<p>I think dstark is done. It’s been so long since he posted. I said he was experiencing a lot of personal problems but didn’t go into detail. I hope they did not get the better of him.</p>
<p>The media is saying the nonfarm payroll was poor, but I think it was pretty good. August is a bad month for data. It is often revised up wards. I think the economy is looking better not worse. </p>
<p>I just sold JCP November 14 strike puts for 1.54. Kyle Bass is in that stock and he is one of the smartest guys in finance.</p>
<p>Notice that while the S&P and Dow are crawling back from highs set August 2, and still well below those highs, the QQQ (Nasdaq 100) is making new highs, or at least new highs since the tech bubble burst of 2000. Of course I have little to no exposure to that sector… sold all my qqq much lower.</p>
<p>Did you guys do anything for the shutdown? DW wanted to get out a bit or short, but I didn’t, and, rarely for me, it worked out, at least for today. Not planning to do anything about it tomorrow either…</p>
<p>An unrelated point - do any of you personally know Dstark or BCEagle well enough that you may have exchanged PMs and know their status? This is one of the weird things about internet - for years someone may have been a prolific poster who you feel you know better than some acquaintances in real life, and then suddenly the person just disappears.</p>
<p>I think the market often reacts more to uncertainty than to an actual event – so it doesn’t surprise me at all that the market was tanking on Monday and recovering on Tuesday. The shutdown itself is an artificial economic problem, in the sense that Congress has the power to fix it with a simple vote-- I think the debt ceiling issue is much more worrisome, because a downgrade in US credit can’t be undone with a vote the next day.</p>
<p>Dstark turned off email notifications so we can’t even send him an email through CC. I don’t know how to contact either one, so it is frustrating. </p>
<p>I think it’s wild that the NASDAQ 100 actually made a new high today. (new high for this entire move, new high since 2000 or so) The Dow and S&P 500 of course are still well below their recent alltime highs, but still pretty high. I feel like the indices are ready to explode upward if we get anything even slightly positive out of Congress. I also feel like the Dow is now something totally different after the recent changes.</p>
<p>Does anyone here invest in Apple? I realized that we were just about the only investors in the world that didn’t invest in Apple, though I’ve been following the stock for awhile. It seems to me that quite often, when the market goes down, Apple still goes up. It makes me wonder if it is a “safe” place for people when they don’t want to invest in anything else.</p>
If you ask DD2 what her religion is, she’s likely to say “Apple”. I have, over the years, tried to get the kids to learn something about investing, and when she finally had some money, she bought 5 shares of AAPL in the 500s when it was dropping last year. Now she feels she should have gone with FB instead. As for me, I’ve always been quite prejudiced against their products, and even if I went with individual stocks, it’s unlikely I’ll look there.</p>
<p>I have no comment about AAPL except for the fact that as long as Icahn is allowed 30 minute commercials @ CNBC talking up Apple, $445 will provide support until it breaks and big money pulls out the rug again.</p>
<p>Hmm, it just seems like so many people, both large and small investors have it as their top holding. Maybe it’s just the flavor of the month… or year.</p>
<p>I own some but have no opinion. Our ex money manager got them a while ago and I haven’t done much with it. I am not into individual stocks. Apple is the only individual stock in our portfolio and will go when we need cash.</p>
<p>Apple is the top holding by hedge funds, also. They hold 10% of all corporate cash. It is such a monster. And today, once again, the market is going down, and Apple is going up.</p>
<p>Krilles, maybe not 160 but 165 or lower would be wlecome. I have extra cash.</p>
<p>I guess they have to play out their kabuki dance. I am not holding my breath. Pundits said the fiscal cliff would be so bad, it won’t happen but it did. Now they are saying the same thing about debt ceiling. Unthinkable is not so unthinkable.</p>
<p>Hayden, jym626, razorsharp, njres, dadof3,
I just wanted to let you know i am doing fine.
As far as trading goes, I have only traded once in the last 2 1/2 months. I am not really paying attention.</p>
<p>I have kind of lost some of my interest in CC. It happens. If I have to read one more post about how good the poor have it, I am going to rip up the rest of my hair and go bald. I like my hair and I dont want to end up as bald as njres. :)</p>
<p>I am happy that calmom is doing such a great job in the ACA discussion.</p>
<p>I hope you are all doing well. I do read your posts when I come across them.</p>
<p>I just wanted to let you know I am not dead. I walked by my cpa’s wife and she said to me, “You look like an athlete”. :)</p>
<p>I am going to sign off now. I am not home. I am in Vermont. Vermont is incredibly beautiful. I usually pick up the real estate mags when I travel, but I am never going to move here. A little too rural for me. I can see why others love living here. The colors… Wow!!!</p>
sold all my qqq much lower.</p>