart-signals-a-pivotal-moment-for-investors-2018-02-05 + +I did find this quote to be cynical, funny (unforntunately relevent) at the same time. + +“Bull markets don’t die from old age,” says Guggenheim Partners CIO Scott Minerd. “They typically get shot in the head.” + +https://twitter.com/DanPriceSeattle/status/1309696726425628672 + +Restaurant industry profit margins are very low, so it seems to me that any franchise paying this much would be bankrupt instantly. +There are times when we all might feel that we could be doing better, achieving higher and higher gains. I’ve set my weekly profit goal at $600. If I can do that consistently, it’ll be like working a 2nd job while hardly working at all. The wheel has enabled me to do that for the most part. Thanks Theta Gang. Good luck out there +So I did some quantitative sentiment analysis to see if News websites/Reddit/Twitter panics before the stock market does, or if the stock market panics before Reddit/Twitter does. + +I have written an algo determining (stock specific) sentiment, I ran this on a dataset with (financial) news headlines (about 900k headlines), Twitter headlines en (stock related) Reddit headlines. From that I compared sentiment to the SP500 and I compared the intensity and volume of negative headlines to the VIX. This resulted in the two plots shown. + +Since the plot is somewhat full, I made it interactive so one can show for example only Reddit sentiment and zoom in and out of datapoints. This is in html, but Im not sure whether its allowed to share the link here so in case one is interested to play around with it shoot me a pm. + +[https://imgur.com/yUI2c0N](https://imgur.com/yUI2c0N) + +On request, interactive html is on: [http://www.alternative-analytics.eu/dashboard/sentiment.html](http://www.alternative-analytics.eu/dashboard/sentiment.html) (just a plain clean html, no ads, links etc, base url also is not a general website), I update the graph daily. +I'm not involved in real estate much, but I can't help but think that heavily over-paying on a property (which, granted, is a long-term investment) seems a bit crazy on the surface to me. + +Many are paying cash, waiving appraisals/inspections etc just to get to the top of a list for property listed 48 hours ago. I'm in the US, and I'm a bit familiar with how much foreign investors are at play. + +Is this just a potential recipe for another major bust, or is there more to this story than I understand? +The ripple effect will hit stellar as people take profits and reinvest them into similar tech with IBM added. I said XLM should be top 10, now it is. +Top 7 next. +There is a lot of discussion regarding advisors in this sub reddit. There is a lot of good information and bad information. + +I want to give an opportunity for anyone to get answers "straight from the horses mouth" and have an honest conversation about what types of advisors there are, what they do, how they make money etc. + +Personally, I am part of an RIA (Registered Investment Advisory) were we focus on business owners and institutional capital. + +Ask away and don't hold back! + +&#x200B; + +\*Mods - I am happy to verify if need be! + + +**EDIT - WOW, I never imagined this thread would blow up like it did. I will keep trying to work through the comments. I hope this helped! +https://imgur.com/MWZFUUe + +https://sec.report/Document/0001616344-21-000004/ + +I see you Kenny. I used to think that you were just a bystander in this, and caught up in your friends bad bets; you turned out to be the main villain. + +And $57,500,000,000 (billion with a B... that's 57 thousand million for all the non-US apes) is the bare minimum you owe. Why do I know this? Because it's on your annual frickin' report, and you spend 12 months a year cooking those numbers to look as positive as possible to your investors. You don't put your worst numbers in a published report... + +What were your short positions from the year before? + +https://sec.report/Document/0001146184-20-000006/ + +$27.5b... + +You doubled your position last year, Kenny. + +----- + +Citadel claims on their own page that they process over 25% of all market trades, and close to 50% of all retail trades. + +https://www.citadelsecurities.com/products/equities-and-options/ + +**Our automated equities platform trades approximately 26% of U.S. equities volume across more than 8,900 U.S.-listed securities and trades over 16,000 OTC securities. We execute approximately 47% of all U.S.-listed retail volume, making us the industry’s top wholesale market maker.** + +In this post: https://old.reddit.com/r/Wallstreetbetsnew/comments/m6xehe/robinhood_the_missing_link/ - I talked about how RobbingYourAss and Citadel are engaging in CFD-like activities; legally floating orders to close at better prices, if you will. I believe Citadel's annual report just solidified that, in my mind. + +*Note: Understand, I'm not exactly talking about rehypothecation or naked shorting of any individual company here... I believe he's issuing short shares "legally" under his Market Making abilities... * + +----- + +Citadel's plan is to route as much of retails orders through its system as possible, and issue a short share for whatever trade is sent to them through a retail platform. + +70-90% of retail trades lose money. By issuing a short share on the trade instead of locating a real share to transact, they are simultaneously "providing liquidity", while also betting directly against retail. It used to be a hugely safe bet. It was making money both ways. They collect free money on the share sale, make money by selling off the short positions in a bond (more on this in a second), and make money by the separate entities holding the short positions while Citadel Securities continues to drive the price down. + +But then retail won a bet. And not just one bet, but they won multiple bets simultaneously. In late January, multiple stocks spiked at the same time: Gamestop, Nokia, AMC, BlackBerry, etc... + +---- + +THAT is why Citadel had to shut down trading, and why RobbingYourMum only shut down trading on specific stocks. And THAT is why we just heard in the last congressional hearing directly from the DTCC, that the DTCC did NOT raise margin requirements and cause a halt to any trading. + +Citadel, as the market maker for 50% of all retail trades, was short on positions that were processed through RubbingYourCuck... and every single position went up huge at the exact same time. Citadel was caught on the line for every single short position that they created and that was held by RibbedCondom users. + +And they still are. + +They were providing liquidity to retail the entire time before the squeeze at the pre-squeeze prices. + +And yes, I already hear you: "But those short positions could just be their daily market making activity and completely normal in a day-to-day operation." + +The truth is: It doesn't matter. + +----- + +It only matters that those positions existed before the squeeze. The initial run-up happened so fast that there was no time to reverse their positions. The prices went up by multiples in a single day. Any short position they held, they were now locked in to. + +And that's assuming that every share purchased *during* the run-up, also wasn't just short shares going out the door. Citadels page states: + +"Our automated equities platform trades approximately 26% of U.S. equities volume across more than 8,900 U.S.-listed securities and trades over 16,000 OTC securities. We execute approximately 47% of all U.S.-listed retail volume, making us the industry’s top wholesale market maker." + +Automated. + +If they had the automated system programmed to create a short position for a percentage of all retail shares routed to it... THAT explains why trading was completely shut off. The system was just generating short shares the entire time, and Citadel was (and is) the one on the line for all of it. THAT is also why they allowed selling and not buying. It allowed them to try and purchase back their shares at the same prices they shorted them at, with no buying interference. + +Know what the best part of all this is? + +That $57,500,000,000 was what they had on the books as of 12/20/20... it doesn't even count what happened in January. + +----- + +Kenny, my man... Exactly how deep are you right now?... + +If Citadel executes 50% of all retail trades, and there were 800,000,000 trades on GME alone between Jan 21 and Jan 29 (https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GME/history?p=GME)... how many of those 400,000,000 shares did you short to provide liquidity, Kenny? How many did you cover?... + +How many are still owed after exercising all of your options for the last 4 months? + +Is that why Citadels corporate bonds were rated BBB-? The absolute lowest rating you can get for investment grade bonds? Is it because your updated liabilities page looks like a raging dumpster fire? + +That is why Citadel keeps being called out by name in the congressional hearings and being asked if they should be allowed to fail. Because I now firmly believe that Citadel is the ultimate bagholder of all of this. + +----- + +Remember, not only did Citadel bail out Melvin to avoid the margin call dominoes from falling, Citadel Advisors also personally lost over 3% of their worth in January alone (what was reported): https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/here-are-the-hedge-fund-winners-and-losers-amid-januarys-gamestop-mania-2021-2-1030034341 + +Citadel Advisors showed $234bil in AUM in 05/01/20: https://aum13f.com/firm/citadel-advisors-llc + +(Remember, Citadel Advisors is separate from Citadel Securities) + +If they lost 3%, that's $7,000,000,000 in losses in January alone, not counting the Cohen bailout. + +So how do I think Citadel Advisors and Melvin Capital wound-up holding short positions created by Citadel Securities if there is supposed to be a firewall between the two of them? By re-packaging the short positions and selling themselves collateralized trust bonds. Crazy Melon (u/sydneyfriendlycub) has a very well-written group of posts about it here: https://old.reddit.com/r/GME/comments/n2hjnk/33_the_ultimate_dd_guide_to_the_moon_crazy_melon/ + +Citadel Securities would sell short positions to facilitate liquidity on retail trades, and simultaneously bet against retail. Citadel Securities would package those short positions in Collateralized Trust Bonds, and sell those bonds to Citadel Advisors and Melvin Capital. + +That would get the short positions off of Citadel Securities books, effectively "covering" them, and allow them to show FINRA a lower short position holding. They then use their Market Maker status to continue issuing shorts on a stock like GME, causing the price to fall, and the short positions of Melvin and Citadel Advisors to go up in value. It was an infinite money glitch, until retail won a trade. + +----- + +Want proof of more insider fuckery? + +Explain to me how Melvin just filed an amended report, showing that he magically found a holding position of $121,500,000 worth of PUT options of VIACOM from December, right after the Archegos liquidation happened? + +https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1628110/000090571821000618/xslForm13F_X01/infotable.xml + +I'm sure that the SEC finds that reporting those puts 4 months after the due date is completely normal... considering the circumstances. + +Sorry to cut this off abruptly, but I'm tired and the screen is going hazy. Time for ape to sleep. If I tie anything else together, I'll be sure to break the tin-foil hat back out later. + +If I got anything wrong that you think needs attention, lemme know so I can edit it. I like my conspiracy theory, but it doesn't mean its 100% correct. + +TL;DR: + +Heg r fuk +Every article I read paints the picture that the housing market dropping 20% will be a disaster for the country but for low income earners like myself I might be able to actually afford something decent in a short while. During the pandemic prices were moving up so fast I thought it was over for me and the media was celebrating this. I guess im supposed to feel guilty that I may not be priced out of owning home? + +There’s all this talk about addressing housing affordability but when it actually starts to happen people scream the sky is falling. I don’t get it. Do people earning less than 100k per year even have a goddamn voice in this country? +Proof or ban in full effect. Mods, I'm happy to comply with whatever evidence you need. + +Why? Because it hasn't been done. + +There are clear elements to this thesis, that if proven/disproven, can/should essentially tank the stock. + +1. Short interest - where did it go? + +If Melvin fully covered their short position, there ought to be a paper trail detailing their purchase. If they covered by way of exercising ITM call options purchased with the $2bn Citadel/Point72 bailout, then there should be some record/filing showing this purchase. + +So far, the SEC report shows at most the buy volume to cover at 30m shares. Out of 50m shares outstanding, 70m shares were sold short. So, if anyone can point me to any peice of evidence detailing that 70m shares were purchased by shorts, congratulations. DM me your email and I'll send you an e-transfer for $1,000. + +2. Naked short selling - it's a myth. + +Broker-dealers can sell short a client's long sale in order to lock in the execution price, which is immediately followed by a long buy of their client's sale. Market makers can also sell short any long sales received from brokers, without locating a borrow, which is exempt under reg SHO to provide bona-fide liquidity. + +So the proof here would be, show me a paper trail / audit trail of the brokers and market makers buying long immediately after a short sell. That would dispel the naked short selling thesis immediately. Show that the net inventory balance of shares are zero (net of DOOMPs and deep ITM call exercises), in any cursory form. DM me your email and I'll send you an e-transfer for $1,000. + +3. Existence of synthetics - its a myth. + +The DTCC maintains an obligation warehouse whereby members submit their ex-clearing trades to OW for real-time matching by the contra-party. Once the submitting party enters the required transaction information, an advisory is sent by OW to the contra-party requesting that they respond by submitting identical transaction details to facilitate a compared obligation, or by affirming the obligation via the OW Web screen. The matched trade is then considered an open obligation. + +This one should be straightforward to prove. These transactions will have identifiers as mandated by FINRA. Show that the open obligations net to zero at the end of t+2. Show the transaction IDs tying each transaction in the Continuous Net Settlement system. DM me your email and I'll send you an e-transfer for $1,000. + +4. Unusual derivatives activity - a wild conspiracy. + +Cool. So why not disclose the notional swap exposures and call it a day? Disclose the counterparties to the deep OTM puts. If you have nothing to hide, why did the CFTC issue a no-action letter to delay reporting of swap positions to 2023? Also, provide a clear explanation for the options activity. Who is buying these options and why? For delta hedging you say? A simple explanation for the significant DOOMPs volume following Jan 28 would suffice. + +If you know how to code, this one should be easy to prove. I don't know how to code, but if you're computer savvy, it's as easy as scraping the data from every N-PORT filing for every single fund active under SEC EDGAR, finding the unique identifier for all Gamestop-related swap (should be one for each bank) [Edit: with a negative depreciation value between 3/31/2021 - 6/30/2021 - completed quarter. Correction - swap notionals will be positive]. Sum the totals, and if you can show a sum less than the current market cap of GME, DM me your email and I'll send you an e-transfer for $1,000. + + +That's all I could think of off the top of my head. Comment if you can think of others. + + +Shills, if you're reading this, please forward this post to your superiors. If you guys can come out and provide the evidence requested in this post, it will disprove this "conspiracy theory" once and for all. Your firms will save tons of face, probably fully recover from this PR disaster, get out ahead of the story, control the narrative, and leave no question as to whether or not a crime was committed. + +I've kept the prize low ($1,000) because I'm dead serious and it's an amount I can afford to pay. The GME thesis hasn't been disproven, and it's been 10 months. I'm not familiar with US databases (I'm Canadian) nor am I a computer expert, otherwise I would've done the digging myself. And I have fucking tried, but all my deep dives usually end up at a dead end, mostly due to a lack of transparency. + +But who knows? Maybe someone out there knows something I don't. And I'm willing to pay for the information I'm looking for. Comment below if you have the evidence I'm looking for. It should be public record. If satisfactory evidence is provided, I'll send you an e-transfer for $1,000. +People seem to think that small business "job creators" will be taxed out of existence if taxes for the wealthy are raised, or technically, returned to the higher rates. But, what actually happens is that nearly every penny a business spends to conduct its business is an expense and is not taxable at all. That means inventory, operating expenses, insurance, wages, other taxes etc. are not taxed. + +To give an example: a small business on some main street pulls in $500,000/year. She pays $250,000 on inventory, $50,000 in operating expenses such as rent, utilities, maintenance, insurance, fees, advertisement, supplies and so on, and pays a total of say $150,000 for wages for 6 employees. She is not taxed on any of that money! If she takes all the profits for herself that year, she would be paying herself $50,000 ($500,000 minus inventory costs, operating expenses and wage expenses). Even then she gets standard deductions and exemptions for herself and her family. If she has four people in her family maybe $15,000 will be exempted, and she would pay taxes on only $35,000...a far cry from the $250,000 bracket. + +tldr: +Out of $500,000 revenue for instance, the taxable amount to the small business owner(s) is a small fraction after all the expenses are deducted. + + +EDIT: Great Conversation all! Lots of clarification in the threads and a lot of nonsense and stupidity too lol. +1. Yes the inventory cost is incorrect in my example, it should also include how much inventory was left at the end of the year, and that amount is considered an asset and might be taxed. + +I am loving our growth this year, and if bitcoin can get to where it is as an unusable coin, there is no reason Ethereum (which is superior in every way) can't +The only reason I can think of is that cutting Russia off from the SWIFT network would push some countries to adopt a blockchain-based monetary system, which in turn would reduce their reliance on a US-centric international monetary system. + +Is this the main fear? Is it the ONLY fear? +Kids love Roblox. On the school run I mentioned that we'll soon be able to buy some shares in Roblox and that means we'd own a little piece and as Roblox grows and more kids buy Robux we'd make money and if we left it there for years and years in ten years you might be able to buy a car or something. They were super enthusiastic. I'm looking forward to having this experience with them win or lose. +Everyone's know of the Trust me Bro from Thabat, and now we're making fun of him. He told us about Cellar boxing and now he came out to give us a personal experience which he clearly stated, believe it or not on his own, and we give him shit for it? Don't believe it, don't upvote it, if that's the sentiment. Some guy trying to buy on a Sunday is alright with the sub, but let's bash on someone who had nothing to gain, and is already recognized? + +Attobit was pushed away for being anti-GME allegedly, because that sub said so. Criand was pushed out because he said options will hurt hedge fucks. Even our "Queen Kong" doesn't care about this sub. The DD is solid. We know MOASS is inevitable. This sub always seems sus after a few months. After the runic glory days, it seemed like we were heading in the right direction, but for some reason we are always falling back to claiming FUD. + +We just need to hodl. Stop believing every top post has a hidden agenda. If it's enough to be at the top, it motivates people. I used to love the days when ButtFarm had a meme at the top. I'm an autistic retard at heart. When I bought in back in September of 2020, I followed DFV. The memes were great, and we laugh at MSM. Now all we do is try and justify each post. I already know this in itself is coming. + +I always wanted to have a drink on the moon with every single one of you who hedl next to me. Honestly, now I'd rather cheers to DFV, and Ryan Cohen for the experience in the comfort of my own home. To all the DD writers, thank you. + +EDIT: Well, shit. I expected downvotes and self harm bots messaging me. I said what I said, and karma didn't matter to me. I'm glad to know there are others that feel the same and appreciate all the DD we've been given. Upvote or downvote. Make your own decisions, we are all individual investors. Divide and conquer is all they have, MSM has no influence over us. We can be our own enemies if we allow it. +Hi All, + + +In short, my Mother In Law has over $600,000 sitting in her savings account after her partner died, she injured her back badly enough that she couldnt live by herself so she sold the family home and chipped in with my Wife and I to buy a bigger place to suit a dual living situation. + + +Problem now is investing the rest, shes terrified of stocks regardless of how safe or diversified I tell her they can be, and she also doesnt want to buy a property that would require a mortgage ontop off (rental income would cover this) the only thing she is keen on are Term deposits which are barely "investing" and just ease inflation. + + +Does Ausfinance have any suggestions on how I can best suggest she use her money to make sure she can live without needing work for the rest of her life? + + +(I did suggest she could pay off our mortgage and I would pay her back over the 20 years remaining at our current interest rate but no dice) + I recently found a physical copy of three shares of the Walt Disney company which were apparently given to me as a gift when I was born, is there anything I can actually do with them or are they just for show? +Although Lakshmi Vilas Bank is being sold to and recapitalised by a well to do Bank (DBS Bank), you do not want to be their depositor now for the inconvenience it causes. + +This is a basic guide to avoid such situations. Read on! + +&#x200B; + +**Number 1. Check your Bank’s capital adequacy ratio** + +Suppose a bank raised a deposit of ₹100. They are supposed to set aside ₹10 and lend the remaining ₹90. If the banks owners contribute ₹5, then their CAR would be (10+5)/90 = 16.66% + +This is a gross simplification but you get the idea. A Healthy number is to be above 12%. + +LVB’s CAR was at 0.17% as on 30th June 2020!! + +&#x200B; + +**Number 2: Check their gross NPA(GNPA) & net NPA (NNPA) ratio** + +Coming back to our example, if a bank lent ₹90 rupees and ₹9 went sour, then they have a GNPA of (9/90) = 10%. A good bank should be below this and below 5% is considered to be very safe (in the Indian context) + +LVB had a GNPA of 25.40% as on 30th June 2020! + +&#x200B; + +This bank had more red flags than the communist party. + +&#x200B; + +In our example, if a bank set aside ₹3 from their profits as a provision (meaning they will use this money to set good their losses from their NPAs) then their NNPA is (9-3)/90= 6.67%. A good bank would have it under 3%. (Ideal ratios are subject to change depending on the current state of the economy) + +LVB had a NNPA of 9.64% on 30/06/2020. + +&#x200B; + +**Number 3. Check your bank’s quarterly numbers trend** + +Is your bank making profits or losses? Is their revenue increasing ? If they are making losses continuously, then they will be unable to repay the depositors. + +LVB’s share price touched a peak of ₹187.19 on 14/07/2017. Now it is at ₹12.45. One of the major reasons for that is their continuing losses due to High NPAs. + +Contrast it with HDFC (or SBI/ICICI/Kotak etc) which is creating shareholder value year on year. Both the income and profits of these are increasing year on year. + +It is well and good to note this because share price is nothing but people’s perception. As long as people perceive a bank is good, your money is safe even if the bank is actually having troubles. Once people get afraid and start to withdraw their money, trouble starts. + +&#x200B; + +**Number 4. See if your bank is in the RBI’s Prompt corrective action(PCA) framework list** + +If you find it too much to follow all this, RBI does most of the work for you. RBI places banks who are weak on the first three parameters in a watchlist called PCA. You can simply google “\[your bank name\] PCA” under the news section of google to find out if your bank is on the list. + +&#x200B; + +**Number 5. How would I a banker, choose my bank?** + +I’d have at the very least, two accounts. + +1) A well to do Private Bank & + + 2) well capitalised public bank. + +&#x200B; + +During a crisis like demonetisation, it was the public banks that worked the most to distribute fresh cash as RBI would have prioritised them first (I was in SBI then and witnessed this first hand). My first choice for a PSB will be SBI since it’s tagged as systemically important and also it is the biggest PSB by market cap and meets all other parameters mentioned above. + +&#x200B; + +I’d also have a private bank in order to get faster service, thereby enjoying the best of both worlds. I’d pick the nearest branch from the likes of HDFC, ICICI, Kotak or Axis (I chose ICICI since I work at ICICI now, not much of a choice actually but it still is the nearest to my house anyway ) + +&#x200B; + +If I were to become a HNI one day, I’d open a third bank account( in order to reduce concentration risk) with another well to do private bank and my choice would be HDFC Bank today. + +By market cap, HDFC is the leader followed by Kotak and ICICI among private banks. + +For public sector, it is SBI followed by PNB and IDBI. + +&#x200B; + +Note: Some banks are tagged systemically important or too big to fail. Basically it means RBI will bail them out if they ever screw up. I have not put this as my criteria because my first priority is to ensure I have uninterrupted access to my money. I don’t want to wait a couple of weeks and then get my money back like they did for YES Bank. + +&#x200B; + +This list is by no means comprehensive. I’m planning to write a more comprehensive one for my blog later on but it contains the most important ones in my opinion. + +&#x200B; + +Edit: formatting + +Edit 2: Wrote this on my mobile so added some more formatting. + +What about IDFC first? check out u/sansays & u/mosalahpavbhaji07's comments below which pretty much echoes my views. + +Edit 3: YES Bank was under moratorium for 2 weeks, not months. Changed it. +Although Lakshmi Vilas Bank is being sold to and recapitalised by a well to do Bank (DBS Bank), you do not want to be their depositor now for the inconvenience it causes. + +This is a basic guide to avoid such situations. Read on! + +&#x200B; + +**Number 1. Check your Bank’s capital adequacy ratio** + +Suppose a bank raised a deposit of ₹100. They are supposed to set aside ₹10 and lend the remaining ₹90. If the banks owners contribute ₹5, then their CAR would be (10+5)/90 = 16.66% + +This is a gross simplification but you get the idea. A Healthy number is to be above 12%. + +LVB’s CAR was at 0.17% as on 30th June 2020!! + +&#x200B; + +**Number 2: Check their gross NPA(GNPA) & net NPA (NNPA) ratio** + +Coming back to our example, if a bank lent ₹90 rupees and ₹9 went sour, then they have a GNPA of (9/90) = 10%. A good bank should be below this and below 5% is considered to be very safe (in the Indian context) + +LVB had a GNPA of 25.40% as on 30th June 2020! + +&#x200B; + +This bank had more red flags than the communist party. + +&#x200B; + +In our example, if a bank set aside ₹3 from their profits as a provision (meaning they will use this money to set good their losses from their NPAs) then their NNPA is (9-3)/90= 6.67%. A good bank would have it under 3%. (Ideal ratios are subject to change depending on the current state of the economy) + +LVB had a NNPA of 9.64% on 30/06/2020. + +&#x200B; + +**Number 3. Check your bank’s quarterly numbers trend** + +Is your bank making profits or losses? Is their revenue increasing ? If they are making losses continuously, then they will be unable to repay the depositors. + +LVB’s share price touched a peak of ₹187.19 on 14/07/2017. Now it is at ₹12.45. One of the major reasons for that is their continuing losses due to High NPAs. + +Contrast it with HDFC (or SBI/ICICI/Kotak etc) which is creating shareholder value year on year. Both the income and profits of these are increasing year on year. + +It is well and good to note this because share price is nothing but people’s perception. As long as people perceive a bank is good, your money is safe even if the bank is actually having troubles. Once people get afraid and start to withdraw their money, trouble starts. + +&#x200B; + +**Number 4. See if your bank is in the RBI’s Prompt corrective action(PCA) framework list** + +If you find it too much to follow all this, RBI does most of the work for you. RBI places banks who are weak on the first three parameters in a watchlist called PCA. You can simply google “\[your bank name\] PCA” under the news section of google to find out if your bank is on the list. + +&#x200B; + +**Number 5. How would I a banker, choose my bank?** + +I’d have at the very least, two accounts. + +1) A well to do Private Bank & + + 2) well capitalised public bank. + +&#x200B; + +During a crisis like demonetisation, it was the public banks that worked the most to distribute fresh cash as RBI would have prioritised them first (I was in SBI then and witnessed this first hand). My first choice for a PSB will be SBI since it’s tagged as systemically important and also it is the biggest PSB by market cap and meets all other parameters mentioned above. + +&#x200B; + +I’d also have a private bank in order to get faster service, thereby enjoying the best of both worlds. I’d pick the nearest branch from the likes of HDFC, ICICI, Kotak or Axis (I chose ICICI since I work at ICICI now, not much of a choice actually but it still is the nearest to my house anyway ) + +&#x200B; + +If I were to become a HNI one day, I’d open a third bank account( in order to reduce concentration risk) with another well to do private bank and my choice would be HDFC Bank today. + +By market cap, HDFC is the leader followed by Kotak and ICICI among private banks. + +For public sector, it is SBI followed by PNB and IDBI. + +&#x200B; + +Note: Some banks are tagged systemically important or too big to fail. Basically it means RBI will bail them out if they ever screw up. I have not put this as my criteria because my first priority is to ensure I have uninterrupted access to my money. I don’t want to wait a couple of weeks and then get my money back like they did for YES Bank. + +&#x200B; + +This list is by no means comprehensive. I’m planning to write a more comprehensive one for my blog later on but it contains the most important ones in my opinion. + +&#x200B; + +Edit: formatting + +Edit 2: Wrote this on my mobile so added some more formatting. + +What about IDFC first? check out u/sansays & u/mosalahpavbhaji07's comments below which pretty much echoes my views. + +Edit 3: YES Bank was under moratorium for 2 weeks, not months. Changed it. +&#x200B; + +# Edit: Numbers from RobinHood case are alleged so far, not proven. I cannot edit the post title. That being said, results of Deep ITM CALLs comes up with roughly the same 226.42%, which is quite telling. We also see that PHLX exchange is used to buy and exercise these calls almost immediately - exactly as outlined in the SEC document on how to shift a short position to become synthetic. + +# 0. Preface + +I am not a financial advisor and I do not provide financial advice. Thoughts here are my opinion, and others are speculative. + +Shout out to king /u/broccaaa for their contributions. I always figured that your assumptions were correct that the SHFs were using these Deep ITM CALLs to hide SI%, but we never got some quick maths behind it to see if it was true. (Maybe we did though! Sorry if I did not see anyone's posts about this) + +Well, this is for you /u/broccaaa, and all the apes. + +[Spreading Love To All](https://preview.redd.it/seveg72frd771.png?width=466&format=png&auto=webp&s=820b960584c2976dfe040f84463f84e3d9ba1ad3) + +# 1. GME SI% Is A Minimum Of 226.42%; Shorts Were Hidden With Deep ITM CALLs + +Way way back in time, since many of you probably feel like you've aged years over the course of 6 months, there was a blip of **226.42**% SI in January. Many believed this was a glitch: + +[https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/GME\/comments\/lgjztf\/wtf\_is\_going\_on\_with\_finra\_is\_it\_7846\_or\_22642\/](https://preview.redd.it/scgcw5t6qd771.png?width=959&format=png&auto=webp&s=10059cac48bcb52fdb8cbc8d27743f3dcff97166) + +~~That's what many may have thought, that it was just a glitch, until recently a~~ [~~Class Action against RobinHood~~](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/o6mp0c/from_class_action_against_rh_look_at_that_juicy/) ~~proved that was, indeed, the SI% upon January 15th, 2021:~~ + +Edit: Thank you much for everyone's replies. We must consider this as still speculative and not proven as it is a number alleged by the plantiff. + +Allegedly, [per a Class Action against RobinHood](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/o6mp0c/from_class_action_against_rh_look_at_that_juicy/), the SI% was 226.42% upon January 15th, 2021: + +[https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Superstonk\/comments\/o6mp0c\/from\_class\_action\_against\_rh\_look\_at\_that\_juicy\/](https://preview.redd.it/vnlimw17qd771.png?width=602&format=png&auto=webp&s=079aa90f257df07a297b6c5d8961e6500bc17139) + +Put yourself in the SHF's shoes. You have a shitload of retail buy pressure going on. You're way overshorted. What do you do? Do you cover? Pfft. Nah. That's way too much. Impossible to cover. Absolutely screwed. + +Lucky for you the SEC [has identified malicious options practices](https://www.sec.gov/about/offices/ocie/options-trading-risk-alert.pdf) which can be used for just such an occasion to make it appear that you've covered. + +Let's say you want to make it "appear" that you covered your short. You can perform a buy-write trade with a bona-fide Market Maker. Who might help you out as a bona-fide Market Maker? **Citadel** might come to mind (not saying it's them, just an example since they are well known)! The trade ends up being the following: + +1. Trader A who needs to hide their short position enters the buy-write trade with Trader B (Citadel). +2. Trader A sells a Deep ITM CALL to Trader B (Citadel). +3. Trader A simultaneously buys shares from Trader B (Citadel). +4. Trader A now appears to have purchased shares to cover their short position, and Trader B (Citadel) gets a small amount of cash in return. + +* They tend to trade Deep ITM CALLs that have little to no OI so that the trade is almost guaranteed to be between Trader A and Trader B. +* Trader B tends to exercise these CALLs **on the same day.** **And this is exactly what we have been seeing because CALL OI does not increase.** +* The net effect on this is that Trader B has looped around their shares. They sold them to Trader A, and then got them back through exercising the CALL. Meanwhile, Trader A has "covered" their original short position but now they are "short" the CALL, meaning it is now a synthetic short. + +Here is the supporting text [from the SEC itself](https://www.sec.gov/about/offices/ocie/options-trading-risk-alert.pdf) if you want to verify for yourself. A report from 2013 titled "**Strengthening Practices for Preventing and Detecting Illegal Options Trading Used to Reset Reg SHO Close-out Obligations**": + +[https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/about\/offices\/ocie\/options-trading-risk-alert.pdf Section II](https://preview.redd.it/eckz2hh7qd771.png?width=794&format=png&auto=webp&s=ec5f2fe9ca82bfba28eac658aac8fd3eb5c21d5e) + +[https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/about\/offices\/ocie\/options-trading-risk-alert.pdf Section II](https://preview.redd.it/ttjlxv28qd771.png?width=797&format=png&auto=webp&s=0eaaba948743cc947567322eba21603acf2ac2df) + +[https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/about\/offices\/ocie\/options-trading-risk-alert.pdf Section II](https://preview.redd.it/pti33wf8qd771.png?width=780&format=png&auto=webp&s=237494bf40c19dd2ef0771f42168bbf3ca90d6cb) + +[https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/about\/offices\/ocie\/options-trading-risk-alert.pdf Section II](https://preview.redd.it/zq8z28y8qd771.png?width=804&format=png&auto=webp&s=c80ec2e4932aa8e5660bcb8da4b88871611a377f) + +[https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/about\/offices\/ocie\/options-trading-risk-alert.pdf Section II](https://preview.redd.it/2zah2nc9qd771.png?width=798&format=png&auto=webp&s=df0a14005a591657d993ea153a5240516417f875) + +[https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/about\/offices\/ocie\/options-trading-risk-alert.pdf Section II](https://preview.redd.it/sjip9hp9qd771.png?width=800&format=png&auto=webp&s=1848c26e64e7c9806e77e5b60bc2f1a4c7feacc8) + +&#x200B; + +So, they can utilize Deep ITM CALLs to hide their short positions. + +We don't care about identifying Trader A and Trader B in this case. Just the fact that trades occurred on these Deep ITM CALL strikes and that OI is unaffected the day thereafter. That's enough to support the above theory that they're utilizing this practice to make it 'appear' that they've covered their short position. + +Check out what /u/broccaaa's data identified. Tons and tons of Deep ITM CALLs were traded in January prior to SI% dropping off of a cliff. By [my estimations](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/nc1lny/ive_estimated_the_current_si_based_on_the_si/), about 1,100,000 CALL OI was traded prior to January 29th SI Report Date: + +[\/u\/broccaaa Data on Deep ITM CALL Volumes Vs FTDs of GME](https://preview.redd.it/0hp6hvx9qd771.png?width=1789&format=png&auto=webp&s=19d5261cf1cd7ec7995c12409bd46d2116094203) + +The SI Report Date of January 29th matters because that is the cutoff of when FINRA will [require settlement of short interest numbers](https://www.finra.org/filing-reporting/regulatory-filing-systems/short-interest) for the next SI report date. The next SI report date following January 29th settlement is February 12th. + +And we can see that after the mayhem of Deep ITM CALL purchases, SI% dropped from 226.42% of the January 15th report, to 30.2% upon February 12th: + +[https:\/\/www.marketbeat.com\/stocks\/NYSE\/GME\/short-interest\/](https://preview.redd.it/qpvqagaaqd771.png?width=1683&format=png&auto=webp&s=6d54d763f3bb46a697c4ff2ee94148806bf928e3) + +With the difference in SI% from 226.42% on January 15th down to 30.2% on February 12th, **we can assume that they have not covered their short position but rather hid their short position in synthetics if we can come up with a roughly equivalent SI% from the approximate Deep ITM CALL purchases.** + +The float of GME in January was approximately 57,840,000. + +The estimated Deep ITM CALL OI that was swapped is \~1,100,000 OI = \~110,000,000 shares worth. + +Which then gives an estimated SI% reduction of \~110,000,000 / 57,840,000 = \~190.18% shorts hidden between January 15th and February 12th report date. + +And since SI% on February 12th was 30.2%, then that gives a grand total of 190.18% + 30.2% = **220.38% SI per estimations**. + +That's dangerously close to the reported 226.42% SI from January 15th. + +So with that in mind - do you think they covered? + +[Estimations of SI&#37; Based on Deep ITM CALL Purchases Up To January 29th](https://preview.redd.it/oieer6saqd771.png?width=1878&format=png&auto=webp&s=3355b8760408907f165bf7687581ce722bedc844) +The unfurling of BW3 was a success! I have \~130k shares total spread across 7 accounts, at around a 7-dollar avg. + +Total gains if I close right now come out to \~130 000 x (10.66-7) = 130 000 x 3.66 = $475 800 USD + +$475 800 USD x 1.33 (USD to CAD conversion) = \~$632 000 CAD GAIN + +I am in shock. + +I will be trimming soon, but I will also keep a core position. Haven't figured out the specifics yet. To me, this is an insane long-term opportunity as well, so I won't sell everything. In my opinion, this stock has 100x potential if everything goes according to plan. I will sell a portion to lock in some gains though. + +LET'S FKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO + +Edit: Original post: [https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/ylvgis/selftrained\_in\_autism\_1m\_cad\_asts\_yolo\_max\_margin/](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/ylvgis/selftrained_in_autism_1m_cad_asts_yolo_max_margin/) + +Kept over 10k shares as my core position. Sold everything else for a pretty respectable gain. Green is a good colour, I am not complaining. Earnings today, let's see what happens. Net worth comes out to a little less than 900k CAD. Me being a millionaire was short-lived lmao. Dw, I have my eyes on some things to short on max margin next. I think I can reclaim my millionaire status again soon if everything goes well 🙏 + +Will watch $ASTS like a hawk. I will buy again if we go back down to regarded prices. + +Cheers. Hope y'all make money. + +Edit #3: New positioning. Check the link out if you want! Also thank you all for your kind words. I'm sorry I couldn't get back to all of you. I didn't think I would get this much interaction, and I am a bit overwhelmed by the number of DMS and comments I have gotten. Love you all and wish you all the best!! [https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/yvdlow/now\_short\_on\_max\_margin\_i\_believe\_the\_bear\_market/](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/yvdlow/now_short_on_max_margin_i_believe_the_bear_market/) + +[This shows my share count in my 3 largest accounts. The price hasn't been updated yet because the market hasn't opened.](https://preview.redd.it/yx9fp7jj1xz91.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=e118a6dfe06787510e490a5f94e0970f834989f5) + +&#x200B; + +[Pre-market price](https://preview.redd.it/1zipii7z1xz91.png?width=563&format=png&auto=webp&s=49c656c2378b13d2a85eee5786bc1997ba953ac8) +Just a heads up, I know some people will feel uncomfortable about this. + +https://helpcentre.trading212.com/hc/en-us/articles/360011022978-How-Trading-212-will-execute-the-share-lending- + +> **How Trading 212 will execute the share lending?** + +>We will loan out some of the shares we hold on your behalf, and we will earn a modest amount of interest on that which will help us maintain a sustainable commission-free model. Share lending will be executed only for Invest accounts. + +> **Can I opt out of share lending?** + +>No. Once agreed to, the share lending cannot be discontinued in your Invest account. + +>If you decide to opt-out, then you’ll have to liquidate your holdings and request account closure. +Hello All, + +Just a reminder, I've heard and seen so many posts about people who are willing to **reduce their food spending** and eat industrial food or fast food in order to save and invest more money. + +Please keep in mind that y**our health is your most valuable investment**. + +Don't be afraid to invest in your health by purchasing high-quality foods and following a healthy diet, according to your budget, of course. + +I think that many people are only focused on money and forget to take care of themselves, which includes **exercising and eating well**. + +What's the point if you only think about money and ignore yourself? What's the point of saving for retirement if your life expectancy is decreasing and you won't probably be able to enjoy it? + +Now don't get me wrong: this may sound arrogant or rude, I get it. But, it's just a small caring message for those who may have forgotten to care for themselves and the fundamentals. + +I wish you all a pleasant and healthy journey to freedom. + +Take care. +Hi apes! Yes I surprised everyone by showing up to the shareholders meeting today. Due to car trouble, I wasn't able to make it as early as I had hoped to be able to stream. Rough 24 hrs to get to Dallas for this meeting. But can't stop won't stop. + +I went and spoke to the gentleman standing outside HQ doors when I arrived, and was told only shareholders with certain proxy info were allowed inside, which I didn't qualify for as a broker held shareholder. Also that NO MEDIA PHOTOGRAPHY/ LIVESTREAM WAS ALLOWED ON THE PROPERTY- INDOOR OR OUT. But I was told we would be welcome to film from across the street. He also said he had heard of Superstonk which got me hype. + +Upon setting up, a CNBC camera man came and got a live feed of the apes that were set up there. He was a camera man, not a producer or interviewer. He was getting live B roll footage. Which yes, I got a little cute for and said hello. They asked for details to share with his producer about the apes. So I told him what subreddit we were members of, and that we like the stock. And I made it clear I DO NOT REPRESENT ANYONE. I am just 1 of many administrators and moderators on the subreddit. In fact, I made it very clear that there was NO ORGANIZATION because I didn't want the story twisted by mainstream media about why anyone was there. u/BodySurfDan was there for that conversation, as were several other apes. + + +**I DID NOT DO AN INTERVIEW WITH ANYONE.** + +**IF CNBC HAS FOOTAGE OF ME, IT'S HANGING OUT WITH APES AT HQ. NOT AN INTERVIEW.** + + + +After the meeting, I intended to stream with the apes that went inside and I was gathering them and talking to them to go live, but we were asked to leave the location immediately by the property owners. And that's when our livestream had to end, so as to respect the private property rules from the owner. That's it. That was the whole crazy 15 minutes. + +Hope that clears some BS up. I went through hell to get here and get a camera on HQ somehow. Hope the real apes understand. + +**Just had a civil conversation.** Haven’t done any interviews.✌ + +Edit: words, spaces, punctuation, and clarified a pronoun. + +Edit 2: when I said "we're talking to CNBC right now, say Hi superstonk!" Or whatever the exact quote was... I was literally talking about the live CNBC camera in our face, filming all of us. +I keep seeing these phrases in this and other economic subreddits: “X would be a better way to redistribute wealth”. “ Y would decrease income inequality” + +They all mention it as already accepting that it is something we should aim to do. But why do we need to do this in economic terms? Does this help the economy in some way? +The new car is on avg. $40,000, and the homes people buy are usually way above their pay grade. I see people making minimum wage buying a PS5 and fast food and unlimited data, etc. I make alright money and am frugal, no debt, and still I'm struggling to plan for kids, a home, and retirement. Is everyone just in massive debt? Is this sustainable or will it cause another crash? +Maybe I'm just spending too much time in the wrong subs, but it's so frustrating. I feel like I've come so far, but it's never quite enough. + +I started in retail at $9.00/hr and topped out there five years later at $12.50 making not much more because they kept cutting my hours like they were making up for it. I found another job, started at $12 and two years later am making $17, full time. I finally felt like I wasn't drowning, but am still paycheck to paycheck for the most part because my partner is making so much less than me. + +Now, I got a great offer for a job starting at $22 an hour in a higher cost of living area, and even that isn't enough to secure me housing. But I hear about people making so much more, getting houses, saving back money, etc. How?!?! + +I just feel like no matter how much I improve, how good of a job I get, or how much more I make an hour it's not keeping up with the cost of living. How is this sustainable? I always felt like if I made this much an hour I'd finally be escaping the cycle, but even that seemingly insane amount of money to me still isn't enough to qualify for basic stuff like housing. + +How can I support my partner and two kids like this? It's not like I can slum it and rent a room somewhere. I need a house and can't qualify. This is so stupid. How do people make it? Hell, how do they land jobs making enough TO make it?!?! + +I never thought I'd be landing a job with this kind of pay and feel so stuck. I almost feel like it's locking me out of things instead of opening doors. $22 seems like SO MUCH money, and really it is, but it also isn't? Is this just lifestyle creep or is inflation that bad? + + +EDIT: This post has exploded so much. I posted this as a complaint into the void and all of you have shown me so much support, help, and caring. I cannot express how much this means to me and how wonderful you all are. + +Thank you, you amazing, wonderful people. I promise I'll keep at it and take your advice. I'm sorry if I can't reply to you all, but I will try. + + +Edit 2: I went to bed and this has gained even more attention. Thank you all for your support, it means the world to me. Hopefully the great stories and advice in the comments will help others too. + +Also, I appreciate the awards, but you don't have to spend real cash on this post, as grateful as I am for it. We're all fighting our own battles, and in this sub our shared one is our experience going without. Please take care of yourselves and your families over fake internet awards <3 +I've noticed a significant increase in the cashback program, reward points and credit cards in the last 5 years + +Some of the examples: + +1. Do a recharge of Rs 100 to win Rs 10 cashback + +2. Get our free credit card and spent 5 Lakh in a year to get annual fees cancelled + +3. Maintain 10L as the minimum balance in our bank to become a privileges member which will give you extra benefits. + +4. Create a bank account with us and fund with 10K to win a 100Rs voucher. + +Here is the reality. You will spend much more with your credit card than you wanted to, just so you get the relief that you didn't have to pay annual fees. Your 10L minimum balance would have made you 10K per month if you have invested instead. Free demand drafts you will get as a privileged member will never amount to 10K in a month. + +In nutshell, all these programs are just an illusion of savings and you are not only spending more but also saving less. So next time instead of spending 1 hour trying to find the best deal for 100rs recharge, invest that time in your education instead, learn new things. Your increased income in upcoming years will be much higher than 10rs saving. Same with bank account. Don't try to match the high balance requirement. Don't keep a penny higher than your liquidity needs in a saving account. + +**Finally, I wanted to add that some deals are really good and are worth it. But 90% of the deals are crap and not worth your time.** + +**Update: Many people are just missing the point of this post. Just because you use everything wisely doesn't mean everyone is. If it was the case, credit card companies would bankrupt. So I'm not talking about you. Don't argue, just smile. Don't comment and brag either. It doesn't help the people who need to understand this.** +**Ranting is about to ensue** + + +Hey mods can we get some modding out here? All I see now are shit posts. + + +• "Top 5 coins of 2017 number 5 will shock you." + + +• "OMG guys buy into X super undervalued, low market. + cap, great whitepaper." + + +• "Guys WTF coin X is dropping fucking HODL." + + +• Shitty Lambo memes. + + +• "I'm out guys thanks for the roller coaster I've made 5000000000 dollars on X, Y, and Z." + + +Isn't this sub supposed to be about the technology and talking about, I don't know, the actually fucking markets? I understand that alot of noobs are jumping on the crypto hype but please keep your shitty memes to yourselves we don't have many subs this big about coins as a whole w/o censorship. + + +Mods please freaking mod ok. I've your having trouble controlling it all maybe open up some mod applications. At the very least raise the posting/commenting age and karma requirements. + + +^sorry ^I'm ^naturally ^salty ^as ^fuck. + + +Edit: I'd like to thank the mods for reaching out and taking all of our feedback. + +A couple more things and rule proposals. + +• Stop spamming your referral codes this isn't the place and no one is going to use it. + +• Cut it out with the low effort posts one one wants to rate your portfolio no one cares. + +• No more shit ICO's you know what mean the ones that are obviously spam + +• No more clickbaity BuzzFeed like shit. "Top 10 coins of 2017" + +I've talked to a mod and hopefully they are planning on implementing some new rules and allowing the community to vote on them as this sub continues to grow. + +^anyway ^thanks ^for ^listening ^to ^my ^annoying ^rant + + +I'm curious how everyone's wealth has changed throughout their life, particularly if you are a millennial (let's define that as anyone in their late 20s to early 40s). + +* Many of you graduated during a recession -- how tight was money when you were younger? +* Did the money situation improve as you got older? And if so, why was that? +* when/what got you into trading in the first place? + +Interested in hearing everyone's stories! +Context here: [Spoof on CRED](https://youtu.be/lGmwMHsii04) + +Note: This post might seem like bit of rant. But I want to know from fellow CRED users if they have been able to use the coins to anything meaningful apart from cashback. + +I have been using CRED app for almost 2 years now. Till this day I found cashback is the only worthwhile feature. Apart from the miniscule cashback I haven't used my coins on any other rewards. + +None of the feature rewards offers excite me, as almost all products listed are available at cheaper price directly in market. Imagine sitting with more than 10 lakh worthless coins, it's frustrating to say the least. + +The MagicPin Vijay Raaz spoof youtube advertisement exposes this aspect of CRED. + +Edit 27-Apr-2021 : As shared by few here, let's burn all CRED points to contribute to oxygen delivery by Milaap. Hope it reaches properly to the needy. +Like what is wrong with some of these people?? The vast majority of people who use this sub is specifically because they are POOR/STRUGGLING. We post here for advice, tips, and support. We don’t post here so we can get X amount of comments from judgmental assholes who say over and over, “Just get a job” “sounds like you’re the problem” “get over it” “this is your fault” “work harder” “How is this possible for you to be poor??” ”Just move, I don’t see the issue.” + + +Let me tell you something, because I think I speak for most of us. I work beyond full time. I work side jobs in my free time, including on my lunch breaks everyday. My circumstances are *none* of your business, but my circumstances are still valid. Everyone’s are, especially if they’re making an effort to escape them. I was born into a very lower class family, my parents were from poor families. Most of us born into this are already off on the wrong foot. Poverty is a vicious cycle most of us are all fighting like hell to break and get out of. It takes time. It takes effort, which again, the vast majority of us are giving that full effort. We are **trying**, we really are, but living in/coming out of poverty is fucking *hard.* Not to mention that our society does not make escaping poverty easy. It costs money to move. It costs money to learn a trade, go to school, go to the doctor, get mental health help. While of course, it’s not impossible (we know this), so many people act like escaping poverty is a quick fix. This is untrue. + +To add to that, there are different tiers to poverty. Some people are born into it, others fall on incredibly hard times, some people get fucked over by their families or loved ones (eg: taking loans out in our names, ruining credit, stealing our money, etc etc), some people are disabled, some people just make mistakes, learn from them, and are trying to pick up the pieces. And the sad fact is ~~some~~ many people, despite working hard which so many of you claim we don’t do, are only one or two paychecks away from poverty, just barely staying afloat, and doing all they can. It. Happens. Maybe not to you - and congratulations to you all - but it happens to people every single day. We are living it. It’s literally all around you. + +We are still human. I’ll repeat that: **we are still human.** + +Some days, we just really need to vent. That’s all. It doesn’t mean we aren’t trying. But working hard, trying to be strong, dealing with the stress, it all gets to you. That’s part of the whole “being human” thing. It’s a heavy weight to carry. That’s what, in my opinion, this sub is for. Being able to relate and hear others out, and offer advice, it’s what helps people continue to push through when they feel like giving up, and makes the weight a liiiiiittle less heavy. + +You don’t get to call someone lazy, make general shitty judgments and overall rude assuming comments about how they got where they are nor why they’re where they are now, when the *only* thing you know about their lives is exactly what is posted here. + +So if you’re the type of person to judge and criticize those on this sub who seek out advice or just want to vent, maybe step away from the screens and take a good hard look at yourself. Reflect on your poor character and be better. Having some perspective will make life a little less miserable for you, and maybe you’ll gain a little empathy. We may be struggling, but at least we treat others with respect. Because for a lot of us, who we are and our determination to live better lives despite any circumstances and the holier-than-thou ignorant bullshit around us is almost all we have. The last thing we need is to be kicked while we’re down. + +We won’t stand for it. I know I won’t. Not anymore. + +Edit: and to those who have dealt with this and/or are just struggling right now, I hear you. I see you. You are more than your circumstance, and you’ll get through this. Keep fighting the good fight and vent when you need to. Better days are coming! + +And of course you will always have people who victimize, or just won’t help themselves or don’t take accountability (it still doesn’t justify insulting and degrading them, but I know there are people who need to recognize certain issues when they’re in their own way). But just speaking generally, being in a bad financial position doesn’t mean you aren’t trying. Everyone is different, what works for some doesn’t work for others. Just...be freaking nice to people? Offer constructive advice? Or just don’t say anything at all if it’s nothing good or necessary. +Your markets are run by bots. Now your daily threads are too. + +&#x200B; + +This thread is for plans and thoughts prior to the market open period. + +&#x200B; + +Posts relating to the "Is /r/ASX_bets about finance or effect your mental health?" etc will lead to a ban of the mods chosing. [You have been warned](https://www.reddit.com/r/ASX_Bets/comments/l0l9et/the_does_asx_bets_effect_your_finances_emotions/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share). Last ban length: 131072 days + +&#x200B; + +[We have an active official/unofficial discord. It's open to all discussions, stonks related and non-stonks related](https://discord.gg/2sQBNuM). +41yo single male - just hit $3.2M in net worth today. + +Honestly, none of it was by design - kind of fell into it. A lot of it came from tech - and I was only able to benefit because I very randomly became connected to a group of people who pulled me along with them. + +I'm pretty good at my job, but I try not to kid myself that that's the only driver. I've gotten where I have through luck and the kindness of others. I do my best to try and pay that forward. + +Looking back on it all, the key is to be a good egg. It's important to be smart and good at your job -- it's just as important to be kind. That's what allows you to build relationships that create opportunities. + +It's all just very, very humbling.... still trying to process.... + +&#x200B; + +\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +**Age 29 (moved to US to do an MBA at Wharton):** + +* I moved to the US about 11 years ago - at the height of the financial crisis - to attend business school (MBA at Wharton). +* Could not afford it by myself - my starting salary in a 3rd World country was $7K/year, although I'd built it up to $40K/year over an 8-year period. +* Wharton gave me a 40% scholarship and then I basically cashed in all my savings ($50K) and took a loan in order to afford it. +* Was fortunate enough to get a job offer that sponsored my H-1B (work visa). + +&#x200B; + +**Age 31 (graduated Wharton, joined McKinsey): -$80K net worth due to school debt.** + +* Was able to land a job at McKinsey & Company -- starting salary of $120K +* Based out of Atlanta -- unlike my colleagues in NYC or SF, able to save 50% of my after-tax salary with low rent etc. When on projects, we expensed meals and stuff - so never spent the bulk of my salary beyond loan repayments. +* Maxed out retirement contributions to a proprietary McKinsey fund, although I mostly just invested in US equities using index funds +* Didn't really invest in shares beyond S&P 500 index funds because of McKinsey restrictions on trading shares (it was possible, but just complicated) + +&#x200B; + +**Age 35 (left McKinsey, went to an SF non-profit):** **$400K net worth** + +* Net worth mostly from the retirement funds, the balance was in selected shares (US equities) +* Eventually received my green card sponsored by McKinsey - and was like "Adios!" +* Decided to do more non-profit work and joined tech non-profit in the SF Bay Area. Took a 33% paycut as well as the increase in cost of living -- my rent basically doubled from $1.6K/month in Atlanta to $3.2K/month in SF). Did not regret it. +* Decided I wanted to eventually buy an apartment in SF and spent two years saving - also made the decision to not invest in my 401(k) at the non-profit (and forego the match) - in order to save about $200K for a downpayment. + +&#x200B; + +**Age 37 (left non-profit, bought an apartment, moved to for-profit tech):** **$500K in net worth** + +* Bought a small apartment in SF - extremely cash poor. Decided to take my time furnishing it -- took about 3 years because I didn't want to take on any debt. Had to borrow a little bit from family to finish buying the apartment - paid them back in two years. Mortgage was about $550K. +* Left non-profit for a tech for-profit company. Was recruited by a friend from the original non-profit at a Director level. Salary went up to $180K with about $40-50K in RSUs. +* I'd spend about $5K/month on living expenses (mortgage, HOA, food, etc.) - and save the rest (after paying back family for down payment help). I'd save about $2-3K /month - and invested heavily in cloud computing stocks. (Reference the Bessemer Venture Partners index for info there.) +* Also re-started investing in my 401(k) with matching, took advantage of ESOS and other schemes. + +&#x200B; + +**Age 38 (acquisition by another tech company): $800K in net worth** + +* Our company got acquired in an all-stock deal -- the acquiring company's shares became like a rocket ship and jumped up 3-4x +* Salary was $220K, so was saving as much as I could (apart from some family support that I'd send back home -- as my dad was getting older) -- but most of the increase in net worth came from equity (about an additional $400K/year in RSUs) +* Apartment also added about $100K in value over price appreciation +* Personal expenses hadn't really changed - apart from food and the occasional travel, it was a pretty simple life. I like to read and since public libraries have online book collections.... my Amazon expenses have gone way down... +* Gave sister $50K for a downpayment for an apartment. I sold some equity to do it - swallowed the tax bill. + +&#x200B; + +**Age 40 (poached to 3rd tech company): $1.2M in net worth** + +* Some friends at the original tech company that got acquired became the C-suite at another company... their mandate was to take the company public +* They poached me - and offered comp of $275K and equity but obviously no guarantees that it would amount to anything +* It was a leap of faith - I was turning down this known rocket ship at the 2nd tech company where I was highly valued and that I know would have delivered about $2-3M in equity over 3 years. But I trusted my friends and decided to join them. +* Personal expenses hadn't really changed +* Because COVID had hit - I gave my brother $50K in family support, but otherwise saving the rest of my salary. + +&#x200B; + +**Age 41 (IPO): $3.2M in net worth** + +* About 1 year later, we actually did IPO! Ton of work to get it IPO ready, and very proud of our team. +* Ironically enough, we IPO'd before I hit my 1-year cliff - just hit it 2 days ago and had $2M in equity (mix of ISOs and double-triggered RSUs) transfer to my account. +* No real change to expenses - and because of tax and insider trading implications I can't liquidate it just yet. + +&#x200B; + +**What happens next?** + +* I still have 3 more years to go with the company - if I hold on then that's another $2M/year in equity (lots of assumptions are embedded into that) +* Eventually, I'll have to decide when to get off the hedonic hamster wheel. Depending on share price - will happen over the next 1-3 years. I don't exactly have a retirement number but somewhere between $5M - 10M? +* It's a little surreal, but I've had to appoint wealth advisors and accountants (no more TurboTax!) to manage my investment portfolio and taxes. +* I'm conscious of avoiding lifestyle creep - I'll probably sell my apartment and buy a single-family home in SF (allocating $1.5M-2.5M for it) - but apart from that will have a very simple life. Focus will be on health and wellness, spending time with my loved ones, maybe settling down with a partner, and going back to more mission-driven work. +Actual legitimate questions or tips? A few upvotes. "Finally paid off x?" Hundreds or thousands. This is not what I signed up for. + +Edit: comments have since suggested r/helpmeimpoor for actionable advice and r/debtfree for more bragging posts. + +Edit again: I have received several comments implying that the reason I'm upset is because I am in debt, which is a fair assumption tbh, but I am actually not in debt, just frustrated with the repetitiveness. +I have $6,035 dollars and I just turned 17 a few days ago, I've been busting my ass without a dad in my life my mom gets paid child support just to not have a job and takes care of her other kids whose dad is a bum and doesn't pay child support but yet they all live off of my dads money which is suppose to come to me but I don't get a cent out of it. I work six days a week and earned a manager position at my job, I've held this job for two solid years. Just thought I would post to kinda vent and maybe receive some praise for the things ive been through and done, seems like nobody gives a fuck about me. How are other guys my age doing? how much money do yall have saved up? + +&#x200B; + +edit: I don't live with my mom, I live with my grandparents who she also lives with currently. +Would appreciate it if anyone could give any advice based on the information below, and I know already most of the answers will be "Yes it is stupid!", but bare with me. + +**Age:** 28 +**Total Savings**: £85000 (including £50000 in Premium Bonds) +**Living Situation:** My family home (pay £200 p/m for utility bills) +**Income:** Earned £85000 (£59000 take home) in salary since April +**Occupation:** Self-Employed (so it is hard to forecast my actual earnings for this financial year) and means I am at risk of earning nothing if business goes badly. +**Miles Per Year:** 6000 + +I want a Ford Mustang (dream car), especially given it might be my only chance to own one whilst I am single. + +I was initially saving for a big house deposit. But now I am planning to continue living and saving whilst living at my Dad's house for the next 2-3 years. My mum has recently passed away and he wants to downsize, so I want to help him with this process and keep him company. + +Owning a Mustang would cost me about £1600 more per year to run for maintenance, car tax, insurance and petrol. After 5 years it will probably depreciate by £8000-£10000 based on my annual mileage. + +With my mum passing away, I am really looking for anything that will make me feel more excited about life - it is going to be a difficult couple of years. I've also never really treated myself to anything before, having always been a relatively frugal spender. But is that a good or dangerous reason to spend so much on a car? + +Ultimately, I know it is reckless but at the same time I feel like it is just what I need right now even just for a couple of years. +On this platform, there will be 2 (two) consumer financial management menus, including: + +A passive balance of "ESO cash": ESO cash is a fiat currency that is valid in that country can legally be used for various transactions and protected by law; + +Active "Cryptocurrency" balance: Active balance is a balance that has a fixed value at all times (the amount will always change according to the price of the digital asset (cryptocurrency) that the user has and the user can manage all of his financial or digital asset (cryptocurrency) investments. + +In this platform, users can quickly buy cryptocurrency for future investment of users and sell assets instantly when they need funds. Also, users can top up ESO cash at any merchant that has collaborated with ESO and users can make electricity payments, purchase credit, order train tickets, planes etc. + +"Payment" feature + +ESO payments are e-money or cryptocurrency payment features that can be used to make various types of payments such as payment of electricity, PDAMs, health insurance, online shopping. Not only that, but users can also buy credit, tickets, etc. + + +On this platform, there will be 2 (two) consumer financial management menus, including: + +A passive balance of "ESO cash": ESO cash is a fiat currency that is valid in that country can legally be used for various transactions and protected by law; + +Active "Cryptocurrency" balance: Active balance is a balance that has a fixed value at all times (the amount will always change according to the price of the digital asset (cryptocurrency) that the user has and the user can manage all of his financial or digital asset (cryptocurrency) investments. + +In this platform, users can quickly buy cryptocurrency for future investment of users and sell assets instantly when they need funds. Also, users can top up ESO cash at any merchant that has collaborated with ESO and users can make electricity payments, purchase credit, order train tickets, planes etc. + +"Payment" feature + +ESO payments are e-money or cryptocurrency payment features that can be used to make various types of payments such as payment of electricity, PDAMs, health insurance, online shopping. Not only that, but users can also buy credit, tickets, etc. + + +All jokes aside, have economists provided a "smart" and **just** way to tax rich individuals ? + +Media is talking about taxing rich billionaires, but most of them have their wealth in stocks. Say you tax them when their wealth increases (i.e stock goes up) if you don't give them tax credits when their stock goes down, this would lack any form of justice. +At first I thought about asking what your favorite value stock is, but then I decided that the word “favorite” implies some kind of emotional attachment, which is not what I’m interested in. + +I’m interested in hearing about your #1 go-to, rock-solid, buy-and-hold company. What do you like about it? In your opinion, what makes it stand out from the rest of your portfolio? How long have you been holding? etc. + +EDIT: To clarify, I am asking specifically about individual stocks—not any diversified securities like ETFs, mutual funds, etc. Thanks everyone for the great answers so far! +I'd just like to begin by saying that I'm not a real trader. I've only been trading for a year and most of it on a paper money account and a $500 test account that I almost blew up. I'm still not profitable and I have a long way to go. + +I've only been trading a few stocks and a few forex pairs, so I have no experience with options, hell, I don't even understand how options work (I haven't done any extensive research yet), but I see that a lot of people on r/wallstreetbets are making tons of money trading options. + +Are options a magical money printing machine? + +Are they really good with technical and fundamental analysis? + +Why is it that almost every trader looses money while they are making tons of money? + +I hope this doesn't get downvoted, I'm really curious as to why this seems to be the case. I just want to become a good and serious trader, I'm just beginning this journey and I know I have a long road ahead. +Wow - what a week. This is an extension of my DD series on GME. If you haven’t read them and have time, they will provide some background on my previous predictions, some of which have already come true. + +# Previous Important Posts + +* [EndGame Part 1](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/kwb827/gme_endgame_dtc_infinity/) (DTC Infinity) covered the short positions, the float, and potential snowball impacts of increasing prices, and argued that part of the reason that shorts haven’t closed was that it was pretty much impossible for shorts to close +* [EndGame Part 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/l0czgs/gme_endgame_part_2_cohen_market_cap_potential/) covered Cohen, fair market cap analysis, and potential investors, in which I talked about the amazing mid-to-long term potential for GME. +* After the Citron tweet, I shared this [fan fiction on what looked like blatant market manipulation by shorts](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/l1tg88/gme_how_shorts_manipulated_you_and_how_you_can_be/) on the day of the tweet, and offered some education on strengthening your position. This one got buried and is worth reading. + +# What’s happened thus far + +## Why did GME go up on Friday? + +The story here is more complex than paid media articles would like you to believe. GME has been driven up by 3 different forces: + +* Organic buying + * There is a mixture of growing positive sentiment in the investor world (not just WSB) about GME’s future + * There’s been a lot of good due diligence shared not just on WSB but even outside (for example, see gmedd.com) + * The Citron Backfire + * Shorts were on the ropes and kept looking for hail mary’s. They went to Citron and [coordinated a dump](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/l1tg88/gme_how_shorts_manipulated_you_and_how_you_can_be/) to try to bring the price down. + * However, this backfired. Citron is so disliked in the industry that new wealth poured into GME in the face of Andrew Left’s pleas. Even when Benzinga brought Andrew Left on air, **minutes after he left** [they bought shares live on their show](https://youtu.be/mFiFWBrE5DE?t=5104)**.** + * The next day, our very on u/Uberkikz11 [was on Benzinga](https://youtu.be/GLzTU87MJMM?t=837) and more shares were bought. + * Larger investors piling in + * In my [EndGame Part 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/l0czgs/gme_endgame_part_2_cohen_market_cap_potential/), I hypothesized that we’d soon see larger investors pile in. Then, on WSB, we saw posts from a [venture capitalist](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/l0yzb5/a_venture_capital_perspective_on_gme/) as well as a [hedge fund investor](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/l2zk5e/a_hedge_fund_managers_perspective_on_gme/) +* Gamma squeeze + * Once the organic buying started, we rolled into a gamma squeeze. Many people written about the gamma squeeze so I won’t repeat, see [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/l2t9bf/gme_i_think_this_is_a_gamma_squeeze_where_dealers/) for an example. +* Ultra low liquidity - In EndGame part 1, I talked about how the actual actively traded shares are much lower than the reported float, and **share availability has been reducing** driven by lots of diamond hands, not just among smaller guys like us but the larger folks too. +* I believe there were some short covers on Friday, but Ortex was still estimating 71M shares short at the eod. + +However, not many people have talked about why it **went down** + +## Why did GME come down? + +Here’s where things got interesting for me, and something I think happened again today (Monday) when GME climbed up over 100% but then had a rapid reversal, closing 20% above yesterday but closing below open. + +So Friday looked like a slam dunk - gamma squeeze, no shorts available to short, puts were getting exceedingly expensive as a short tactic. What happened? + +This is my fan fiction, based on what I saw. + +**I believe** [**market-makers**](https://www.nyse.com/markets/nyse/membership) **took a non-neutral stance and began actively shorting the stock after the second halt.** + +Market-makers are responsible for maintaining liquidity and functioning in the stock market, but they also have abilities that others don’t - for example they are legally allowed to naked short for “liquidity purposes”. They also have the ability to halt trading. + +There were two halts in the day on Friday: First, when GME was up 69% (heh heh), and then a few minutes later when it kept climbing after the first halt was relaxed. Note that at the time of the first halt, the **bid-ask spread was $10 on the underlying** a huge signal that there just were not enough shares to buy. + +However, after the second halt, something strange happened. Whereas a few minutes prior, there were no sellers willing to sell their shares below $75, **within 15 minutes** after the halt there were sellers at 70, 65, 60, and 56. Where did these sellers come from? + +&#x200B; + +[Incredible momentum reversal on Friday 1\/22 to push the price not too far above the 60c strike price. ](https://preview.redd.it/tt5zodp6pkd61.png?width=704&format=png&auto=webp&s=fa22980543213227bf5b3d17166129ac6cb65a65) + +My speculation? This was a coordinated **naked short ladder attack**. In this type of attack, short seller A sells to short seller B, who then turns around to short seller A at a lower price, etc. and with a **very small amount of capital** you can wreck the momentum of a stock and make people think that others are running for the exits. + +Notice how the stock dropped from a high of $75 on Friday to below 60 - the highest expiring SP for the 1/22 options, and stayed tight in range for the rest of the day. Now, for compliance reasons, MM are required to be neutral by EOD, so 20 minutes before close, MMs had to buy back all their short positions, which led to the strong close above 60. + +All this led me to believe that the **real fair market price for GME was above $65.** Without the market makers interference, GME would have closed higher. + +## A repeat on Monday + +The short ladder attack repeated on Monday. + +GME opened strong above $90, and quickly climbed to **a high above $155** before it was halted, immediately after the halt, a **short ladder attack again** drove the price down + +&#x200B; + +[Dejavu - Incredible Momentum Reversal after trading halts. ](https://preview.redd.it/qm81rd0dpkd61.png?width=637&format=png&auto=webp&s=4b4563e7dd2e626fb09dca69668c24631932e707) + +Both days, there **were rapid and significant reversals in momentum.** + +Now, I kept wondering - why would MM’s take the side of the shorts? What’s in it for them? One theory was that they were not adequately hedged, with the low liquidity of the stock meaning that the price was moving up too fast for them to acquire the shares they needed to. + +But then the news hit today: + +# A new opponent enters the ring: + +&#x200B; + +https://preview.redd.it/8htb0scgpkd61.png?width=926&format=png&auto=webp&s=228a8a84e592ea4642a61c5e07e07ae344ac8f2c + +That’s right, the **same Citadel** [**listed by the NYSE as one of their designated market makers**](https://www.nyse.com/markets/nyse/membership) is now invested in Melvin’s hedge fund and has a financial interest in the direction of GME’s share price. + +**Hey media - you want a manipulation story? You’re missing the big one.** + +# Now what? + +Shorts have pulled new dirty tactics each time they’ve been pushed to the edge. Paid media attacks, Citron’s fluff tweet + coordinated shorting, and now they’ve got the **actual people who get all the order flow on their side.** + +On the other hand, GME is still up over 20% and now trading at $88.00 after hours, which is well above the previous day’s high. + +&#x200B; + +https://preview.redd.it/rr5qet4ipkd61.png?width=724&format=png&auto=webp&s=96d28bf446a714906712503726f5903a681d5368 + +What this tells me is that GME’s **true price is still being suppressed**. They are using every tactic possible, even changing the [bid-ask spread rules](https://thefly.com/permalinks/entry.php/id3233043/GME;IRBT-NYSE-changes-bidask-differentials-on-options-for-GameStop-iRobot) on options to specifically target retail’s buying of options. + +We’re now playing the game against the folks who write the rules of the game. + +Some shorts may have covered today - with prices below $60 at one point they had some great opportunities to. However, there is **no way all of the shorts who need to exit covered today.** + +The short position still lost 20% from yesterday. They’ve got more fingers in the dam, but it’s definitely cracking. Also, **every call option purchased prior to 1/25 is ITM and profitable,** while **every put option purchased prior to 1/25 is OTM.** + +And, for some reason, the SEC still doesn’t want to enforce the threshold securities list for GME, where it’s now **been on for more than 30 days in a highly covered “short squeeze”.** + +&#x200B; + +https://preview.redd.it/rbrf6khjpkd61.png?width=936&format=png&auto=webp&s=7e4f432ff02dbf475a03cc68c54a5a0f5f0de429 + +# Margin impacts: + +Note that at this point, most brokers have increased margin on GME. This means that people that are long or short on margin will need to put up capital to hold their positions. + +This also means **puts will get more expensive** as people who sell puts will have to maintain 100% of the notional in their accounts to secure the put, so MMs will have fewer retail sellers of puts to absorb the demand. + +That means it’s not a bad idea to sell puts to acquire shares if you’re aiming for the long-term and not the squeeze, but keep in mind you’ll need the exact same capital as if you’d bought the shares, so it’s up to you on this. + +For shorts, a margin increase while the price is moving against you (even with retracements) is no good. + +# My speculation + +* Cohen and the GME board have been strangely silent this entire run. It’s possible they can’t say anything at all during the pre-earnings quiet period, but I’m sure they can see what’s happening. +* MMs will continue to play dirty, but at the same time they will need to continue to need to buy GME shares to delta hedge 1/29 and later ITM options as we get closer to expiry. + +# Things to be careful about + +As you can see, this is no easy win. I've been in GME for a few months but I've seen almost every trick in the book. In addition to the [suggestions I wrote about in this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/l1tg88/gme_how_shorts_manipulated_you_and_how_you_can_be/), here’s some things to be careful about. + +* **Be careful about swapping ITM calls for OTM calls:** it can be tempting to trade-up your options for higher return, but be mindful of the delta impact. You may actually be driving the sale of shares by MMs when you don’t mean to. For example, if you sell a .5 delta call for 2 .2 delta calls, that’s net reduction of 10 shares that MMs have to hold long as leverage. +* **Be careful about being short any calls this week:** Not only do you limit your upside (which is dumb in the prospect of a squeeze), you could end up in a nightmare scenario. A call that ends OTM on Friday could end up ITM after hours if you didn’t sell it, and you may get assigned while the underlying continues to go up. +* **There are a few other dirty tactics shorts can play.** I’m not specifically going to share them here because I don’t want to give the ideas circulation, but + * **Choose your own limit sells based on personal sell points.** Don’t copy others and don’t try to be memey. Make your own decisions. + * **Stop sharing your positions publicly.** I know this is anti-wsb, and I think sharing them is great for this community, but in the case of GME it’s an **attack vector** for you. +* **Be careful of holding weeklies until expiration.** Remember the multiple trading halts? What if trading gets halted on Friday at 2pm and doesn’t resume for the rest of the day? **All your 1/29 calls would expire worthless. Depending on your broker and your cash positions, maybe even your ITM ones.** Roll (or sell, if you’re taking profits) your weeklies well before expiration. +* **Be careful about buying on margin.** Brokers are rapidly increasing margins. If you bought on margin with 2:1 leverage, and the stock went up 100%, you’d be in margin call even without a margin change. If the broker moves margin against you, you’ll get to margin call faster. +* **Don’t bet more than you can afford to lose.** I’ve been in GME long enough to know that just when you think going up is a sure thing (remember last Monday with the short sale restriction?), you can be surprised by a new trick. If you bet it all on weeklies all at once, you may not be able to recover from being wrong on the timing. Consider longer expiry or spreading your purchases out. I’ve held through multiple 30-40% drawdowns in the underlying; and **held through a 50% drawdown today**, so you need to be ready for the volatility. +* **Watch out for stop loss hunts.** It’s common practice for shorts to hunt for stop losses for cheap shares. If you’ve set a stop loss, be really sure about it. + +This is not financial advice; do your own DD. I’m holding over $1M in shares and calls. + +# 1/26 Update + +Hi everyone. Sorry for not posting or replying to comments. I was auto-banned from WSB when this post was auto-deleted by the auto-mod. Thanks to u/zjz to reversing the auto-deletion of the post though as it looked like it was helpful to the community. + +Hope you all made a ton of money today! + +**Quick Notes:** + +* At an after-hours price of **$209 a share**, **every call option, for every expiry, for every strike price is in-the-money. This is the third time this has happened for GME recently.** Amazing. What this means now is that market makers will need to buy a lot of shares to hedge for the calls expiring this week. Heed my above warnings. +* At this price, shorts **will start to get liquidated.** Combining the 400% weekly gain with the margin requirements increasing across the board, brokers will force close short positions. Starting maybe with the small guys, but it will cause a ripple effect. **Things could move fast.** Some funds may get additional bailouts this week to hold out. +* **You need to decide your own exit.** Only you know how much $ you're playing with, how much you're willing to lose, how important the $ is to you, etc. **Minimize you're regret, don't maximize your profits.** If you are thinking about taking profits this week, spread out your sells so you don't kick yourself over timing things poorly. Personally, I think we are in **unprecedented territory** and that there's no way all of the shorts have exited already, so we're not done. I could be wrong. See EndGame part 1. +* **Close spreads.** With every call ITM, you are at the risk of early-assignment. If you don't watch closely, you could be hit with sky-high hard-to-borrow fees and get killed on what you thought was a profitable trade. +* **Watch for ripple effects. This is already happening.** When funds get liquidated, they have to buy back all their other shorts (see AMC, BBBY) and sell their longs (look at BABA after-hours). Want to play GME without playing GME? Maybe throw a little $ at BBBY. You do you. +* In EndGame Part 2, I talked about potential investors, and how the higher price is gonna attract the bigger $. Today we saw Chamath, Winklevoss, and others. And then Elon tweeted and simultaneously stimulated the buying frenzy and scared the crap out of shorts. I'm just gonna copy what I said about this potentiality + * ***Elon****: (Least likely, completely improbable, but cataclysmic event). Elon hates shorts. Elon, with TSLA, went through the pain that GME is going through. TSLA almost went bankrupt because shorts were pushing the price down so it was difficult to raise the cash they needed to survive. Sound familiar?* ***Elon’s wealth swings more in a day than GME is worth in entirety.*** *Elon could* ***buy all the fucking float of GME with what he makes in 8 hours****. One call from fellow entrepreneur and* [*aspiring twitter-meme-god*](https://twitter.com/ryancohen) *would absolutely wreck the game.* + +1. ***If you are short gamestop****, you are one meme purchase by the richest man in the world away from a fucking cataclysmic event. "Hey son, I heard you like games. So I bought you gamestop. All of it." 🚀* + +&#x200B; + +&#x200B; +I expressed some serious dissatisfaction recently in a comment on an "anonymous" employee survey at my job. My boss talked to us in a staff meeting about the results of the survey and expressed a lot of concern over "some comments" (mine) and encouraged us to talk to her about any issues we have because she felt uncomfortable not addressing the issues head-on. Feeling like it wouldn't be fair to just leave it hanging like that, I scheduled a meeting with her. + +In the meeting, we discussed my issues at length, which mostly have to do with the attitude of my immediate supervisor. But at the end she said to me pretty firmly, "I'm not trying to push you out, but I want you to take some time to think about whether or not you really want to be here. There are a lot of opportunities out there." + +The truth is, I do want to leave, but I've been applying to jobs for 6 months and have only gotten one interview, and they didn't even bother to send me a rejection letter. Seriously, no one will hire me. I have some savings, but I've been trying to keep that so that I can invest it and actually have something for retirement. I'm making under $40k at this job as it is. + +Is this a sign I should just up and quit my job without another one lined up? I'm so depressed. I guess I could move another city over and live with my parents again, but Jesus, I'm 28. And I just signed a new lease. Someone please tell me it gets better. + +EDIT: Thanks a million to everyone who replied with advice, messaged me to offer resume help and further tips, etc. I realized later that maybe I should have posted this in a career advice sub, but the response from everyone here has been so encouraging. Even the tough love, which I know is needed. Thank you so very much. + +EDIT 2: Yeah, I realize that some people don't think it's a good idea to honestly fill out an employee survey. I get it. But what's done is done, so telling me that I shouldn't ever do that isn't really helping here. + +EDIT 3: It's late in the game at this point but just FYI - I knew that they would know it was me who filled out the survey. It was painfully obvious. I didn't care because I was so angry and fed up when I filled it out. I wanted it to start a conversation. +The omnibus spending bill included a surprise gift for workers: employers with 10+ workers are now required to put at least 3% of worker pay in a retirement fund each year of employment. +I currently have 4 rentals. One is a single mom who works at a bar. I reached out to her the day my state announced: "all bars to be closed for 30 days." I've avoided her messaging me awkwardly. She's been a good tenant, always paid on-time or earlier, and has updated the property by a few hundred bucks w/ improvements she can't take w/ her. I told her if she had the extra money she could pay, if not, then please keep her money and we could square up whenever she could. + +She told me she could pay half, I told her it was up to her, and I wouldn't press her until this stuff got sorted out, but I would be keeping accurate records. + +It's easy to be heartless in the REI game. But at the end of the day, treating people like you wanted to be treated usually ends well. Especially, when it's a good person and they aren't paying not cause they don't want to, but literally, because they can't. + +Anyway, there's my dump for the night. It's always the right thing to do the right thing. Maybe it bites me in the butt and I lose money. And maybe my reserves go crazy low, but I'll sleep well at night. +http://www.forbes.com/sites/cameronkeng/2014/06/22/employees-that-stay-in-companies-longer-than-2-years-get-paid-50-less/#454e629ee07f + +Companies need to get back to rewarding employees for their tenure. Until they do, don't reward companies with your loyalty. When you're worth more on the open market than your company will give you, they are doing you a disservice and you should make the best decision for your own future and go make what you're worth. The more people who do this, the more likely companies will be to change and allow us to stick around and be compensated for it. + +Millenials often started their careers in the recession, and have an inset fear of the job market because of it. They often walk around moping as if the economy is stuck in 2009, and it's not. The market is good right now, go test it. +Ok here's the question: if you could only pick one ETF to hold your entire portfolio in and make regular contributions monthly and you had to hold it for 25 years. What would it be? +My life changed because of one silly post that I came across on reddit. It was a pic of someone holding up their paper wallet from a bitcoin atm showing both public and private keys. The picture made me wonder if there were any nearby bitcoin atms, so I did a quick google search and found an atm 10 minutes away from me. I went to the atm and put in $20 just to say that I had some bitcoin. I signed up for /r/bitcoinbeginners and learned about Coinbase. After signing up with Coinbase, I started researching the "other" crypto being offered and learned about /r/ethtrader. I started buying eth at $11 and eventually invested 10% of my net worth in crypto. + +I stuck with eth when it rose above $400 and when it recently dipped below $200. This month I decided that I wanted to set a baseline on what I would get with my crypto investment. I sold enough eth and bitcoin to pay off the mortgage to my house and compensate for taxes. Today I went to the bank and turned in my final house payment. No matter what happens to crypto from here on out, I have a house. Paying off the house was never a goal for 2017. Hell, it wasn't even a goal for the next decade. + +Do I think eth will hit above $400 again? Yes, and it might happen tomorrow or next week. I've never doubted the technology. However, getting rid of my mortgage takes an immediate, priceless weight off my shoulders. I work in an industry where layoffs always seem to be on the horizon, and it's hard to get a job when everyone is out of a job. Now I don't have to worry about keeping a roof over my family's head. The relief is euphoric. + +I'm not completely off the crypto ride. I still have a good amount of eth left. I'm going to invest a small amount per month back into eth and bitcoin to slowly build my stockpile back up, but I'm not in any rush. I'd like to thank this sub as well as many others for all the knowledge, advice, and entertainment. Posting this on a throwaway account so I can continue to post questions on this sub (I probably made two posts here). + +tl;dr - Paid off my house with cryptocurrency gains. Financial freedom is awesome. + +Edited to add: + +I've been getting a lot of private messages asking for advice on how to get started with investing in crypto. The advice I give to all my friends is to start how I did and just buy $20 worth of bitcoin or ether. Think of $20 as payment for an intro lesson to crypto. I suggest Coinbase only because that's what I started with after the atm, and I thought it was pretty simple to understand. Once you have a small amount of crypto, download a wallet app and practice transferring the crypto from Coinbase to your wallet and back to Coinbase. Then just hold (hodl) the crypto and watch how it gains/loses value and check your risk tolerance, and don't invest more than you're willing to lose completely. Subscribe to the subs that you have your crypto in. + +My wife and I have been on food stamps and Medicaid for over seven years. SNAP has been a lifesaver. It's not a perfect system, and there are hoops to jump through, but it has kept us fed when we would otherwise not have been able to feed ourselves. + +Then suddenly, last month, my wife needed major abdominal surgery to remove some tumors. We'd gone to the doctor a few times over the years, but we had never put our Medicaid coverage to the test. I have to say, the care she received was top drawer, the surgeon was amazing (the surgery was partially robotic!), and, best of all, we never saw a bill of any kind from the hospital and never made a single co-payment. + +So, to everyone who pays the taxes that make Medicaid possible, thank you! The next time you hem and haw about paying taxes because you imagine your money being wasted on unnecessary government spending, remember that there are ordinary folks out here who greatly benefit from those same dollars. + KWATT Token currently is an ERC20, Ethereum based smart contract. Upon completion of the blockchain development, the token will be swapped to the KWATT Coin that will interact with our blockchain. + + + The total coin offering is for three hundred million coins (300,000,000). + + + Our first plant will launch with a capacity of generating 10 megawatts of power every hour. Upon seasoning the plant operations, our infrastructure will be able to increase output capacity to 40 megawatts per hour. 1 megawatt is equivalent to 1000 kilowatts. 1000 kilowatts powers approximately 650 households for one day. Peak or off-peak usage of the power at different times of the day can cause this average to deviate. + + + The maximum annual output capacity of the plant is 346 million kilowatts per year. Due to maintenance and general down time for repairs to the plant, expected annual output capacity is estimated at 300 million kilowatts per year realistically. + + + Each KWATT Coin embodies an annual supply of 1 kilowatt of electricity within it. + + + A typical Waste to Energy plant depreciates to its salvage value over 50 years. Regular maintenance and upkeep will allow us to extend life beyond that. + + This means holder of KWATT Coin will be able to apply their energy to one of two places each year for the next 50 years. They can either sell their energy to the UK National Grid or they can choose to apply it towards 4NEW’s cryptocurrency mining farm. + + The price of 1 kilowatt for electricity is a very stable metric. Over the past 50 years, the global average retail price is approximately $0.15 USD per kilowatt, inflation adjusted. + + 4NEW will never authorize any additional coins issuance over and above the three hundred millions coins being launched in this initial coin offering. Therefore, any future growth in 4NEW plant sites will always rely on the supply of the coins being issued in this offering. + + Each year management will apply 35% of its net profits towards a reinvestment strategy to enable future development of plants. This will ensure longevity and scalability to 4NEW over a sustained period of time.4NEW Insiders and Founders will be restricted from selling any coins until January 1st, 2019. + + Any KWATT Coins not sold in the offering will be burned. For the avoidance of doubt, all burned coins will release the supply of the energy that was embodied within the coin, allowing that unencumbered energy to be freely sold to the UK national grid or applied towards the mining farm at management’s discretion. + + At the start of each year, KWATT Coin holders will be able to choose a desired application of their energy the coin holder owns as represented by the total amount of KWATT Coins in their control at the time of this election. + + Therefore, if the coin holders desire to sell their energy to the UK national grid then the respective option can be selected. Alternatively, if the coin holder were to select the mining farm then the energy will be applied to the mining farm. Any decisions not made within the allotted time frame at the start of each year, will leave the management the right to determine the allocation of the energy at its discretion. +Thinking about human nature, I feel it is reasonable to assume some companies will take the news about inflation and use it to raise prices higher than actually needed, but blame inflation. How difficult is it to study financial statements and try to determine if they need to raise prices as much as they are? I know this is a fairly broad question, but I am hoping to get some insights. Thank you! +I’m going to be inheriting around 200k in the next 5 years. I am a 22 year old Female, both of my parents are deceased - so I really don’t know much about financial planning, money, etc. just wanted some advice on how to handle this. I have $0 in my bank account right now and live paycheck to paycheck so this will be huge compared to the way I’m living currently. Thanks I’m advance guys. +I'm a single man in my late 20s making 140k + super as a software developer. I can safely say I am extremely comfortable and privileged with my status in life. + +I don't need to go the extra mile to save money with a hospital cover. Furthermore I would rather my money go into Medicare and public sector (aka helping real people) than line the pockets of some health insurance executive. + +I explained this to some of my friends and they thought I was insane for thinking like this. Is there anyone else in a similar situation? Or is everyone above the threshold on private healthcare? +I’m tired of seeing him as a face of crypto in news. He is not one of us. He isn’t your average Joe. He is multi billionaire, one of the richest guys in the world. He doesn’t care about you, about me, about mine or your family. All he cares it’s his ego and his companies. + +Lately, we’ve seen a lot of hate towards Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook. Is sweet Elon Musk different? Maybe he isn’t lizardy as Marky is, because he is skrull from Mars. Is Elon any different compared to Mark? Both of them are shilling their own companies, Tesla isn’t different. Just because he offers you to buy Tesla with BTC, it doesn’t mean that he is on your side. He isn’t helping you, he is helping himself. + +While you’re laughing at him shilling DOGE, he is laughing at you how is he manipulating you. He is not helping crypto, he is hurting it. He isn’t same as you or me, he doesn’t have to save money for food, he doesn’t have the count if he has enough for dinner. + +He isn’t on your side, every one of the billionaires are trying to manipulate as much people as they can, to make them believe in theirs own visions and dreams. Just because he pumped your coin, it doesn’t mean that he is your lovely neighbour. + +Elon shouldn’t be used as a model for crypto. Just because he was on Joe Rogan podcast, it isn’t making him a proper role model. + +Stop giving him any reputation when it comes to crypto, this guy just shilled a shitcoin and thousands of people falls for it. +...And how to proceed later? I don't pretend to ever become an academic, I just want to know enough about the science so I, an average Joe with a 48 hour a week work schedule, cannot be easily deceived by either politicians, ideologues or scammers. +I’m tired of seeing him as a face of crypto in news. He is not one of us. He isn’t your average Joe. He is multi billionaire, one of the richest guys in the world. He doesn’t care about you, about me, about mine or your family. All he cares it’s his ego and his companies. + +Lately, we’ve seen a lot of hate towards Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook. Is sweet Elon Musk different? Maybe he isn’t lizardy as Marky is, because he is skrull from Mars. Is Elon any different compared to Mark? Both of them are shilling their own companies, Tesla isn’t different. Just because he offers you to buy Tesla with BTC, it doesn’t mean that he is on your side. He isn’t helping you, he is helping himself. + +While you’re laughing at him shilling DOGE, he is laughing at you how is he manipulating you. He is not helping crypto, he is hurting it. He isn’t same as you or me, he doesn’t have to save money for food, he doesn’t have the count if he has enough for dinner. + +He isn’t on your side, every one of the billionaires are trying to manipulate as much people as they can, to make them believe in theirs own visions and dreams. Just because he pumped your coin, it doesn’t mean that he is your lovely neighbour. + +Elon shouldn’t be used as a model for crypto. Just because he was on Joe Rogan podcast, it isn’t making him a proper role model. + +Stop giving him any reputation when it comes to crypto, this guy just shilled a shitcoin and thousands of people falls for it. +Given the information you have today, if you have to select 5 companies to hold for 10 years without looking at it, which companies will you pick? + +PS. I am well aware that you can always change your mind, correct your mistake as new information comes in, but this hypothetical question is quite useful for brining out the most conviction stocks we have, so I always like to ask people this +TLDR: Put "-fool" in every google search + +If you're like me and think Motley Fools articles are absolutely absurd and hate seeing them spammed across every DD search for stocks or companies, filter out every Motley Fool article by placing "-fool" at the end of google searches. + +It's like subtracting the fools from your research!! + +GLTA! + +. +. +. + +Edit: Sounds like some people enjoy their premium services, which is great! Obviously I was talking about the free overloaded clickbait articles. I have never paid for stock pick services and was just trying to help people who are in the same boat. + +[Example](https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadianInvestor/comments/m3tl1s/an_overview_of_motley_fools_opinion_on_air_canada/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) +Mods. FatFIRE community. + +I’m going to be borderline cruel and candid with my thoughts in this post. + +In October 2019 this sub had 50k subscribers. Today it has over 160k. Most of those newcomers are nowhere near FatFIRE and clearly not on their way there. Most of them will also never ever reach FatFIRE in their lives, sans winning a lottery. It’s time to talk about the state of the sub (yet again). + +Why is the influx of newcomers bad for the sub: + +* They change the course of the discussion +* Worthless contributions +* Ascribing more importance to posts/ideas through up/downvotes that are clearly anti-fatFire +* Increase in LARPing + +The speed at which the discussion on this sub has deteriorated in the past 6 months is absolutely staggering to me. + +I do not care to hear from someone making 50k or 100k. I simply don’t. They live on a different plane, have vastly different needs and budgets. I don’t care if they aspire to be fatFired, all people dream of wealth. But this is not a place for them, they have r/fire and r/chubbyfire at their disposal. + +**Examples** of troubling comments/posts that received support here but have no place on fatFire: + +* [After first 2-3 millions, a paid off home and a good car, there is no difference In qualify of life between you and Jeff Bezos](https://www.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/comments/mkzt1f/i_have_a_secret_to_share_shhhhh/) – patently false and written by someone who doesn’t understand the purchasing power of 100M, let alone billions. Commenters pointed out why. +* [I don't have enough money to retire so I'll have to get a job \[and may be\] working at age 65](https://www.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/comments/lmcktr/fatfire_is_for_suckers_i_decided_to_file_live/). But sure, [FatFIRE is for suckers](https://www.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/comments/lmcktr/fatfire_is_for_suckers_i_decided_to_file_live/)! – please tell me how anyone on the fatFire path would upvote this. Yet with 1.9k upvotes this is one of the top threads from last year +* [I absolutely hate it when people post and others respond "you aren't 'fat' enough to be fatFIRE, go post somewhere else. The person making that post may have been saving every penny they have earned for 30 years.](https://www.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/comments/ll2u8y/state_of_the_sub/gnp6dgg?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) – classic example of how the subs dilution turns this sub into another generic “room for everyone” FIRE sub. Plenty of other subreddits focused on normal FIRE but no, we have to re-fit this sub to everyone who saved for 30 years and was only able to put aside a million. + +I can post loads of other examples, but in short, we need more posts like this [frank AMA from a wealth advisor](https://www.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/comments/mhxhsq/ama_i_am_a_wealth_advisor_to_high_net_worth/) and much less posts about reaching [400k](https://www.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/comments/k8jkep/just_hit_400k_25_m_380k/) or [1M](https://www.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/comments/l2i0ke/cant_sleep_became_a_millionaire_yesterday/) milestones. + +My suggestions, and I hope fatFire folks will add more: + +1. **Bans**. This is of the utmost importance. + +* · I firmly believe this sub will be lost unless we start not only removing content that’s not fatFire-related but also makes it clear such content is unwelcome here. +* · Examples from actual comments: “I’m only a student but..”, “In my early 30s with 1.5M NW, half of which is in the house we inherited..”, “Lurker but not close to fatFire, I think…” +* · All of the above should result in a ban, I’d prefer permanent but at least temporary would be a great start + +**2.** **Stop with ‘bending the rules’ for popular posts.** + +* · It creates a perpetual cycle where this sub upvotes and then creates more off-topic threads +* · Don’t lock them. Remove them, and ban offenders (temporarily or permanently) + +**3.** **Report, report, report.** + +* Mods have been doing a terrific job guys. But it’s also on us to report stuff that’s clearly anti-fatFIRE or irrelevant. + +Partially inspired by [this old dog here](https://www.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/comments/mpg76p/on_the_internet_nobody_knows_youre_a_dog/). + +&#x200B; + +EDIT: some prime examples of comments from people nowhere near FIRE who get tons of upvotes here because I am not fat enough in their opinion to comment on the state of the sub: + +* u/headpsu: "I drive a used Toyota, live in a fixer-upper I’m slowly renovating myself" in Pittsburgh. Funny this person would talk about who is allowed to comment while openly admitting he's "[not fat yet](https://www.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/comments/m85uvg/when_shall_i_fatfire/grg0x7a?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)" himself. +* u/gilglou is a student living with her parents: "[I’ve considered myself a functional stoner for years... For the past few weeks I have stayed with my parent’s and quit cold Turkey](https://www.reddit.com/r/leaves/comments/ke9urd/i_still_smoke_daily_but_still_find_myself_on_this/gg1eraa?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)" + +I would also echo something raised by non-Fat people: lower content quality affects us all equally. Whether you're a lurker or contributor we all benefit most when the discussion focuses on the quality. I'm happy to go back to lurking if that's what it takes to raise the bar of the discussion and exclude people below a certain NW number, etc. +Today I noticed a $5 fee was deducted from my savings account. I called and was informed this is required, unless I met certain minimum balances, etc. + +I cancelled my savings account, which I've had for over 30 years. + +Link below for more info. + +https://www.bankofamerica.com/deposits/account-fees/ + + +Edit: new fee, customer service agent confirmed to me on the phone that it just started today. She's had many people call in to complain/cancel. +Alright boys and girls. If you're struggling to become a "trader" listen closely.. I trade for a fund and here is some solid advice from someone who does this for a living. Plus, I've had a few whiskey's so I'm more inclined to offer advice than I normally am.. Don't judge me - it's Friday night here.. + +I'm probably going to receive flak for this from "traders", but again, I get paid full-time to do this shit so either listen or don't. I don't care. + +Basically, I'm sick and tired of watching a bunch of fakers offer a bunch of fake advice to a bunch of rookies trying their best to learn how to trade. I was taught by a mentor who had been doing this shit for 30+ years and I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for him so I want to pay it forward. + +&#x200B; + +**Rule #1: Risk Management.** + +This is THE only way to make money. The best FX-specific funds in the world are right no more than 60-70% of the time each month AT BEST. Some are only right 40% of the time and still make money.. HOW? Risk management. Risk only a % of each trade and trade like a sniper- take only the most high probability setups and and move your stop once it goes in your direction. If it reverts and stops you out, it means you're wrong and you don't want to be in the trade anyway! + +&#x200B; + +**Rule #2: Have a target** + +Yes, the turtle traders "rode the trend".. but they also traded in an era where once a derivative broke out of a range it kept going. Now days you have false breaks/fakeouts/washouts, sideways action etc. If you don't have a target, how do you know where to get out? Don't worry if you get out way too early - as long as you get your profit. Which brings me to; + +&#x200B; + +**Rule #3: Don't get FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)** + +Don't chase a trade. Period. If you miss the entry, who cares. You're trading a market that's open 24/5. There's always another opportunity. On the contrary, if you get out of a trade too early - who cares!? You got your profit, now let it run and look for a reversal. OR, if if consolidates, look for another move in the same direction. DON'T GET CAUGHT UP ON WHAT-IF'S! + +&#x200B; + +**Rule #4: Stay Zen** + +This sounds hippy AF but trading will take your mind to dark places you didn't even know existed. Stay zen. A full loss? No problem. 4 losses in a row. No problem. This is part of trading. Stay zen and keep your emotions at the door. All strategies will experience a draw-down. If you don't want that and you don't like losing then you're in the wrong game. You NEED to be able to handle losses. + +&#x200B; + +**Rule #5: Make your own analysis** + +Don't listen to "hot tips", analysis or anything from other sources. And please, for the love of god, DON'T PAY FOR TRADE ALERTS!!!! DYOR (Do Your Own Research), make your own analysis/bias and **stick to it**. This includes ignoring the "pro's". No one is right 100% of the time - if you go against the "experts" who's to say it's not the one time they're wrong!? I once held long a Euro trade when every news source in the world devalued the Euro... I was right, they were wrong - that was one of my largest monthly commissions that month.. I also once held a crude trade when everyone, including CNBC was talking about tanking crude prices - I made 10% on my portfolio that month.. + +&#x200B; + +**Rule #6: Get realistic** + +Oh, you've got $1,500 to trade with? Yeah.. you won't be trading full-time next year. Sorry. It doesn't work like that. Anyone claiming to make 100% of their portfolio in a few months is lying. Either that, or they have BUT they won't keep it up. If they do, they'll go down in history as the best trader in the world. The average FX-specific fund averages 4-7% per month. At my fund, we aim for 5-10% per month. This is top 1% in terms of "funds" / "professional traders". If you're a retail trader you can probably make adjustments to trade a little differently and maybe improve your performance. But again, if you have $1,500 to trade, don't expect it to be $200,000 in 12 months. That's not how it works. Why do it then? Well, all you need to do is beat government bonds (4.75% .. ?) and you've made a "successful investment". How do people become rich from trading then? .. well, they manage money of course.. if you manage $1,500,000 and make 7% and keep a commission, you'll earn far more than 10% on a $1,500 account.. + +&#x200B; + +**Rule #7: STOP LOOKING FOR THE HOLY GRAIL !!! It DOESN'T exist !** + +Want proof? Fine.. I have gone through and taken examples of how it doesn't matter what strategy you have, you CAN be successful. So, here are SEVEN different strategies on the SAME CHART (gold) that are all profitable. The point being that in the same bullish move it doesn't matter what strategy you use, there are multiple opportunities to enter. + +Strategy 1: + +https://i.redd.it/wrwl1170xcx21.png + +Strategy 2: + +https://i.redd.it/fx9gqma3xcx21.png + +Strategy 3: + +https://i.redd.it/8tli4yv5xcx21.png + +Strategy 4: + +https://i.redd.it/grbcy2n7xcx21.png + +Strategy 5: + +https://i.redd.it/98siamy8xcx21.png + +Strategy 6: + +https://i.redd.it/i3fjz2taxcx21.png + +Strategy 7: + +https://i.redd.it/thgudhwcxcx21.png + +**Rule #8: Stick to your strategy** + +This is important. If you encounter a string of losses - DON'T CHANGE YOUR STRATEGY. Just because you're going through a drawdown doesn't mean your strategy no longer works. This is where risk management comes in.. if you're only risking 2% per trade you can sustain a drawdown.. if you're punting at 10% per trade you're quickly going to burn out. + +&#x200B; + +**Rule 9: Stay true to your analysis** + +You're either right or you're wrong. If you're in a trade and it goes your way then reverts, are you going to close or hold? Once you enter a trade you shouldn't be "guessing" you should know "it's going to go to here" - you're either right or you're wrong. Don't be scared by a simple pull-back. + +For example, in the situation below, if you enter where it says entry and you expect it to reach your profit target.. would you close when you see the choppy action in the red box? A rookie would get scared and close. A professional would hold knowing that they're right and it will eventually hit their profit. If it doesn't, it means they're wrong and that's what their stop is for - the most they're willing to risk. If you're never willing to take a full loss, you'll never be willing to take a full win. + +https://i.redd.it/lk818xn28dx21.jpg + +&#x200B; + +**Rule #10: Find your style** + +Are you wanting freedom? Then don't scalp. I spend no more than 10-15hrs per week looking at charts. That's how I like it. I won't want to be like some of my colleagues where they left a full-time job only to.. look at a chart full-time.. What's the point!? + +But hey, if you're into that stuff and you like watching each tick, then good luck to you. If you're new to forex, start on a daily or 4hr then work your way down to intraday. Most strategies can be slightly altered from a daily chart to suit a 5min chart. + +&#x200B; + +**Conclusion** + +There's some good reading for ya. I'm now more than tipsy so should probably go drink some water. If you have any questions, ask away. Don't expect a quick reply. + +Remember, it takes years to learn this shit. Don't beat yourself up if you hit a 'slump', just keep chugging along and you'll get there in the end! +It does not matter if you invested in GME, made money on NOK, or you are just interested in the stock market. + +Today different brokers took down from MILLIONS of retail traders the opportunity to partecipate actively in the stock market to save some billionaires hedge funds. + +In the last generation most of the people thought about the stock market as something abstract and only reserved to the richest getting richer, only having a clue about what Wall Street is thanks to movies. + +For few years in wich the possibility to partecipate was estended to a lot of retail users, and guess what happened? Most retail users (up to 80%) lost money having no idea what they were doing. + +In the last few weeks GME has been the opportunity for normal people to take something back from the people controlling the market, and when they were finally succeeding, guess what? + +They cut us out. + +I do not know how today will be called but it will go down in history books after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the crash of 2008. +From a recent article in [Money Control](https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/personal-finance/sachin-bansals-navi-offers-home-loans-at-6-4-heres-what-borrowers-must-do-7909331.html): + +> According to terms of the lender, the borrowers are not allowed to uninstall the NAVI app from mobile device until you repay the loan. Any accidental violation of this term will be tantamount to fraud, and the lender may initiate legal proceedings against you. + +It's unclear if they will actually enforce this, but it does seem risky to take a loan knowing that even accidental deletion will be considered fraud. Originally discovered this from a post on the Facebook group Asan Ideas for Wealth ([link](https://m.facebook.com/groups/asanideasforwealth/permalink/6735960589808110)). Just thought I would reshare here as well. +In past discussions with people they often said it is better to invest longterm instead of trading. ' You can't win more than 20% yearly because the statistics will catch up to you. ' is something one guy said. He also added you might win 50% but that is gambling. + +I don't believe that at all and I personally know a guy who worked for less than $20/h and had a portfolio of $2k. He traded his way up to $100k+ trading crypto. I have seen his trades with my own eyes so I know its 100% not made up. + +I think sticking to a strategy ( which most people don't ) and executing it over and over could yield large gains. + +I wanted to know what you guys think of the notion that you can't be profitable with trading and if/ how you have been profitable trading your niche market. + +Hear me out. The airline industry has asked for $50bn in support to avoid bankrupty. Meanwhile these same companies have spend 80-98% of their free cash buying back their own company stock over the last 10 years. American Airlines alone has spent $12.5bn to buy back stocks. This of course is done to reduce overall divident costs and increase the share price. + +On top of that, under the new US corporate tax code all of these companies have lowered their tax bills by billions of dollars. The idea of the tax bill was that this money would be used for investment in technology/R&D and go to employees. Again a lot of this money ended up being used to buy back stocks. + +Individuals are expected to save up 3-6 months of emergency funds but yet these giant corporations can’t whether any storm. Let them fold and in a free market the void left in supply will be filled by somebody else. +Hoy! + +As per the thetagang philosophy, the plan is to sell options and see them loose value over time due to theta decay. There are plenty of other reasons to do it, but the core idea behind the theta play is to let time work for your advantage. + +I'll give a rundown of three approaches, and let you make your own conclusions on what strategy best fits you. + +* Weeklies: selling options expiring within a week, (0-7DTE \[Days To Expiry\]) +* 30-45 DTE: popularized by tastytrade, selling options that expire 1-1.5 month out +* LEAPs: 1 year or longer to expiry; + +**Let's benchmark..** + +I'll compare the following 3 setups here: + +* 6DTE (weekly), Feb 12 expiry +* 41DTE, March 19 expiry +* 349 DTE, Jan 21, 2022 expiry + +And look at 4 (very) different tickers: SPY (high volume, low thrills index fund), AAPL (solid tech company & growth potential), KO (solid non-tech, low thrills) and GME (the meme du jour). + +I will use the 41DTE, \~0.30 delta as our reference for annualized income, where annualized return percentage (ARP) is given by ARP = 365 \* premium / (collateral at stake) / DTE \* 100%. + +**EDIT:** As pointed out by [/u/buzzante](https://www.reddit.com/user/buzzante/), this doesn't take into account compounding interest. The quick premium you get on a shorter DTE can then be repeatedly reinvested, favoring shorter DTEs. On the flip side, selling longer dated DTE gives you more upfront premium that you could already reinvest. I think overall compounding benefits longer DTEs for the same percentage returns (like getting paid upfront for one year vs getting paid in weekly installments), but for sake of simplicity and my sanity, I won't redo the math. + +The idea is, if you can get X% annualized return on a 41DTE option, how would an X% annualized return (in terms of greeks & strike prices) look like for a 6DTE and 349 DTE option. + +To keep things simple, I will only look at CSPs (cash secured puts), no calls, margin plays, hedges, etc, and use the mid of the Ask/Bid spread as our premium price, as quoted on Friday's (Feb 5) close. + +**SPY** (price at close 387.71$) + +41DTE: 375$ strike, 5.87$ premium, ARP = 13.59%, delta \~0.3, **gamma 0.012**, IV 22%, OpenInt 37920 + +So I am looking for a similar ARP for 6DTE and 349DTE options. + +\[..find a premium/(collateral at stake) ratio = ARP \* DTE / 365 / 100..\] + +|DTE|Strike|Premium|ARP|Delta|Gamma|IV|OpenInt| +|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-| +|41|375$|5.87$|13.59%|\~0.3|**0.012**|22%|37920| +|6|380$|0.81$|12.96%|\~0.18|**0.030**|15%|15550| +|6|381$|0.925$|14.76%|\~0.20|**0.034**|15%|4593| +|349|**430$**|56.895$|13.83%|\~0.65|**0.005**|34%|<100| + +**AAPL** (price at close 136.76$) + +|DTE|Strike|Premium|ARP|Delta|Gamma|IV|OpenInt| +|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-| +|41|130$|3.60$|24.65%|\~0.3|**0.007**|33%|<100| +|6|132$|0.425$|19.59%|\~0.16|**0.048**|26%|3280| +|6|133$|0.595$|26.99%|\~0.21|**0.059**|26%|4200| +|349|**165$**|38.20$|24.21%|\~0.61|**0.007**|39%|<300| + +**KO** (price at close 49.65$) + +|DTE|Strike|Premium|ARP|Delta|Gamma|IV|OpenInt| +|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-| +|41|47.5$|0.93$|17.43%|\~0.3|**0.076**|27%|8193| +|6|46.0$| 0.085$|11.24%|\~0.07|**0.052**|39%|2659| +|6|46.5$|0.11$|19.59%|\~0.09|**0.066**|36%|1130| +|349|**55$**|8.80$|16.73%|\~0.61|**0.029**|26%|3894| + +**GME** (price at close 63.77$) + +|DTE|Strike|Premium|ARP|Delta|Gamma|IV|OpenInt| +|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-| +|41|65$|27.15$|371.84%|\~0.296|**0.005**|326%|600| +|6|24$| 3.125$|372.60%|\~0.034|**0.001**|470%|734| + +349DTE: NOT POSSIBLE! For a 370% return, you'd need the premium to be more than 3x the strike; + +**How to interpret this** + +**1)** Selling LEAPs ~~are~~ is a pretty bad deal (in terms of annualized interest). For a comparative return with 41DTE, your strike price is going to be higher than the current stock price. As in, the stock price needs to swing up for the option to expire worthless, as opposed to NOT drop too much which lower DTE. + +**2)** The higher the DTE, the worse the liquidity (bigger spreads, lower open interest, etc). Makes it that much harder to get a good deal. + +**3)** Look at the 6DTE vs 41DTE strike prices (for the same annualized returns): they aren't that much different (except GME.. more about that later). So adjusted for risk, shorter DTE puts are more likely to expire OTM. Or just look at the deltas.. very compelling. + +**4)** The GME conundrum: if you're gonna scalp the IV, go for where it's the highest; what's more likely, GME finishing below 21$ in 6 days, or below 38$ in 41 days? (the two break-even points). You could even pick a 6DTE with strike 14$ for a 'meager' 77.6% ARP (that beats selling puts on AAPL or KO). + +**5)** We are safe to conclude that I don't have a life; and if you got this far, neither do you ;) + +**EDIT: Risks, risks, risks** + +Seasoned folks are smart to point out that I didn't get into all the risks shorter DTEs pose. It wouldn't be fair to ignore it, so here's a rundown on what might go wrong: + +* pin risk: it's tempting to let weeklies expire worthless, but after hours price movements after expiration can suddenly turn against you; while this could be avoided if you always close your positions, there's some extra value to be had by trying to see at least some of them expire worthless; +* early assignment: the closer you are to expiration, the more likely it is that this would/could happen with a sudden and violent breach of your strike price; as you are going to have significantly more trades with lower DTEs, this adds some extra risk to the mix that can't be quantified with backtestings; +* **gamma risk**: this is the **biggest one**; this deserves its own post, but here's a solid [writeup](https://steadyoptions.com/articles/why-you-should-not-ignore-negative-gamma-r86/) with pretty charts that does a better job than I ever could; in short, when selling options, you're negatively exposed to gamma; the closer the option to expiration, the higher the gamma, the more the value of the option fluctuates with the underlying stock's movement; a 30 delta 45DTE option will have lower gamma than a 30 delta 7DTE option; I updated my numbers to also include gamma - but I think most people would agree that for the same ARP and underlying stock but different DTEs, a lower delta + lower gamma combo is a better risk-adjusted bet (see GME 41DTE vs 6DTE or KO 41DTE vs 6DTE delta & gamma numbers); in most other cases, shorter DTE plays (for the same normalized ARP) would lower your delta but increase your gamma; it's a trade-off everyone needs to decide for themselves +* **IV risk/gains:** the shorter the DTE, the bigger impact IV movements have on gamma (see [this](https://optionstradingiq.com/gamma-risk-explained/) for pretty charts); with IV dropping, your OTM options can experience a gamma boost, that can slap you in the face; this is somewhat compensated though by premium lowering on average due to the IV drop; but if the stock price moved against you, it becomes that much harder to roll out /manage your losses; + +**EDIT: Back-testing, always** + +The common wisdom is that 45DTE 16-20 delta have been the clear winner in back-testing and has a better risk-adjusted win-rate than any other configuration. Check [spintwig](https://spintwig.com/spy-short-put-45-dte-leveraged-options-backtest/#Prior_Research) and tasty trade video where this the most common conclusion made. + +However, there is no size fits all; 45DTE 16-20 is **NOT** optimal theta play on meme stocks or for earnings plays (in both cases IV will predictably drop), or growth stocks (where buy&hold beats CSP in benchmarks). + +The only way to settle true winrates is by back-testing, but once accounting for active management, early closing, margin management, etc. even back-testing is just a rough estimation. + +I feel it would be irresponsible of me NOT to emphasize the overwhelming amount of evidence/benchmarks in favor of 45DTE 16-20 delta plays - but it's also not an optimal play for every situation, and this shouldn't be a controversial statement :/. + +**Conclusions** + +If it's theta you're after, shorter DTEs have higher returns. Not necessarily higher risk (**EDIT:** yes, likely higher risks, see the part on risks, risks, risks) mind you - if you pick your deltas (**EDIT:** and gammas) carefully. Makes sense, theta works best closest to expiration; a lot can happen in one year to a stock (hit record highs or go bankrupt), much less in one day. **EDIT:** There's this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/thetagang/comments/lajwxo/why_theta_gang_recommends_you_roll_options_from/) with pretty graphs that sum it up better than I could. + +Shorter DTEs also require more management and more involvement. Reevaluating your holdings every day (if you're selling weeklies) vs every week (with 30-45DTE) can be demanding, especially with a diversified portfolio. + +And finally, ***you do you***. I think the 30-45DTE philosophy is quite popular with this sub (and selling early when hitting 50% return), but the gains aren't really from theta in those cases (well, a mix of delta and theta), but rather stonks going up. ~~It's a solid, easy strategy, but leaves quite a lot of value on the table.~~ (**EDIT:** or does it.. back-testing results debate this. It's irresponsible of me to make such a categorical statement). + +Agree or disagree, we should probably talk about this. I flaired it as DD, but it's more of a meta-analysis of theta strategy as a whole. + +EDIT2: tables everywhere.. +P**reamble:** The ability of Senators to trade stocks has been controversial from the start. The 2020 congressional insider trading scandal where Senators used insider knowledge to trade large positions in stocks just before the coronavirus pandemic crash was just one example where they used their privileged position for gain.  While there is scope for a lot of discussion regarding the legality/ethical aspects of this, what I wanted to know is + +**Did Senators beat the market and can I beat the market if I follow their trades after its been made public?** + +**Where is the data from:** senatestockwatcher.com + +Massive shoutout to [u/rambat1994](https://www.reddit.com/u/rambat1994/) for putting in the efforts to create this site and make the knowledge public. The website has data of Senator trading from 2019. While I could observe that all the trades may not be captured by the site, given that we have more than 9K trades to work with, I feel that we should be good from a statistical significance perspective. Also, please note that the data will contain trades done by senators who are not currently in the senate (Either they were in Senate earlier and now in the house of representative or another position of power which forces them to disclose their trades) + +While senators are supposed to [report the transaction within 30 days](https://www.citizen.org/article/personal-financial-disclosure-requirements-for-public-officials/), the median delay in reporting that I observed for the trades was 28 days and the average delay was 52 days. There were some outliers that pushed the average up and are most likely due to the fact that their broker might not report the trade to them immediately. + +All the trades and my analysis are shared as a google sheet at the end. + +**Analysis:** + +https://preview.redd.it/ir6jqgjwsay61.png?width=644&format=png&auto=webp&s=d057f55015d8e25479815bfe760d4dde81240de6 + +A total of 9,676 trades were made by the senators in the past two years. This analysis would be focusing on the stock purchases made by the senators. (The stock sales and the pandemic controversy can be a standalone analysis by itself). Out of the 4,911 Buy’s what I am really interested in is the 1,375 transactions which were over $15K. I decided on this cutoff as I did not want small transactions (<5K) to affect the analysis. The hypothesis being that if someone is putting almost 10% of their annual salary into one trade, they should be very confident about the stock. (I know that some senators are millionaires and this hypothesis would not apply to them, but adding their net worth would again complicate the calculations unnecessarily) + +**Results:** For all the stock purchases I calculated the stock price change across 3 periods and benchmarked it against S&P500 returns during the same period.  + +a.            One Month + +b.            One Quarter + +c.             Till Date (From the date of purchase to Today) + +https://preview.redd.it/mnijwbqwsay61.png?width=948&format=png&auto=webp&s=828da0f685646a73946097f6b0dd86f753de024b + +At this point, it should not come as a surprise, but Senators did beat SP500 across the different time periods. But what I am really interested in is if it's possible to follow their trades after disclosure (after a time lag of 30 days) and still beat the benchmark. + +https://preview.redd.it/95cl91nwsay61.png?width=945&format=png&auto=webp&s=00ffc2fc430e5b7f3157ae4f264872d3ef95a0b2 + +If you had invested in the stocks Senators bought, even after adjusting for the lag of disclosure, you would beat SP500 over the long run. My theory for this is that Senators usually play the long game and invest having a time horizon of more than a year as sudden short-term gains can put a spotlight on their trades. This gives the retail investors a window of opportunity where they can follow the trades and make a significant profit. + +Now that our main question is out of the way, we can really deep dive into the data and see some interesting patterns. The next question I wanted to be answered was which were the best trades made by Senators over the last 2 years. + +https://preview.redd.it/75nyoa5ltay61.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=cb5b27919716360fdbaf31f4548f4d21e0401b49 + +Brian Mast seems to be the frontrunner with making almost 100% gain in one month, investing in lesser-known companies. Michael Garcia also seems to have made it rain with his Tesla plays. But not all the trades made by Senators were successful as shown below. + +https://preview.redd.it/xing6reltay61.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=9c9c3d13abbb8b060fecf8cee7b312bbdfd6efaf + +These are the worst trades made by Senators with Greg losing more than 80% of investment value within the disclosure period. + +But even Warren Buffet can go wrong on a stock pick. So, I wanted to know was who made the most returns over all their investments in the last 2 years. I only considered senators having at least $100K in investments and a minimum of 5 trades + +https://preview.redd.it/k4r34rpusay61.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=084ac821754d87d42d2f1ac9b822a9015125a443 + +John Curtis made a whopping 95% average return on his investments. All the top 10 Senators comfortably beat the market return of 26.4% during the same investment period. The next thing I looked at is the Senators that had the most amount of money invested in stocks during the last 2 years. + +https://preview.redd.it/igyz3jwdvay61.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=223b91d21b9201211a21ea24ec2daee0627b9166 + +The top 3 senators as shown above invested more than $15MM over the last 2 years and were also able to beat the market at the same time. + +Finally, this leads us to the last question of which were the most popular stocks among U.S senators + +https://preview.redd.it/fd66tjagvay61.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=9e92ab79c5b7316eb95e70dc22bed0b2f8615127 + +As expected, big tech dominates the investments but what was surprising was the skew of investment towards Microsoft which had more money invested in it than the rest of the top 9 put together. One important thing to note here is that except for Antero, the rest all the companies have a $100B+ valuation. + +**Limitations of analysis:** There are multiple limitations to the analysis. + +1. The time period of the analysis is 2 years during which the market experienced a significant bull run. So, the results might change in a market downturn/recession +2. The data has been sourced from senatestockwatcher.com as parsing the data from the official government site is extremely difficult. All the recorded transactions have a pdf of the disclosure linked to them (you can find it in the google sheet). I have made my best effort to QC the data and make sure there are no false positives. But this might not contain all the transactions made by Senators. +3. There is no disclosure for the exact amount of money invested by Senators. The disclosure is always in ranges (e.g., $100k – $200k). So, for calculating the investment amount, I have taken the average of the given range. + +**Conclusion:** + +This analysis proves that Senators indeed get a better return than the overall market. Whether it is due to insider trading or due to their superior stock-picking capability is something that can’t be proven from the data and is left to the reader’s judgment. I intentionally left out the party affiliation of the Senators as I felt that it would bias the reader and was not the objective of this analysis. + +Whichever side of the political spectrum you lean-to, the above analysis shows that you get to gain by following their trades! + +Link to Google Sheet containing all the analysis and trades: [here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Rg5jMYG-X4I7cidQylzCNc_UpJZGNhGrjAt7g0QkXYs/edit?usp=sharing) + +*Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor* + +Edit: + +> There are two chambers in the legislative branch: Senate and House. Not all of these people are “senators” as you describe. + +I mistakenly classified all of the trades under the broad term of Senators! This is a mixture of trades done by both houses. So please keep this in mind while reading the post. Apologies again as politics is not really my strong suit. +Just watched the China hustle, I’m a bit surprised that Chinese companies held by hedge funds, pension funds etc don’t produce reliable financial reports and there is no proper way to access them. +I’ve bought in to Alibaba at $142. And think of it as a long term investment. Watching the documentary I feel a bit uncomfortable in adding to my position. +Have any of you China investors watched the documentary? How do y’all feel? +Personally I want to load up alibaba at These depressed price levels. But feel unsure after watching the documentary. The reasons are many not being transparent, ethical issues etc. +I understand not all Chinese companies fall in to the category spoken about in the documentary. +> To create jobs and support the growth of clean technology manufacturing in Canada: +> +>**Budget 2021 proposes to reduce—by 50 per cent—the general corporate and small business income tax rates for businesses that manufacture zero-emission technologies**. The reductions would go into effect on January 1, 2022, and would be gradually phased out starting January 1, 2029 and eliminated by January 1, 2032. The Department of Finance Canada will regularly review new technologies that might be eligible + + [https://www.budget.gc.ca/2021/report-rapport/p2-en.html#104](https://www.budget.gc.ca/2021/report-rapport/p2-en.html#104) + +Examples of zero-emission technology manufacturing in Canada: + +* Manufacturing of wind turbines, solar panels, and equipment used in hydroelectric facilities. +* Manufacturing of geothermal energy systems. +* Manufacturing of electric cars, busses, trucks, and other vehicles. +* Manufacturing of batteries and fuel cells for electric vehicles. +* Production of biofuels from waste materials. +* Production of green hydrogen. +* Manufacturing of electric vehicle charging systems. +* Manufacturing of certain energy storage equipment. +> Paul Morina, the principal of Paulsboro, New Jersey, High School, is listed in financial records as the president, CEO, CFO and more at a Nevada-incorporated company whose stock is trading at levels that give it a valuation more than $100 million. + +> That’s an oddly high valuation because the company, Hometown International, owns a delicatessen — and only one small delicatessen — in Paulsboro, where the Morina-coached high school wrestling team frequently wins state championships. The company has disclosed that it has shareholders based in China’s Macau territory. + +>The shop, Your Hometown Deli, did just $35,000 in sales — combined — over the past two years, according to Hometown International’s annual report, filed March 26 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. + +https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/15/hometown-international-nj-deli-owner-worth-millions-in-stock.html +This might be a silly question lol. Manhattan rent average is at an all time high at $5,000/mo but we’re also seeing crazy high rents in the middle of nowhere too (at least for where those cities are located). + +Will rents go down? Where will the working class go if rent continues to rise? +I have a full time non-investment job like a lot of you. Post Covid, I had some extra time due to the lack of commute and I decided to study up on all terminology and background required to to pick stock. I even read Benjamin Graham's book cover to cover diligently ! + +I read and watched a bunch of videos and was very familiar will all the terms in stock picking. I started religiously filtering stocks on Screener eventually. Carefully reading through annual reports and quarterly results. It was actually pretty exciting. Researched the background and experience of the leadership of the companies I was interested in as well. + +After 2-3 months of solid studying, I eventually bought a few stocks and started tracking news about them regularly. I also followed discussions about these companies in forums and twitter so see if I had missed some important info. + +After further 2-3 months of doing this, I eventually got busy in some office project and just couldn't give much time to this. Weeks went by when I didn't open Screener to see BSE filings simply because I was tired after work. + +Eventually I just lost track of what was going on with the companies. I opened Screener eventually and there was such a backlog of reading material that it was just too much for me to go through. + +The point is, apart from some lucky time spells, it just takes too much time and energy to track your stocks and see results, filings, news etc. Even if you just track 15 stocks, you will have a LOT of data to go through on a regular basis. It's not sustainable for most of us unless this is your full time job as well. + +I recently sold all my stocks in Zerodha(I was up 45% btw) and put that money in Nifty 50 index fund and have never felt more relaxed with my investment choice. Nothing really to track apart from an occasional check of how Nifty is doing. It's 10000x more convenient. Phew ! +As a completely new day trader i’m ecstatic, i have been severely depressed for some time now & life just seemed to be taking no brakes with the whole shitting in my cereal thing. Learning & starting this adventure has brought me so much purpose & motivation i feel like i can maybe just maybe start creating some direction for myself. + +this is just nothing from no one but thank you for reading this anyways i appreciate & love all of you. +Posting here because I got banned from a different sub for a day for this post from auto-mod for some weird reason. Want to bring the discussion around certain stocks right now to a media perspective. + +~~~~~~~~~ + +Why is the media still reporting on “Reddit investors” and not hedge fund stock market manipulation ? + +Highly illegal shit is going on and no one is reporting the story. Short ladder attacks, stock market manipulation, clearing houses, Certain brokerage apps restricting free trade, SEC not taking action... + +Who’s going to report the big bust of the century? Come on news. +As expected, once the price started nearing $350 they tanked the price again. Nothing new to veteran apes, they did this back in March. However, their tactic last time was to drop the price much more violently to trigger as many stop losses as possible, and trading halted numerous times in the process. The end result was a $173.53 drop from a high of $347.67 to a low of $174.14 over about 25 minutes - including trading halts. We all know at this point that a trading halt is triggered when the price moves up or down 10% within a 5 minute span. + + +This time though, they nuked the price $63.66 from a high of $344.66 to a low of $281 over a span of 45 minutes. The biggest 5 minute drop though, was from $312 to $281 - an even $31. That's just $0.20 shy of the $31.20 needed to trigger a trading halt. So at face value, it seems they didn't want to trigger any halts this time, or this is a complete coincidence. I can't fathom why it would even matter now, though. + + +Side note: To new apes, don't let this rattle you. + + +Not financial advice. +Here I am not thinking about developers but landlords who buy property to rent out. Considering that they did not design, build, plumb, or contribute in any other way to the development of the housing, are these people not extracting wealth without creating any? +Hello. When I don't dabble in shitty memes and stonkery, I work within social psychology. Just thought I'd share my two cents on what we're seeing right now. + +&#x200B; + +1. The whole system is built upon keeping power and money at the top and always betting against the little guy. This has been made insanely clear over the last year. +2. The bad guys of this saga don't give two shits about whether superstonkers are pro- or anti- options. They make the markets, they obviously have methods to deal with both. +3. Their ONLY option is to stall this until (a) we quit or (b) they crash and burn along with the rest of the financial market. +4. They obviously don't want 3b if they can avoid it, so they've been playing 3a HARD. +5. Best way to break morale and make apes question their winning hand? Cause division. Make them question themselves. "FUD" it up. Who cares what topic it is. Right now it's options vs. shares, previously it's been subs, government enforcement, politics, family calling you a conspiracy theorist, you name it. +6. **THEY DON'T CARE, THEY PLAY BOTH SIDES OF EVERY "ARGUMENT" TO MAKE YOU QUESTION YOURSELVES.** + +**Wanna play options? Great.** Make sure you know what you're doing and Godspeed. + +**Wanna keep adding shares and clutch them 'til infinity? Great.** Get ready for a bumpy ride and Godspeed. + +Not entirely sure where I'm going with this, but just don't fucking engage you retarded fucks. There is no right answer to be found here, the discord is their only game. So please, lean back in your chair, lul at their efforts, enjoy the memes and praise the fucking sun. + +&#x200B; + +Peace +I may be wrong about this, but why does it seem like there is a conflict of interest between what's best for individual finance vs the economy? For example, it's best for a person to live frugally and use the most money to invest (education, health, retirement, etc.); whereas, it's better for the economy if everybody spends all of their money on not just essential but also luxurious goods. A society where people save more than they spend is a deflationary one. Likewise, a society where people invest more than they spend would probably cause a market bubble since more people buying a company's stock than it's product just drives its PE ratio through the roof + +Another example is having kids is expensive. It's best for a poor couple to not have kids or only one if they want to get out of poverty as fast as possible. However, in economics, every couple should have 2 kids to sustain the future workforce and consumer spending. +Right now, the trends and data indicate that Depression-level economic fallout from the covid-19 pandemic is a real possibility. The last time we saw a pandemic of this level was the Spanish flu in 1918-1919. But why did the influenza back then not devastate the economy like we are seeing now? Cities implemented social distancing nearly 100 years ago as well. So why did this not result in 20%+ unemployment rate and cratering of stocks? +I’m just venting…. +So i used to setup iron condors, buy shares to write calls on, and speculate on stocks. I made over 7k net profit (58%) plus more on crypto and other crap. After listening to a bunch of value investors talking about Walmart, apple, Berkshire Hathaway and other companies and how many baggers you would have made if u invested a while ago and didn’t touch it and reinvested dividends and…. i realized i want to be a value guy. With times being hard for value investors i ended up buying 17k+ of baba and kept buying more with extra money from paychecks as the price kept plummeting. Now i am down a helllllll lotta money. More importantly, i feel so stupid and insecure now. I got a bunch of people in stocks and told them to buy SPY for rest of their working careers and they are up 20%+ and happy, while i (with all my knowledge) have lost not just all my gains but my entire portfolio is in the red. U guys ever get the urge to just yolo ur money into some meme stock otm calls or is it just me atm? +"Further, they propose to increase the inclusion rate on capital gains tax to 75 per cent. That would be a big increase from 50 per cent at present. + +Singh’s plans to soak the rich reflect his obvious disdain for the wealthy." + +[https://epaper.nationalpost.com/national-post-latest-edition/20210826/281741272510483](https://epaper.nationalpost.com/national-post-latest-edition/20210826/281741272510483) + +[https://www.investmentexecutive.com/news/industry-news/ndp-pledges-to-raise-top-marginal-tax-rate-capital-gains-inclusion-rate/](https://www.investmentexecutive.com/news/industry-news/ndp-pledges-to-raise-top-marginal-tax-rate-capital-gains-inclusion-rate/) + +Hopefully such an increase will be phased in over time (ie. several years)! +Hey guys, last week I lost $500k on 100s of $40 stirke call for $CCIV, it tanked after hours and ever since the loss I am not the same, I want to hear some stories and feel like I can come back. I only have 20k left please comment if you are okay with me talking to you. + +Thank you for listening. +For me, it was when I moved into my office. I slept in the storage room. I had migraines, so I would work for about 2 hours, then nap, then work again. This went on for months. I still wonder what the employees were thinking lol. +So [this image](https://i.imgur.com/R4hlM5c.jpg) has been making the rounds on Facebook. On the surface it makes sense, big guys get money taken from them, so they take more money from the little guy to even out. However, is this actually correct? I don't know if I'm not thinking deep enough, but doesn't this create a scenario where small businesses will be able to compete better? + +Any business that gets hit by the tax will want to raise their prices to try and even things out, but doing so would make themselves less competitive to the smaller businesses that aren't affected by the tax. That means they can't just up their prices without losing a competitive edge. + +Going a layer deeper it likely most businesses big or small are getting their inventory from big-time suppliers that are going to be affected by the tax and so they will raise their prices and that would, in turn, affect the smaller businesses as well. However, wouldn't competition again prevent a jump in prices? Unless they all raise their prices at the same time, some will offer a better deal getting more business and maintaining profit at a lower margin. + +There is also the element of foreign competition, but I'm not well versed enough to know how they will be affected by the tax plan. However, unless the foreign competition is hit even harder they will still be a competing factor also driving down prices. + +I'm not sure how much my thought process would apply to the real estate side of the image since that can have major differences depending on where in the country you are. + +Thoughts from those more knowledgeable on these matters? + +&#x200B; +Basically just this. Friends/coworkers were oohing and ahhing over their rocks in the grad office today. They just have cost at least $10k apiece. Then one of them turns to me and says “Seraph, you’re engaged too, right? Why don’t you wear your ring to work?” I made up some dumb excuse about working with too many acids in the lab and being clumsy, and excused myself. Held off the tears till I got to the bathroom stall. Truth is, I don’t have a ring and I probably never will have one other than a simple wedding band. + +I’m 27, still in grad school, fiancé and I have been together for a decade. My stipend pays less than minimum wage. He lost his job a few years ago and only found a new position a few months ago that pays only a fraction of his old job. We’re barely keeping our heads above water ever since we had to use up all our savings. + +It was just overwhelming today hearing my friends talk about something that probably cost half of what I make in a year as of it was some run-of-the-mill thing. It makes me wonder why my fiancé and I aren’t in the same place as they are - I mean, my friends are grad students too! It makes me feel like I’ve done something wrong or messed something important up and I hate it. + +Edit: Whoa, this got big. Thank you so much for your kind and supportive comments, everyone! I wish I could type something to each and every one of you but I’m headed to the middle of absolutely nowhere for fieldwork tomorrow and and won’t have time nor Interwebz sadly. Thank you for consoling an over emotional basket case like me. I don’t even want a gosh darn ring, I just felt sort of left out in the moment, and I guess I also have to learn to not react so strongly when I do! +The world bank defines upper middle income countries as those with GNI per capita between $4,046 and $12,535. Thailand is almost always referred to as upper middle income and it's GDP per capita is only 7,233. So why is it that Cuba is almost always referred to as a poor country? How are the GDP figures for Cuba computed? Is there manipulation of data? Is it harder to compute their actual GDP because of their economic system? Is there anything I'm missing that would indicate that it's actually a poor country and not an upper middle income one? +And why did we instead started listening to the uneducated opinions of billionaire superstars, who have already shown through their work ethics on their companies that they could not care less about decentralisation, have no vision for the space apart from profit and memes, and are now working behind closed doors on something that could potentially result in a major fork, where the core issue not only isn't technical, but could be absolutely catastrophic for transactional freedom and decentralisation of miners. + +Please people, please stop feeding them with attention, clicks and your time. Let their own incompetence be their downfall and let people like the aforementioned blockachain pionners and many more that we know exist, provide the appropriate counter arguments. +Hello u/fatfire friends. + +This is going to be a short post. + +It is with great sadness that I’m here to report the passing of my dad. He was always concerned about having “enough” when he died suddenly at 66 on Jan. 31 of a heart attack. + +I’m 25 and a constant lurker on u/fatfire and u/bogleheads. Just wanted to share this with you all, because this time last week I was thinking I’d live forever and that i wanted a ridiculous number before I retire. + +I learned for real last weekend that you can’t take your hard work with you and that all the money in the world can’t buy you more time. + +Stay safe and tell those close to you that you love them. +https://news.gamestop.com/news-releases/news-release-details/gamestop-announces-voluntary-early-redemption-senior-notes-0 + +*wink-wink, nudge-nudge: one time dividend paid in crypto* + + +*edit: [The MOASS Preparation Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mm5qle/the_moass_preparation_guide/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) trust me, go read it.* +Welcome to the ETH Daily Discussion thread of /r/EthTrader. + +*** + +The thread guidelines are as follows: + +- All sub rules apply here. Please review our **[rules page](https://www.reddit.com/r/ethtrader/about/rules/)** to become familiar with them. The rules page is also linked in the announcement bar above. +- General discussion topics include, but are not limited to, events of the day, technical analysis, alternative Ethereum projects, or support issues. +- Breaking news or other important content should be submitted as a separate post. +- In-depth altcoin discussions should be referred to the /r/CryptoCurrency discussion thread. To view the thread, [follow this link](https://np.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/search?q=%5BMonthly+General+Discussion%5D&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and choose the latest entry on the search page. +- Pumping, venting, trolling, or any other similar behavior **should be reported** and redirected to the /r/CryptoMarkets trollbox thread. To visit this thread, [follow this link](https://np.reddit.com/r/CryptoMarkets/search?q=Trollbox+Thread&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) and choose the latest entry on the search page. + +*** + +* For newcomers who have basic questions about Ethereum, you can find answers by visiting /r/EthereumNoobies or our [Ethereum Education wiki page](https://www.reddit.com/r/ethtrader/wiki/education). + +* **[EXPERIMENTAL]** - To view live streaming comments for this thread, [click here](https://reddit-stream.com/comments/auto). Account permissions are required to post comments through Reddit-Stream.com. + +*** + +Thank you in advance for your participation. Enjoy! + +Apologies if this is a stupid question to be asking but I've never understood how a landlord in their mid 20s or 30s is able to purchase a property in a job that may, on average, pay 40K/annually and may even own multiple other properties [2-3]. +As a completely new day trader i’m ecstatic, i have been severely depressed for some time now & life just seemed to be taking no brakes with the whole shitting in my cereal thing. Learning & starting this adventure has brought me so much purpose & motivation i feel like i can maybe just maybe start creating some direction for myself. + +this is just nothing from no one but thank you for reading this anyways i appreciate & love all of you. +I am a 13-year-old and I am trying to make some money for my mom because she is a single mom and I want to help her with the bills because I hate to see her so stressed. Please leave suggestions in the comments please! it would really help +This is one of those questions that ive always been afraid to ask because I feel stupid for not knowing / understanding the answer, but it came up in my mind as I was listening to a lecture from Mankiw. + +In that lecture, he said that expanding education would decrease inequality because most of the US' inequality increase from the 70s onward was due to Skill-Biased Technological Change, since technology significantly benefited those with high skills, while those with low skills were more or less left out. + +This makes sense, and I can definitely see why giving low-skilled workers more skills would decrease inequality (as it could help them capture the gains of technology) + +but dont we need low-skilled workers, like in services, for instance? Dont we need taco bell workers, janitors, etc.? If everyone had a college degree or more, who would be / who would wanna work in these jobs? +I have seen my company terminate 2 other employees as soon as they gave their 2 weeks notice. + +I gave my 2 weeks notice on Wednesday and on Friday was told they were terminating me and they were not intending on paying me for the remainder of the 2 weeks. Fortunately I am able to start Monday with my new company. + +As a word of warning, if you have seen your employer terminate any employees as soon as they give notice DO NOT GIVE NOTICE. You are not legally required to give notice, and if the company does not give the courtesy of letting employees finish out their 2 weeks they don't deserve the courtesy of 2 weeks notice. + +Edit: To clarify generally speaking you should give two weeks notice, but it is not required, and there are situations that you should not. Carefully judge for yourself. +To clear up things, I'm talking especially about macro economists, and I'm not aware of every single president and their curriculum vitae so excuse me if I'm wrong. + +I know that some economists were really involved in the political field, but non of them were presidents ? + +My first thought was that some schools of economics don't believe in the control of the state and thus don't want to participate in it (Austrian school and Chicago school of thought, though the last one doesn't totally reject it believe). But then there are other schools that believe in the control of the market by the government (Mainly Keynesian economics). + +Usually what I see is that the majority of presidents or +people involved in politics come from law schools and business schools and maybe engineering for some, but I can't seem to find anyone who studied economics and done some research then became a president. + +Do economists simply not care about leading the country as presidents and are more interested in other positions such as working central banks or counseling ? +I'm sure I'll be downvoted to oblivion, but $180k is a very low tier to start taking half of earnings. + +The $180k top bracket hasn't changed in over a decade. House prices, wages, cost of living has gone up substantially since '09. + +The median salary has gone up 30% since '09, so we should see all tax brackets adjusted $235k should be the new top bracket. + +To be clear, I'm no just advocating for the top bracket increase but when you're talking about 1/2 being taken, it's no wonder we see so many trying to minimise tax through less productive ways (negative gearing/trusts etc) + +(Yes, I get how progressive tax brackets work...) +Hey guys, last week I lost $500k on 100s of $40 stirke call for $CCIV, it tanked after hours and ever since the loss I am not the same, I want to hear some stories and feel like I can come back. I only have 20k left please comment if you are okay with me talking to you. + +Thank you for listening. +Hey there everyone. + +One thing I see often on this subreddit is about how extremely young people start to invest into a dividend portfolio, and continue to save every dollar they can. Just the other day I saw a 16 year old on this sub starting his portfolio. + +The best thing I always tell all my friends about finances, is the sooner you start, the better off you will be due to compounded interest. If you are especially more aggressive your first couple of years, it will even reap the benefits more. + +However, I also tell them to enjoy their youth, and don't nickel & dime everything you do. Your most precious time of your life is going to be your youth (especially college and 20s to Mid 30s) + +Seriously, enjoy your youth. Statistically speaking, the average person that is a super aggressive saver is not going to FIRE or Live off dividends until their 40s. Your youth is gone. + +I believe the best approach to it is like this: + +**Post College -** Get new job, pay down debt from school (if the loan has high % low percentage not really), aggressively save into 401k/dividend portfolio until mid-20s + +**Mid 20s-Early 30s -** Focus on your career, save, but not too aggressively. Focus on house/property and checking out different things in life. + +**Mid 30s to 40s -** Try saving more to live off the dividends before 50. + +TLDR: Enjoy your life. Trying to live off your dividend portfolio is great, but don't forget you only get one shot at life. Enjoy it. + There will be no specific ranks, but each collector will have his individual “quality score”. Therefore, the more data have you collected and verified correctly, the higher your “quality score” will be and you will then be able to acquire tokens more quickly because of your level of “trust” and increase the remuneration part. +To understand the world which the Vertex experts will help investors navigate through, it is important to grasp how the crypto market exploded. ICO markets brought record investment levels during 2017. The idea of an ICO pre-dates 2017, but up until this year, it was a crowdfunding tool that was not particularly popular. Bitcoin’s exponential growth brought many new participants to the crypto market, and a few big-ticket projects called attention to ICOs as mechanisms to support new projects, participate in crypto economies, and get a return on investment, which caused the market to start growing exponentially. + There will be no specific ranks, but each collector will have his individual “quality score”. Therefore, the more data have you collected and verified correctly, the higher your “quality score” will be and you will then be able to acquire tokens more quickly because of your level of “trust” and increase the remuneration part. + There will be no specific ranks, but each collector will have his individual “quality score”. Therefore, the more data have you collected and verified correctly, the higher your “quality score” will be and you will then be able to acquire tokens more quickly because of your level of “trust” and increase the remuneration part. +P**reamble:** The ability of Senators to trade stocks has been controversial from the start. The 2020 congressional insider trading scandal where Senators used insider knowledge to trade large positions in stocks just before the coronavirus pandemic crash was just one example where they used their privileged position for gain.  While there is scope for a lot of discussion regarding the legality/ethical aspects of this, what I wanted to know is + +**Did Senators beat the market and can I beat the market if I follow their trades after its been made public?** + +**Where is the data from:** senatestockwatcher.com + +Massive shoutout to [u/rambat1994](https://www.reddit.com/u/rambat1994/) for putting in the efforts to create this site and make the knowledge public. The website has data of Senator trading from 2019. While I could observe that all the trades may not be captured by the site, given that we have more than 9K trades to work with, I feel that we should be good from a statistical significance perspective. Also, please note that the data will contain trades done by senators who are not currently in the senate (Either they were in Senate earlier and now in the house of representative or another position of power which forces them to disclose their trades) + +While senators are supposed to [report the transaction within 30 days](https://www.citizen.org/article/personal-financial-disclosure-requirements-for-public-officials/), the median delay in reporting that I observed for the trades was 28 days and the average delay was 52 days. There were some outliers that pushed the average up and are most likely due to the fact that their broker might not report the trade to them immediately. + +All the trades and my analysis are shared as a google sheet at the end. + +**Analysis:** + +https://preview.redd.it/ir6jqgjwsay61.png?width=644&format=png&auto=webp&s=d057f55015d8e25479815bfe760d4dde81240de6 + +A total of 9,676 trades were made by the senators in the past two years. This analysis would be focusing on the stock purchases made by the senators. (The stock sales and the pandemic controversy can be a standalone analysis by itself). Out of the 4,911 Buy’s what I am really interested in is the 1,375 transactions which were over $15K. I decided on this cutoff as I did not want small transactions (<5K) to affect the analysis. The hypothesis being that if someone is putting almost 10% of their annual salary into one trade, they should be very confident about the stock. (I know that some senators are millionaires and this hypothesis would not apply to them, but adding their net worth would again complicate the calculations unnecessarily) + +**Results:** For all the stock purchases I calculated the stock price change across 3 periods and benchmarked it against S&P500 returns during the same period.  + +a.            One Month + +b.            One Quarter + +c.             Till Date (From the date of purchase to Today) + +https://preview.redd.it/mnijwbqwsay61.png?width=948&format=png&auto=webp&s=828da0f685646a73946097f6b0dd86f753de024b + +At this point, it should not come as a surprise, but Senators did beat SP500 across the different time periods. But what I am really interested in is if it's possible to follow their trades after disclosure (after a time lag of 30 days) and still beat the benchmark. + +https://preview.redd.it/95cl91nwsay61.png?width=945&format=png&auto=webp&s=00ffc2fc430e5b7f3157ae4f264872d3ef95a0b2 + +If you had invested in the stocks Senators bought, even after adjusting for the lag of disclosure, you would beat SP500 over the long run. My theory for this is that Senators usually play the long game and invest having a time horizon of more than a year as sudden short-term gains can put a spotlight on their trades. This gives the retail investors a window of opportunity where they can follow the trades and make a significant profit. + +Now that our main question is out of the way, we can really deep dive into the data and see some interesting patterns. The next question I wanted to be answered was which were the best trades made by Senators over the last 2 years. + +https://preview.redd.it/75nyoa5ltay61.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=cb5b27919716360fdbaf31f4548f4d21e0401b49 + +Brian Mast seems to be the frontrunner with making almost 100% gain in one month, investing in lesser-known companies. Michael Garcia also seems to have made it rain with his Tesla plays. But not all the trades made by Senators were successful as shown below. + +https://preview.redd.it/xing6reltay61.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=9c9c3d13abbb8b060fecf8cee7b312bbdfd6efaf + +These are the worst trades made by Senators with Greg losing more than 80% of investment value within the disclosure period. + +But even Warren Buffet can go wrong on a stock pick. So, I wanted to know was who made the most returns over all their investments in the last 2 years. I only considered senators having at least $100K in investments and a minimum of 5 trades + +https://preview.redd.it/k4r34rpusay61.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=084ac821754d87d42d2f1ac9b822a9015125a443 + +John Curtis made a whopping 95% average return on his investments. All the top 10 Senators comfortably beat the market return of 26.4% during the same investment period. The next thing I looked at is the Senators that had the most amount of money invested in stocks during the last 2 years. + +https://preview.redd.it/igyz3jwdvay61.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=223b91d21b9201211a21ea24ec2daee0627b9166 + +The top 3 senators as shown above invested more than $15MM over the last 2 years and were also able to beat the market at the same time. + +Finally, this leads us to the last question of which were the most popular stocks among U.S senators + +https://preview.redd.it/fd66tjagvay61.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=9e92ab79c5b7316eb95e70dc22bed0b2f8615127 + +As expected, big tech dominates the investments but what was surprising was the skew of investment towards Microsoft which had more money invested in it than the rest of the top 9 put together. One important thing to note here is that except for Antero, the rest all the companies have a $100B+ valuation. + +**Limitations of analysis:** There are multiple limitations to the analysis. + +1. The time period of the analysis is 2 years during which the market experienced a significant bull run. So, the results might change in a market downturn/recession +2. The data has been sourced from senatestockwatcher.com as parsing the data from the official government site is extremely difficult. All the recorded transactions have a pdf of the disclosure linked to them (you can find it in the google sheet). I have made my best effort to QC the data and make sure there are no false positives. But this might not contain all the transactions made by Senators. +3. There is no disclosure for the exact amount of money invested by Senators. The disclosure is always in ranges (e.g., $100k – $200k). So, for calculating the investment amount, I have taken the average of the given range. + +**Conclusion:** + +This analysis proves that Senators indeed get a better return than the overall market. Whether it is due to insider trading or due to their superior stock-picking capability is something that can’t be proven from the data and is left to the reader’s judgment. I intentionally left out the party affiliation of the Senators as I felt that it would bias the reader and was not the objective of this analysis. + +Whichever side of the political spectrum you lean-to, the above analysis shows that you get to gain by following their trades! + +Link to Google Sheet containing all the analysis and trades: [here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Rg5jMYG-X4I7cidQylzCNc_UpJZGNhGrjAt7g0QkXYs/edit?usp=sharing) + +*Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor* + +Edit: + +> There are two chambers in the legislative branch: Senate and House. Not all of these people are “senators” as you describe. + +I mistakenly classified all of the trades under the broad term of Senators! This is a mixture of trades done by both houses. So please keep this in mind while reading the post. Apologies again as politics is not really my strong suit. +-Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren proposes raising $1 trillion in government revenue from a new tax on profits of the largest corporations. + +-The proposed surtax would prevent Amazon and other companies with profits exceeding $100 million from wiping out their tax liabilities altogether. + +-Instead of taxable corporate income as defined by the IRS, the 7% surtax would apply to profits companies report to their investors. + +https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/11/elizabeth-warren-targets-corporate-profits-with-new-7percent-surtax-proposal.html +Unless you have a call option or out option, with an expiration date, you are free to hold your stocks forever, especially if it’s an ETF. + +Look at the debt, interest expenses, earnings and assets. + +Stop looking at the price. + Gamestop GME short sellers have lost $443.4 million so far this month. $GME is among the top 10 most unprofitable stocks for short sellers during July 2022. All GMErs out there, are you still long? + +Shares of GameStop (GME) - Get GameStop Corporation Report are trading higher again in June, helped by catalysts such as the launch of the company's NFT marketplace and a stock split. + +In fact, GameStop shares have managed to outperform the S&P 500 so far this year. And they've also managed to cause big losses for short sellers who insist on betting against the stock. + +According to a report published by S3 Partners on July 21, GameStop has been among the top 10 most unprofitable stocks for short sellers during July 2022. So far this month, short sellers have already lost $443.4 million on GME. + +https://preview.redd.it/m5kxjxpcibe91.png?width=689&format=png&auto=webp&s=b97d39d0f443169c97b62e6c8180e382adbe644f + + It's worth noting that, compared to the many large-cap companies on the list, GameStop's average borrow fee is incredibly elevated — 32%. + +Borrow fees are the amount that short sellers must pay to "borrow" shares of the stock and open a short position. + +However, following the report and GameStop's 4-for-1 stock split, fees reached a sky-high 126%: + +Read the full article: [https://www.thestreet.com/memestocks/gme/gamestop-stock-short-sellers-take-a-beating-in-july](https://www.thestreet.com/memestocks/gme/gamestop-stock-short-sellers-take-a-beating-in-july) + +Gamestop GME short sellers have lost $443.4 million so far this month. GME is among the top 10 most unprofitable stocks for short sellers during July 2022. + +All GMErs out there, are you still long? +> To create jobs and support the growth of clean technology manufacturing in Canada: +> +>**Budget 2021 proposes to reduce—by 50 per cent—the general corporate and small business income tax rates for businesses that manufacture zero-emission technologies**. The reductions would go into effect on January 1, 2022, and would be gradually phased out starting January 1, 2029 and eliminated by January 1, 2032. The Department of Finance Canada will regularly review new technologies that might be eligible + + [https://www.budget.gc.ca/2021/report-rapport/p2-en.html#104](https://www.budget.gc.ca/2021/report-rapport/p2-en.html#104) + +Examples of zero-emission technology manufacturing in Canada: + +* Manufacturing of wind turbines, solar panels, and equipment used in hydroelectric facilities. +* Manufacturing of geothermal energy systems. +* Manufacturing of electric cars, busses, trucks, and other vehicles. +* Manufacturing of batteries and fuel cells for electric vehicles. +* Production of biofuels from waste materials. +* Production of green hydrogen. +* Manufacturing of electric vehicle charging systems. +* Manufacturing of certain energy storage equipment. +P**reamble:** The ability of Senators to trade stocks has been controversial from the start. The 2020 congressional insider trading scandal where Senators used insider knowledge to trade large positions in stocks just before the coronavirus pandemic crash was just one example where they used their privileged position for gain.  While there is scope for a lot of discussion regarding the legality/ethical aspects of this, what I wanted to know is + +**Did Senators beat the market and can I beat the market if I follow their trades after its been made public?** + +**Where is the data from:** senatestockwatcher.com + +Massive shoutout to [u/rambat1994](https://www.reddit.com/u/rambat1994/) for putting in the efforts to create this site and make the knowledge public. The website has data of Senator trading from 2019. While I could observe that all the trades may not be captured by the site, given that we have more than 9K trades to work with, I feel that we should be good from a statistical significance perspective. Also, please note that the data will contain trades done by senators who are not currently in the senate (Either they were in Senate earlier and now in the house of representative or another position of power which forces them to disclose their trades) + +While senators are supposed to [report the transaction within 30 days](https://www.citizen.org/article/personal-financial-disclosure-requirements-for-public-officials/), the median delay in reporting that I observed for the trades was 28 days and the average delay was 52 days. There were some outliers that pushed the average up and are most likely due to the fact that their broker might not report the trade to them immediately. + +All the trades and my analysis are shared as a google sheet at the end. + +**Analysis:** + +https://preview.redd.it/ir6jqgjwsay61.png?width=644&format=png&auto=webp&s=d057f55015d8e25479815bfe760d4dde81240de6 + +A total of 9,676 trades were made by the senators in the past two years. This analysis would be focusing on the stock purchases made by the senators. (The stock sales and the pandemic controversy can be a standalone analysis by itself). Out of the 4,911 Buy’s what I am really interested in is the 1,375 transactions which were over $15K. I decided on this cutoff as I did not want small transactions (<5K) to affect the analysis. The hypothesis being that if someone is putting almost 10% of their annual salary into one trade, they should be very confident about the stock. (I know that some senators are millionaires and this hypothesis would not apply to them, but adding their net worth would again complicate the calculations unnecessarily) + +**Results:** For all the stock purchases I calculated the stock price change across 3 periods and benchmarked it against S&P500 returns during the same period.  + +a.            One Month + +b.            One Quarter + +c.             Till Date (From the date of purchase to Today) + +https://preview.redd.it/mnijwbqwsay61.png?width=948&format=png&auto=webp&s=828da0f685646a73946097f6b0dd86f753de024b + +At this point, it should not come as a surprise, but Senators did beat SP500 across the different time periods. But what I am really interested in is if it's possible to follow their trades after disclosure (after a time lag of 30 days) and still beat the benchmark. + +https://preview.redd.it/95cl91nwsay61.png?width=945&format=png&auto=webp&s=00ffc2fc430e5b7f3157ae4f264872d3ef95a0b2 + +If you had invested in the stocks Senators bought, even after adjusting for the lag of disclosure, you would beat SP500 over the long run. My theory for this is that Senators usually play the long game and invest having a time horizon of more than a year as sudden short-term gains can put a spotlight on their trades. This gives the retail investors a window of opportunity where they can follow the trades and make a significant profit. + +Now that our main question is out of the way, we can really deep dive into the data and see some interesting patterns. The next question I wanted to be answered was which were the best trades made by Senators over the last 2 years. + +https://preview.redd.it/75nyoa5ltay61.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=cb5b27919716360fdbaf31f4548f4d21e0401b49 + +Brian Mast seems to be the frontrunner with making almost 100% gain in one month, investing in lesser-known companies. Michael Garcia also seems to have made it rain with his Tesla plays. But not all the trades made by Senators were successful as shown below. + +https://preview.redd.it/xing6reltay61.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=9c9c3d13abbb8b060fecf8cee7b312bbdfd6efaf + +These are the worst trades made by Senators with Greg losing more than 80% of investment value within the disclosure period. + +But even Warren Buffet can go wrong on a stock pick. So, I wanted to know was who made the most returns over all their investments in the last 2 years. I only considered senators having at least $100K in investments and a minimum of 5 trades + +https://preview.redd.it/k4r34rpusay61.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=084ac821754d87d42d2f1ac9b822a9015125a443 + +John Curtis made a whopping 95% average return on his investments. All the top 10 Senators comfortably beat the market return of 26.4% during the same investment period. The next thing I looked at is the Senators that had the most amount of money invested in stocks during the last 2 years. + +https://preview.redd.it/igyz3jwdvay61.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=223b91d21b9201211a21ea24ec2daee0627b9166 + +The top 3 senators as shown above invested more than $15MM over the last 2 years and were also able to beat the market at the same time. + +Finally, this leads us to the last question of which were the most popular stocks among U.S senators + +https://preview.redd.it/fd66tjagvay61.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=9e92ab79c5b7316eb95e70dc22bed0b2f8615127 + +As expected, big tech dominates the investments but what was surprising was the skew of investment towards Microsoft which had more money invested in it than the rest of the top 9 put together. One important thing to note here is that except for Antero, the rest all the companies have a $100B+ valuation. + +**Limitations of analysis:** There are multiple limitations to the analysis. + +1. The time period of the analysis is 2 years during which the market experienced a significant bull run. So, the results might change in a market downturn/recession +2. The data has been sourced from senatestockwatcher.com as parsing the data from the official government site is extremely difficult. All the recorded transactions have a pdf of the disclosure linked to them (you can find it in the google sheet). I have made my best effort to QC the data and make sure there are no false positives. But this might not contain all the transactions made by Senators. +3. There is no disclosure for the exact amount of money invested by Senators. The disclosure is always in ranges (e.g., $100k – $200k). So, for calculating the investment amount, I have taken the average of the given range. + +**Conclusion:** + +This analysis proves that Senators indeed get a better return than the overall market. Whether it is due to insider trading or due to their superior stock-picking capability is something that can’t be proven from the data and is left to the reader’s judgment. I intentionally left out the party affiliation of the Senators as I felt that it would bias the reader and was not the objective of this analysis. + +Whichever side of the political spectrum you lean-to, the above analysis shows that you get to gain by following their trades! + +Link to Google Sheet containing all the analysis and trades: [here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Rg5jMYG-X4I7cidQylzCNc_UpJZGNhGrjAt7g0QkXYs/edit?usp=sharing) + +*Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor* + +Edit: + +> There are two chambers in the legislative branch: Senate and House. Not all of these people are “senators” as you describe. + +I mistakenly classified all of the trades under the broad term of Senators! This is a mixture of trades done by both houses. So please keep this in mind while reading the post. Apologies again as politics is not really my strong suit. +Supposedly with the theory of supply and demand, if demand for gym memberships is down, but the supply remained about the same, then the price should fall. + +But gym membership prices seem to be the same as last year. I'm sure there is an annual demand cycle for gyms as well. + +source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/23/many-dont-plan-to-renew-their-gym-memberships-post-pandemic-survey.html +It is a hard time for all crypto investors right now. Literally everything is red, esp after it has been a hard couple weeks on the crypto markers. Many of us are holding bags, many of us have lost money that we couldn't afford to lose, some of us might not be able to pay rent or mortgages or possibly even buy food... + +&#x200B; + +Most of us invested in crypto to 'get rich' or at least escape poverty... weather we like to admit it or not we invest because we want a better life for ourselves, our family, our children etc + +&#x200B; + +Sure people who are on their high horse will say don't spend money you cant lose, dont over leverage, dont buy crypto, dont xyz - But that doesn't help in this moment and it isnt fair to be kicked when you're down. + +&#x200B; + +There have been many crashes in crypto and probably many more to come. I'm not here to tell you to Hold or buy the dip or even sell. I'm just here to tell you that you're not alone, tomorrow is another day. + +&#x200B; + +So where ever you are around the world, whatever you do just know others are all hurting just like you right now and we will be better investors for this experience and for those that are HODLing like me just know we will see better days again and not to give up on chasing a better financial future for yourself. + +&#x200B; + +TL: This is Pastry1 from Australia tell you to stay strong! +Every article I read paints the picture that the housing market dropping 20% will be a disaster for the country but for low income earners like myself I might be able to actually afford something decent in a short while. During the pandemic prices were moving up so fast I thought it was over for me and the media was celebrating this. I guess im supposed to feel guilty that I may not be priced out of owning home? + +There’s all this talk about addressing housing affordability but when it actually starts to happen people scream the sky is falling. I don’t get it. Do people earning less than 100k per year even have a goddamn voice in this country? +Hey everyone! I recently read a great book on Warren Buffett called Buffettology. The book lays out a whole set of criteria that Buffett looks for when buying stocks so I thought… alright, let’s see if we can grade all the stocks! Here, in this post, are the results. + +# The Rules + +First, the rules. Each rule below receives a point for a pass, and no points for a fail, much like the Piotroski Score. The points were gathered from insights in Buffettology (I’d recommend a read if you haven’t already). + +* Rule 1 - Consistent Earnings (5yr / TTM growth > 0%) +* Rule 2 - Good debt coverage (can pay down debt in <3yr) +* Rule 3 - High Return on Equity (>15% average over 5yr) +* Rule 4 - High Return on Invested Capital (>12% average over 5yr) +* Rule 5 - FCF Generation (TTM FCF > $0) +* Rule 6 - Buying Back Shares? (Share count today < share count 5yr ago) +* Rule 7 - IRR greater than Long-Term Treasury (initial rate of return > 1.1%) +* Rule 8 - ERR greater than 12% (expected rate of return > 12% - calculated using analyst growth estimates) + +Now, the data. Like always it’s in a Google sheet. I have ranked the stocks from 8 on down. If you’re interested in a particular stock, search for it within the document. + +# The Data + +The data: [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GLuUXKGBg7Rq0LgkdVPcybHKnsEl44eQ1cadtz84oZ0/edit#gid=0](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GLuUXKGBg7Rq0LgkdVPcybHKnsEl44eQ1cadtz84oZ0/edit#gid=0) + +# Feedback + +Got a rule you think should be in there, or something confusing about the score? Let me know. I make quirky things like this quite frequently for my YouTube channel (won’t link to avoid breaking any rules), and would love to take some feedback on continue iterating on this Warren Buffett checklist. +It seems like there is widespread sentiment that a recession is looming. Every news outlet is calling for one in some capacity and the public seems to be in agreement with them. + +What's the argument for why that prediction is wrong? +I have just received the email enquiring regarding my interest (Full disclosure.... I am) probably by virtue of being an enthusiastic customer keeping Wingstop on the Heliport Trading Estate in business single handedly. + +Anyone else going to get amongst this? Of course they don’t yet make a profit, have circa £110 million of debt and yet are still touting £7 billion as a potential valuation. + +Do I need my head examined by a qualified professional or if I repeat the mantra “Future earnings” will that help me sleep better at night? + +*** Edit *** + +General consensus is that fundamentals are poor and this is a punt. I’m a gambling man with capital to blow, let us see how the situation develops. +**TL:DR - Here's the proof... we were lied to.... the numbers don't add up.. shorts did not cover during January and I still don't see how they could have. Read this FULLY and tell me I'm wrong** + +\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ + + My fellow Apes, + +Lately I've been thinking about the short-interest publication by S3 last year when Ihor (yeah, remember him?) tried to explain how the short-interest reached 140%. This was a central topic to our conversations on previous subreddits and it seems to have been forgotten. We kind of glazed over it during the hype and I don't think we ever documented the process or properly defined WTF happened. + +I'm putting this DD together to analyze the timeline of events. Just so there are no doubts about the actual SI %, I grabbed this screenshot directly from the [SEC's report](https://www.sec.gov/files/staff-report-equity-options-market-struction-conditions-early-2021.pdf) last October. + +[page 21 of the PDF](https://preview.redd.it/kdmui3s8llm81.png?width=891&format=png&auto=webp&s=7bc018c0bc88d2eefe65706e21110323806ca31e) + +When everyone found out the SI% was this high, there were suddenly SOOOOOO many questions asking how it can even happen. Without a way to accurately determine the SI% using public info, several of us used S3 and Ihor because they had been relatively objective in the past. + +Anyway, prior to January no one really paid enough attention to actually give a sh\*t about these figures. Or better yet, there weren't enough eyes on the issue to dig into it. That obviously changed after January and people like Ihor were suddenly faced with some serious questions, primarily *"HOW THE F\*CK DO THESE PEOPLE SELL MORE SHARES THAN EXIST"* + +...I remember it like yesterday.... + +There was a *very* quick narrative change from the S3 team.. Ihor quickly went from supporting the traditional (and more objective) equation ...to Frankenstein's monster of a formula.... + +[https:\/\/twitter.com\/ihors3\/status\/1354856088907210754](https://preview.redd.it/pbe5f56yglm81.png?width=597&format=png&auto=webp&s=54e87f206b1eaf2a27530dbd97f584adfd8e4eb7) + +&#x200B; + +Let's dissect this sh\*t one step at a time because there's A LOT going on in this post... \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ + +**Step 1: WTF is a synthetic long?** + +Ihor states that every short sale CREATES a synthetic long.. + +Whenever you short sell a stock, the obligation to repurchase that share at a later date is created. Therefore, what Ihor is saying is that each obligation to purchase a FUTURE share should be treated as an ADDITIONAL share to those that already exist.. + +His own words..... **"the traditional float number in the SI % Float calc is** **WRONG"**... Keep in mind this was literally during the peak of the event in January... convenient timing, right? + +\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ + +**Step 2: Redefine the SI % calculation to include synthetic longs** + +Get ready because sh\*t is about to throw you for a f\*cking loop... Ihor is literally suggesting that the SI% should include the short positions IN THE DENOMINATOR of the calculation, AS WELL AS THE NUMERATOR.... If you keep the same figures I reported above (70m / 50m) and recalculate SI% the way that Ihor suggests, here's the result: **70m shorts / (50m float + 70m SYNTHETIC shares) = 70m shorts / 120m TOTAL SHARES = 58.3%** + +Surely to GOD we haven't been reduced to this level of desperation... but here's his post from the **VERY NEXT DAY**. + +[https:\/\/twitter.com\/ihors3\/status\/1355194252674953219?lang=en](https://preview.redd.it/k5miphuhylm81.png?width=590&format=png&auto=webp&s=bd434d0f02026369b5339f801336fbb3b0d6401a) + +Now I'm no genius, but it REAAAAAAAAALLY looks like Ihor reported the actual SI% using the new figures after 1/28/2021 **AND reported his new S3 calculation using the synthetic longs in the denominator....** + +Want more evidence? Take the 57.83m shares that Ihor reported as sold short, add those to the number of shares that were in the float (50m or so), then divide that total by the 57.83m..... + +**57.83m / (50m float + 57.83 synthetic shares) = 53.63%....** f\*cking WHAT!? + +Ihor reports 53.12% and I calculated 53.63% by shooting from the hip?! GTFO.. + +Based on the SEC's report, we know there was a small amount of covering during this time and I'm not doubting that the short interest dropped to 113%, but if the ACTUAL short interest was still 113% after we hit our peak, then when the f\*ck did they cover? (I'll come back to this, later) + +\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ + +**Step 3: You can't get 5 quarts of milk out of a gallon jug!** + +Apparently, this guy is appealing to the common sense of the average investor by playing dumb.. Why do I think he's 'playing' dumb? + +**HODL my f\*cking beer and watch this..** + +If you haven't read the HOC series and don't know about the ways that companies fail to mark the short sale indicator on their shares, then I would suggest you go back and do that. It's the most obvious way for a company to conceal short positions. It can go on for years without people knowing and it creates millions of phantom shares, which I'm pretty sure everyone knows about at this point. When phantom shares are lent multiple times because they are never documented to begin with, you most definitely have a 5th quart of milk, dumbass. + +But let's assume you DON'T know about that... Check out this FINRA violation from Barclays: + +[https:\/\/files.brokercheck.finra.org\/firm\/firm\_19714.pdf](https://preview.redd.it/zbl73bat0mm81.png?width=771&format=png&auto=webp&s=cf52a95aa0846ea699aead4bb8ba81dece62c459) + +So people like Ihor use numbers that are provided from a source, which is usually these f\*ckheads. The biggest issue that most of us have been talking about is the ACCURACY of those reports. When Ihor gets his report, there's no way to validate the numbers because it's not his calculation to validate. + +Instead, someone like Barclays (listed above) uses their own "methods" to determine if they are long or short on a given stock (or derivative). Therefore, if they include a number that is calculated erroneously, people like Ihor have to use that faulty information. + +Here in lies the problem and this is why I think Ihor is full of sh\*t. For someone that's a "Managing Director of Predictive Analytics" at a Financial Analytics Firm, you can't assert that you are unaware of these errors within your source information.... I have half a wrinkle and I can put this sh\*t together so there's no way in Hell that you can't. + +Anyway, Barclay's over-tendered 270,000 shares in a company because it miscalculated it's long position. They manually calculated their long position using multiple systems which **ultimately excluded a short position** that was housed in (yet) another system... + +Now we know this isn't a major f\*ck up compared to the crimes I listed in the HoC, but it's plenty of ammunition to blow more holes in Ihor's milk jug theory. If Ihor's source report excludes these shares, it means that all of the shares which SHOULD have been included in his report, WEREN'T... + +Furthermore, I pulled this from the SEC's report: + +https://preview.redd.it/0n3tjjobdmm81.png?width=868&format=png&auto=webp&s=09944a1fe016271800b4af7b21cae070d95d79f1 + +So not only does the 5th quart **exist**, but you never **included** the 4th quart, either... + +Huh.... 'magine that.... + +\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ + +Now then... where was I? + +Aside from Ihor's proprietary SI formula and his blatant gaslighting, what actually happened to the shorts during January? + +*....Well HODL on to your f\*cking hats...* + +Let's get back to the timeline... on 1/29/2021 Ihor comes out with a new SI figure which shows the new S3 calculation. I truly believe this was the beginning of the media campaign to pump FUD into retail investors. At this time, many people were referring to the run-up as the short squeeze, or even a gamma / delta squeeze. We had no idea what it was because there was no financial information about it... HOWEVER.... It LOOKED a lot like a short squeeze.. + +As we moved into the first week of February, it's as if all of the news outlets were trying to shout the same story: **the rally has GameStopped and the shorts have covered**. Here's just ONE from CNBC.. + +[https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/01\/29\/gamestop-short-sellers-are-still-not-surrendering-despite-nearly-20-billion-in-losses-this-year.html](https://preview.redd.it/74hewsm5bmm81.png?width=1014&format=png&auto=webp&s=20003b4273059b977f7590b4766eaa25e4366bd9) + +&#x200B; + +We all saw how many tactics that were used to simultaneously promote the same story in favor of corporate interests. They acknowledged that Redditors had caused some damage to the hedgies, but ultimately it was over and **"MOST OF THE SHORT COVERING OCCURRED ON THURSDAY, WHEN THE STOCK FELL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SIX DAYS."** + +Note the comments regarding other short sellers holding and / or taking new positions against the stock.. Anyway, this was also published on 1/29/2021 and includes quotes directly from S3... right after S3 publishes new figures which indicate declining short interest.. + +Several of us thought they would cover once the buy button was blocked by certain brokers.. It was the perfect opportunity to do so because supply went WAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY up... + +...and yet, the total amount of SI on 1/29/2021 was still over 100% and covering would have meant financial suicide... these f\*ckers have been shorting meme stonks for literally a decade.... back when the price was like $4 - $5 a share.... imagine still paying $100 or even $50 a share to get out of that bet.. + +So what's a better thing to do..... nuke your long positions and cover, or spend the cash to pump media FUD and make it look like it's game over? + +&#x200B; + +IDK.... you tell me... + +\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ + +Yet again, I reference the SEC's official report.. + +https://preview.redd.it/646h1fmmdmm81.png?width=857&format=png&auto=webp&s=46ab1a42ad2f7bd44f430566bb6edc3b39f16b28 + +It's nothing new... we know the SEC reported that most of the buying was from retail and not shorts... but look at that last line..... ".. sustained the WEEKS-long price appreciation...." + +..Well tickle-my-balls.... so what exactly happened to the shorts? + +[Figure 6 from the SEC's report](https://preview.redd.it/wc0j36uxdmm81.png?width=847&format=png&auto=webp&s=7496333e1c4142088fa82a2650efeae72dd823b5) + +The blue bars are total buy volume and the red bars are buying from short sellers.. + +Look at all of the dates between 1/19/2021 and 1/29/2021... remember what Ihor said about this time frame? + +...we dropped from around **140% to 113%**... as of 1/29/2021, Ihor said the ACTUAL short interest was 113%.... that's BEFORE using S3's new SI% calculation..... + +Now go back to the red bars...... assuming 140% was the high... you mean to tell me that ALL of that buying was only a 27% reduction... (let me double check my maff.... 140 - 113... yup... 27%) in the outstanding short interest?.... + +Did they cover after the price dropped while the buy button was disabled? + +IDFK, you tell me... does it look like there was much activity from short sellers covering after 1/29/2021? To me, it looks like these mother f\*ckers spent money trying to gaslight the population and hope we washed our hands of it.... + +There is NO F\*CKING WAY short interest dropped below 100% after all of this... + +Not to mention this PROVES the media lied to us for MONTHS about shorts covering because the SEC determined that was a HUGE F\*CKING NO. + +&#x200B; + +&#x200B; + +We weren't wrong: we were gaslighted and lied to. + +Here's the smoking gun. + +&#x200B; + +Someone's not telling the truth. + +&#x200B; + +DIAMOND.F\*CKING.HANDS + +\#GMEtotheMOON +https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/23/mark-cuban-americans-should-get-a-1000-dollar-stimulus-check-every-2-weeks.html + +Cuban says that all American households, no matter their income level, should receive a $1,000 stimulus check every two weeks for the next two months. He proposed this same idea in May and says "I still believe in doing it the exact same way" today. + +Additionally, families would have to spend each check within 10 days, or they would lose the money, Cuban says. He believes this "use it or lose it approach" would be beneficial because it would promote spending, which would help businesses stay open and stimulate the economy. + +Without mandating the money be spent within 10 days of receipt, Cuban believes many Americans will save it. "People are uncertain about their future, so rather than spending, they save," he says. He has a point: Many Americans have been saving more amid the pandemic than ever. In April, the personal savings rate hit a record high, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. + +Thanks for the awards. +There's a lot of talk about Apple's privacy policy destroying FB's ad business and TikTok destroying Meta's family of apps user growth. And sure both those things have some negative impact on that metric. But their advertising business saw it's highest quarter revenue ever and its family of Apps saw it's largest quarter operating profit ever. Ad revenue was 14% higher than the previous high and FoA profit was up 7%. So their core business is still growing. But the perception being pushed out is that FB is doomed. The reality is their investment into Reality Labs is what is causing profits to be lower than last years 4th quarter. But reality Labs is essentially Research & Development mostly. That is not the same thing as their core business shrinking. Not even close. But it's being priced as if it is. Huge disconnect. + +I am Long FB. +I can’t imagine having such a hugely successful market in India where a lot of parents struggle to even pay for school. Yes I know that the indian middle class now has more of a disposable income now, but curious as this is a niche market and they were only founded in 2011. +This is kind of part 3 of what's been happening so here are some links to the first 2 posts as well as a link to the original post on WSB about this story: + +Original post - +[My broker (Questrade) wants me to sign an NDA saying I won't talk shit about them after offering me $1200 USD as compensation for losing $50000 from outages](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/frz0fp/my_broker_questrade_wants_me_to_sign_an_nda/) + +Post #2 - [Questrade Legal Contacted me](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/fsnubq/contacted_by_questrade_legal_team_for_permission/) + +Post #3 (Original post on WSB)- [Got a call from police regarding "threats" to Questrade last night... I was read some of the posts you guys made on their sub](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/ft80y4/got_a_call_from_police_regarding_threats_to/) + + +So in the original email where they mention legal action they accused me of threats, extortion and defamation. + +>"We ask that you remove these posts immediately and you cease to use social media to post defamatory and misleading statements about Questrade in an attempt to extort funds from the company. If you do not remove these posts, you are put on notice that this will become a legal matter. Our legal department are already investigating two prior posts you made where you stated that you were ready to "burn down the building" as well as making the following statement: “ if I can’t get my money back I’ll be sure they lose an equal amount in whatever way I can.''" + +Obviously the quotes in the email don't provide full context but the cops understood that and read it back to me. + +Paraphrasing here but this is the comment regarding burning down the building: + +>What is going on with Questrade support? This is such a joke. It pretty much feels like all they're saying is "too bad so sad" and "fuck you". Honestly getting tired with this.. I feel like I'm going crazy... getting ready to burn down the building. What a joke + +So obviously I was saying it as a figure of speech in a time of frustration and not serious in anyway regarding it but regardless Questrade took it to the police. + +The other comment about "if I can't get my money back I'll be sure they lose an equal amount in whatever way I can" was meant as in them losing potential/current client's commissions. Obviously I didn't mean any harm which I clarified in my reply to the original email. + +Basically the police cautioned me and said they don't think I was serious. + +The call I got was around 1:30am EST and I asked if they usually call this late and the officer said that they were just getting to it cause they had more pressing matters (assuming COVID19). + +Just a waste of police resources in general if you ask me. Especially during this time. Like the guy from the TradeDesk said to me in an email... + +>"To keep things in perspective, the world is reeling from a tragic situation. Thousands of people have lost their lives. Our staff have been working around the clock to help our clients get through this unprecedented crisis. In response to our genuine attempts to find an amicable solution, you have threatened and insulted our staff. I urge you to think about your actions." + +I would urge Questrade to think about their actions. + +The officer also asked me if I was the one writing posts about "Questrade killing someone's wife"(?) and I think something about Hitler but I was able to clarify that it wasn't me writing those posts and it was other people who were likely upset. + +Just find it pretty ridiculous that police had to waste their time going through screenshots sent by Questrade of their sub... + +Not sure why they would waste the police's time with this but it ultimately resulted in nothing. It was, in my opinion, obvious that those comments were both said out of frustration and I removed them (along with all comments) at the request of a Questrade employee as well anyway. + + +I think what people should take away from this though is how poorly Questrade is treating its clients. If I were to phone them and be upset I don't want to be scared of potentially having a criminal charge brought forward on me because they took something I said out of frustration seriously and involved the police. Honestly think their handling of this matter has been incredibly unprofessional throughout. Upsetting to think this was a company I used to admire and recommend to countless people. + +Even just a few days before all this happened I was recommending them to friends - https://imgur.com/a/DHVOHhE + +It's amazing to me how poorly they've handled all this and how in less than 3 weeks my opinion of them has done a complete 180. + +What a joke. + + +I'm sure you guys worked this out for yourselves but just want to point out how it's weirdly convenient that they saw the "threats" last week but the police only contacted me after I refused to take down my posts about them... (15 hours after the deadline Questrade gave me to take down the posts) + +Proof I was contacted by police since some people think I am lying about it- https://imgur.com/a/rVU3KfR + +________________________________________________ + +Guys if you want to help get the word out and potentially save other Canadians from signing up with this nightmare of a broker **please tweet this thread at Questrade or Business Insider or marketwatch or bloomberg or anyone else that can write about it.** I don't have an active twitter account so can't really do it myself but would appreciate it immensely. + + +I think it's important for Canadians to know that they could potentially get contacted by the police if they say something to their broker out of frustration or anger. + +People should know what kind of company they are dealing with. + +You can also email the News Tips email on sites with links to these threads if you want. + + +Thanks guys. + +edit: + +To contact cbc: + +https://www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/contact + +and + +gopublic@cbc.ca + +______________________________ + +Edit 2: To those saying I'm in the wrong. I can agree that I shouldn't have said some things but what I want to point out is this + +I understand that but if they were worried about the threat why did they wait until after my second round of postings to bring it up? + +Why wasn't I contacted by police sooner regarding it. + +How is it that police only contacted me about 15 hours after the deadline they gave me to take down my posts had passed? + +If there was a concern of safety they had screenshots of the posts Thursday March 26 at 5:53 pm EST at the latest. + +How is it police only contacted me April 1st at 1:16AM EST? + +13 hours and 16 minutes after the deadline had passed. + +Police also had screenshots of posts made on Mar 30 and Mar 31. + +Obviously I can't know but it seems like they only went to the police after I refused to take down the posts. + +Here's a more clear timeline: + +Step 1 - lose money + +Step 2 - post about it on /r/Questrade (and only /r/Questrade) on every single post and warn people + +Step 3 - mod on /r/Questrade asks for my number + +Step 4 - TradeDeskGuy calls me to talk to me + +Step 5 - TradeDeskGuy says he's gonna see what kind of compensation he can get me + +Step 6 - TradeDeskGuy asks me to remove my posts while he is "going to bat for me" (no joke he really said that) + +>While I review your complaint below can you do me a solid and remove repetitive posts on wherever you posted online. You can keep your original complaint if you wish. Your entitled to vent your frustration but there are limits to that. We have thousands upon thousands of happy clients which you were probably one of prior to the outages and you spamming the boards is giving your bias. It is not a fair representation of Questrade nor does it help when I go to bat for you. + +>I was told you already apologized to those responsible for responding to social posts so I thank you for that. + +>Thanks + +Step 7 - I comply and delete even my original complaint + +Step 8 - Receive 1200USD offer + +Step 9 - Decline offer and post about what happened everywhere I can think of + +Step 10 - Get asked to remove my posts again (by TradeDeskGuy): + +>I have just been notified that you have posted information from our private discussions on Reddit. These discussions were confidential and constituted good faith attempt to resolve your complaint. Your Reddit posts are inaccurate, misleading and contain defamatory content. As we discussed, you incurred a loss as a result of trading in high risk options, which you failed to mention in your posts. + +>We ask that you remove these posts immediately and you cease to use social media to post defamatory and misleading statements about Questrade in an attempt to extort funds from the company. If you do not remove these posts, you are put on notice that this will become a legal matter. Our legal department are already investigating two prior posts you made where you stated that you were ready to "burn down the building" as well as making the following statement: “ if I can’t get my money back I’ll be sure they lose an equal amount in whatever way I can.'' + +>If we do not receive your confirmation by 12pm on March 31, 2020, that you will discontinue posting defamatory content on social media, you will leave us no choice than to commence legal action. + +>To keep things in perspective, the world is reeling from a tragic situation. Thousands of people have lost their lives. Our staff have been working around the clock to help our clients get through this unprecedented crisis. In response to our genuine attempts to find an amicable solution, you have threatened and insulted our staff. I urge you to think about your actions. + +Step 11 - I don't + +Step 12 - Mar 31 12pm passes + +Step 13 - 13.5 hours later I get a call from the police regarding the "threats" that I had deleted in Step 7 + +I think Step was the wrong word to use in all this but does that clear up the timeline for you? +It’s so embarrassing and I just felt so much hatred and jealousy for people who don’t have to go through this. I’m struggling bad and I can’t afford anything. Job cut my hours extremely so I’m SOL. I’m emotionally tired + + +Edit: wow omg first off thank you guys for the love and support. It means the world to me. I never expected this many people to be on my side. I just made a quick post with tears coming down my face, expecting nothing. Thank you I’m gonna cry but happy tears. +https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/24/tesla-earnings-q3-2018.html + +2.92/share is actually much more than even I was expecting as a Tesla Bull. What does /r/investing think about this earnings? +Sounds crazy but WSB just made value investing cool again. I know right now its all hype and momo investing but the guy that started it all was a value investor named deepf&ingvalue. He bought gamestop as a value play, they are celebrating michael burry for his value play. I know this is value play plus huge luck that market shenanigans amplified your play, but still it started as a value play. I think when its all over people will start looking for the next gamestock buy digging through undervalued out of favor stocks. + +plus when everyone loses money they always come to Buffett. +Now is the time to buy. It could be rough for 1 year, 3 years, 5 years etc. but show me a time where after 10 years the market did not rebound and it’s a very small percentage. + +You think the upper class invests only when the market is hot? No. They invest when the market is shit. They invest in real estate when it is shit. They invest in crypto when it is shit. They invest when proven assets are shit and real the reward when they are hot. + +Don’t fret. Ride the wave and keep buying SCHD, VOO, VTI, DGRO, and VYM if able. Also, if the stock market tanks for 10 straight years we have much bigger issues on our hands and you won’t give two shits about your portfolio +From the data I’ve seen, I don’t really see it. Someone please enlighten me. I’m interested but the returns I see seem to be lower and it’s a ton of work. Leverage? Tax rules? What am I missing? +This is driving me crazy just from confusion. In like 90% of books and sources I read, experts say rent control creates scarcity, it does the opposite of its desired effect essentially. I’ve seen that when rent control was put into place in various cities it immediately lead to less housing development. I’ve seen that it causes landlords to not care about upkeep, it causes abandoned buildings occasionally cause they weren’t profitable, and I read it can lead to construction of more luxury buildings where rent control doesn’t apply. In that last case it seems like this system that tries to help the poor in fact helps the rich. Yet I still see politicians advocating for it and it still exists in places around the world. What the hell am I missing? People don’t seem that upset over this and I don’t get it lol. +He will get on top of SCHD dividend income, US social security. +He doesn't have a work pension or an IRA withdrawal, because he immigrated to USA 15 years ago and put all his money towards buying a house. + +He will have to sell his home and rent an apartment. I think I will do this with good confidence. +I am age 43 and I bought a lot of SCHD since 2015. It grew and it always paid dividends, even in 2020. + +What do you think? +Sorry if this is entirely irrelevant, but I just wanted somewhere to celebrate this achievement. It’s taken me the last year to pay off all of my debt which totalled around £8700 last September. + +This morning I paid off the final £475 of a bank loan I took out a few years ago which was £6850 when I made my first payment towards it at the end of October last year. + +This has felt at times like a day that would never come. I’ve had to make adjustments, postpone my ‘debt free’ date numerous times because of life getting in the way, but for the first time in a long time I can actually breathe freely without that weight on my chest. + +Next steps I’ve planned are as follows; + +Save up for Christmas shopping, and also save to pay my car insurance outright (due 21st December). After this I’m going to save up a £4000 emergency fund, then I’m going to save again and treat myself to a new car. For now though, I’ll be celebrating with a meal out this weekend with my girlfriend who has supported me through the highs and lows of the last year. + +Just wanted to finally say I did it. No debt to my name anymore. It feels like a never ending spiral staircase, but there IS a top and you CAN reach it! + +Thanks to everyone on this sub also for the incredible knowledge I’ve picked up whilst reading through many posts. You guys are awesome! + +Edit: A huge thank you to all of you leaving lovely comments, didn’t expect this post to gain so much traction at all! I’d reply individually but I’m currently at work and don’t have the time, so THANK YOU!!! +Welcome to the ETH Daily Discussion thread of /r/EthTrader. + +*** + +The thread guidelines are as follows: + +- All sub rules apply here. Please review our **[rules page](https://www.reddit.com/r/ethtrader/about/rules/)** to become familiar with them. The rules page is also linked in the announcement bar above. +- General discussion topics include, but are not limited to, events of the day, technical analysis, alternative Ethereum projects, or support issues. +- Breaking news or other important content should be submitted as a separate post. +- In-depth altcoin discussions should be referred to the /r/CryptoCurrency discussion thread. To view the thread, [follow this link](https://np.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/search?q=%5BMonthly+General+Discussion%5D&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and choose the latest entry on the search page. +- Pumping, venting, trolling, or any other similar behavior **should be reported** and redirected to the /r/CryptoMarkets trollbox thread. To visit this thread, [follow this link](https://np.reddit.com/r/CryptoMarkets/search?q=Trollbox+Thread&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) and choose the latest entry on the search page. + +*** + +Resources and other information: + +* For newcomers who have basic questions about Ethereum, you can find answers by visiting /r/EthereumNoobies or our [Ethereum Education wiki page](https://www.reddit.com/r/ethtrader/wiki/education). + +* To view live streaming comments for this thread, [click here](https://reddit-stream.com/comments/auto). Account permissions are required to post comments through Reddit-Stream.com. + +* **The daily thread will no longer be stickied so please remember to upvote it for visibility.** + +*** + +Thank you in advance for your participation. Enjoy! + +I'm fucking furious, after a year and two months, they did the same shit again. MOASS started this morning and the hedge funds mommy and daddy stepped in to protect them. What other explanation is there for what we just watched happen live?? Shares sold at $275, options going ITM at $510. They did it in broad daylight, right in front of all of us, AGAIN! And we will never get an explanation for it, we will never be told what exactly happened. More importantly, we will never get the tendies that we just missed out on. I could be financially free with just my calls at $510. I'd never sell a share for any less than $69,420,420.69, so don't take that the wrong way. + +Anyway, I just needed to vent my frustrations. I feel so powerless. +I've been investing in dividend growth stocks for 7 years now, and this is my current portfolio. + +A couple of notes: + +\- The 13k pay for a around 57% of my expenses. Not quite FI, but getting there. + +\- I own 73 stocks, which is too high for my taste, so I'm re-balancing to focus on my core stocks + +\- The portfolio payout ratio is only 39%, based on forward earnings. This is a key metric I focus on. I value strong financials and dividend growth over current yield. + +&#x200B; + +https://preview.redd.it/kxndbp7a5gr71.jpg?width=1153&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b3752c1ff016f662bba95a27535669e6b4274be + +&#x200B; + +EDIT: Since a lot of you have asked for it, here are all the stocks I own, as well as some I sold. + +&#x200B; + +https://preview.redd.it/hvjcr98vdir71.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=79403e2523711b651efab198a91e6b6f39ad0a2d +Optus has now sent me an email saying a hacker has stolen a lot of my identity, and now has access to potentially more than 100 points of I.D. - so they could open credit cards etc..does anyone know what steps can i take to protect myself.. or has the train left the station + +edit + +1. Upgrade passwords and upgarde to 2FA +2. Subscribe to equifax (paid service) +3. Check [haveibeenpwned.com](https://haveibeenpwned.com/) (free service) +4. Beware of weird emails and activity +5. consider swapping carrier +6. wait for more information from OPTUS +I'm not sure where to post this, but noticed something had changed on the TransUnion website about freezing credit this morning when I was giving links to family so they could freeze theirs. + +I froze my credit the day after news about the Equifax breach broke, and it looks like TransUnion has since changed their site to push people away from freezing their credit in favor for their own product called TrueIdentity (like what Equifax was doing with their TrustedID Premier.) + + +The FTC website links to [this page](http://www.transunion.com/freeze) for freezing your credit with TransUnion. + + +[This is what the website looked before the changes were made on 9/11.](https://web.archive.org/web/20170729070041/https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze/place-credit-freeze) The instructions on placing a credit freeze were clear and there was no mention of their own TrueIdentity product. + + +If you want to place a credit freeze with TransUnion now: + +* You have to get through a page of info about credit and fraud, and then the action it tells you to take is to "Lock your credit information by enrolling in TrueIdentity." +* The option to freeze your credit is under "About credit freeze", deliberately passive in their use of language +* The description about credit freezing is dissuasive: "A credit freeze may be available under your state law" +* The link for the credit freeze is also a passive "click here" compared with "by enrolling in TrueIdentity" language used for the link to their own product. +* Clicking the link to learn more about credit freeze brings you to [yet another page](https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze/place-credit-freeze2) that tries to convince you to enroll in their product over placing a credit freeze +* After searching through their page of BS, you finally get to the [link to freeze your credit](https://freeze.transunion.com). + + +This is such a blatant attempt by TransUnion to take advantage of the Equifax breach for their own financial gain. It's a shitty thing for TransUnion to do, and people should be aware that they are being led away from putting an actual credit freeze on their account. + +(Edited for formatting on mobile) +Seems like a lot of people have flocked over here from WSB. Thetagang went from being a strategy for building *small* and *consistent* gains, to just being another way of trading options on meme stocks. + +If you're new and don't understand the basics of how selling options works, you're setting yourself up to lose just as much money as you did when you were buying options. Maybe even more—at least when you buy an option your losses are capped at 100%. + +I used to read this sub every day because it was a great way to learn more about trading mechanics, greeks, and finding good trade recommendations. Now the top posts are usually people panicking about how their underlying is tanking because they thought selling an option on a WSB stock is the inverse of buying it (spoiler: it's not). + +If the MODS don't do their jobs to regulate this sub, it's never going to recover. Top posts are often loss porn and stock recommendations based solely on premium. Most upvoted comments are frequently promoting advice that is flat out *wrong* on a basic level. No one reading wikis or learning the basics before they start confidently handing out advice. + +This is just a short and poorly written rant, so I'll leave it at that. +Hello all, + +We are opening this thread so it can be dedicated to talks about the current GME situation. + +Feel free to discuss. Other newly created GME posts will be removed. + +Disclaimer: The title was sorely written by me and does not represent the views of Reddit or the /r/stocks subreddit. + +**Short Interest Update** + +[Short interest still very high](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/l642ms/updated_jan_27th_short_interest_data_posted_by_s3/) , confirming that Melvin having covered is a lie. +Context here: [Spoof on CRED](https://youtu.be/lGmwMHsii04) + +Note: This post might seem like bit of rant. But I want to know from fellow CRED users if they have been able to use the coins to anything meaningful apart from cashback. + +I have been using CRED app for almost 2 years now. Till this day I found cashback is the only worthwhile feature. Apart from the miniscule cashback I haven't used my coins on any other rewards. + +None of the feature rewards offers excite me, as almost all products listed are available at cheaper price directly in market. Imagine sitting with more than 10 lakh worthless coins, it's frustrating to say the least. + +The MagicPin Vijay Raaz spoof youtube advertisement exposes this aspect of CRED. + +Edit 27-Apr-2021 : As shared by few here, let's burn all CRED points to contribute to oxygen delivery by Milaap. Hope it reaches properly to the needy. +1:30pm EST - Private member business - Safe and regulated Sports Betting Act (Canadian politics) + +https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/house/latest/projected-business + +If this passes, this is going to 🚀 this stock. They have investment from PENN a large gambling company US and they are also owned by one of the largest media companies in Canada.... + +Do your own DD but this is one to keep your 👁 on or blind faith into before the bill reading ✊🏼 +At one point, having a million was a very decent chunk, hence the popularity of the term millionaire. But in recent times, due to inflation/QE/whatever, seems like being a decamillionaire is the new millionaire. I was watching Bugs Bunny (don’t judge) and this villain gets a $3M inheritance, implying he’d become wealthy. The episode came out in 1942, I popped in $3M into an inflation calculator and in today’s $s, that is a bit over $45M, which is a bs high amount of money for anyone. All this prompts me to re-question what my FI number is. Thoughts? +https://pt.linkedin.com/pulse/estatais-privatizadas-de-cingapura-jean-paulo-silva + +this post (in portuguese), argues that Singapore maintains a system of "Private" state owned companies, where the companies are administred using the logic of the market, so a better alternative to privatization is just using private logic in the public system? +(Updated September 5th, 2020) + +&#x200B; + +\*Please note that I effective Sept. 14, 2020 I am deactivating my account. This post will remain as a public service; however, I will be unable to reply to further questions. + +There are two problems: + +1. I've contributed to other threads, particularly options, and I'm being downvoted on things that I am correct on by people who obviously don't know anything and are asking questions that are covered in any basic options tutorial, and then get upset when you point out they're wrong. +2. I've managed to attract some unsavoury attention by someone who is clearly trolling the threads and the mods aren't doing anything about it. + +&#x200B; + +There's a lot of good, smart, hard-working people here on Reddit but there are also a lot of trolls and people who are obviously very immature, and the mods clearly aren't doing their job. I can't participate in that. + +&#x200B; + +# Background + +&#x200B; + +**You may have heard about off-shore tax havens of questionable legality where wealthy people invest their money in legal "grey zones" and don't pay any tax, as featured for example, in Netflix's drama, The Laundromat.** + +&#x200B; + +**The reality is that the Government of Canada offers 100% tax-free investing throughout your life, with unlimited withdrawals of your contributions and profits, and no limits on how much you can make tax-free. There is also nothing to report to the Canada Revenue Agency. Although Britain has a comparable program, Canada is the only country in the world that offers tax-free investing with this level of power and flexibility.** + +&#x200B; + +Thank you fellow Redditors for the wonderful Gold Award and Today I Learned Award! + +&#x200B; + +(Unrelated but Important Note: I put a link at the bottom for my margin account explainer. Many people are interested in margin trading but don't understand the math behind margin accounts and cannot find an explanation. If you want to do margin, but don't know how, click on the link.) + +&#x200B; + +As a Gen-Xer, I wrote this post with Millennials in mind, many of whom are getting interested in investing in ETFs, individual stocks, and also my personal favourite, options. Your generation is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this extremely powerful program at a relatively young age. But whether you're in your 20's or your 90's, read on! + +&#x200B; + +Are TFSAs important? In 2020 Canadians have almost 1 trillion dollars saved up in their TFSAs, so if that doesn't prove that pennies add up to dollars, I don't know what does. The TFSA truly is the Great Canadian Tax Shelter. + +&#x200B; + +I will periodically be checking this and adding issues as they arise, to this post. I really appreciate that people are finding this useful. As this post is now fairly complete from a basic mechanics point of view, and some questions are already answered in this post, please be advised that at this stage I cannot respond to questions that are already covered here. If I do not respond to your post, check this post as I may have added the answer to the FAQs at the bottom. + +&#x200B; + +# How to Invest in Stocks + +&#x200B; + +A lot of people get really excited - for good reason - when they discover that the TFSA allows you to invest in stocks, tax free. I get questions about which stocks to buy. + +&#x200B; + +I have made some comments about that throughout this post, however; I can't comprehensively answer that question. Having said that, though, if you're interested in picking your own stocks and want to learn how, I recommmend starting with the following videos: + +&#x200B; + +The first is by Peter Lynch, a famous American investor in the 80's who wrote some well-respected books for the general public, like "One Up on Wall Street." The advice he gives is always valid, always works, and that never changes, even with 2020's technology, companies and AI: + +&#x200B; + +[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRMpgaBv-U4&t=2256s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRMpgaBv-U4&t=2256s) + +&#x200B; + +&#x200B; + +The second is a recording of a university lecture given by investment legend Warren Buffett, who expounds on the same principles: + +&#x200B; + +[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MHIcabnjrA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MHIcabnjrA) + +&#x200B; + +Please note that I have no connection to whomever posted the videos. + +&#x200B; + +# Introduction + +&#x200B; + +TFSAs were introduced in 2009 by Stephen Harper's government, to encourage Canadians to save. + +&#x200B; + +The effect of the TFSA is that ordinary Canadians don't pay any income or capital gains tax on their securities investments. + +&#x200B; + +Initial uptake was slow as the contribution rules take some getting used to, but over time the program became a smash hit with Canadians. There are about 20 million Canadians with TFSAs, so the uptake is about 70%- 80% (as you have to be the age of majority in your province/territory to open a TFSA). + +&#x200B; + +# Eligibility to Open a TFSA + +&#x200B; + +You must be a Canadian resident with a valid Social Insurance Number to open a TFSA. You must be at the voting age in the province in which you reside in order to open a TFSA, however contribution room begins to accumulate from the year in which you turned 18. You do not have to file a tax return to open a TFSA. You do not need to be a Canadian citizen to open and contribute to a TFSA. No minimum balance is required to open a TFSA. + +&#x200B; + +# Where you Can Open a TFSA + +&#x200B; + +There are hundreds of financial institutions in Canada that offer the TFSA. There is only one kind of TFSA; however, different institutions offer a different range of financial products. Here are some examples: + +&#x200B; + +* The Canadian big 5 bank branches and most other financial institutions offer a TFSA that allows you to buy mutual funds, hold cash, GICs, term deposits, and possibly ETFs. This is a good choice if you want guaranteed returns or diversified investing. +* There are a number of on-line banks such as Tangerine, Simplii Financial, Oaken Financial, and many more that offer the TFSA. +* The discount DIY brokerage arms of the big 5 banks give you more choices, including stocks, warrants, bonds and options. There are also standalone brokers like IBKR Canada, Questrade, Qtrade, and Virtual Brokers, among others, that offer this. +* Some brokerages and financial advisors also offer TFSAs that give you these investment choices, in different formats such as: + * Traditional brokerage, where a stockbroker invests your money (BMO Nesbitt Burns, RBC Dominion Securities and others) + * Financial advisor who will invest your money according to a plan you put together with the advisor (TSI Network and many others) + * "Robo" advisors such as Wealthsimple, RBC InvestEase, BMO SmartFolio, or Wealthbar + * BMO's AdviceDirect, which is a semi-directed hybrid between standalone DIY investing and fully-advised investing, where you operate on a DIY basis but have access to a registered investment advisor (a live person) who can give you suggetions and advice. + +&#x200B; + +# Insurance + +&#x200B; + +Your TFSA may be covered by either CIFP or CDIC insuranceor both. Ask your bank or broker for details. + +&#x200B; + +# What You Can Trade and Invest In + +&#x200B; + +You can trade the following: + +&#x200B; + +* GICs, mutual funds, term deposits +* individual common and preferred stocks listed on an "approved exchange" which are the TSX, TSX-V, NASDAQ, NYSE, and about 20 other exchanges worldwide, but not the US OTC pink sheets. +* stock-like securities like REITS, ETFs and ETNs, including 2x and 3x leveraged +* gold and silver certificates +* warrants +* cash of many countries (CAD/USD/EUR/GBP/AUD/NZD/JPY/CHF and many others) +* government debt of most countries, subsovereigns like Canadian provincial bonds, and debt of most corporations +* listed options (both calls and puts) on individual equities, and ETFs and ETNs that trade on the Montreal Exchange or various options exchanges in the USA (the main one being the Chicago Board Options Exchange) and the rest of the word (but see FAQ for details) +* gold, silver bullion certificates +* shares in certain private companies -- but consult your tax advisor on this + +&#x200B; + +# What You Cannot Trade + +&#x200B; + +You cannot trade: + +&#x200B; + +* futures, including commodity futures, and financial futures such as single stock, index, and interest rate futures +* options against futures +* contracts for difference (which are big in Europe and the U.K. but AFAIK either not allowed or in very limited usage in the USA and the Canadian provinces and territories) +* foreign exchange forward contracts (aka spot forex) +* option spread positions (see FAQ for details) +* crypto (bitcoin, ethereum etc.) +* collateralized debt obligations and related securities (e.g. mortgages packaged as tradeable securities) + +&#x200B; + +# Borrowing to Contribute + +You can borrow money to make your TFSA contributions, e.g. against a HELOC or personal line of credit, or other source of credit; obviously you are then obligated to pay back the lender. A TFSA is not a margin account, however, therefore you cannot borrow against securities in a TFSA. + +&#x200B; + +# Rules for Contribution Room + +&#x200B; + +Starting at 18 you get a certain amount of contribution room. + +&#x200B; + +According to the CRA: + +**You will accumulate TFSA contribution room for each year even if you do not file an Income Tax and Benefit Return or open a TFSA**. + +The annual TFSA dollar limit for the years **2009 to** **2012** was **$5,000**. + +The annual TFSA dollar limit for the years **2013** and **2014** was **$5,500**. + +The annual TFSA dollar limit for the year **2015** was **$10,000.** + +The annual TFSA dollar limit for the years **2016 to 2018** was **$5,500**. + +The annual TFSA dollar limit for the year **2019** is $**6,000**. + +The TFSA annual room limit will be indexed to inflation and rounded to the nearest $500. + +Investment income earned by, and changes in the value of TFSA investments will not affect your TFSA contribution room for the current or future years. + +&#x200B; + +[https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/tax-free-savings-account/contributions.html](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/tax-free-savings-account/contributions.html) + +If you don't use the room, it accumulates indefinitely. + +&#x200B; + +Trades you make in a TFSA are truly tax free. But you cannot claim the dividend tax credit and you cannot claim losses in a TFSA against capital gains whether inside or outside of the TFSA. So do make money and don't lose money in a TFSA. You are stuck with the 15% withholding tax on U.S. dividend distributions unlike the RRSP, due to U.S. tax rules, but you do not pay any capital gains on sale of U.S. shares. + +&#x200B; + +You can withdraw \*both\* contributions \*and\* capital gains, no matter how much, at any time, without penalty. The amount of the withdrawal (contributions+gains) converts into contribution room in the \*next\* calendar year. So if you put the withdrawn funds back in the same calendar year you take them out, that burns up your total accumulated contribution room to the extent of the amount that you re-contribute in the same calendar year. + +&#x200B; + +# Examples + +&#x200B; + +E.g. Say you turned 18 in 2016 in Alberta where the age of majority is 18. It is now sometime in 2020. You have never contributed to a TFSA. You now have $5,500+$5,500+$5,500+$6,000+$6,000 = $28,500 of room in 2020. In 2020 you manage to put $20,000 in to your TFSA and you buy Canadian Megacorp common shares. You now have $8,500 of room remaining in 2020. + +&#x200B; + +Sometime in 2021 - it doesn't matter when in 2021 - your shares go to $100K due to the success of the Canadian Megacorp. You also have $6,000 worth of room for 2021 as set by the government. You therefore have $8,500 carried over from 2020+$6,000 = $14,500 of room in 2021. + +&#x200B; + +In 2021 you sell the shares and pull out the $100K. This amount is tax-free and does not even have to be reported. You can do whatever you want with it. + +&#x200B; + +But: if you put it back in 2021 you will over-contribute by $100,000 - $14,500 = $85,500 and incur a penalty. + +&#x200B; + +But if you wait until 2022 you will have $14,500 unused contribution room carried forward from 2021, another $6,000 for 2022, and $100,000 carried forward from the withdrawal 2021, so in 2022 you will have $14,500+$6,000+$100,000 = $120,500 of contribution room. + +&#x200B; + +This means that if you choose, you can put the $100,000 back in in 2022 tax-free and still have $20,500 left over. If you do not put the money back in 2021, then in 2022 you will have $120,500+$6,000 = $126,500 of contribution room. + +&#x200B; + +There is no age limit on how old you can be to contribute, no limit on how much money you can make in the TFSA, and if you do not use the room it keeps carrying forward forever. + +&#x200B; + +Just remember the following formula: + +&#x200B; + +This year's contribution room = (A) unused contribution room carried forward from last year + (B) contribution room provided by the government for this year + (C) total withdrawals from last year. + +&#x200B; + +EXAMPLE 1: + +&#x200B; + +Say in 2020 you never contributed to a TFSA but you were 18 in 2009. + +You have $69,500 of unused room (see above) in 2020 which accumulated from 2009-2020. + +In 2020 you contribute $50,000, leaving $19,500 contribution room unused for 2020. You buy $50,000 worth of stock. The next day, also in 2020, the stock doubles and it's worth $100,000. Also in 2020 you sell the stock and withdraw $100,000, tax-free. + +&#x200B; + +You continue to trade stocks within your TFSA, and hopefully grow your TFSA in 2020, but you make no further contributions or withdrawals in 2020. + +&#x200B; + +&#x200B; + +The question is, How much room will you have in 2021? + +Answer: In the year 2021, the following applies: + +(A) Unused contribution room carried forward from last year, 2020: $19,500 + +(B) Contribution room provided by government for this year, 2021: $6,000 + +(C) Total withdrawals from last year, 2020: $100,000 + +&#x200B; + +Total contribution room for 2021 = $19,500+6,000+100,000 = $125,500. + +&#x200B; + +EXAMPLE 2: + +Say between 2020 and 2021 you decided to buy a tax-free car (well you're still stuck with the GST/PST/HST/QST but you get the picture) so you went to the dealer and spent $25,000 of the $100,000 you withdrew in 2020. You now have a car and $75,000 still burning a hole in your pocket. Say in early 2021 you re-contribute the $75,000 you still have left over, to your TFSA. However, in mid-2021 you suddenly need $75,000 because of an emergency so you pull the $75,000 back out. But then a few weeks later, it turns out that for whatever reason you don't need it after all so you decide to put the $75,000 back into the TFSA, also in 2021. You continue to trade inside your TFSA but make no further withdrawals or contributions. + +&#x200B; + +How much room will you have in 2022? + +Answer: In the year 2022, the following applies: + +&#x200B; + +(A) Unused contribution room carried forward from last year, 2021: $125,500 - $75,000 - $75,000 = -$24,500. + +&#x200B; + +Already you have a problem. You have over-contributed in 2021. You will be assessed a penalty on the over-contribution! (penalty = 1% a month). + +&#x200B; + +But if you waited until 2022 to re-contribute the $75,000 you pulled out for the emergency..... + +&#x200B; + +In the year 2022, the following would apply: + +(A) Unused contribution room carried forward from last year, 2021: $125,500 -$75,000 =$50,500. + +(B) Contribution room provided by government for this year, 2022: $6,000 + +(C) Total withdrawals from last year, 2020: $75,000 + +&#x200B; + +Total contribution room for 2022 = $50,500 + $6,000 + $75,000 = $131,500. + +...And...re-contributing that $75,000 that was left over from your 2021 emergency that didn't materialize, you still have $131,500-$75,000 = $56,500 of contribution room left in 2022. + +&#x200B; + +# + +For a more comprehensive discussion, please see the CRA info link below. + +# FAQs That Have Arisen in the Discussion and Other Potential Questions: + +&#x200B; + +&#x200B; + +1. United States citizens who are resident in Canada: U.S. citizens residing in Canada are in a unique situation because the U.S. taxes on the basis of citizenship, whereas Canada taxes on the basis of residency. Also, the TFSA is not treated by the Canada-U.S. tax treaty in the same way as the RRSP. Because of the way these rules impact on your personal circumstances, it may or may not be advisable for you to open a TFSA. Do not rely on advice randomly given on Reddit for this. Consult with a tax lawyer or accountant for advice. +2. Equity and ETF/ETN Options in a TFSA: can I get leverage? Yes. Options are an excellent way to get high leverage in a TFSA. You can buy puts and calls in your TFSA and you only need to have the cash to pay the premium and broker commissions. Example: if XYZ is trading at $70, and you want to buy the $90 call with 6 months to expiration, and the call is trading at $2.50, you only need to have $250 in your account, per option contract, and if you are dealing with BMO IL for example you need $9.95 + $1.25/contract which is what they charge in commission. Of course, any profits on closing your position are tax-free. You only need the full value of the strike in your account if you want to exercise your option instead of selling it. Please note: this is not meant to be an options tutorial; see the Montreal Exchange's Equity Options Reference Manual if you have questions on how options work. +3. Equity and ETF/ETN Options in a TFSA: what is ok and not ok? Long puts and calls are allowed. Covered calls are allowed, but cash-secured puts are not allowed. All other option trades are also not allowed. Basically the rule is, if the trade is not a covered call and it either requires being short an option or short the stock, you can't do it in a TFSA. +4. Live in a province where the voting age is 19 so I can't open a TFSA until I'm 19, when does my contribution room begin? Your contribution room begins to accumulate at 18, so if you live in province where the age of majority is 19, you'll get the room carried forward from the year you turned 18. +5. If I turn 18 on December 31, do I get the contribution room just for that day or for the whole year? The whole year. +6. Do commissions paid on share transactions count as withdrawals? Unfortunately, no. If you contribute $2,000 cash and you buy $1,975 worth of stock and pay $25 in commission, the $25 does not count as a withdrawal. It is the same as if you lost money in the TFSA. +7. How much room do I have? If your broker records are complete, you can do a spreadsheet. The other thing you can do is call the CRA and they will tell you. +8. TFSA-->TFSA direct transfer from one institution to another: this has no impact on your contributions or withdrawals as it counts as neither. +9. More than 1 TFSA: you can have as many as you want but your total contribution room does not increase or decrease depending on how many accounts you have. +10. Withdrawals that convert into contribution room in the next year. Do they carry forward indefinitely if not used in the next year? Answer :yes. +11. Do I have to declare my profits, withdrawals and contributions? No. Your bank or broker interfaces directly with the CRA on this. There are no declarations to make. +12. Risky investments - smart? In a TFSA you want always to make money, because you pay no tax, and you want never to lose money, because you cannot claim the loss against your income from your job. If in year X you have $5,000 of contribution room and put it into a TFSA and buy Canadian Speculative Corp. and due to the failure of the Canadian Speculative Corp. it goes to zero, two things happen. One, you burn up that contribution room and you have to wait until next year for the government to give you more room. Two, you can't claim the $5,000 loss against your employment income or investment income or capital gains like you could in a non-registered account. So remember Buffett's rule #1: Do not lose money. Rule #2 being don't forget the first rule. TFSA's are absolutely tailor-made for Graham-Buffett value investing or for diversified ETF or mutual fund investing, but you don't want to buy a lot of small specs because you don't get the tax loss. +13. Moving to/from Canada/residency. You must be a resident of Canada and 18 years old with a valid SIN to open a TFSA. Consult your tax advisor on whether your circumstances make you a resident for tax purposes. Since 2009, your TFSA contribution room accumulates every year, if at any time in the calendar year you are 18 years of age or older and a resident of Canada. Note: If you move to another country, you can STILL trade your TFSA online from your other country and keep making money within the account tax-free. You can withdraw money and **Canada** will not tax you. But you have to get tax advice in your country as to what they do. There restrictions on contributions for non-residents. See "non residents of Canada:" [https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cra-arc/formspubs/pub/rc4466/rc4466-19e.pdf](https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cra-arc/formspubs/pub/rc4466/rc4466-19e.pdf) +14. The U.S. withholding tax. Dividends paid by U.S.-domiciled companies are subject to a 15% U.S. withholding tax. Your broker does this automatically at the time of the dividend payment. So if your stock pays a $100 USD dividend, you only get $85 USD in your broker account and in your statement the broker will have a note saying 15% U.S. withholding tax. I do not know under what circumstances if any it is possible to get the withheld amount. Normally it is not, but consult a tax professional. +15. The U.S. withholding tax does not apply to capital gains. So if you buy $5,000 USD worth of Apple and sell it for $7,000 USD, you get the full $2,000 USD gain automatically. +16. Tax-Free Leverage. Leverage in the TFSA is effectively equal to your tax rate \* the capital gains inclusion rate because you're not paying tax. So if you're paying 25% on average in income tax, and the capital gains contribution rate is 50%, the TFSA is like having 12.5%, no margin call leverage costing you 0% and that also doesn't magnify your losses. +17. Margin accounts. These accounts allow you to borrow money from your broker to buy stocks. TFSAs are not margin accounts. Nothing stopping you from borrowing from other sources (such as borrowing cash against your stocks in an actual margin account, or borrowing cash against your house in a HELOC or borrowing cash against your promise to pay it back as in a personal LOC) to fund a TFSA if that is your decision, bearing in mind the risks, but a TFSA is not a margin account. Consider options if you want leverage that you can use in a TFSA, without borrowing money. +18. Dividend Tax Credit on Canadian Companies. Remember, dividends paid into the TFSA are not eligible to be claimed for the credit, on the rationale that you already got a tax break. +19. FX risk. The CRA allows you to contribute and withdraw foreign currency from the TFSA but the contribution/withdrawal accounting is done in CAD. So if you contribute $10,000 USD into your TFSA and withdraw $15,000 USD, and the CAD is trading at 70 cents USD when you contribute and $80 cents USD when you withdraw, the CRA will treat it as if you contributed $14,285.71 CAD and withdrew $18,75.00 CAD. +20. OTC (over-the-counter stocks). You can only buy stocks if they are listed on an approved exchange ("approved exchange" = TSX, TSX-V, NYSE, NASDAQ and about 25 or so others). The U.S. pink sheets "over-the-counter" market is an example of a place where you can buy stocks, that is not an approved exchange, therefore you can't buy these penny stocks. I have however read that the CRA make an exception for a stock traded over the counter if it has a dual listing on an approved exchange. You should check that with a tax lawyer or accountant though. +21. The RRSP. This is another great tax shelter. Tax shelters in Canada are either **deferrals** or in a few cases - such as the TFSA - outright tax breaks, The RRSP is an example of a deferral. The RRSP allows you to deduct your contributions from your income, which the TFSA does not allow. This deduction is a huge advantage if you earn a lot of money. The RRSP has tax consequences for withdrawing money whereas the TFSA does not. Withdrawals from the RRSP are taxable whereas they are obviously not in a TFSA. You probably want to start out with a TFSA and maintain and grow that all your life. It is a good idea to start contributing to an RRSP when you start working because you get the tax deduction, and then you can use the amount of the deduction to contribute to your TFSA. There are certain rules that claw back your annual contribution room into an RRSP if you contribute to a pension. See your tax advisor. +22. Pensions. If I contribute to a pension does that claw back my TFSA contribution room or otherwise affect my TFSA in any way? Answer: No. +23. The $10K contribution limit for 2015. This was PM Harper's pledge. In 2015 the Conservative government changed the rules to make the annual government allowance $10,000 per year forever. Note: withdrawals still converted into contribution room in the following year - that did not change. When the Liberals came into power they switched the program back for 2016 to the original Harper rules and have kept the original Harper rules since then. That is why there is the $10,000 anomaly of 2015. The original Harper rules (which, again, are in effect now) called for $500 increments to the annual government allowance as and when required to keep up with inflation, based on the BofC's Consumer Price Index (CPI). Under the new Harper rules, it would have been $10,000 flat forever. Which you prefer depends on your politics but the TFSA program is massively popular with Canadians. Assuming 1.6% annual CPI inflation then the annual contribution room will hit $10,000 in 2052 under the present rules. Note: the Bank of Canada does an excellent and informative job of explaining inflation and the CPI at their website. +24. Losses in a TFSA - you cannot claim a loss in a TFSA against income. So in a TFSA you always want to make money and never want to lose money. A few ppl here have asked if you are losing money on your position in a TFSA can you transfer it in-kind to a cash account and claim the loss. I would expect no as I cannot see how in view of the fact that TFSA losses can't be claimed, that the adjusted cost base would somehow be the cost paid in the TFSA. But I'm not a tax lawyer/accountant. You should consult a tax professional. +25. Transfers in-kind to the TFSA and the the superficial loss rule. You can transfer securities (shares etc.) "in-kind," meaning, directly, from an unregistered account to the TFSA. If you do that, the CRA considers that you "disposed" of, meaning, equivalent to having sold, the shares in the unregistered account and then re-purchased them at the same price in the TFSA. The CRA considers that you did this even though the broker transfers the shares directly in the the TFSA. The superficial loss rule, which means that you cannot claim a loss for a security re-purchased within 30 days of sale, applies. So if you buy something for $20 in your unregistered account, and it's trading for $25 when you transfer it in-kind into the TFSA, then you have a deemed disposition with a capital gain of $5. But it doesn't work the other way around due to the superficial loss rule. If you buy it for $20 in the unregistered account, and it's trading at $15 when you transfer it in-kind into the TFSA, the superficial loss rule prevents you from claiming the loss because it is treated as having been sold in the unregistered account and immediately bought back in the TFSA. +26. Day trading/swing trading. It is possible for the CRA to try to tax your TFSA on the basis of "advantage." The one reported decision I'm aware of (emphasis on I'm aware of) is from B.C. where a woman was doing "swap transactions" in her TFSA which were not explicitly disallowed but the court rules that they were an "advantage" in certain years and liable to taxation. Swaps were subsequently banned. I'm not sure what a swap is exactly but it's not that someone who is simply making contributions according to the above rules would run afoul of. The CRA from what I understand doesn't care how much money you make in the TFSA, they care how you made it. So if you're logged on to your broker 40 hours a week and trading all day every day they might take the position that you found a way to work a job 40 hours a week and not pay any tax on the money you make, which they would argue is an "advantage," although there are arguments against that. This is not legal advice, just information. +27. The U.S. Roth IRA. This is a U.S. retirement savings tax shelter that is superficially similar to the TFSA but it has a number of limitations, including lack of cumulative contribution room, no ability for withdrawals to convert into contribution room in the following year, complex rules on who is eligible to contribute, limits on how much you can invest based on your income, income cutoffs on whether you can even use the Roth IRA at all, age limits that govern when and to what extent you can use it, and strict restrictions on reasons to withdraw funds prior to retirement (withdrawals prior to retirement can only be used to pay for private medical insurance, unpaid medical bills, adoption/childbirth expenses, certain educational expenses). The TFSA is totally unlike the Roth IRA in that it has none of these restrictions, therefore, the Roth IRA is not in any reasonable sense a valid comparison. The TFSA was modeled after the U.K. Investment Savings Account, which is the only comparable program to the TFSA. +28. The UK Investment Savings Account. This is what the TFSA was based off of. Main difference is that the UK uses a 20,000 pound annual contribution allowance, use-it-or-lose-it. There are several different flavours of ISA, and some do have a limited recontribution feature but not to the extent of the TFSA. +29. Is it smart to overcontribute to buy a really hot stock and just pay the 1% a month overcontribution penalty? If the CRA believes you made the overcontribution deliberately the penalty is 100% of the gains on the overcontribution, meaning, you can keep the overcontribution, or the loss, but the CRA takes the profit. +30. Speculative stocks-- are they ok? There is no such thing as a "speculative stock." That term is not used by the CRA. Either the stock trades on an approved exchange or it doesn't. So if a really blue chip stock, the most stable company in the world, trades on an exchange that is not approved, you can't buy it in a TFSA. If a really speculative gold mining stock in Busang, Indonesia that has gone through the roof due to reports of enormous amounts of gold, but their geologist somehow just mysteriously fell out of a helicopter into the jungle and maybe there's no gold there at all, but it trades on an approved exchange, it is fine to buy it in a TFSA. Of course the risk of whether it turns out to be a good investment or not, is on you. + +Remember, you're working for your money anyway, so if you can get free money from the government -- you should take it! Follow the rules because Canadians have ended up with a tax bill for not understanding the TFSA rules. + +Appreciate the feedback everyone. Glad this basic post has been useful for many. The CRA does a good job of explaining TFSAs in detail at [https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cra-arc/formspubs/pub/rc4466/rc4466-19e.pdf](https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cra-arc/formspubs/pub/rc4466/rc4466-19e.pdf) + +&#x200B; + +# Unrelated but of Interest: The Margin Account + +# + +**Note: if you are interested in how margin accounts work, I refer you to my post on margin accounts, where I use a straightforward explanation of the math behind margin accounts to try and give readers the confidence that they understand this powerful leveraging tool.** + +&#x200B; + +## [How Margin Loans Work - a Primer](https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadianInvestor/comments/hbskjb/how_margin_loans_work_a_primer/) +(Updated September 5th, 2020) + +&#x200B; + +\*Please note that I effective Sept. 14, 2020 I am deactivating my account. This post will remain as a public service; however, I will be unable to reply to further questions. + +There are two problems: + +1. I've contributed to other threads, particularly options, and I'm being downvoted on things that I am correct on by people who obviously don't know anything and are asking questions that are covered in any basic options tutorial, and then get upset when you point out they're wrong. +2. I've managed to attract some unsavoury attention by someone who is clearly trolling the threads and the mods aren't doing anything about it. + +&#x200B; + +There's a lot of good, smart, hard-working people here on Reddit but there are also a lot of trolls and people who are obviously very immature, and the mods clearly aren't doing their job. I can't participate in that. + +&#x200B; + +# Background + +&#x200B; + +**You may have heard about off-shore tax havens of questionable legality where wealthy people invest their money in legal "grey zones" and don't pay any tax, as featured for example, in Netflix's drama, The Laundromat.** + +&#x200B; + +**The reality is that the Government of Canada offers 100% tax-free investing throughout your life, with unlimited withdrawals of your contributions and profits, and no limits on how much you can make tax-free. There is also nothing to report to the Canada Revenue Agency. Although Britain has a comparable program, Canada is the only country in the world that offers tax-free investing with this level of power and flexibility.** + +&#x200B; + +Thank you fellow Redditors for the wonderful Gold Award and Today I Learned Award! + +&#x200B; + +(Unrelated but Important Note: I put a link at the bottom for my margin account explainer. Many people are interested in margin trading but don't understand the math behind margin accounts and cannot find an explanation. If you want to do margin, but don't know how, click on the link.) + +&#x200B; + +As a Gen-Xer, I wrote this post with Millennials in mind, many of whom are getting interested in investing in ETFs, individual stocks, and also my personal favourite, options. Your generation is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this extremely powerful program at a relatively young age. But whether you're in your 20's or your 90's, read on! + +&#x200B; + +Are TFSAs important? In 2020 Canadians have almost 1 trillion dollars saved up in their TFSAs, so if that doesn't prove that pennies add up to dollars, I don't know what does. The TFSA truly is the Great Canadian Tax Shelter. + +&#x200B; + +I will periodically be checking this and adding issues as they arise, to this post. I really appreciate that people are finding this useful. As this post is now fairly complete from a basic mechanics point of view, and some questions are already answered in this post, please be advised that at this stage I cannot respond to questions that are already covered here. If I do not respond to your post, check this post as I may have added the answer to the FAQs at the bottom. + +&#x200B; + +# How to Invest in Stocks + +&#x200B; + +A lot of people get really excited - for good reason - when they discover that the TFSA allows you to invest in stocks, tax free. I get questions about which stocks to buy. + +&#x200B; + +I have made some comments about that throughout this post, however; I can't comprehensively answer that question. Having said that, though, if you're interested in picking your own stocks and want to learn how, I recommmend starting with the following videos: + +&#x200B; + +The first is by Peter Lynch, a famous American investor in the 80's who wrote some well-respected books for the general public, like "One Up on Wall Street." The advice he gives is always valid, always works, and that never changes, even with 2020's technology, companies and AI: + +&#x200B; + +[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRMpgaBv-U4&t=2256s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRMpgaBv-U4&t=2256s) + +&#x200B; + +&#x200B; + +The second is a recording of a university lecture given by investment legend Warren Buffett, who expounds on the same principles: + +&#x200B; + +[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MHIcabnjrA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MHIcabnjrA) + +&#x200B; + +Please note that I have no connection to whomever posted the videos. + +&#x200B; + +# Introduction + +&#x200B; + +TFSAs were introduced in 2009 by Stephen Harper's government, to encourage Canadians to save. + +&#x200B; + +The effect of the TFSA is that ordinary Canadians don't pay any income or capital gains tax on their securities investments. + +&#x200B; + +Initial uptake was slow as the contribution rules take some getting used to, but over time the program became a smash hit with Canadians. There are about 20 million Canadians with TFSAs, so the uptake is about 70%- 80% (as you have to be the age of majority in your province/territory to open a TFSA). + +&#x200B; + +# Eligibility to Open a TFSA + +&#x200B; + +You must be a Canadian resident with a valid Social Insurance Number to open a TFSA. You must be at the voting age in the province in which you reside in order to open a TFSA, however contribution room begins to accumulate from the year in which you turned 18. You do not have to file a tax return to open a TFSA. You do not need to be a Canadian citizen to open and contribute to a TFSA. No minimum balance is required to open a TFSA. + +&#x200B; + +# Where you Can Open a TFSA + +&#x200B; + +There are hundreds of financial institutions in Canada that offer the TFSA. There is only one kind of TFSA; however, different institutions offer a different range of financial products. Here are some examples: + +&#x200B; + +* The Canadian big 5 bank branches and most other financial institutions offer a TFSA that allows you to buy mutual funds, hold cash, GICs, term deposits, and possibly ETFs. This is a good choice if you want guaranteed returns or diversified investing. +* There are a number of on-line banks such as Tangerine, Simplii Financial, Oaken Financial, and many more that offer the TFSA. +* The discount DIY brokerage arms of the big 5 banks give you more choices, including stocks, warrants, bonds and options. There are also standalone brokers like IBKR Canada, Questrade, Qtrade, and Virtual Brokers, among others, that offer this. +* Some brokerages and financial advisors also offer TFSAs that give you these investment choices, in different formats such as: + * Traditional brokerage, where a stockbroker invests your money (BMO Nesbitt Burns, RBC Dominion Securities and others) + * Financial advisor who will invest your money according to a plan you put together with the advisor (TSI Network and many others) + * "Robo" advisors such as Wealthsimple, RBC InvestEase, BMO SmartFolio, or Wealthbar + * BMO's AdviceDirect, which is a semi-directed hybrid between standalone DIY investing and fully-advised investing, where you operate on a DIY basis but have access to a registered investment advisor (a live person) who can give you suggetions and advice. + +&#x200B; + +# Insurance + +&#x200B; + +Your TFSA may be covered by either CIFP or CDIC insuranceor both. Ask your bank or broker for details. + +&#x200B; + +# What You Can Trade and Invest In + +&#x200B; + +You can trade the following: + +&#x200B; + +* GICs, mutual funds, term deposits +* individual common and preferred stocks listed on an "approved exchange" which are the TSX, TSX-V, NASDAQ, NYSE, and about 20 other exchanges worldwide, but not the US OTC pink sheets. +* stock-like securities like REITS, ETFs and ETNs, including 2x and 3x leveraged +* gold and silver certificates +* warrants +* cash of many countries (CAD/USD/EUR/GBP/AUD/NZD/JPY/CHF and many others) +* government debt of most countries, subsovereigns like Canadian provincial bonds, and debt of most corporations +* listed options (both calls and puts) on individual equities, and ETFs and ETNs that trade on the Montreal Exchange or various options exchanges in the USA (the main one being the Chicago Board Options Exchange) and the rest of the word (but see FAQ for details) +* gold, silver bullion certificates +* shares in certain private companies -- but consult your tax advisor on this + +&#x200B; + +# What You Cannot Trade + +&#x200B; + +You cannot trade: + +&#x200B; + +* futures, including commodity futures, and financial futures such as single stock, index, and interest rate futures +* options against futures +* contracts for difference (which are big in Europe and the U.K. but AFAIK either not allowed or in very limited usage in the USA and the Canadian provinces and territories) +* foreign exchange forward contracts (aka spot forex) +* option spread positions (see FAQ for details) +* crypto (bitcoin, ethereum etc.) +* collateralized debt obligations and related securities (e.g. mortgages packaged as tradeable securities) + +&#x200B; + +# Borrowing to Contribute + +You can borrow money to make your TFSA contributions, e.g. against a HELOC or personal line of credit, or other source of credit; obviously you are then obligated to pay back the lender. A TFSA is not a margin account, however, therefore you cannot borrow against securities in a TFSA. + +&#x200B; + +# Rules for Contribution Room + +&#x200B; + +Starting at 18 you get a certain amount of contribution room. + +&#x200B; + +According to the CRA: + +**You will accumulate TFSA contribution room for each year even if you do not file an Income Tax and Benefit Return or open a TFSA**. + +The annual TFSA dollar limit for the years **2009 to** **2012** was **$5,000**. + +The annual TFSA dollar limit for the years **2013** and **2014** was **$5,500**. + +The annual TFSA dollar limit for the year **2015** was **$10,000.** + +The annual TFSA dollar limit for the years **2016 to 2018** was **$5,500**. + +The annual TFSA dollar limit for the year **2019** is $**6,000**. + +The TFSA annual room limit will be indexed to inflation and rounded to the nearest $500. + +Investment income earned by, and changes in the value of TFSA investments will not affect your TFSA contribution room for the current or future years. + +&#x200B; + +[https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/tax-free-savings-account/contributions.html](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/tax-free-savings-account/contributions.html) + +If you don't use the room, it accumulates indefinitely. + +&#x200B; + +Trades you make in a TFSA are truly tax free. But you cannot claim the dividend tax credit and you cannot claim losses in a TFSA against capital gains whether inside or outside of the TFSA. So do make money and don't lose money in a TFSA. You are stuck with the 15% withholding tax on U.S. dividend distributions unlike the RRSP, due to U.S. tax rules, but you do not pay any capital gains on sale of U.S. shares. + +&#x200B; + +You can withdraw \*both\* contributions \*and\* capital gains, no matter how much, at any time, without penalty. The amount of the withdrawal (contributions+gains) converts into contribution room in the \*next\* calendar year. So if you put the withdrawn funds back in the same calendar year you take them out, that burns up your total accumulated contribution room to the extent of the amount that you re-contribute in the same calendar year. + +&#x200B; + +# Examples + +&#x200B; + +E.g. Say you turned 18 in 2016 in Alberta where the age of majority is 18. It is now sometime in 2020. You have never contributed to a TFSA. You now have $5,500+$5,500+$5,500+$6,000+$6,000 = $28,500 of room in 2020. In 2020 you manage to put $20,000 in to your TFSA and you buy Canadian Megacorp common shares. You now have $8,500 of room remaining in 2020. + +&#x200B; + +Sometime in 2021 - it doesn't matter when in 2021 - your shares go to $100K due to the success of the Canadian Megacorp. You also have $6,000 worth of room for 2021 as set by the government. You therefore have $8,500 carried over from 2020+$6,000 = $14,500 of room in 2021. + +&#x200B; + +In 2021 you sell the shares and pull out the $100K. This amount is tax-free and does not even have to be reported. You can do whatever you want with it. + +&#x200B; + +But: if you put it back in 2021 you will over-contribute by $100,000 - $14,500 = $85,500 and incur a penalty. + +&#x200B; + +But if you wait until 2022 you will have $14,500 unused contribution room carried forward from 2021, another $6,000 for 2022, and $100,000 carried forward from the withdrawal 2021, so in 2022 you will have $14,500+$6,000+$100,000 = $120,500 of contribution room. + +&#x200B; + +This means that if you choose, you can put the $100,000 back in in 2022 tax-free and still have $20,500 left over. If you do not put the money back in 2021, then in 2022 you will have $120,500+$6,000 = $126,500 of contribution room. + +&#x200B; + +There is no age limit on how old you can be to contribute, no limit on how much money you can make in the TFSA, and if you do not use the room it keeps carrying forward forever. + +&#x200B; + +Just remember the following formula: + +&#x200B; + +This year's contribution room = (A) unused contribution room carried forward from last year + (B) contribution room provided by the government for this year + (C) total withdrawals from last year. + +&#x200B; + +EXAMPLE 1: + +&#x200B; + +Say in 2020 you never contributed to a TFSA but you were 18 in 2009. + +You have $69,500 of unused room (see above) in 2020 which accumulated from 2009-2020. + +In 2020 you contribute $50,000, leaving $19,500 contribution room unused for 2020. You buy $50,000 worth of stock. The next day, also in 2020, the stock doubles and it's worth $100,000. Also in 2020 you sell the stock and withdraw $100,000, tax-free. + +&#x200B; + +You continue to trade stocks within your TFSA, and hopefully grow your TFSA in 2020, but you make no further contributions or withdrawals in 2020. + +&#x200B; + +&#x200B; + +The question is, How much room will you have in 2021? + +Answer: In the year 2021, the following applies: + +(A) Unused contribution room carried forward from last year, 2020: $19,500 + +(B) Contribution room provided by government for this year, 2021: $6,000 + +(C) Total withdrawals from last year, 2020: $100,000 + +&#x200B; + +Total contribution room for 2021 = $19,500+6,000+100,000 = $125,500. + +&#x200B; + +EXAMPLE 2: + +Say between 2020 and 2021 you decided to buy a tax-free car (well you're still stuck with the GST/PST/HST/QST but you get the picture) so you went to the dealer and spent $25,000 of the $100,000 you withdrew in 2020. You now have a car and $75,000 still burning a hole in your pocket. Say in early 2021 you re-contribute the $75,000 you still have left over, to your TFSA. However, in mid-2021 you suddenly need $75,000 because of an emergency so you pull the $75,000 back out. But then a few weeks later, it turns out that for whatever reason you don't need it after all so you decide to put the $75,000 back into the TFSA, also in 2021. You continue to trade inside your TFSA but make no further withdrawals or contributions. + +&#x200B; + +How much room will you have in 2022? + +Answer: In the year 2022, the following applies: + +&#x200B; + +(A) Unused contribution room carried forward from last year, 2021: $125,500 - $75,000 - $75,000 = -$24,500. + +&#x200B; + +Already you have a problem. You have over-contributed in 2021. You will be assessed a penalty on the over-contribution! (penalty = 1% a month). + +&#x200B; + +But if you waited until 2022 to re-contribute the $75,000 you pulled out for the emergency..... + +&#x200B; + +In the year 2022, the following would apply: + +(A) Unused contribution room carried forward from last year, 2021: $125,500 -$75,000 =$50,500. + +(B) Contribution room provided by government for this year, 2022: $6,000 + +(C) Total withdrawals from last year, 2020: $75,000 + +&#x200B; + +Total contribution room for 2022 = $50,500 + $6,000 + $75,000 = $131,500. + +...And...re-contributing that $75,000 that was left over from your 2021 emergency that didn't materialize, you still have $131,500-$75,000 = $56,500 of contribution room left in 2022. + +&#x200B; + +# + +For a more comprehensive discussion, please see the CRA info link below. + +# FAQs That Have Arisen in the Discussion and Other Potential Questions: + +&#x200B; + +&#x200B; + +1. United States citizens who are resident in Canada: U.S. citizens residing in Canada are in a unique situation because the U.S. taxes on the basis of citizenship, whereas Canada taxes on the basis of residency. Also, the TFSA is not treated by the Canada-U.S. tax treaty in the same way as the RRSP. Because of the way these rules impact on your personal circumstances, it may or may not be advisable for you to open a TFSA. Do not rely on advice randomly given on Reddit for this. Consult with a tax lawyer or accountant for advice. +2. Equity and ETF/ETN Options in a TFSA: can I get leverage? Yes. Options are an excellent way to get high leverage in a TFSA. You can buy puts and calls in your TFSA and you only need to have the cash to pay the premium and broker commissions. Example: if XYZ is trading at $70, and you want to buy the $90 call with 6 months to expiration, and the call is trading at $2.50, you only need to have $250 in your account, per option contract, and if you are dealing with BMO IL for example you need $9.95 + $1.25/contract which is what they charge in commission. Of course, any profits on closing your position are tax-free. You only need the full value of the strike in your account if you want to exercise your option instead of selling it. Please note: this is not meant to be an options tutorial; see the Montreal Exchange's Equity Options Reference Manual if you have questions on how options work. +3. Equity and ETF/ETN Options in a TFSA: what is ok and not ok? Long puts and calls are allowed. Covered calls are allowed, but cash-secured puts are not allowed. All other option trades are also not allowed. Basically the rule is, if the trade is not a covered call and it either requires being short an option or short the stock, you can't do it in a TFSA. +4. Live in a province where the voting age is 19 so I can't open a TFSA until I'm 19, when does my contribution room begin? Your contribution room begins to accumulate at 18, so if you live in province where the age of majority is 19, you'll get the room carried forward from the year you turned 18. +5. If I turn 18 on December 31, do I get the contribution room just for that day or for the whole year? The whole year. +6. Do commissions paid on share transactions count as withdrawals? Unfortunately, no. If you contribute $2,000 cash and you buy $1,975 worth of stock and pay $25 in commission, the $25 does not count as a withdrawal. It is the same as if you lost money in the TFSA. +7. How much room do I have? If your broker records are complete, you can do a spreadsheet. The other thing you can do is call the CRA and they will tell you. +8. TFSA-->TFSA direct transfer from one institution to another: this has no impact on your contributions or withdrawals as it counts as neither. +9. More than 1 TFSA: you can have as many as you want but your total contribution room does not increase or decrease depending on how many accounts you have. +10. Withdrawals that convert into contribution room in the next year. Do they carry forward indefinitely if not used in the next year? Answer :yes. +11. Do I have to declare my profits, withdrawals and contributions? No. Your bank or broker interfaces directly with the CRA on this. There are no declarations to make. +12. Risky investments - smart? In a TFSA you want always to make money, because you pay no tax, and you want never to lose money, because you cannot claim the loss against your income from your job. If in year X you have $5,000 of contribution room and put it into a TFSA and buy Canadian Speculative Corp. and due to the failure of the Canadian Speculative Corp. it goes to zero, two things happen. One, you burn up that contribution room and you have to wait until next year for the government to give you more room. Two, you can't claim the $5,000 loss against your employment income or investment income or capital gains like you could in a non-registered account. So remember Buffett's rule #1: Do not lose money. Rule #2 being don't forget the first rule. TFSA's are absolutely tailor-made for Graham-Buffett value investing or for diversified ETF or mutual fund investing, but you don't want to buy a lot of small specs because you don't get the tax loss. +13. Moving to/from Canada/residency. You must be a resident of Canada and 18 years old with a valid SIN to open a TFSA. Consult your tax advisor on whether your circumstances make you a resident for tax purposes. Since 2009, your TFSA contribution room accumulates every year, if at any time in the calendar year you are 18 years of age or older and a resident of Canada. Note: If you move to another country, you can STILL trade your TFSA online from your other country and keep making money within the account tax-free. You can withdraw money and **Canada** will not tax you. But you have to get tax advice in your country as to what they do. There restrictions on contributions for non-residents. See "non residents of Canada:" [https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cra-arc/formspubs/pub/rc4466/rc4466-19e.pdf](https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cra-arc/formspubs/pub/rc4466/rc4466-19e.pdf) +14. The U.S. withholding tax. Dividends paid by U.S.-domiciled companies are subject to a 15% U.S. withholding tax. Your broker does this automatically at the time of the dividend payment. So if your stock pays a $100 USD dividend, you only get $85 USD in your broker account and in your statement the broker will have a note saying 15% U.S. withholding tax. I do not know under what circumstances if any it is possible to get the withheld amount. Normally it is not, but consult a tax professional. +15. The U.S. withholding tax does not apply to capital gains. So if you buy $5,000 USD worth of Apple and sell it for $7,000 USD, you get the full $2,000 USD gain automatically. +16. Tax-Free Leverage. Leverage in the TFSA is effectively equal to your tax rate \* the capital gains inclusion rate because you're not paying tax. So if you're paying 25% on average in income tax, and the capital gains contribution rate is 50%, the TFSA is like having 12.5%, no margin call leverage costing you 0% and that also doesn't magnify your losses. +17. Margin accounts. These accounts allow you to borrow money from your broker to buy stocks. TFSAs are not margin accounts. Nothing stopping you from borrowing from other sources (such as borrowing cash against your stocks in an actual margin account, or borrowing cash against your house in a HELOC or borrowing cash against your promise to pay it back as in a personal LOC) to fund a TFSA if that is your decision, bearing in mind the risks, but a TFSA is not a margin account. Consider options if you want leverage that you can use in a TFSA, without borrowing money. +18. Dividend Tax Credit on Canadian Companies. Remember, dividends paid into the TFSA are not eligible to be claimed for the credit, on the rationale that you already got a tax break. +19. FX risk. The CRA allows you to contribute and withdraw foreign currency from the TFSA but the contribution/withdrawal accounting is done in CAD. So if you contribute $10,000 USD into your TFSA and withdraw $15,000 USD, and the CAD is trading at 70 cents USD when you contribute and $80 cents USD when you withdraw, the CRA will treat it as if you contributed $14,285.71 CAD and withdrew $18,75.00 CAD. +20. OTC (over-the-counter stocks). You can only buy stocks if they are listed on an approved exchange ("approved exchange" = TSX, TSX-V, NYSE, NASDAQ and about 25 or so others). The U.S. pink sheets "over-the-counter" market is an example of a place where you can buy stocks, that is not an approved exchange, therefore you can't buy these penny stocks. I have however read that the CRA make an exception for a stock traded over the counter if it has a dual listing on an approved exchange. You should check that with a tax lawyer or accountant though. +21. The RRSP. This is another great tax shelter. Tax shelters in Canada are either **deferrals** or in a few cases - such as the TFSA - outright tax breaks, The RRSP is an example of a deferral. The RRSP allows you to deduct your contributions from your income, which the TFSA does not allow. This deduction is a huge advantage if you earn a lot of money. The RRSP has tax consequences for withdrawing money whereas the TFSA does not. Withdrawals from the RRSP are taxable whereas they are obviously not in a TFSA. You probably want to start out with a TFSA and maintain and grow that all your life. It is a good idea to start contributing to an RRSP when you start working because you get the tax deduction, and then you can use the amount of the deduction to contribute to your TFSA. There are certain rules that claw back your annual contribution room into an RRSP if you contribute to a pension. See your tax advisor. +22. Pensions. If I contribute to a pension does that claw back my TFSA contribution room or otherwise affect my TFSA in any way? Answer: No. +23. The $10K contribution limit for 2015. This was PM Harper's pledge. In 2015 the Conservative government changed the rules to make the annual government allowance $10,000 per year forever. Note: withdrawals still converted into contribution room in the following year - that did not change. When the Liberals came into power they switched the program back for 2016 to the original Harper rules and have kept the original Harper rules since then. That is why there is the $10,000 anomaly of 2015. The original Harper rules (which, again, are in effect now) called for $500 increments to the annual government allowance as and when required to keep up with inflation, based on the BofC's Consumer Price Index (CPI). Under the new Harper rules, it would have been $10,000 flat forever. Which you prefer depends on your politics but the TFSA program is massively popular with Canadians. Assuming 1.6% annual CPI inflation then the annual contribution room will hit $10,000 in 2052 under the present rules. Note: the Bank of Canada does an excellent and informative job of explaining inflation and the CPI at their website. +24. Losses in a TFSA - you cannot claim a loss in a TFSA against income. So in a TFSA you always want to make money and never want to lose money. A few ppl here have asked if you are losing money on your position in a TFSA can you transfer it in-kind to a cash account and claim the loss. I would expect no as I cannot see how in view of the fact that TFSA losses can't be claimed, that the adjusted cost base would somehow be the cost paid in the TFSA. But I'm not a tax lawyer/accountant. You should consult a tax professional. +25. Transfers in-kind to the TFSA and the the superficial loss rule. You can transfer securities (shares etc.) "in-kind," meaning, directly, from an unregistered account to the TFSA. If you do that, the CRA considers that you "disposed" of, meaning, equivalent to having sold, the shares in the unregistered account and then re-purchased them at the same price in the TFSA. The CRA considers that you did this even though the broker transfers the shares directly in the the TFSA. The superficial loss rule, which means that you cannot claim a loss for a security re-purchased within 30 days of sale, applies. So if you buy something for $20 in your unregistered account, and it's trading for $25 when you transfer it in-kind into the TFSA, then you have a deemed disposition with a capital gain of $5. But it doesn't work the other way around due to the superficial loss rule. If you buy it for $20 in the unregistered account, and it's trading at $15 when you transfer it in-kind into the TFSA, the superficial loss rule prevents you from claiming the loss because it is treated as having been sold in the unregistered account and immediately bought back in the TFSA. +26. Day trading/swing trading. It is possible for the CRA to try to tax your TFSA on the basis of "advantage." The one reported decision I'm aware of (emphasis on I'm aware of) is from B.C. where a woman was doing "swap transactions" in her TFSA which were not explicitly disallowed but the court rules that they were an "advantage" in certain years and liable to taxation. Swaps were subsequently banned. I'm not sure what a swap is exactly but it's not that someone who is simply making contributions according to the above rules would run afoul of. The CRA from what I understand doesn't care how much money you make in the TFSA, they care how you made it. So if you're logged on to your broker 40 hours a week and trading all day every day they might take the position that you found a way to work a job 40 hours a week and not pay any tax on the money you make, which they would argue is an "advantage," although there are arguments against that. This is not legal advice, just information. +27. The U.S. Roth IRA. This is a U.S. retirement savings tax shelter that is superficially similar to the TFSA but it has a number of limitations, including lack of cumulative contribution room, no ability for withdrawals to convert into contribution room in the following year, complex rules on who is eligible to contribute, limits on how much you can invest based on your income, income cutoffs on whether you can even use the Roth IRA at all, age limits that govern when and to what extent you can use it, and strict restrictions on reasons to withdraw funds prior to retirement (withdrawals prior to retirement can only be used to pay for private medical insurance, unpaid medical bills, adoption/childbirth expenses, certain educational expenses). The TFSA is totally unlike the Roth IRA in that it has none of these restrictions, therefore, the Roth IRA is not in any reasonable sense a valid comparison. The TFSA was modeled after the U.K. Investment Savings Account, which is the only comparable program to the TFSA. +28. The UK Investment Savings Account. This is what the TFSA was based off of. Main difference is that the UK uses a 20,000 pound annual contribution allowance, use-it-or-lose-it. There are several different flavours of ISA, and some do have a limited recontribution feature but not to the extent of the TFSA. +29. Is it smart to overcontribute to buy a really hot stock and just pay the 1% a month overcontribution penalty? If the CRA believes you made the overcontribution deliberately the penalty is 100% of the gains on the overcontribution, meaning, you can keep the overcontribution, or the loss, but the CRA takes the profit. +30. Speculative stocks-- are they ok? There is no such thing as a "speculative stock." That term is not used by the CRA. Either the stock trades on an approved exchange or it doesn't. So if a really blue chip stock, the most stable company in the world, trades on an exchange that is not approved, you can't buy it in a TFSA. If a really speculative gold mining stock in Busang, Indonesia that has gone through the roof due to reports of enormous amounts of gold, but their geologist somehow just mysteriously fell out of a helicopter into the jungle and maybe there's no gold there at all, but it trades on an approved exchange, it is fine to buy it in a TFSA. Of course the risk of whether it turns out to be a good investment or not, is on you. + +Remember, you're working for your money anyway, so if you can get free money from the government -- you should take it! Follow the rules because Canadians have ended up with a tax bill for not understanding the TFSA rules. + +Appreciate the feedback everyone. Glad this basic post has been useful for many. The CRA does a good job of explaining TFSAs in detail at [https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cra-arc/formspubs/pub/rc4466/rc4466-19e.pdf](https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cra-arc/formspubs/pub/rc4466/rc4466-19e.pdf) + +&#x200B; + +# Unrelated but of Interest: The Margin Account + +# + +**Note: if you are interested in how margin accounts work, I refer you to my post on margin accounts, where I use a straightforward explanation of the math behind margin accounts to try and give readers the confidence that they understand this powerful leveraging tool.** + +&#x200B; + +## [How Margin Loans Work - a Primer](https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadianInvestor/comments/hbskjb/how_margin_loans_work_a_primer/) +That's it, that's the advice. I really can't believe people are still doing it. + +Actual quote from an article I just read, from somebody who got destroyed by the flood.. + +>"It seemed astute to move into a flood area after the last flood, because it's a little bit cheaper and we could afford a place here,.. +> +>...We just thought it might flood again in 30 years or something like that, and we'd totally avoid it. But yeah, here it is. We couldn't believe it." + +They knew it was a flood zone, that suffered bad floods recently, decided it sounded like a bargin. Despite the mountains of evidence pointing towards Australia only suffering worse floods, bush fires and extreme weather over the coming years. + +As this sub is about 'getting out of debt, investing, and saving for retirement.'. And I haven't seen this mentioned, yet people are repeatedly walking into this trap.. the advice seems relevant for preventing debt and securing a retirement.. Just don't buy in a flood zone. + +You can download the flood maps of any area online. Likewise you can check an area for bush fire risk etc. it's not a lesson you want to learn the hard way. It could be the biggest financial mistake you ever make. +https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand#Criticism + +Basically, there's two arguments here: + +1. Supply and demand is a tautology, or the existence of it is unfalsifiable. The labor theory of value is a better way to set prices. +2. Supply and demand doesn't apply to modern goods, since stores set prices using a fixed markup percentage over their costs. + +I thought supply and demand was a cornerstone of economics, like Newton's laws are to physics, but I'm just a layperson. + +Are these criticisms supported by a lot of economists? Is supply and demand really in doubt? Or are these just fringe positions that aren't backed up by research? +OK, so I’m interested in this off market 7 unit multifamily asset. + +I reached out to the owner, and they said they’d consider an offer. + +I asked the seller for financial so that I can underwrite the property and give them an offer. + +The seller straight up, told me that he would not be sharing any financials until the property was under contract. + +How does that make any sense? How am I supposed to put an offer on a property without knowing financials + +This is my first time doing and off market deal. + +Is this normal? How would you proceed? +I've often wondered if there is something I'm missing about how wealth is understood at the billionaire level. Most of their value is not in cash so isn't what they are worth more of an appraisal? + +I understand scapegoating billionaires. But I wonder how could we expect them to pay for things when they don't have cash, or with value that isn't real but rather projected. + +How much of the 100 billion in Jeff's worth is translatable to increases in Amazon wages? How would that process work? + +I thank you in advance and am not looking for political answers but distinctly economic ones. +I'm not involved in real estate much, but I can't help but think that heavily over-paying on a property (which, granted, is a long-term investment) seems a bit crazy on the surface to me. + +Many are paying cash, waiving appraisals/inspections etc just to get to the top of a list for property listed 48 hours ago. I'm in the US, and I'm a bit familiar with how much foreign investors are at play. + +Is this just a potential recipe for another major bust, or is there more to this story than I understand? +Why didn't he just sell? Not just him, but other great value investors, Li Lu, Klarmann... + +It obviously gets 100% worse once rate hikes start. Consumer spending slowly goes down. And often times, a recession happens. So why didn't they sell, then buy back after the 5th rate hike, or when rate hikes stop, or immediately after rate reductions start? It's not "timing the market" when you know the stock market will 100% go down when rate hikes happen and a likely recession. + +Burry sold in Q2. So it's not like these big super-investors can't sell for some reason. + +And they don't even have to time the market perfectly when buying back. They could sell, wait just 2 months and get discounted stocks, or wait 6 months. Those alternatives seem better than holding all the way through. + +Of course they're in it for the long-run. Burry is too. But it seems like an obvious time to sell at the beginning of rate hikes and rebuy later. + +I didn't sell because I was a noob. I started investing at the top. I didn't know any better. But now I know. Next time they announce rate hikes 5 or 10 years from now, I'll just sell every except healthcare, consumer-staples, insurance and certain commodities --and buy back at a later time. Even if I don't buy back at the very bottom, I'll be better off than the ones who held through. + +Educate me please. There must be a good reason these brilliant super-investors didn't sell. It's not like they thought there was a possibility of 2-3 rate hikes, then that's all. They know what they're doing. I'm just trying to understand. + +BTW is Berkshire's stock portfolio beating the market YTD? Could it be green? I know the business is more than its stock holdings. Maybe their holdings are actually green. Much of their stock picks are bearish and do well in all climates. I wonder what his average cost is for AAPL is. + +I'm annoyed that I didn't sell. Rate hikes continue, but I'm holding, because we're so far into it. My picks are deep in value territory. I'm down as much as the market. Not bad for a noob. +I've just started trading crypto mostly long positions of coins I know about them and bullish. It's been 2 weeks. I've made enough profit worth almost 6 month of salary (started with 5K now, after closing today's position, account is nearly 60K). My first liquidation happened with small amount but enough to understand deeper the risks of over leverage etc. Doing 10x and max 20x when really bullish. + +I feel a new door has opened. Don't get me wrong, I've been studying long time before I decided to give it a go but still a lot to learn. + +It's been 2 weeks and I feel my life is shifting towards a new chapter. I enjoy this more than my work. I feel that if I manage to settle, I would be free, work from anywhere, provide for my family. + +Do you think I'm just being lucky? Or is it with common sense, understanding technicals and market is just good to have descent profits? + +Would you advise me to do something else, I don't know I guess I'm confused. +------------------------ + +EDIT: for the sake of making it easier to get you guys to help me, I thought to share what is the process I follow. This is what I do: + +- I don't chase Green candles. +- I understand we are bull Market until is not. +- I watch the coins (mostly BNB, ETH and sometimes BTC). +- I determine that I am most bullish on BNB hence most of my profit is from there. +- I enter long position when a support level has been tested twice and I know coin is def going up (this is subjective). I just know it has to go up. +- I put take profit as I ride up the long, normally 25% at each resistance. Sometimes they are all eaten up sometimes they are not. If one of them gets executed, I put a new buy on the previous step. +- when support is clearly tested and identified I put stop loss a little bit below the mark to allow some extra room for volatiliness. +- I struggled before closing a position too early and then trying to jump back in because of FOMO. So I now stick to the plan and after orders get filled, I close the app for a couple of hours to reset myself. + +Bad things I know I've been doing: + +- don't use SL because being afraid of market eating my SL and then going back up. +- I don't short. I guess is because I'm bullish but it shouldnt have anything to do. I just feel weird. Tried once and price skyrocketed. Anyway maybe later. +- I have borrow against my btc to raise more usdt and inject into margin to reduce liq price. This is true when is late at night and I won't be closing the position because is not green but I don't want to wake up being liquidated and I don't want a stop loss to take me out as it has happened before. This, in my opinion, is the worst I've been doing. This is where I feel I've been lucky as I could have lost it all should the market do a super 70% dip which we all know is possible. + +EDIT 2: + +Thanks to those who have commented being objective about it. + +I would like to know if there is a source you would recommend to study more about trading in crypto? Course or something? All I know is me reading up about the technicals I find easier to work with and crypto behaves different of course. + +EDIT 3: + +I have concluded I've been just lucky. I exposed myself into too much risk. I have borrowed against btc at times to inject margin to positions that were close to be liquidated. If liquidation had happened I wouldn't be writing here. I would go to sleep and wake up in the morning back to green with enough profit to pay everything off and get profits compounded into the next position. + +I will be taking 2 steps back. I have removed 20K and reinvested somewhere else for long term. + +I will make positions not more than 10K in total and use the 30K to protect against liquidation. + +For those who wonder what is what I am doing: For instance my current open position is + +BTCUSD Perpetual Future 20x for 2 BTC, Entry Price 53150 with 8K margin. +Currently PNL of 7K. + +I will update you once I get rekt or otherwise. Thank you all for your comments. +TL;DR: Recorded call with former Citadel client reveals Citadel has been underperforming and may have been cooking the books on their finances. Further evidence shows that Ken Griffin was desperate to hold onto his client's funds, and was ferocious towards anyone that left him. + +\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +If you recall in my [Burning Cash](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/v0zrni/burning_cash/) DD post, I explained how Citadel has just a handful of clients that provide them with the necessary capital to operate. + +§1 of my "Burning Cash" DD: "Remember that each of these 19 clients is a very wealthy individual (we're talking aristocrat wealth; someone with a net worth in the billions, or at least $100 million range)." The number of Citadel's clients has dropped to 16 now, as of March 31, 2022, which can be seen on Item 5.D.(f), which is located on page 28 of Citadel's [ADV](https://reports.adviserinfo.sec.gov/reports/ADV/148826/PDF/148826.pdf). + +I should point of that finding out who are these clients (whether former or current) of Citadel is nearly impossible. But, a few days ago I was tipped off by an Ape "u/ Marijuana\_Miler", that noticed an interviewee on "The Tim Ferriss Show", talk briefly about how he's a former client of Citadel. + +[Transcripts from "The Tim Ferriss Show":](https://tim.blog/2022/05/28/ed-thorp-transcript/) + +https://preview.redd.it/pfs2m9aurn391.png?width=625&format=png&auto=webp&s=b817b9f2f2ecc434c6e7742471573812908ed0cb + +https://preview.redd.it/we8n7nwvrn391.png?width=625&format=png&auto=webp&s=61362c9e52b372d7ced51b13f9dcf65dee311dd4 + +\[Note: When someone is talking in an open interview (e.g. Tim Ferriss Show), they're usually more careful about the things they say, so you might not be able to get the full picture of what was going on behind-the-scenes. I've personally been interviewed by talk shows before, and the information I'd provide in interviews was very limited in scope to what was actually going on, and I made sure if I talked about someone, that I would be respectful and not try not to defame anyone's character. That's usually how it goes, so I knew that if Thorp had relations with Ken Griffin and Citadel, there's was very likely much more going on not provided in that interview with the Tim Ferriss Show, which is why I wanted to dig deeper. And, as you'll see in the recordings, Thorp's views on Ken Griffin and Citadel are drastically different than what was displayed in the interview.\] + +Now, who is Edward O. Thorp (PhD)? + +He's an illustrious American mathematician, hedge fund manager, author, and blackjack researcher. He has a net worth of $800 million, which is the type of wealthy client (of the 16 Citadel clients) I was talking about. + +\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Here's a biographical [synopsis](https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-businessmen/wall-street/edward-thorp-net-worth/) of Edward Thorp: + +"Edward Thorp is an American mathematics professor, author, hedge fund manager and blackjack player who has a net worth of $800 million dollars. Edward Thorp was born August 14, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois. He is known as the "father of the wearable computer" since inventing the world's first wearable computer in 1961. He was a pioneer in modern applications of probability theory, including the harnessing of very small correlations for reliable financial gain. He is the author of Beat the Dealer (1962), the first book to mathematically prove that the house advantage in blackjack could be overcome by counting cards. He also developed and applied effective hedge fund techniques in the financial markets. Thorp received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1958 and worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT 1959-61). + +\[...\] + +After his success in casino games, Thorp moved to Wall Street, where he used in full measure his mathematical genius to foresee the price anomalies and with his partner J. Regan developed simple and efficient methods of earning money on stock. His methods are shown brilliantly in his book Beat the Market (1967). Edward O. Thorp is a legendary blackjack player and thinker, and is one of the 7 people elected to be original members of Blackjack Hall of Fame." + +\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +When I found out that Edward Thorp was one of Citadel's clients, I felt really lucky, because I just so happen to have certain connections that I could leverage to get me in contact with Dr. Thorp. + +I was able to reach out to him, and had a chat with him on the phone regarding Ken Griffin and Citadel. Here are the recordings. + +\*I know mods were previously concerned of any potential legal ramifications for posting this, but I can assure you all that I was legally allowed to record this phone call.\* + +\[I should note before you listen to these recordings, that I edited out my voice. So, you'll only be hearing the voice of Edward Thorp.\] + +\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +\-My first question: "When did you leave Citadel?" + +https://reddit.com/link/v4wxkb/video/xnnw31n6sn391/player + +Dr. Thorp answers that he exited in 2020, before the January 2021 run up and all the craziness that transpired afterwards. This is important to note. + +\-I later asked him "why did you decide to leave Citadel?" And "tell me about the stipulations in your contract with Citadel. How hard was it to withdraw your money?" + +https://reddit.com/link/v4wxkb/video/bsfmxd1asn391/player + +Dr. Thorp's testimony here is a revelation that underscores the many shady practices of Citadel. We'll be revisiting it later on, but to succinctly explain: + +Citadel was underperforming, their returns were bad (not nearly as good as Citadel/MSM made them out to be to the public), and that was pre-2021. If Citadel's real returns were terrible pre-2021, they must be absolutely awful this year as well as last, as they've only been burning through their cash trying to keep the basket stocks down. + +We also learn that it's extremely hard for Citadel clients to leave the hedge fund, and that the process takes several years to exit. That would explain why the number of clients Citadel didn't drop from 19 to a significantly less number (such as 10 or less), but instead dropped to 16. I imagine the clients with several billions may have had more leeway/stipulations in their contract; hence, they would've been able to exit quicker (explaining the increase in clients exiting 2021/2022), but for most of the clients, it wasn't going to be as easy. Though, they're most likely actively withdrawing, which is why Citadel needed to cut withdrawal limits and get money from Sequoia. + +\-I asked Thorp about his history with Ken Griffin: + +https://reddit.com/link/v4wxkb/video/etr43arbsn391/player + +"I just rolled out along until they stopped performing well, and I got out as quickly as I could"-Edward Thorp, Former Citadel Client. + +I really like this quote. Should be part of an ad for Citadel, haha. + +\-Discussion about Citadel's withdrawal penalties: + +https://reddit.com/link/v4wxkb/video/58hzumodsn391/player + +"I said to myself, 'if they're so desperate to keep your capital, it means they probably see some risks that we don't know about'". + +\-Discussion about how Ken Griffin operates Citadel: + +https://reddit.com/link/v4wxkb/video/dyvsiy6fsn391/player + +"He has very tight control. He's in charge; he collects most of the money. And he goes after people with ferocity if they leave him. He thinks they'll take any secrets from his organization." + +\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +There was more in my discussions with Edward Thorp that I would've liked to share, but I was specifically entrusted to keep particular things he said solely between me and him. I'm choosing to do the right thing and honor his request. There's already plenty of information that I've shared here that he's provided, which would make for very strong evidence in the DOJ investigation into Citadel. + +I've also sent this info to a buddy of mine in the government that can relay it to the right people in the DOJ, to make sure this information is included in the probe into Citadel. + +I think that the DOJ would be very interested in learning further about how Ken Griffin "goes after people with ferocity if they leave him". Any sort of coercion or bribery can be prosecuted under the RICO Act. + +Also, I'd like to go back to recording #2. + +**We have corroborating evidence from Thorp that Citadel was producing returns that were virtually correlated with the stock market (i.e. S&P 500). And Citadel agreed with Thorp's statistical analysis when he presented it to them.** + +Ok, so example: + +Market goes up 3% **⇒** Citadel makes positive returns correlated with 3% market rise. + +Market goes down 3% **⇒** Citadel makes negative returns correlated with 3% market drop. + +Sound easy enough? Ok...so why has Citadel been reporting that they're outperforming the market? + +Why do we have MSM articles like this around (this has been going on for years, mind you): + +[Exhibit A.](https://preview.redd.it/qap8ndnyrn391.png?width=925&format=png&auto=webp&s=fbd6c71b09b098c76be0b3c0cb085faacc777886) + +[Exhibit B.](https://preview.redd.it/bk8gp0yzrn391.png?width=1023&format=png&auto=webp&s=29965b1e9c019bc2f564b17adcb6b0fdac7c0df0) + +These publicly reported numbers are not consistent with what Thorp stated. + +Take, for example, this article published on September 25, 2020: + +https://preview.redd.it/cjawdj61sn391.png?width=867&format=png&auto=webp&s=e5b76d5cbfe007c6212f1031d593cd7ec0299de6 + +"Citadel Securities LLC doubled its profits during the first half of 2020, Bloomberg News reported Sept. 25. + +Let's do some math on this, shall we? + +\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +January 1, 2020 S&P 500 closing price: 3,278.2 + +July 1, 2020 S&P 500 closing price: 3,207.62 + +\[[source](https://www.multpl.com/s-p-500-historical-prices/table/by-month)\] + +Calculations: + +\[(3,207.62/3,278.2)100\] ≈ 97.85 + +⇒ 97.85-100 ≈ **-2.15%** + +**Citadel should've lost 2.15% from January 1, 2020 - July 1, 2020.** + +\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Even taking into account any fees being collected, there's no way Citadel would've been able to double its profits during the first half of 2020. It's impossible. + +If we go by Thorp's statistical analysis (which Citadel agreed with), it's clear that Citadel is artificially inflating their positions. This could be for a variety of reasons: to look good to prospective clients, outside competitors, take out loans, gain leverage, etc. + +This is what happened in the case of Bill Hwang, owner of the hedge fund Archegos. + +Hwang was indicted by the DOJ on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 for racketeering & fraud offenses related to a market manipulation scheme, of which include artificially inflating their portfolio from $1.5 billion to $35 billion. + +[You can read the DOJ press release here.](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/four-charged-connection-multibillion-dollar-collapse-archegos-capital-management) + +This isn't new. We now have a strong case that Archegos wasn't the only one artificially inflating their portfolio, and that Citadel has been likely doing something similar. + +Considering that Hwang was indicted and may virtually face a life sentence in prison, it wouldn't be a stretch to suggest that Ken Griffin could also face a life sentence is prison as well for artificially inflating his portfolio, if he were to be indicted by the DOJ as well. Every count for racketeering conspiracy carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years. A couple counts for charges of racketeering conspiracy could already be enough to put Griffin in prison for the rest of his life. + +Citadel is under the DOJ probe, so hopefully the DOJ will be taking a closer look at these inconsistencies, ascertain whether or not Citadel has been cooking the books, and finally begin to potentially take action, such as making indictments, as they did with Archegos. + +\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Final note: do NOT harass Edward Thorp. I repeat: do NOT harass him! This is primarily about Ken Griffin & Citadel. Edward Thorp is a good person, and was very helpful in this case. If it weren't for his testimony, none of this would've been possible. Don't make me regret sharing this information on SuperStonk and not solely with the DOJ. + +\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +My QLD driver licence details were stolen in the Optus ‘cyberattack’ so I’m trying to get ahead of everything. + +I can’t get a new driver licence number. Surely this can’t be correct? I have to wait until my details are used by a criminal first? Live chat with Department of Transport and Main Roads this morning. +Proposal would restrict companies from buying back shares unless they pay their workers $15 an hour as well as some other requirements. What are your thoughts about this? Seems unconstitutional to me. + +[Link](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/04/senate-democrats-call-for-restricting-corporate-share-buy-backs.html) +Haven’t actually gotten that in payouts yet since I moved quite a bit of my cash into some stocks/ETFs just this week. And SCHY hasn’t had it’s “real” dividend yet since it is new. + +Also, this is outside of 401k (about $1M there all in VTI). + +Here is where I am at (rounded amounts): + +Total Account Value: about 800k + +Top two holdings are VTI and VXUS, which drags down the dividend yield but I am ok with it (about $450k here) + +The rest: SCHY, ARCC, KO, VZ, BMY, RDS.B, SU, C, V, DE, AAPL, TD (about $350k here) + +I figure I can expect another 1.2% or so on my 401k so that’s another $12k in annual yield for the total of $30k/yr, but that’s my 401k and I don’t want to touch it. + +I am 42. Married. One kid. Super crazy expensive large city and we are not good at being frugal (maybe because of very tough childhood). Totally our fault now though... So I have a lot more to work towards. +Hello all, what are some examples of tropes from online personal finance forums that do not apply to EU-folks in your opinion? + +For example, an often repeated wisdom is that you need to have at least 3-6 months of expenses in savings as a buffer or emergency fund. I do not see any need for this though, as employment legislation, cheap/free healthcare and excellent renters protection make it hard for me to envision a scenario where I would suddenly be in need for such a huge sum of liquidity. + +What are some other examples? +This is my first DD post on any company, be gentle. + +Disclaimer: I am long RKT. This is not financial advice, and I am not receiving any compensation whatsoever from anyone for this post. I’m not a professional, I’m not even an amateur, this is a Wendy’s. + +**Sources used:** RKT investor relations website and company website, RKT earnings transcripts, SEC fillings, the SEC EDGAR database, sea king al pha, whalewisdom, finbox, yahoo finance, stockcharts, openinsider, Zacks, google sheets. + +&#x200B; + +**Summary** + +Rocket Companies (RKT) is a fintech company that operates several brands including the flagship Rocket Mortgage. I think RKT presents an opportunity to buy serious value at a cheap price, because the market has not priced in the underlying fact that RKT is a tech company akin to Square, Paypal, etc. + +* RKT has disrupted the lending industry and has embraced a fully digital ecosystem, which will continue to drive customer acquisition and retention in the future +* RKT spends considerable money and resources on UX/UI development, client experience, and marketing. This will also help drive their continued expansion into the lending market. +* The RKT “ecosystem” provides a “full cycle” solution for everything related to real estate transactions and insurance. They serve real estate professionals looking to generate leads, develop those leads, better serve their clients, and make every stage of real estate transactions smoother. From the client side, they similarly just make everything easier - it’s an app, it’s online, it’s doable from home and it’s not complicated. There’s an inherent advantage in what they’re doing here because closing on real estate transactions has always been something that’s complex, unpleasant, expensive, and not well understood. You need lawyers, you need agents, there’s a ton of paperwork, it sucks. RKT is changing all of that. +* RKTs balance sheet, income, and liabilities support a stock price several times higher than the current one in my opinion. +* RKT is currently stagnant in price, and the market appears to be pricing it like a traditional mortgage company, not a rapidly growing tech company (which they are). +* RKT has been around for decades (skips the startup costs that will provide barrier to entry for newer companies looking to do what they’re doing), but somehow seems to still be leading the tech charge in the industry. That’s a unique and potent combination in my opinion. +* RKT needs a catalyst to get the market to value it as a tech company instead of a lending company. Once that happens, and I expect it to sometime within the next year, RKT should approach an appropriate valuation such as 20x earnings. That’s an estimate I pulled out of nowhere, but is commensurate with the low end of P/E ratios for companies I see as similar to RKT. + +**Key Point - RKT is Priced Like a Legacy Mortgage Company** + +The average estimate for 2020 year end revenue is $15 billion, and the yearly earnings estimate average is $3.85 per share. + +This estimate gives a ttm P/E ratio of just over 5.5. The sector median is something like 8-12, which makes RKT cheaply valued relative to the earnings it produces, *even compared to the financial/mortgage sector*. What’s key here is, I don’t think that’s really an appropriate comparison. I would place them more in line with companies like Square (ttm P/E ratio of 325x lol), PayPal (ttm P/E ratio of 69x, nice), or Fiserv (ttm P/E ratio of 24x). I used Zacks for all of these P/E ratio lookups. + +Let’s assume RKT is conservatively worth 15x earnings, and that it hits the estimate of $3.85 eps. **That would put its fair value** ***right now*** **at $57.75 per share.** I think it’s worth more than that but, we all should do well to remember that it’s really only worth whatever the market will pay for it. + +**Key Point - Catalysts** + +This thing needs a catalyst. Right now I am loading up. I’m buying shares, I’m selling SHORT TERM covered calls to reduce basis on those shares, but I will be stopping the sale of those covered calls within a couple weeks most likely. The Q4 earnings announcement will be on 2/25. I am not sure that the actual earnings numbers will be enough to wake this thing up, although I expect them to be good. But if that announcement comes with discussion of their focus for 2021 and beyond, and gets the market thinking about them as a tech company first and mortgage lending company second, things will start to heat up. I don’t know when the real catalyst will hit that triggers the run-up, but I think it could start with the Q4 earnings call. I am looking at $21 as the floor for this stock, and I expect the price to double within a year. I will be acquiring OTM LEAPs, expiring next spring. + +Supporting information and background follows. + +**The Business** + +RKT is in the business of providing solutions to financial transactions, including mortgage origination and refinancing, auto lending, and more. Specific subsidiaries and my simplistic view of how they interact: + +*Home Financing* + +* Rocket Mortgage - The mortgage company. This is a prominent “public facing” part of the Rocket ecosystem. +* Amrock - Amrock provides title insurance, property valuations, and other solutions. I see this as “supporting infrastructure” to keep clients within the rocket ecosystem where they would otherwise need to go elsewhere and is part of what makes RKT a one-stop-shop. +* Amrock Title Insurance (ATI) Company - basically does underwriting for Amrock. The “business end” in my simple understanding of the world. +* Nexsys - provides a streamlined approach to the closing process with their Clear Sign and Clear HOI technologies - taking care of closing day authentications and sharing of homeowners insurance information. +* Lendesk - Lendesk specifically provides solutions for the mortgage market in Canada +* Edison Financial - Basically the “front end” of Lendesk that Canadian clients would interact with. + +*Home Sale and Search* + +* Rocket Homes - Rocket Homes is a proprietary home search platform and real estate agent referral network. Basically this matches buyers, sellers, and agents, and is a key aspect of keeping clients completely working within RKT for all aspects of real estate buying/selling/financing. +* For Sale By Owner - A digital marketplace designed to let clients buy and sell real estate on their own. I think it’s absolutely brilliant that RKT owns this, but more on that later. + +*Auto & Personal Financing* + +* Rocket Auto - Supports rental and online car purchasing platforms. +* Rocket Loans - online personal loan solutions for clients. + +*Media* + +* Core Digital Media - a major advertiser in the mortgage, financial, insurance, and education sectors. +* Lower My Bills - this company is basically a “portal” business model that connects people with providers of various loan and insurance products. + +*Services & Technology Development* + +* Rock Connections - Basically a sales and support platform that handles appointments, prequalifications, generating leads, and data analysis among other things. +* Rock Central - I will generalize this as “business support”. HR, administration, etc. +* Rocket Innovation Studio - A tech incubator to gather and engage top talent and ideas. + +**Recent Acquisitions** + +RKT, through Lendesk, acquired Finmo back in October of 2020 ([https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rocket-companies-subsidiary-acquires-fast-182042594.html?guccounter=1&guce\_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce\_referrer\_sig=AQAAALnvnNBoglSnmMP0O61AqgXBJokNS53LjJYuG3NvYKhayp4I6ZH2RpfmFUbSsCAU4xmnBNGMTwiEG-Ly29EabVy1-OjPIGfkYoQ3389gn3Edebs9sIwWOy1tPzqjRwOwwGA\_PWg0cNzEFCe7HBTilMwADUT\_y0QxWw8vizWecGcv](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rocket-companies-subsidiary-acquires-fast-182042594.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALnvnNBoglSnmMP0O61AqgXBJokNS53LjJYuG3NvYKhayp4I6ZH2RpfmFUbSsCAU4xmnBNGMTwiEG-Ly29EabVy1-OjPIGfkYoQ3389gn3Edebs9sIwWOy1tPzqjRwOwwGA_PWg0cNzEFCe7HBTilMwADUT_y0QxWw8vizWecGcv)) Finmo is a rapidly growing Canadian digital mortgage platform and this acquisition I think was perfect - it shows RKTs dedication to embracing a fully digital experience, and making sure they’re the ones leading that charge. + +**Management** + +I do not have much to say here, aside from this. The RKT team is not the new kids on the block, they have decades of industry experience. Also, I value leaders that make people feel valued. And on that note, under CEO Jay Farner Quicken Loans has been in the top 30 of Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list for 17 consecutive years. + +**Financials and Growth** + +When it comes to the numbers, RKT is killing it. I don’t want to just spout a bunch of numbers that anyone can easily go look up so here’s a couple that stood out to me from the Q3 earnings announcement and related data: + +$4.63 billion in revenue, which is 163% YoY growth. + +From that revenue, they beat EPS estimates with $1.21 for the quarter vs $1.09 expected. + +Net income was $2.4 billion which represents a YoY growth of 365%. + +Closed loan volume YoY growth was 122% to $89B. + +Net rate lock volume was $94.7 Billion (101% growth). + +RKT has brought in $13.1 billion in revenue in the first 3 quarters and seems to be on track to close out Q4 with yearly revs above $15 billion. + +That’s awesome but what I really like is that they pair this amazing growth with **$3.5B cash on hand**. That’s great because I want them to be able to scale as they grow, and make acquisitions as needed (see Finmo) to ensure they can keep that growth going without getting overextended and failing to capitalize. + +RKTs ability to recapture clients is one of the keys to their future success in my uneducated opinion. Their recapture rate is 4.6x the industry average. The Q3 earnings transcript includes a statement by the CEO on how when interest rates fall, retention rate falls, refinance activity is larger. The high recapture rate RKT has serves as a natural hedge to their retention of existing clients because their recapture is so much higher than average in the industry. + +Quick aside - RKT announced a $1 billion share buyback program. They’ll be able to repurchase shares from time to time starting Nov10 2020, ending in two years. I don’t love the idea of share buybacks because I think this can be detrimental to actual business growth for the sake of shareholder value. However, with the large cash position RKT has (and it doubled from December 2019 to September 2020) I think this is a reasonable way to deploy some of that cash for now. + +Ok so what about valuation using DCF, free cash flow analysis, something like that? Honestly I’m not convinced this is as useful as some people make it out to be. It’s nice to know what the numbers indicate, but I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about an exact price target based on anything like this. That said, you can crunch the numbers yourself or check out something like the Finbox resources: + +[https://finbox.com/NYSE:RKT/models/dcf-growth-exit-5yr](https://finbox.com/NYSE:RKT/models/dcf-growth-exit-5yr) + +**I don’t believe that fair value estimate for an instant**, but it's a part of the puzzle to consider. Finbox has various models you can check out, but it’s also just a nice place to view aggregate data other than directly from the SEC filings. + +**Product Channels** + +RKTs direct-to-consumer channel is their main source of revenue right now, but I think they will be successful in their efforts to grow their partner channels as well. Why do I say that? Numbers don’t lie: + +* Direct-to-consumer Q3 growth: 131% YoY ($53.5B closed loan volume) +* Partner Network growth 127% YoY ($29.6B closed volume) + * Adjusted Revenue for Partner Network is up 502% YTD vs 2019 ( see Q3 earnings transcript) + +The partner network volume is a little over half of the direct-to-consumer volume but the growth rate is just so damn juicy. That revenue growth is hellathicc. + +**Current Market and outlook** + +Right now, rates are low. The average 30-yr mortgage fixed rate is 2.92% ([https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/03/mortgage-refinancing-surges-but-high-home-prices-stop-buyers.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/03/mortgage-refinancing-surges-but-high-home-prices-stop-buyers.html)) + +I cannot say how long interest rates will remain low but I believe RKT is positioned to continue to grow regardless of what rates do moving forward. They just cover so much of the space, and they do it with a focus on applied technology. + +Here’s some blatant speculation. I think as we move into 2021 and the vaccine becomes more prevalent, millennials will buy, sell, and borrow against real estate with renewed intensity. I think RKT is uniquely positioned to capture that market. + +**Positions**: RKT shares. Cost basis of $21.14. +My friend is an economist who tries to stay updated with the latest economic news for his job. He mostly watches major news channels and tickers on TV. + +However, a lot of the media on major news networks is decidedly negative, sensational, biased, and not entirely accurate (usually by omission) and it is making him go insane. It is affecting his mental health, making him more afraid of our world, extremely depressed, and causing him to develop views that aren't accurately reflected in society. I really worry about him and wish he could be happier. + +There has got to be a better way to get up-to-date economic information. Do y'all have any ideas? +I live in the UK and a big debate here has these 2 sides: + +1. We should raise taxes on the wealthiest people because it will raise a lot of money that we need to fund public services + +2. We should *not* raise taxes on the wealthiest people, because it will scare rich people and entrepreneurs away from living in the UK, so we’ll end up losing their money entirely + +I know you could make ethical arguments for both opinions but I am wondering from an economic point of view, which one of these is actually proven to be more correct? I.e. which option ends up better for the overall economy? And do wealthy people really leave because of taxes? Personally I can’t imagine choosing my country to live in just based on taxes but maybe other people would idk + +Edit: Also I realise “wealthiest people” could be defined a lot of different ways so I am open to any information about that + +Edit 2: I think my question is actually: **Do rich people really leave a country because of high taxes?** +Just looking for a different perspective. Full disclosure: I am a black person. It’s been a bit lonely. I have often been the “token” in my peer groups, at work, and in school. I’ve been in my line of work for 10 years (we serve law firms) and have only done deals with 1 black client. Just wondering. + +Edit: Someone has asked for my story and I figure it’s only fair that I also share. + +I’m 33. $1.2M net worth. + +I own a small portfolio of real estate (about $2.5M worth) and have worked mostly internet marketing over the last 10 years. I’m currently working on starting a business. COVID-19 as well as some office politics has forced me to start thinking about my next move. We have about $200k in stocks and I’m sitting on about $150k in cash. I have a goal to hit somewhere between $5M and $10M net worth by the time I’m 50. + +I grew up in a small town. In a way, I believe that I am lucky. I had an innate desire to learn and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As a result, I did very well in school. My nerdy ways kept me out of trouble and, with time, teachers took a liking to me. + +Because we were poor, I spent most of my nights going to work with my mother. She drove a school bus during the day and was a janitor night. I helped her clean at night until my freshman year of college. Some nights were tough; we’d get home at 2 in the morning and I’d still have to be ready for school in the morning. I’m thankful that she had always put school first because she knew it was my ticket out. This experience did teach me the value of hard work and the experience of working toward a dream. She always wanted to buy a house some day (and she eventually did). + +When I graduated, I was awarded the Gates Millennium Scholarship (full ride to any university in the country). I will say that this was my greatest financial advantage. I came out of college without any debt and I joined a small startup right out of school. It didn’t IPO or anything, but I was able to watch, learn, and get a bit closer to the money. + +While growing up, I read any books I possibly could about money and tried my hardest to execute. I got to a place where I was making six-figures at a pretty young age which made me comfortable enough to try my hand at real estate. If I lost money, it wouldn’t put me out on the street.I didn’t have mentors, I didn’t know anyone else that did it, I just trusted the math. + + + +Regarding unique challenges specific to being black: + +1) The feeling that in order to reach the same level as many of my colleagues, I have to hold myself at a much higher standard. (I.e. it’s difficult for me to feel relaxed, mainly because I am the only black guy). My work is performance based and while on business trips I have colleagues that will get shit-faced drunk and do embarrassing shit as a result. I don’t think I can do that. The consequences for me are much greater in my opinion. + +2) The feeling that many of my colleagues have greater financial support from family than I do. I gotten recommendations for expensive items, only to find out that it was a gift from a family member. I have colleagues who’s parents have helped them with down payments for homes, paid for vacations, paid for weddings. I’ve had to cover all of those expenses myself. We once asked my mother-in-law to buy a mattress (in her own house) for my wife and eye and she was so mad, she didn’t talk to us for the rest of the weekend. + +3) The constant fear of irrational judgement from non-black people who don’t know me. I live in a nice neighborhood. We are one of three black families in the entire neighborhood. This is embarrassing to admit, but I spent $15k on landscaping because I knew that I was the only black person that lived on a corner lot, off of the Main Street. Therefore, people would see me, and potentially judge my yard it wasn’t pristine. + +4) The fact that I will have to take care of my parents in old age. They don’t have enough money to retire and it’s too late for them to do anything about it. Many of my colleagues won’t have to think about this or have concerns about it. + +5) Because I’m the only black person in my entire company and have been for over 10 years, the surprising lack of awareness or understanding. Having said that, I understand that businesses owners and coworkers don’t have to care. It’s about getting the work done and making money. But the flip side to that is how this plays out during happy hours and the stories that are shared about past experiences. + +6) The lack of exposure to the inner workings of how things work, mainly because you come from of lower social economic status. Mistakes are made, sometimes embarrassing ones that may also have social consequences. + +I will add this, I like thinking about money because I feel that it can be an equalizer in many ways. It won’t solve all the problems but it will help my family sit on a more even playing field. + +Edit:I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the conversation. It has really been eye-opening. The response has been greater than I ever imagined. Please keep the comments coming. + +To respond to a point that seems to be recurring, I do recognize that a number of these issues are not race specific and have a bit more to do with socioeconomic status. However, I would add that they are a significant enough part of the black experience that they cannot be ignored. While I will admit, that I may have a bias of viewing these issues through the lens of my own race, it certainly (in my opinion) should be part of the conversation. I largely raised these points because I had a feeling that they would resonate with other black people in this sub and it would help to spur conversation. +The KaaS blockchain network defines the infrastructure of the current hardware-based, decentralized, democratized, skill-oriented global computing system and algorithm market that is currently used for the adoption of crypto money ... Today, thousands of computer systems are used for crypto currencies, but neither GPUs nor other components have been specifically created for this purpose. Therefore, most of the available resources of these systems are inadequate. Carry out an existing GPU mining hardware, as well as other processing tasks such as crypto-money mining, machine learning and co-processing power - rewarding both events - making RIGs even more profitable. This machine learning will be used in Artificial Intelligence processes that will produce ıla machine functions Bu. When new machine functions are used in a new dataset, the machine gains skill awards to the block chain for learning. This process runs on a Distributed Infrastructure Service architecture, divides the workload between multiple miners and optimizes the minimum runtime with minimal data flow. All this system represents the information as a service and the backbone KAASY ... + +[https://kaasy.ai/faq/](https://kaasy.ai/faq/) +The KaaS blockchain network defines the infrastructure of the current hardware-based, decentralized, democratized, skill-oriented global computing system and algorithm market that is currently used for the adoption of crypto money ... Today, thousands of computer systems are used for crypto currencies, but neither GPUs nor other components have been specifically created for this purpose. Therefore, most of the available resources of these systems are inadequate. Carry out an existing GPU mining hardware, as well as other processing tasks such as crypto-money mining, machine learning and co-processing power - rewarding both events - making RIGs even more profitable. This machine learning will be used in Artificial Intelligence processes that will produce ıla machine functions Bu. When new machine functions are used in a new dataset, the machine gains skill awards to the block chain for learning. This process runs on a Distributed Infrastructure Service architecture, divides the workload between multiple miners and optimizes the minimum runtime with minimal data flow. All this system represents the information as a service and the backbone KAASY ... + +[https://kaasy.ai/faq/](https://kaasy.ai/faq/) + Indonesia's e-commerce market is estimated to reach 52 per cent of e-Commerce in the Southeast Asia region. From Nielsen's percentage entitled Indonesia Ocean of Opportunities for Overcoming Dead Win and Riptide 2017, Indonesia's e-Commerce in 2025 will reach the US $ 46 billion, equivalent to Rp 612 trillion compared to 2015 which able to reach the US $ 1.7 billion. + +The large population of the middle class, increasing internet access, the growth of small cities, and the limited access to the retail market make domestic e-Commerce overgrow. In 2015, the electronic transaction market in Indonesia was less than one per cent of total retail sales, but by 2025 it will increase to 8 per cent of total retail transactions. + +The total e-Commerce of six ASEAN member countries in 2025 will increase to the US $ 87.8 billion compared to 2015 which only reached the US $ 5.5 per cent. Not only that, digital transactions in these countries will all reach more than the US $ 4 billion. + +https://i.redd.it/peq275ngwby11.jpg + + [https://e-so.co](https://e-so.co/) \- [ESO Reddit Account](https://www.reddit.com/r/EntrepreneurShop) + +&#x200B; +This is kind of part 3 of what's been happening so here are some links to the first 2 posts as well as a link to the original post on WSB about this story: + +Original post - +[My broker (Questrade) wants me to sign an NDA saying I won't talk shit about them after offering me $1200 USD as compensation for losing $50000 from outages](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/frz0fp/my_broker_questrade_wants_me_to_sign_an_nda/) + +Post #2 - [Questrade Legal Contacted me](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/fsnubq/contacted_by_questrade_legal_team_for_permission/) + +Post #3 (Original post on WSB)- [Got a call from police regarding "threats" to Questrade last night... I was read some of the posts you guys made on their sub](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/ft80y4/got_a_call_from_police_regarding_threats_to/) + + +So in the original email where they mention legal action they accused me of threats, extortion and defamation. + +>"We ask that you remove these posts immediately and you cease to use social media to post defamatory and misleading statements about Questrade in an attempt to extort funds from the company. If you do not remove these posts, you are put on notice that this will become a legal matter. Our legal department are already investigating two prior posts you made where you stated that you were ready to "burn down the building" as well as making the following statement: “ if I can’t get my money back I’ll be sure they lose an equal amount in whatever way I can.''" + +Obviously the quotes in the email don't provide full context but the cops understood that and read it back to me. + +Paraphrasing here but this is the comment regarding burning down the building: + +>What is going on with Questrade support? This is such a joke. It pretty much feels like all they're saying is "too bad so sad" and "fuck you". Honestly getting tired with this.. I feel like I'm going crazy... getting ready to burn down the building. What a joke + +So obviously I was saying it as a figure of speech in a time of frustration and not serious in anyway regarding it but regardless Questrade took it to the police. + +The other comment about "if I can't get my money back I'll be sure they lose an equal amount in whatever way I can" was meant as in them losing potential/current client's commissions. Obviously I didn't mean any harm which I clarified in my reply to the original email. + +Basically the police cautioned me and said they don't think I was serious. + +The call I got was around 1:30am EST and I asked if they usually call this late and the officer said that they were just getting to it cause they had more pressing matters (assuming COVID19). + +Just a waste of police resources in general if you ask me. Especially during this time. Like the guy from the TradeDesk said to me in an email... + +>"To keep things in perspective, the world is reeling from a tragic situation. Thousands of people have lost their lives. Our staff have been working around the clock to help our clients get through this unprecedented crisis. In response to our genuine attempts to find an amicable solution, you have threatened and insulted our staff. I urge you to think about your actions." + +I would urge Questrade to think about their actions. + +The officer also asked me if I was the one writing posts about "Questrade killing someone's wife"(?) and I think something about Hitler but I was able to clarify that it wasn't me writing those posts and it was other people who were likely upset. + +Just find it pretty ridiculous that police had to waste their time going through screenshots sent by Questrade of their sub... + +Not sure why they would waste the police's time with this but it ultimately resulted in nothing. It was, in my opinion, obvious that those comments were both said out of frustration and I removed them (along with all comments) at the request of a Questrade employee as well anyway. + + +I think what people should take away from this though is how poorly Questrade is treating its clients. If I were to phone them and be upset I don't want to be scared of potentially having a criminal charge brought forward on me because they took something I said out of frustration seriously and involved the police. Honestly think their handling of this matter has been incredibly unprofessional throughout. Upsetting to think this was a company I used to admire and recommend to countless people. + +Even just a few days before all this happened I was recommending them to friends - https://imgur.com/a/DHVOHhE + +It's amazing to me how poorly they've handled all this and how in less than 3 weeks my opinion of them has done a complete 180. + +What a joke. + + +I'm sure you guys worked this out for yourselves but just want to point out how it's weirdly convenient that they saw the "threats" last week but the police only contacted me after I refused to take down my posts about them... (15 hours after the deadline Questrade gave me to take down the posts) + +Proof I was contacted by police since some people think I am lying about it- https://imgur.com/a/rVU3KfR + +________________________________________________ + +Guys if you want to help get the word out and potentially save other Canadians from signing up with this nightmare of a broker **please tweet this thread at Questrade or Business Insider or marketwatch or bloomberg or anyone else that can write about it.** I don't have an active twitter account so can't really do it myself but would appreciate it immensely. + + +I think it's important for Canadians to know that they could potentially get contacted by the police if they say something to their broker out of frustration or anger. + +People should know what kind of company they are dealing with. + +You can also email the News Tips email on sites with links to these threads if you want. + + +Thanks guys. + +edit: + +To contact cbc: + +https://www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/contact + +and + +gopublic@cbc.ca + +______________________________ + +Edit 2: To those saying I'm in the wrong. I can agree that I shouldn't have said some things but what I want to point out is this + +I understand that but if they were worried about the threat why did they wait until after my second round of postings to bring it up? + +Why wasn't I contacted by police sooner regarding it. + +How is it that police only contacted me about 15 hours after the deadline they gave me to take down my posts had passed? + +If there was a concern of safety they had screenshots of the posts Thursday March 26 at 5:53 pm EST at the latest. + +How is it police only contacted me April 1st at 1:16AM EST? + +13 hours and 16 minutes after the deadline had passed. + +Police also had screenshots of posts made on Mar 30 and Mar 31. + +Obviously I can't know but it seems like they only went to the police after I refused to take down the posts. + +Here's a more clear timeline: + +Step 1 - lose money + +Step 2 - post about it on /r/Questrade (and only /r/Questrade) on every single post and warn people + +Step 3 - mod on /r/Questrade asks for my number + +Step 4 - TradeDeskGuy calls me to talk to me + +Step 5 - TradeDeskGuy says he's gonna see what kind of compensation he can get me + +Step 6 - TradeDeskGuy asks me to remove my posts while he is "going to bat for me" (no joke he really said that) + +>While I review your complaint below can you do me a solid and remove repetitive posts on wherever you posted online. You can keep your original complaint if you wish. Your entitled to vent your frustration but there are limits to that. We have thousands upon thousands of happy clients which you were probably one of prior to the outages and you spamming the boards is giving your bias. It is not a fair representation of Questrade nor does it help when I go to bat for you. + +>I was told you already apologized to those responsible for responding to social posts so I thank you for that. + +>Thanks + +Step 7 - I comply and delete even my original complaint + +Step 8 - Receive 1200USD offer + +Step 9 - Decline offer and post about what happened everywhere I can think of + +Step 10 - Get asked to remove my posts again (by TradeDeskGuy): + +>I have just been notified that you have posted information from our private discussions on Reddit. These discussions were confidential and constituted good faith attempt to resolve your complaint. Your Reddit posts are inaccurate, misleading and contain defamatory content. As we discussed, you incurred a loss as a result of trading in high risk options, which you failed to mention in your posts. + +>We ask that you remove these posts immediately and you cease to use social media to post defamatory and misleading statements about Questrade in an attempt to extort funds from the company. If you do not remove these posts, you are put on notice that this will become a legal matter. Our legal department are already investigating two prior posts you made where you stated that you were ready to "burn down the building" as well as making the following statement: “ if I can’t get my money back I’ll be sure they lose an equal amount in whatever way I can.'' + +>If we do not receive your confirmation by 12pm on March 31, 2020, that you will discontinue posting defamatory content on social media, you will leave us no choice than to commence legal action. + +>To keep things in perspective, the world is reeling from a tragic situation. Thousands of people have lost their lives. Our staff have been working around the clock to help our clients get through this unprecedented crisis. In response to our genuine attempts to find an amicable solution, you have threatened and insulted our staff. I urge you to think about your actions. + +Step 11 - I don't + +Step 12 - Mar 31 12pm passes + +Step 13 - 13.5 hours later I get a call from the police regarding the "threats" that I had deleted in Step 7 + +I think Step was the wrong word to use in all this but does that clear up the timeline for you? +I've been thinking a lot since last night. Cause some shit is just not adding up. + +For months I've sat here and lauded options, I've tried to point out how they apply massive pressure to the options writers (market makers), Authorized ETF Participants, Volatility Swaps, and ultimately those short GameStop. + +I have spent countless hours explaining how January presents an opportunity for retail to use these leveraged positions to apply pressure to theses entities at a time when they are weakest and their positions are most exposed. + +I've stood my ground in the face of the massive FUD campaign thrown at u/criand, u/leenixus, u/Turdfurg23, u/zinko83, u/bobsmith808, myself, and many others, these last several months. My viewers/followers and I have been called shills, pickle lickers, anti-drs, simps, and liars. I have had my discord, YouTube, and reddit posts repeatedly taken out of context for what I can only describe as "hit pieces" here on this sub. Yet, I held firm to my thesis because I believed in it. + +I've taken down my "monetized links" and stopped sharing links to my DD to stop "brigading" because my posts got too many upvotes, I've sat by while hours of research were flaired as "possible DD" and "technical analysis" in an effort to discredit it, because a small vocal group of people pushed very hard for the mod team to do so (hard enough that they couldn't be ignored). But, I kept posting, because I wanted as many people to know as would listen. + +I have been posting on this sub since the day Warden walked away for "school stuff: and long before the drama that later ensued. I had not done anything different than I had done for the previous eight months, besides post a DD about options... + +Last night GME ran up $45 dollars at it's peak on the back of 890k volume in after-hours, for what I can only describe as **absolutely no fucking reason**. + +* XRT begins it's threshold process today, not last night. +* GameStop didn't release any press statements, whatsoever. +* FTDs are still minimal till next week. +* The "news" articles that came out last night didn't tell anybody anything they didn't already know. + +**So, I have to sit here and ask myself, Why?** + +Why go to the effort of such a massive cover-up, why burn $112 million dollars worth of puts bought in the last week to stabilize price while low volume FTDs were covered? + +**Because the other day** [**this video came out**](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/rww52i/wall_street_veteran_charles_gradante_calls_out/)**, confirming what Thomas Peterffy had said** [**earlier this year**](https://gmedd.com/opinion/interactive-brokers-gme-was-headed-to-the-thousands/)**, and suddenly vindicating my DD and thesis on retails power through options.** + +All of this at a time when GameStop's price is lower then it had been all year and options were cheap. + +So what really changed? Why did they shift their tactics so rapidly? + +# People started buying options + +https://preview.redd.it/j1wfpsf3taa81.png?width=922&format=png&auto=webp&s=00761419d612cfd02afd7cfb2a0e954a7f36e208 + +Not the 0-DTE or cheap weekly shit retail normally buys, far dated ATM and Slightly OTM calls, **the ones with the good delta**, the one's that put massive pressure on their long-term synthetic hedging strategy. Even the degenerate gambler's at the sub-that-shall-not-be-named started FOMO'ing yesterday. + +So their response is simple, it is direct, and it is effective. + +# They are pricing retail out, they are gonna pump IV enough on the back of their fake media epiphany, to turn off the buy button one more time, pricing retail out of those exact far-dated calls that put the most pressure on them. + +Worse yet put pressure on GameStop to announce something to correct their false narrative. + +They are exposed, cornered, and desperate. u/yelyah2 is already showing an increase in Delta Sensitivity again, the last time it spiked they shorted an entire sector... + +&#x200B; + +I've always viewed MOASS as self-fulfilling, if retail wanted it badly enough they could take it. + +To me, this entire movement has been a strategic cornering of an overexposed short position. + +Well, here they are making mistakes, taking risks, cornered, desperate. + +**Are you going to let them catch their breath?** + +&#x200B; + +\- Gherkinit 🦍❤️ + +https://preview.redd.it/n772nn0bw9a81.png?width=2280&format=png&auto=webp&s=af3d3ce8528b04332935c326c135f4f444b06556 + +**Disclaimer** + +*\*Options present a great deal of risk to the experienced and inexperienced investors alike, please understand the risk and mechanics of options before considering them as a way to leverage your position.* + +\**This is not Financial advice. The ideas and opinions expressed here are for educational and entertainment purposes only.* + +*\* No position is worth your life and debt can always be repaid. Please if you need help reach out this community is here for you. Also the NSPL Phone: 800-273-8255 Hours: Available 24 hours. Languages: English, Spanish.* +Hello, I only recently came back to my college dorm after having to drive back home to talk to officers to inform me that my last parent has passed away. +I do not have any other adult relatives to rely upon. +I will admit right now, I am naive and young. I don't know a single thing about the real world yet and how financing works. I don't know what responsibilities I bear now that I am alone. I'm just looking for mostly financing advice on what I have to get done quickly as possible so that I do not have to pay hefty fines or debt later on. +This is all the information I know so far. +I am in the New Jersey area. +I'm estimating my father only had 3 or 2 thousand dollars saved, maybe even less. +He owns a 2008 car. +I am not sure if he had life insurance. +I am not aware of any loans he owes. +For sure he has bank accounts, but I am not allowed by the police to retrieve my father's wallet. (For now) +We lived in someone's basement, and we don't pay rent, because of certain reasons, it's a complicated situation. +If anyone needs further information please pm or comment, I will respond as soon as I can. +(Edit: I woke up this afternoon and I didn't expect this to blow up. I thank everybody for their supportive comments and messages. It really means a lot to me and I'll try my best to read everything.) +(Edit 2: I never thought I would receive so many thoughtful and helpful messages and comments. I feel a lot more comfortable with all the love that's been shown. I read every single message and comment as much as I can. Because I feel so grateful towards all of you guys, I thought that would be the least I can do to respect you guys back. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. You guys really showed me there is still light in life.) +Are trade unionists right, that the companies they work for have large enough profits to raise all their wages? + +My understanding was a lot of businesses operate on very slim margins. But in the UK (and elsewhere) there is a wave of trade union strike action. Across all sectors from trains, to nurses. + +All are demanding higher pay. Which seems perfectly fair on an individual level giving the cost of living crisis. + +They claim that companies are making huge profits, which should go to workers. Is this generally speaking true? Are they making large enough profits for these above inflation pay rises? +https://www.npr.org/2021/02/08/965483266/-15-minimum-wage-would-reduce-poverty-but-cost-jobs-cbo-says + +To what degree could the loss of jobs be explained by people no longer needing to work 2nd or 3rd jobs? Also, I'm starting to feel like there's no reason an advanced, modernized economy shouldn't consider workers getting paid more to do less a positive indicator, even something to be strived for, in which case less poverty and fewer jobs is perhaps the ideal outcome. Call me a dirty socialist, but what are the flaws in my interpretation here? I feel like my thesis must have lots of holes, but I don't understand economics well enough to spot them. + + +This is it folks. Cryptocurrency is dead. Everything you saw up to this point was a complete joke. Satoshi started BTC way back in 2009 and it was pretty shocking when he hosted SNL last weekend, but this is the world we live in. + +Seriously, how many crashes do you need to see to know that there’s utility in cryptocurrency? Escrow is being replaced, expensive lawyers are getting put down, P2P solutions are available for everything, and there’s even solutions for the unbanked. + +Oh yeah, and some room for our favorite, **memecoins.** + +It’s outrageous to try to take down something that has a life of its own, so don’t worry about the power trips of a few elites who can’t stand up to the wave that BTC has brought on. If China can’t stop crypto, you think some dipshit CEO can? + +Altseason is still well underway and no traditional finance bros will be the ones to stop crypto, it will only be crypto that stops crypto. Once you understand that, you’ll understand just how comfy it truly is out here. + +Saturna has from conception been one of the most prolific coins raising **to a crazy $110M market cap in just four days** before the recent news slammed it back down. As we recover, expect the **40,000 holders** to rally back in, FOMO buying the dip (as we’re already starting to see with people waking up across the world) and setting the momentum back on track. + +If you think that one week in this project is just tapering off, you’ll unfortunately just plainly be wrong. Any coin with real development behind it has mooned time and time again and it’s clearer and clearer, especially with **today’s AMA**, that this team has smart direction and has executed quickly on its plans. + +Saturna is where you want to be if you’re still planning on never being a wagie again. But there’s not much more time to catch the dip so don’t waste another minute. + +Website - [https://saturna.co/](https://saturna.co/) + +PancakeSwap - [https://exchange.pancakeswap.finance/#/swap?outputCurrency=0x1e446CbEa52BAdeB614FBe4Ab7610F737995fB44](https://exchange.pancakeswap.finance/#/swap?outputCurrency=0x1e446CbEa52BAdeB614FBe4Ab7610F737995fB44) +Just wanted to take a moment to thank u/skillzty for [his DD post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Canadapennystocks/comments/lbxp7b/high_tide_hiti_hitif_undervalued_cannabis_retailer/) about HITI. + +I find a lot of DD posts are published once the share price has already gone up, however skillzty posted it right before it soared 🚀 so everyone that got in late last week after his post is already at least 25% up + + +Thanks again and please keep up the good work, might your future be full of gains 💸 + + +Position: 500 shares at an average of 0.68 + + + +P.S. Hope this doesn't count as spam, I couldn't find an appropriate flair for it, I just wanted to show my appreciation and to maybe, hopefully, encourage other people to make more posts like his 📈 +Investing is not just about return, it is also about peace of mind, and Warren Buffett sees the value of index funds, such as those tracking the S&P 500, in accomplishing that goal, especially for inexperienced investors that might be prone to worry, or easily convinced by others to take on risky investments. + +“What is the best investment, meaning one that there would be less worry of any kind connected with and less people coming around and saying, ‘Why don’t you sell this and do something else?’ and all those things,” Buffett explained at the 2017 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting. It is even an investment he would recommend for his wife after she inherits his assets, not that she would be selling her Berkshire Hathaway stock. “The object is not to maximize. It doesn’t make any difference whether the amount she gets doubles or triples or anything of the sort. The important thing is that she never worries about money the rest of her life.” + +Speaking of money and worry, Buffett tells the story of his elderly aunt. + +“I had an Aunt Katie here in Omaha, who Charlie knew well, and worked for her husband, as did I. And she worked very hard all her life. And had lived in a house she’d paid, I think, I don’t know, $8,000 for at 45th and Hickory all her life. And because she was in Berkshire, she ended up, she lived to 97, she ended up with, you know, a few hundred million. And she would write me a letter every four or five months. And she said, ‘Dear Warren, you know, I hate to bother you. But am I going to run out of money?’ And… I would write her back. And I’d say, ‘Dear Katie, it’s a good question because, if you live 986 years, you’re going to run out of money.’” + +**Buffett’s full explanation on index funds** + +[https://mazorsedge.com/lessons-from-warren-buffett-why-index-funds-are-good-for-a-certain-type-of-investor/](http://mazorsedge.com/lessons-from-warren-buffett-why-index-funds-are-good-for-a-certain-type-of-investor/) +Live in US. 36 y/o single parent of two young children. Very ill; very, highly likely aggressive cancer (<1 year, possibly much sooner). Working with doc to determine cause; however (b/c public health care in America is slow. yay.), I will not have the definitive testing for 5 more weeks. + +Currently have ~$2000 in savings. Monthly income of $1600 via child support. No major debts (~$24k in Fed student loans, but no payments b/c am below income threshold). + +I have always planned on donating my body to science, so I'm not looking to pay for funeral and burial services. Given that I have potentially five more weeks without a terminal diagnosis, is there anything I can do to help my children and my children's new guardian financially? + +Edit: Thank you for all your well wishes and support. I greatly appreciate it. I am not trying to scam any insurance carriers. I am just trying to examine my options. I know I ~~failed my children~~ fucked up massively by not signing up for life insurance beforehand. I guess I was just checking to see if anyone had another idea for a lifeline. I am not currently thinking very clearly (medication is rough). Thank you to everyone for explaining what is probably obvious. + +Edit #2: For those of you following this train wreck, I'm getting a little drunk by now. I think my doc wrote it down as "self medication" lol. I'm trying to keep up with the comments. Truly. + +Edit #3: This thread has become a little rough emotionally. To every child here who lost their parent, I'll say what I tell my children every day, "Momma loves you forever and ever and ever. Never forgot that." *hugs* +**TL;DR:** GameStop is allowed to pay dividends as soon as it deposits the funds for their note buyback - which it can do at any point after the filing of the redemption notice and before the redemption date. If they have already deposited the funds, they can declare a dividend. + +&#x200B; + +I have been looking at the indenture filing related to the 2023 debts GameStop announced they are paying out on the 30th of this month. The indenture against dividends, share buybacks, mergers, ect ends as soon as GameStop deposits the funds with the US Bank National Association, which they can do any time before 11am April 30th. + +In the [July 6 2020 indenture filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326380/000119312520187950/d28310dex41.htm?fbclid=IwAR1xG3hO5qLQuB9Zg-EX5tt8JJ8eq9Kt3hgWb7MMrRb8BQew6_36eRQ1A-g) for these 2023 notes sections 8.01 and 8.02 explain what is required to remove the restrictions placed on GameStop: + +[When GameStop meets the obligations in section 8.04, they are free from the indenture against rebuying shares and issuing dividends.](https://preview.redd.it/gi8sxcd0j1t61.png?width=1258&format=png&auto=webp&s=aad77a866dd74c04a404b7bff32160df174d4728) + +Section 8.04a reads as follows: + +[GameStop meets its requirements for section 8.02 once it has deposited money in trust to pay for the notes.](https://preview.redd.it/j3h4s5xoj1t61.png?width=1265&format=png&auto=webp&s=c522f2cce31628886e2c5cbdd983bd9a281c41db) + +You'll notice that section 8.02 requires GameStop to deposit the funds into the trustee, who is named at the end of the document in section E3 as: + +[Once the money to pay the notes is in the U.S. Bank National Association's account, GameStop is free from the obligations.](https://preview.redd.it/3th92cgdk1t61.png?width=599&format=png&auto=webp&s=1b79f4a3f8af22b410501d12720b29b3c280cc46) + +Now, look at [GameStop's April 13th filing](https://news.gamestop.com/static-files/d8871fe4-2c5f-4566-9a43-4ba9d8504cef) where they announce the redemption date: + +[The redemption date is the 30th of April.](https://preview.redd.it/5db176gjm1t61.png?width=1129&format=png&auto=webp&s=72d16735e351bf6869a31ac77460e0e78fa1e4b5) + +Notice that the redemption date ***is not necessarily when GameStop will deposit the money to the US Bank National Association***. A redemption date is for the holder of the note, not the issuer of the note. Let's look back at the July 6 2020 indenture, where it says this about depositing funds with the trustee for the redemption date: + +[Now that the redemption date has been filed, GameStop can deposit the funds at any time!](https://preview.redd.it/kjdmm2uzn1t61.png?width=1269&format=png&auto=webp&s=55945641243df219dd7859d3339b5a10504f5466) + +Ok, now let's look back at GameStop's April 13th Filing with a difference point highlighted: + +[The indenture is discharged upon redemption which can be on or before 11am on the redemption date, as per section 3.05 of the indenture filing \(see previous picture\). ](https://preview.redd.it/wn0gdfk1p1t61.png?width=1121&format=png&auto=webp&s=aba5570c491106af241e2460da22e6d796ccb8a9) + +So, now that GameStop has filed the redemption notice and issued the redemption date it can end the indenture at any point by depositing the required funds with the US Bank National Association. This is explained in section 8.02 and 8.04a of the indenture filing. The redemption notice gives the date of April 30th, but ***the indenture is discharged when GameStop pays the redemption which they can do at any point before 11am April 30th as per section 3.05 of the indenture filing***. + +&#x200B; + +**Implication:** I believe that, if GameStop wanted to, they could declare a dividend on the 15th of April alongside the contents of their shareholders meeting. They could declare the record date for *both* the dividend and voting rights as the 20th of April. If they really wanted, they could purchase shares from the market too. ***Basically, now that they have filed this notice the restrictions are lifted as soon as the money is deposited with the bank.*** + +&#x200B; + +(As usual, this is not financial advice. If you notice any errors I have made, please point them out in the comments!) + +&#x200B; + +Edit: several people have asked, in the comments, why a dividend is important and how it would hurt short sellers. I have written an answer [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/mqn97y/an_explanation_of_why_a_dividend_andor_share/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) :) +I’m not hating on those subs, they have their place. Moe Szyslak gave you a hot tip because he was mysteriously outside Marge Simpson’s house for 14 hours yesterday and saw Bill Gates come for a visit? No it does not mean that Hyper Globo Mega Net is going to the moon. Every time someone pumps dogshit.v and a mark says “it’s not on WS” all you can do is be thankful for them. + +And you want to go on a rocket to the moon? All in on AC yeee hawww that’s awesome man yolo420 literally. But please shut the fuck up when it dips 3-6%. It’s not crashing, it’s not ignoring fundamentals. To the moon! Shame it’s a two year trip... + +And honestly the worst of all are the fucking “should I go all in on VGRO or XGRO uwu” crowd. Jesus dude who gives a fuck? O no one of your 6 mass market ETFs has 1.5% overlap good bye sleep. You can’t even live a micro second and apply the ETF philosophy while on an investing Reddit and build a half decent broad portfolio yourself? It’s some daredevil move to pick a Canadian telecom, a railroad, a bank, a REIT and a utility? Wow it’s almost like that absolutely crushes the God and lord SPY over the last 20 years! + +Don’t even get me started on the fucking ethical investors. +Welcome to the **/r/EthTrader** Daily Discussion thread. + +*** + +The thread guidelines are as follows: + +- All sub rules apply here. Please review our **[rules page](https://www.reddit.com/r/ethtrader/about/rules)** to become familiar with them. The rules page is also linked in the announcement bar above +- General discussion topics include, but are not limited to, events of the day, technical analysis, alternative Ethereum projects, or minor questions. +- Breaking news or other important content should be submitted as a separate post. +- In-depth altcoin discussions should be referred to the /r/CryptoCurrency discussion thread. To view the thread, [follow this link](https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/search?q=%5BMonthly+General+Discussion%5D&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and choose the latest entry on the search page. +- Pumping, venting, trolling, or any other similar behavior should be redirected to the /r/CryptoMarkets trollbox thread. To view the thread, [follow this link](https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoMarkets/search?q=Trollbox+Thread&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) and choose the latest entry on the search page. + +*** + +**[EXPERIMENTAL]** - To view live streaming comments for this thread, [click here](https://reddit-stream.com/comments/auto). Account permissions are required to post comments through Reddit-Stream.com. + +*** + +Thank you in advance for your participation. Enjoy! + +**EDIT 1: There is an issue with Reddit right now and my images are not loading. I've added IMGUR links instead. Furthermore, I cannot see the upvote total for this post, which is still stuck at 1.** + +**EDIT 2: The comments in EDIT 1 seem to be fixed now. I also added an example of how the additional deposit could have been made in shares rather than cash. This would force the short seller to buy enough shares to meet their new margin requirement. Otherwise, it was a legitimate margin call to cover a short position.** + +**\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_** + +There are significantly underfunded short positions on GME. With the recent spikes in price, it puts an even bigger strain on these positions because they must deposit more money to keep their accounts current with the new price. I'll use some simple numbers to describe what this means. + +If you have $100 in a deposit account to "cover" your short position and the price skyrockets, you must make an additional deposit to meet the new price. So the account holder will deposit an additional $20 to make their account current. To do this, the short seller can either deposit shares or cash in their account. If you cannot meet this requirement, a [margin call](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/margincall.asp) will occur. I believe the uptick in volume this morning resulted from short sellers purchasing enough shares to meet the new requirement. It could also be from them covering the position, directly. I could be wrong but the outcome is still the same. Take a look: [https://imgur.com/vdzZUaa](https://imgur.com/vdzZUaa) + +https://preview.redd.it/qg1iw979a2471.jpg?width=1891&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0bd6b0348a886d8fd229f23a213028d94991b8fa + +We had at least 2,000,000 shares traded within 20 minutes which boosted the price by roughly $45. This means there are now MORE positions which are underfunded and must make additional deposits to meet the increase in exposure. Ergo, we should have a domino effect. The "sideways" trading occurs between these purchase periods because retail investors continue to diamond hand their stonk. + +\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ + +What does this mean? Volume upticks like this will drive the price up. Once that spike is over, the price will trade sideways (basically) until another volume spike occurs. We know this because apes basically forgot how to use the sell button. This will send the price up again. Rinse, wash, repeat. + +However...... + +Think back to the House of Cards - Part III. Remember the example I gave of Goldman Sachs when they were being "bought in"? What did they do? + +They shorted **EVEN MORE** than they purchased on that day to keep the price down. As I am writing this, it is literally happening with GME. + +[https://imgur.com/abvlt1L](https://imgur.com/abvlt1L) (pictures AND links are really f\*ckey with Reddit right now) + +https://preview.redd.it/lxhaj37aa2471.jpg?width=1902&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c5d787fa3fdcd6cc783da7c052338821129d9874 + +I honestly do not believe this is retail selling, but rather, a flash-crash to drive the price down. I wrote about it in Citadel Has No Clothes when it happened on March 10th. I would have a hard time believing this a few months ago, but after seeing Goldman Sachs get caught doing the same exact thing, it's become obvious: this is their textbook move. The goal is to return the price to a point it was at prior to the increase this morning. Obviously, this will prevent more market makers & broker-dealers from having to make additional deposits. + +This is not normal behavior and is HIGHLY unlikely that retail is responsible. Prepare for EXTREME volatility and know that these actions are performed to prevent OTHER BROKER-DEALERS from being margin called. + +As you continue to hold, **THEIR** problem will become worse and worse. It will **ONLY** work if you sell. Once the short attack is over, you should see the price rebound. We know that $350 has been a dangerous point for them because they triggered a flash crash at $350 on Mar10 (Mario day). Low and behold, they *done-did-it* again + +[https://imgur.com/NnLH3We](https://imgur.com/NnLH3We) + +https://preview.redd.it/d813st4ba2471.jpg?width=1893&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e0080c01e8e2a8061c2f771bf4ba9aedf10cf79c + +To me, this is us catching them in their lies. There would be NO NEED for this if their positions were covered. It is blatant market manipulation and we are SUFFOCATING THEM. + +DIAMOND.F\*CKING.HANDS + +\*Not financial advice\* +**Intro** + +What a first day for **MicroSHIBA**! In their first **24 hours** they were in **the top 10 on DEXTools**, listed ny **Coingecko** AND **Coin Marketcap** AND gained over **7k** holders! If you're a fan of **Cobra Kai**, or **Game Of Thrones** go check out their Telegram. **St Nick** & **Ryan** have gone all out with their endorsements, these guys are going all out! + +Their Telegram has grown from **1k to over 13k in a week** and still climbing with the marketing kicking in! To give you an idea of the sheer buzz behind this project. + +Going by the history of these guys - they're one of **the best** when it comes to launching and marketing a token. Their Telegram is always active and informative, once you sign up you don't want to leave, the energy's so infectious! + +This has been very much under the radar still until **NOW**\- so a great time to get in early and see what these guys have in store for **Today**! + +**Useful Info** + +**📲** ***Official Telegram EN:*** [https://t.me/MicroShibaEN](https://t.me/MicroShibaEN) + +**🇨🇳** ***Official Telegram CN:*** [https://t.me/MicroShibaCN](https://t.me/MicroShibaCN) + +**📣** ***Official Discord***: [https://discord.gg/YUgpTmYtng](https://discord.gg/YUgpTmYtng) + +**🖥** ***Website:*** [http://www.microshiba.net/](http://www.microshiba.net/) + +**🐥** ***Twitter***: [https://twitter.com/MicroShibaBSC](https://twitter.com/MicroShibaBSC) + +**🤝** ***Reddit:*** [https://www.reddit.com/r/MicroSHIBA/](https://www.reddit.com/r/MicroSHIBA/) + +**What Is MicroSHIBA?** + +**MicroSHIBA** is a brand new token from a very experienced team that has implemented a **manual buy back** system to help protect investors maintain a **steady market price** in the event of a whale dump or continuous market sells. It's **so damn good** \- just check it yourselves! + +**Conclusion** + +Info on this project is deliberately very limited right now. After seeing what these guys are capable of and their strong track record - I can say for certain that **MicroSHIBA** will be making big waves today! + +*Not Financial Advice - As Always, Do Your Own Research* +If I had read this when I first started off I would probably not believe it myself. I hope after sharing my results people will believe what can be achieved if you work hard to get into the top 0.5% of traders. + +I paper traded for one month and started live trading in June 2020 with a $1500 account. As someone using TradeZero International (non-US based) there are no PDT rule restrictions for under $25k accounts. After reloading several times (total deposits under $10k) I became profitable from January 2021. + +## Stats + +* Started 01/01/2021 with $1800 account equity +* 160 green days +* 91 red days +* 2 days off +* Note below graphs do not include commissions and borrow fees which is why net profit is less + +[All time PnL](https://preview.redd.it/4le3jd16x9981.png?width=454&format=png&auto=webp&s=b750fe524cf2d0886b3c8ae050e2f521e6e8d7c0) + +&#x200B; + +[2021 by month](https://preview.redd.it/7u1zuvhcx9981.png?width=942&format=png&auto=webp&s=a58d67a69e8cf53f0904591ce91b4820d133477c) + +December was my best month so far (note average holding time stats are not accurate for daytrades due to some overnight/swing trades affecting the average) + +[December stats](https://preview.redd.it/say8lpvdx9981.png?width=946&format=png&auto=webp&s=5263759e70bd6b839129f757206b1066c3796426) + +[December calendar](https://preview.redd.it/qotzqicex9981.png?width=851&format=png&auto=webp&s=b8974f3faaf15e46f528fd400f3e8663d345f91b) + +## Kinfo verification + +[https://kinfo.com/portfolio/17188/performance](https://kinfo.com/portfolio/17188/performance) + +"Viewing and sharing on kinfo is only possible through direct integration with brokers. There is no way to add manual transactions, remove transactions or in any way manipulate the data which comes from the broker. This makes data on kinfo 100% authentic and there is no way for a user on kinfo to provide fake results on their trading performance." [https://kinfo.com/verified-trades/](https://kinfo.com/verified-trades/) + +# Trading Style + +## Market + +Primarily daytrading US equities both long and short. Recently started expanding to short term swing trading and simple option strategies (long call, long put). + +## Stock Selection + +I trade most stocks that have volume and volatility, from small cap low float gappers to large caps. When I started off with a small account I primarily traded sub $10 stocks. Now I have moved onto midcaps and higher priced stocks since I don't want to pay as much short locate fees. + +Every stock trades differently, some trade cleaner than others than others. For example, tickers like AMC and TSLA have plenty of volume and liquidity, respects technical levels often, leading to frequent opportunities on a daily basis. + +## Style + +I believe there are many different profitable ways to trade, from scalping to swing trading, shorting parabolics to buying dips. You can find edge in any strategy. I would describe my style as: + +* Rooted in technical analysis +* Price action based +* Discretionary systematic + +General types of trade setups: + +* Breakouts, breakdowns (from ranges) +* Mean reversion on "extension" (reversals, short and long) +* Trend following + +## Indicators + +Chart + +* Standard candlestick chart - using various time intervals +* VWAP - session, anchored +* Moving averages - simple, exponential +* Volume +* Volume profile with point of control (PoC) + +Market sentiment + +* SPY - relevant for large caps and market names +* IWM - relevant for small caps +* VIX - volatility index +* BTCUSD - when trading crypto stocks + +## Level 2, Time & Sales/Tape + +My entries are 100% based off the chart. I always have Level 2 (market depth) and Time & Sales (tape) on screen with the order windows and look at them but they are not crucial for me. I can read tape but would not say I'm good at it. + +## Fundamentals + +Fundamentals can be important: when trading small caps many are not "great" companies and often dilute shares to the public market which can affect the price of the stock. In large caps, news events and earnings can drive volatility, so understanding these earnings reports can help. I only have a basic understanding of SEC filings, offerings and other dilution, as there are many tools out there that help with this. Fundamental knowledge can help with understanding why a stock is moving/gapping but technical analysis is still key in timing entries and exits. In trading, being early is the same as being wrong. + +## Risk + +My risk and scaling strategy is pretty basic compounding: max risk per trade is 2% of my current equity, which I adjust at the beginning of each trading day. + +* At $1,500 account my risk per trade was $30. +* At $25,000 it was $500. +* At $50,000 it was $1000 etc. + +Since there is a discretionary aspect to my trading I don't take the same risk every single trade. For example I may risk 1% on okay setups, 2% risk on great setups, and on rare occassions 3% on A+ setups. Look up Kelly criterion to understand why 2% is often used by many systems. + +## R/R & winrate + +There are lots of threads out there on this topic. The default consensus when people talk about RR is to only take trades with a RR higher than 2:1 as it allows you to be profitable with any winrate over 33%. As your RR decreases your winrate must be higher. + +I sometimes take profit before 2R. I sometimes don't take any profit until after 2R. Obviously I try to aim for at least 2R+ targets in order to have a positive expectancy overall, but mostly I base my decisions off the chart and potential support/resistance zones, how price action is forming when inside the trade, so I do not rigidly take profit at fixed multiples of the risk amount. + +## Review & Journalling + +The process of reviewing is crucial to a trader's progression. People do it different ways; some people track large amounts of quantitive data in excel, others are more qualitative in their analysis of executions and charts. + +I use TraderVue to import my trades daily and tag them with labels based on setups and characteristics. Every weekend I review my trades of the week, biggest winners, biggest losers and missed opportunities, annotating and screenshotting charts which are saved to a OneNote notebook. + +# Tools I use + +* Benzinga Pro - news +* Twitter - news, other traders +* TradingView - charts +* TradingView - scanner +* Finviz - scanner +* TradeZero - broker +* Discord - community +* Tradervue - journal +* OneNote - journal +* Excel - risk calculator +* DilutionTracker - fundamentals +* BamSEC - fundamentals + +# Some advice to newer traders