<p>Yeah…I am long pep. </p>
<p>I guess I won’t increase my position. :)</p>
<p>This is the 3rd time the market has dropped recently to this level.</p>
<p>KO probably makes more money on bottled water than sugary stuff these days. I guess the beverage lobby didn’t contribute enough to the mayor’s campaign.</p>
<p>On the Lustig thing - you can read articles on his video. He does a good job presenting his point but you can get the information a lot faster from an article. He is fairly entertaining in his presentation.</p>
<p>I don’t believe NYC has the authority to prohibit sale of sugar drinks in the city. I think any ban will be overturn by courts.</p>
<p>I am watching the video off and on today…</p>
<p>I am thinking of buying SDRL soon. With oil going down it goes down but its profits are not directly related to oil. Pays a big dividend.</p>
<p>How are SDRL’s profits not related to oil? The profits are related to oil drilling…and oil drilling is related to oil prices, no?</p>
<p>American taxpayers are subject to Norway’s withholding tax on dividends.
The company has been using debt to expand.
The company pays most of its earnings in dividends.</p>
<p>I think the company has the cash flow to pay the dividends right now…but I haven’t seen all the financials.</p>
<p>An interesting take on aapl:[Is</a> Apple the Most Misunderstood Stock in the Market? | Wall St. Cheat Sheet](<a href=“http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/is-apple-the-most-misunderstood-stock-in-the-market.html/]Is”>http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/is-apple-the-most-misunderstood-stock-in-the-market.html/)</p>
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<p>I am sort of drawing an distinction between directly and indirectly related. BPT is directly related because as the price of oil goes down its payout decreases. SDRL is indirectly related to the price of oil but directly related to drilling for oil. If the price of oil is between 75 and 150 the amount of drilling will not vary too much. At least that is my thesis. Thus, if the price of oil goes to 75 there will still be plenty of drilling for oil since it would be profitable. If the price of oil goes to 45 we would be in depression again and everything tanks including sdrl. The chart still suggests it is in downtrend so maybe its not yet time to buy.</p>
<p>Ok…</p>
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<p>The important take-away is customer lock-in and the high price of switching. Apple wants to own the whole stack. Hardware to OS to Apps to Cloud - they can provide the integrated and consistent user-experience that way. It makes it harder to switch to something else.</p>
<p>Well that Einhorn fella is a pretty sharp guy from what I hear.</p>
<p>I am going short bond futures (/ZN), may sell a VIX put spread as a hedge.</p>
<p>Wow, what a crazy day in the markets…down 100+, only to turn up 75+, and finish down modestly…</p>
<p>It was crazy…</p>
<p>IvyGolfer…which zn month did you sell the bonds and what price did you get?</p>
<p>I had a nice profit in the VIX today and then lost it all with the whipsaw in the pm. Easy come easy go.</p>
<p>Ivygolfer what is your thesis on shorting bonds? Operation twist ending or just think interest rates are too low?</p>
<p>"I am going short bond futures (/ZN), may sell a VIX put spread as a hedge. "</p>
<p>As a young person, where are you getting the money to do these trades?</p>
<p>Sold SEPT at 134 flat (limit order). I have no problem with low interest rates as long as the issuer of a bond (in this case the US Gov) can justify it. IMO the gov cannot justify the low interest rates because of the credit risk and the inflation. I don’t see why anyone will want a real rate of return of -2% for the next 10 years. I think over the next 10 years we will have inflation rates above 5%. This is because we have had dovish monetary policy for the last 5 years, consumers have not felt the pinch because increases in globalization and efficiency have kept prices for goods artificially low. Manufacturing costs are going up as demonstrated by the rising cost of labor and China and India. With the cost of manufacturing and commodities going up coupled with the dovish monetary policy it is the perfect storm for high inflation. If I had any substantial funds I would invest in real assets like real estate and farm land.</p>
<p>Doc T,
I have always been a saver, and have money saved from a golf retail business I started a couple years ago. My total holdings are less than 10K. I am not trading to make any substantial amount of money because with such a minuscule amount of capital it is unrealistic to expect to strike it rich. I trade primarily to learn, and most of the times I do so from my mistakes! I figure it is better to loose a couple thousand now and learn important lessons in investing that I can carry for my entire life.</p>
<p>How old are you?? Your profile states that you’re 17.</p>