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Investing/Stocks

Debt
Op I did the exact same thing. Listened to Dave Ramsey throughout college and worked a system that fit my needs. Took getting divorced and mucking up finances. At your age some of the things about saving and spending on that path will last a lifetime. That said I did not go on elaborate vacations and such while friends did. Not going to lie it can be tough especially when young. At this point I am debt free. My company is debt free and I keep enough capitol to pay my employees for 2 years. I often have customers that take over 6 months to pay. Con=I have credit of an 18 year old. None. Pros=I have become immune to sales gimmicks and keeping up with the jones..... Full disclosure almost all very wealthy people excel at using other peoples money to gain it.

Stock market
Starting out you have a few options but I would suggest taking advantage of matching funds first if possible. If not see an adviser. Lastly if you want to get into the markets picking individual stocks it takes years to play that game. Read books on options and hedge your bets. Play the fun money for a year or two before gambling your future. I day trade and it took about 7 years to feel confident in trading and securing my money. Very stressful and to be honest right now I have pulled completely out of the markets(day trading account) for the last 4 months.
 
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Here's my first go at stocks. 😑

View attachment 7820319
LGB!
Always good to see a posting by an honest man. I will admit to have ridden some down very similar to the chart you posted. I rationalized my loss as nothing more than paying a College tuition for a class in the stock market. My first investment was through AG Edwards and a broker who taught investment classes at LSU. Back during the oil boom, Limited Partnership Investments in the oil patch. Fed's raided the company, took 98% of the assets and left 2% for the creditors... I was able to write off the loss over a few years... Callon Petroleum .... Many Lesson's learned.
 
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Re: Index futures/options: If you have less than 1M and are trying to "play" the market, that is exactly what you are doing. Playing. 1M is the minimum required to be able to plan a real agnostic strategy with positive expected return - per trade and/or per time period per instrument, without outsizing risk. Alternatively, if you are willing to gamble on a direction, you can find positive expected return directionally, with around 300K.

Individual stocks: Divide the above numbers by 10 and the same applies.

If you don't view calculus as arithmetic and are not comfortable developing hypotheses on infinite series in your sleep (where regression analysis is a fool's errand), then please do not attempt the above. You will lose all of your money.

Long-term investing: While I loved Bogle's approach 20-30 yrs ago, it simply doesn't apply today. The bet you are making is whether the powers that be will continue the game of musical chairs, or that reality will return. During a period of indecision, which could last years or even decades, violent moves in both directions will be seen. Weathering those storms requires either a robust, intelligent, and complex strategy/set of strategies, or balls of steel and capital to keep funding the bet. Pick your poison.

The difficult part is watching the idiots who are hoisted on pedestals for making 10,000% in a month, as if they are geniuses. It is done to make you want in, and to bring you to the table, where ~95% of "players" will lose it all, ~3% are breakeven, and ~2% make some money. There are people that win the lottery every week... they are not geniuses for picking the winning numbers.
 
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LOL.... I am laughing with you, not at you.... Even the peripheral industrial's, housing for the oil patch worker's, transportation (hot oil vacuum trucks), pipe / valves / fittings, chemicals and labor..... Similar to being in a sinking life boat. That simple minded guy with the bailing bucket is worth his weight in gold, priceless....

The only thing standing in the way is the politicians and this administration. The resources are at hand.

Its strange being in an industry where you experience a macabre delight when you go to pump and cheer while everyone else is lamenting.
 
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Daily change
___________
FTSE 100England-231.69-3.20%

DAXGermany-603.86-4.41%

CAC 40France-316.71-4.97%


And all that foreign money flowing into the USA on a Friday afternoon. I hesitate to say it is a 'Safe Haven"... A lot could change over the weekend.
DAX up for the week
 
How did you get below zero? (I realize it's $17)
I'm not sure. I think since I'm with Ameritrade there's a yearly fee and they take it out of my portfolio, but since it was so low it went negative?

Some message about a "cash debit call" so I'm actually $75 in the hole. Never thought I would owe money buying stocks! I need to call them today.
 
Nothing wrong with losing a small bit as long as you learn from it. Imagine if you made 30% on a small number and decided to jump all in into the deep part of the diving pool? False confidence can be costly - and you never ever figure everything out.
 
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not that I know a lot about this topic but if you wait a couple months the dims are sure to put the country into a full blown rescission with all the trimmings Id wait to buy till the prices were next to nothing then when and as they are all hung for treason you can gain from the socialist madness plan .:unsure:
:whistle::giggle::eek:
 
not that I know a lot about this topic but if you wait a couple months the dims are sure to put the country into a full blown rescission with all the trimmings Id wait to buy till the prices were next to nothing then when and as they are all hung for treason you can gain from the socialist madness plan .:unsure:
:whistle::giggle::eek:
You know, that is one of the most accurate forecast of the future (full blown recession) I have read today.
The "building back" is a bit more difficult to imagine. That depends on how far down the rabbit hole America travels.
During my lifetime, I know some people who never recovered from the recessions of the S&L's.
I did well during the Paul Volcker / Carter / Reagan years. In all fairness, I had little to lose during that time.
Possibly some Mega Funds (Blackrock) will swoop in when America hits bottom and buy property for a Nickel on the Dollar... IDK
No one in this administration or the FED Reserve is forecasting a soft landing. I forecast the landing to be so hard that we think our ass is dragging on the runway...


No, I did not fact check:
 
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Starting to see fewer opinion's about the future.


Bill is a little too wacky for me with his Music references and the feuds between him and his neighbor. I like his old PIMCO partner Mohamed El Erian a bit more.

Not saying that good old Bill is wrong, just that he's been off his meds for awhile now.
 
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