No wonder you lost all that money..

Economics 101: Equity carries more risk and is subordinate to debt. That’s why it carries the potential for larger returns. As a Bear Stearns Bond holder, I am tired of hearing the sob stories of shareholders who think the bondholders are getting a free ride.

I researched another “Bear” stock and for the last four years it followed a predictable pattern. So, with what little money I managed to save up, I took the plunge. Thankfully, I bailed out with only a 30% loss. Just proves that **** still happens.

Well, it’s a knack of a sort. Not really what you might want, but one you could sell. Let’s say $10-20 for each people who want an email the day BEFORE you buy anything. It should make up for any loss you will incure after the actual stock purchase. Capitalism at work! Do you think it can be procecuted as an insider info?

Oh my God… I may have the same disease you have!!! Nice to know there is someone out there who can make a clear winner lose! Great post.

I am relieved to hear that I am not the ONLY STUPID investor out there! Thank you for your honesty

I love Mary in Austin’s idea. I could actually let people know 48 hours before I decide to do anything in the market… and they could do the exact opposite! Would any of you be willing to pay for my service?

A number of years ago I bought a position in the Cuban Electric Co.(4900 shares for around $26,000 or about $5.30 a share). It trades in the pink sheets under CGAR.
Head quartered in Illinois, over 77% of its stock is owned by Office Max.
At one time this company had assets in Cuba that were nationalized by the Castro government in the the early 60’s.
Figuring the fact this company had $18 million or about $5.00 a share, plus a claim for seized property against the Cuban government government and an aging dictator that would eventually pass form the scene I would make an investment.
A little over a year ago some bureaucrat in the U.S. Governments Office of Foreign Assets decreed that these were Cuban securities & therefore no American citizen could buy or sell this stock.
Over the last year I have watched this stock trade for between $14-$30 a share (foreigners can still trade it).
Due to the fact this confiscation is only “A block on transacting”, I can’t even write this investment off as a loss.
Try communicating with anyone in the government about this injustice?-Did it-Tried it- What a joke.
Keep the stock market-anything the government manipulates is certainly a losing game to play.

Lewis is a fool who didn’t understand the risk of massive leverage and derivatives.

Horror story? I finally convinced my husband to diversify and get into the dot com market–about a week before the bubble burst.

Why don’t you try shorting stocks?

Hey don’t feel bad. I’d held some E-trade stock since the heady days to the dot com bubble and had sadly watched a $4000 stake in the stuff tumble from, I dunno maybe $50 a share to around 25 or so during the late 90’s. In the interim, I’d pretty much forgotten about it, it was so long ago.

Well, sometime last year, I got one of those quartly statements telling me how little money I actually had in the account, so I decided to just sell all the stuff off and spend the money. I wanted a new amp for my stereo so, the heck with it. Well this account had been shuffled around between brokerage companies so many times over the years, I practically had to start a new account to get at my money. I did what they asked, dealing with a broker at what could sound like the Banc of the United States… Anyhow, I had added a PO box to a form which threw up some kind of flag that delayed my getting my account up and running intil…

You guessed it. The latest stock tumble. I watched that pityful stock go from $25 one day to 17 the next to 15… I bought more thinking “dollar cost averaging’ etc. Then come the headlines that basically say E-trade is the most mismanaged company on the planet. I couldn’t beleive it… I could have sold it for at least $25 a share. Today it’s at like $3.00 All because some computer didn’t like that I added a PO Box. WTF???

This account sat for practically 10 years doing nothing and the day I decide to get rid of it, it just totally goes to hell. TANJ

I know some women who have luck with their men like your luck with stocks. Unfortunately, both leave emotional baggage to deal with after the dump. Better luck next time.

You are not alone there Bing. I’ve almost gotten to the point where, if I think a stock is a good buy… I should just do the complete opposite and short it and vise versa. I can do research until my face turns blue… but I swear there are people just waiting for me to put my order in, so they can do just the opposite. Or maybe I’m just paranoid.

The man is a bit punchy, been hit to hard to many times. I told you a million times Joe if you want to hold on to your title you have to keep you hands up, not reaching down into your pockets. A good left follwed by a straight jab should do it.

I would try shorting stocks, except it’s been explained to me so many times I’m ashamed to ask again and I still don’t get it.

Well, in the absence of shorting stocks, why don’t you use the money you would spend on stocks…and go buy more puros & scotch! To me, it’s kinda like when you want to leave the table at the casino, but want to put in one more bet. 99 out of 100 times, you are better off just tipping the dealer the amount of your bet.

The problem with changing to shorting stock is that due to your luck, the stocks will then go up in price.

TANJ
I know this won’t help the pain, but it may why it happened. PO Boxes are not allowed as “address of record” on brokerage accounts because of compliance reasons with the Patriot Act. It has to do with verifying who you are. That’s why it got kicked back to you. Hope that helps the “why” in your situation. I’m a bit surprised they didn’t tell you that. You must have drawn the short end of the stick when getting the rep on the phone dealing with this…

And Bing, anytime you have these types of questions, if you really want to know, I’ll explain it. Even at no charge.

Thanks Jessica. The reason for the hold up was explained to me only a couple of days later after I called to inquire about the problem. Which also happened to be the very first day of the downhill run of the rollercoaster. The market dropped I believe 300 or so points… While I was on the phone with the broker…

*sigh*

I guess I’ll hold it for another 10 years. Since financials are getting pounded now, they might lead the recovery later.

The irony was so massive, I could only laugh with God at my pure “it could only happen to you” luck. It will probably go to 1000 a share on the day I die… With me still holding it…

I really wanted that amp, though…

Ah yes… Been there, done that, got the T-shirt that say Enron (Kiss that 2K investment goodbye). Anyone remember when YHOO was over $100-120 a share in 2000? That is when we bought it and held onto it for seven years. “It will come back”, we told ourselves. Ha! Last year we sold it and recovered half our money. I consider ourselves lucky that we got something out of it.

Now Bing, you surprise me. A source of wonderful information is right under your nose. I think you are familiar with the last page – Fortune Magazine. Over the years I save the annual issues of the 100 Fastest-Growing Companies, Most Admired, Fortune 500, etc. When we are ready to do some buying, we pull those old issues out and start researching. Had several winners using that technique. Always remember, buy low and sell high!

shorting stock is easy:

You sell stock you don’t own at say $10/share. You pay the person you borrowed that stock rent and dividends while you have your short position.

Your gain could be as much as the $10/share you sold the stock for if the company goes to zero – woohoo for the shorts.

Your loss is unlimited. If the stock goes to $20/share, you lost $10/share when you have to buy the stock back to cover your short position and return the stock you borrowed and sold at $10/share. If the stock goes to $100/share, you lost $90/share.

In my humble opinion, if you believe a stock is going down, you’re better off buying put options that entitle you to sell the stock at the price of the put, but don’t cost you any more than you paid for the option if the price goes up.

In my response to your last post I said that since my former analyst days I have “largely invested in index funds.” Well several years back, right before the dotcom bust, my husband (who has absolutely no financial background) decided we were missing the boat investing in index funds so he bought 100 shares of Lucent. We road that sucker all the way down. We still own some incarnation of it today and of course we’re also the proud owners of a couple of shares here and there of various spinoffs with little to no value. I’d love to just dump all the junk, but the brokerage fees to sell would be more than I’d get in proceeds. So there they sit heckling me in my monthly brokerage statement.

It will be interesting to watch how the Joseph P. Lewis litigation, “Lewis vs B.S.C. or J.P.M. or both”, unfolds.

The Attorneys are already starting the churning mechenism, which is mamouth, and self seeking.

They have a carcus to pick, and are circleing their prey, like vultures after road kill.

I went through arbitration at the American Arbitration Association in Southfield, Michigan.

The defendents are planning a “blitzkrieg” and taking “no prisoners”.

I know what they did for a few shekels in my case.

One can only imagine what charades, smoke and mirrors, and “gypsy caravan” they assemble to confront Joe in the “Colosium” of “Securities Excange Justice”.

Joe, you will need all the Kings and Queens men, women, and horses to bail you our of this one!

Lot’s o luck.

I had a stock watch going on about 6 stocks I wished to buy. Tiffany finally dropped below 50. I bought. Check out the price today. Nuff said.

Vegas has better odds and more rationale. I lose there too.

I don’t even try anymore. Better to put the money in a savings institution at a paltry 1.25% than to lose 10% or more per year. Fewer headaches and ulcer attacks as well.

If you’re looking for a deal though, might I suggest transferring all of your money to Euros or into a Euro-denominated off-shore account. That stuff is still climbing.

If you’ve really got guts, look at LukOil or GazProm. Sure, Russians love to rob Americans blind, but these guys are at least back by assets (at least until Vladmir/Dmitri decide to renationalize the entire industry).

Joltin’ Joe Lewis was just “cost-averaging” his investment. If he could have bought at the $2/share that J P Morgan “negotiated”, this move might have at least floated him up off the bottom. Especially, when J P Morgan itself thinks Bear-Stearns might be worth $10 a pop. Of course, Joe Lewis didn’t get the chance to bid $2/share, and would Bernanke have sopped-up $30 billion of bad B-S paper for Joltin’ Joe ??

Everybody has a story. I foolishly bought stocks in anticipation of an Al Gore presidency in 2001….didn’t quite turn out that way but I thought to myself “Bush seems okay, I mean how much damage could he do?”

No need to explain the rest of the story.