OT: Investing - Stocks/Mutual Funds/Bonds/Crypto

[M-C-G]

I haven't personally purchased a hardware wallet, my cold storage has always worked just fine for me. That said, I always heard the trezor was the way to go over the nano. Seems like the guys big into the BTC world always use trezor (Andreas, etc.). I could be wrong about that or things may have changed.

I can barely store my XRP in a penny jar these days

Sorry broseph, I'd never touch the stuff.

It was money I was willing to lose, but literally don't think I could have bought it at a worse time. I'm much more comfortable investing in traditional stock market, even though that will take some time to recoup my investments.

I think my days of crypto trading are over.

[vlietinho]

I can barely store my XRP in a penny jar these days

Sorry broseph, I'd never touch the stuff.

It was money I was willing to lose, but literally don't think I could have bought it at a worse time. I'm much more comfortable investing in traditional stock market, even though that will take some time to recoup my investments.

I think my days of crypto trading are over.

Yeah, feel the same way.

I got an email yesterday from kraken.com saying they are ready to verify my account (after signing up early january)

[zmanishere11]

I don't normally post but I started investing into Crypto around mid-2017. I've invested a total of about 22k including taxes from 2017. I've been through some serious ups and downs. But I am lucky enough to have never gone negative. In these big dips I'm usually still up 25% or more (its tough to value some coins when they are not technically on the market yet).
I believe in this technology which is why I will never sell. There are so many applications that this can be applied to that it WILL be in our lives in some way.
Crypto is completely recreating all internet companies (Facebook, google, StubHub, UBER etc), websites, applications, etc. It's exactly like the .com era.
When the media bashes it, Facebook bans it, google bans it, Banks say its a fraud, etc they are trying to scare normal people out of it.
Don't take this as investing advice, do your own research
Last note, Arizona is considering accepting Bitcoin for Taxes on Capital Gains. The Iowa City of Commerce is also considering accepting Bitcoin.

You remember how the .com era ended right?

[REDDzone]

I can barely store my XRP in a penny jar these days

Sorry broseph, I'd never touch the stuff.

It was money I was willing to lose, but literally don't think I could have bought it at a worse time. I'm much more comfortable investing in traditional stock market, even though that will take some time to recoup my investments.

I think my days of crypto trading are over.

Most alts are way too boom/bust for me and 99% of them are premined crap. I stick to BTC with a little ETH and even less LTC (along with some alts I've acquired through hard forks over the years), and rebalance when it gets to be a certain percent of my worth. Crypto is still a big part of the future IMO despite the down market. We've been through this many times over the years.

Not encouraging you to invest in it BTW (not that you'd care about my opinion LOL), I don't think anyone should invest in anything they aren't comfortable with. Just giving my view.

[M-C-G]

Sorry broseph, I'd never touch the stuff.

It was money I was willing to lose, but literally don't think I could have bought it at a worse time. I'm much more comfortable investing in traditional stock market, even though that will take some time to recoup my investments.

I think my days of crypto trading are over.

Most alts are way too boom/bust for me and 99% of them are premined crap. I stick to BTC with a little ETH and even less LTC (along with some alts I've acquired through hard forks over the years), and rebalance when it gets to be a certain percent of my worth. Crypto is still a big part of the future IMO despite the down market. We've been through this many times over the years.

Not encouraging you to invest in it BTW (not that you'd care about my opinion LOL), I don't think anyone should invest in anything they aren't comfortable with. Just giving my view.

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong, there is money to be made IMO, my problem is that I have to load money into one account, transfer that to another and get blasted up the ass in fees, then convert that into shares of XRP (or whatever), don't use it enough to feel confident in what I am doing, don't really understand the ebbs and flows enough to invest with confidence, don't like the usability enough to invest the time I need to get comfortable, and frankly, I can still see a giant pain in the butt and more fees when I try to cash out at some point.

Or I go to my Charles Schwab account, research, get some level of confidence and pull the trigger on a trade for 4.95

[REDDzone]

The biggest PITA I've dealt with (or am in in the process of dealing with, been putting it off) so far is paying the taxes. I feel like my audit risk will go from 1% to 50% once I enter in how much I made in crypto last year. lol.

[HaroldinGMinor]

Market getting pounded after another rate hike. Gross. May be a good time to fund you 401k though.

Housing prices are crazy right now. My wife got a job at SC Johnson and we are looking to move back to Racine... and it's hard to find anything that's good for under 300k.

there has to be a drop soon right?

all these old timers are going to start dropping dead or at the very least, leaving their houses?

Selling one house usually means buying another one. With rates going higher I think most people would rather lock in whatever rate they are at and just stay put. Granted people are weird so maybe not.

[M-C-G]

Housing prices are crazy right now. My wife got a job at SC Johnson and we are looking to move back to Racine... and it's hard to find anything that's good for under 300k.

there has to be a drop soon right?

all these old timers are going to start dropping dead or at the very least, leaving their houses?

Selling one house usually means buying another one. With rates going higher I think most people would rather lock in whatever rate they are at and just stay put. Granted people are weird so maybe not.

We ended up building two years ago, but I can tell you there is nothing worse than a hot market when you are trying to buy. You have to watch for something to immediately go on the market, leave work early to get there by 5 pm, hope you are the first person to see it, if you want to make an offer, decide not only if you are going full asking but how much beyond that if you want to snap it up, and oh by the way, you still may not get it.

I have no idea how is all buying, if people are moving out of the city at a larger rate or what, but we found it almost impossible to find anything good that wasn't totally absurdly priced. So damn happy we ended up renting for a year and building.

[ackypoo]

there has to be a drop soon right?

all these old timers are going to start dropping dead or at the very least, leaving their houses?

Selling one house usually means buying another one. With rates going higher I think most people would rather lock in whatever rate they are at and just stay put. Granted people are weird so maybe not.

We ended up building two years ago, but I can tell you there is nothing worse than a hot market when you are trying to buy. You have to watch for something to immediately go on the market, leave work early to get there by 5 pm, hope you are the first person to see it, if you want to make an offer, decide not only if you are going full asking but how much beyond that if you want to snap it up, and oh by the way, you still may not get it.

I have no idea how is all buying, if people are moving out of the city at a larger rate or what, but we found it almost impossible to find anything good that wasn't totally absurdly priced. So damn happy we ended up renting for a year and building.

my gf and i have been "looking" for 3 years now in madison. the madison market has been kinda nuts for awhile though.

we talk about moving to milwaukee, but i really love my job.

[humanrefutation]

Selling one house usually means buying another one. With rates going higher I think most people would rather lock in whatever rate they are at and just stay put. Granted people are weird so maybe not.

We ended up building two years ago, but I can tell you there is nothing worse than a hot market when you are trying to buy. You have to watch for something to immediately go on the market, leave work early to get there by 5 pm, hope you are the first person to see it, if you want to make an offer, decide not only if you are going full asking but how much beyond that if you want to snap it up, and oh by the way, you still may not get it.

I have no idea how is all buying, if people are moving out of the city at a larger rate or what, but we found it almost impossible to find anything good that wasn't totally absurdly priced. So damn happy we ended up renting for a year and building.

my gf and i have been "looking" for 3 years now in madison. the madison market has been kinda nuts for awhile though.

we talk about moving to milwaukee, but i really love my job.

Madison is just absurd these days. A friend of mine just ended up paying 50K over asking in order to secure a house on the near east side. FIFTY THOUSAND! And it's not even that nice of a house.

I'm currently renting, but I'm looking to buy sometime in the next couple years. The northside feels like it's up and coming. I'll probably end up looking outside of Madison as well.

[M-C-G]

We ended up building two years ago, but I can tell you there is nothing worse than a hot market when you are trying to buy. You have to watch for something to immediately go on the market, leave work early to get there by 5 pm, hope you are the first person to see it, if you want to make an offer, decide not only if you are going full asking but how much beyond that if you want to snap it up, and oh by the way, you still may not get it.

I have no idea how is all buying, if people are moving out of the city at a larger rate or what, but we found it almost impossible to find anything good that wasn't totally absurdly priced. So damn happy we ended up renting for a year and building.

my gf and i have been "looking" for 3 years now in madison. the madison market has been kinda nuts for awhile though.

we talk about moving to milwaukee, but i really love my job.

Madison is just absurd these days. A friend of mine just ended up paying 50K over asking in order to secure a house on the near east side. FIFTY THOUSAND! And it's not even that nice of a house.

I'm currently renting, but I'm looking to buy sometime in the next couple years. The northside feels like it's up and coming. I'll probably end up looking outside of Madison as well.

BUY in winter, it will be much less competition even though there is much less supply. Someone that puts the house on the market in winter is motivated. Come spring, you are part of the feeding frenzy.

[crkone]

We looked and placed offers for about 6 months in Tosa before we found one and got lucky. Put a same day offer in with only $1K over asking price.

[chile]

there has to be a drop soon right?

all these old timers are going to start dropping dead or at the very least, leaving their houses?

Selling one house usually means buying another one. With rates going higher I think most people would rather lock in whatever rate they are at and just stay put. Granted people are weird so maybe not.

We ended up building two years ago, but I can tell you there is nothing worse than a hot market when you are trying to buy. You have to watch for something to immediately go on the market, leave work early to get there by 5 pm, hope you are the first person to see it, if you want to make an offer, decide not only if you are going full asking but how much beyond that if you want to snap it up, and oh by the way, you still may not get it.

I have no idea how is all buying, if people are moving out of the city at a larger rate or what, but we found it almost impossible to find anything good that wasn't totally absurdly priced. So damn happy we ended up renting for a year and building.

I would probably wait on buying a house unless you find a good deal (which is doubtful). Wait for a lull in the market and hopefully housing prices drop or the amount of buyers reduce.

I don't know the apartment market in Racine or how Foxconn is affecting them but in Milwaukee it is harder to find tenants (compared to a couple years ago). The number of apartments coming onto the market should allow you to reduce the rent. Negotiate with potential landlords about your rent especially if they have multiple openings. If you can look to rent near the end of summer then landlords might be willing to budge more to fill before winter.

Sit on your cash and it should grow faster when renting instead of buying. I am guessing you aren't claiming any tax deductions with the new standard deduction coming anyways.

Disclaimer - I don't know how Foxconn will affect housing. Prices will go up because of them but I don't know if they will stay up because of the additional jobs.

[crkone]

I think Foxconn employees are mainly going to be from Illinois tbh.

[MAC1987]

I don't normally post but I started investing into Crypto around mid-2017. I've invested a total of about 22k including taxes from 2017. I've been through some serious ups and downs. But I am lucky enough to have never gone negative. In these big dips I'm usually still up 25% or more (its tough to value some coins when they are not technically on the market yet).
I believe in this technology which is why I will never sell. There are so many applications that this can be applied to that it WILL be in our lives in some way.
Crypto is completely recreating all internet companies (Facebook, google, StubHub, UBER etc), websites, applications, etc. It's exactly like the .com era.
When the media bashes it, Facebook bans it, google bans it, Banks say its a fraud, etc they are trying to scare normal people out of it.
Don't take this as investing advice, do your own research
Last note, Arizona is considering accepting Bitcoin for Taxes on Capital Gains. The Iowa City of Commerce is also considering accepting Bitcoin.

You remember how the .com era ended right?

Yes, actually I do. The companies that were good became multi-billion dollar companies. The internet is still around, right? I just don't think people understand this technology one bit. Of course a lot of them went under. But Crypto is vastly different than a Centralized company.

I'll give you a few examples of very specific applications.

1. Event Ticketing
Example: Stubhub is an internet company that is essentially a middle man. I can go to their website, buy/sell a ticket. But they charge insane fees. 30$ per ticket?
"Insert Crypto-Company Here" is a company that developed software to get rid of middle man. Thus you go to there website, buy/sell a ticket at a much lower FEE because there really is no middle man. The agreement made is via 'smart contracts'. There are currently 3-4 Crypto-Companies that are doing this. There is alot more detail to this that I'm just not going to get into.

2. Taxi Service or AirBNB
Uber and AirBNB don't actually own any cars or property. Uber has a platform setup where you can come to their website, use their application to pick people up and take them places. Uber = middleman gets a cut because you are using their service.
Crypto-Company gets ride of the middle man and doesn't take as much money as Uber does

3. My favorite 'Social Media'
Facebook makes billions of dollars off of YOU (if you are on Facebook, just an example). Facebook's platform is free to use but they sell your data/information to other companies (if you allow them). Facebook also makes tons of money on ads.
Crypto says good-bye to Facebook. Crypto doesn't sell your data/information to anyone. You get to keep it. They are setting up platforms where the USER gets paid for looking at ads. It doesn't go to a multi-billion dollar company.

4. BANKS
You know what a bank is. Centralized companies storing your money.
Crypto you have full control over your money. It is extremely safe to use if you are using it properly. This does scare people. It scares me because I could easily make a mistake and poof. My money is gone. This is probably a weakness of Crypto. It needs to be easier to use and not make mistakes. This is why i'm skeptical of it actually becoming an adopted currency.

I could go on and on about this. Summary is that it gets rid of these big multi-billion dollar companies and essentially feels like a re-distribution of wealth.

Now, CNBC, CNN, main-stream media is going to spread lots and lots of FUD about Crypto. Let's be honest, do you think BIG Companies, Facebook and Twitter want this to become popular? NOPE. Well they are already trying to do something about it. They are banning ADs for Cryptos. Governments can ban it. But even if they do, it will still be used in some way (off course not worth as much).

I'm being careful. I do alot of research. I literally talk to the developers and CEOs of the companies I'm invested in. Its high risk. Its not for everyone.

Alot of people got it when it was at it's all time high. Lesson = do research first. If you see BITCOIN rose 17K in the matter of months. That is probably a sign that you shouldn't buy.

This is not investing advice. Do your own research and good luck.

[M-C-G]

Watching this Zuckerberg Testimony with the stock ticker right next to it is fascinating. Based on his answers you can see the price oscillating

[bizarro]

Gentlemen, I hope anyone still in the Crypto game here made sensible and opportunistic buy-ins in the couple weeks prior. I know I did! Wider adoption of Ripple's core technology. On Chain (Ontology - a Neo ecosytstem affiliation) given millions by Microsoft. Verge adopted by PornHub (WooooHooo - privacy for fetishes!!!) ADA at $0.14. Eos at $5.75. Neo at $50. Bonkers bonkers bonkers.

Anyhow, as per usual, I come to share with you some exciting events potentially forthcoming as I always do. These are my personal opinions and are NOT financial advice. Make your own damn choices

The first week of May may see some volatility and another dip even given the recent uptick signs currently ongoing. Either buy in again here - OR simply hold. Most likely we are in store for a major run up Mid May until June 10thish. Why do I say this? Well, we have a major Taurus and Uranus event. Uranus is literally synonymous with 'lightning strike'. I mean, sh*t - Lightning Network? That's my best guess. BTC and LTC will make their announcement changing the financial markets into the future. For me, on the West coast, Uranus also means volatility/rapid change whereas Taurus is the most Earth-based sign. The last time this convergence happened in this matter, to the day, it was the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami. I sincerely hope we avoid such a catastrophe along the faultlines. Back to crypto, the omens are extremely favorable for a major major annct and, consequently, a major major run up. I see a steady and rapid climb from May 15th or so until June 10th. Fear not, as this run-up, as is so often the case in Crypto will be followed by a steady decline - picking up in the late June early July period - and most likely balancing out in that July 7th-10th window. And, naturally, crypto will most likely climb again shortly thereafter. Why the dip? Saturn Saturn Saturn - the same Saturn (though to a different degree and constellation) that provoked the FUD and major regulatory concerns in early February. I imagine something very similar will happen after a very large run-up.

I have my buy points and sell points in study and articulation mode here (though, honestly, I'm also a wee distracted by the playoffs and the Packers draft and marvelous relief pitching performances by the Brewers' Oliver Drake) and I play a potential buy-in #1 in the first week of May. A sell off by June 10th-12th. A buy in by July 10th further diversifying. Recouping investments and some fiat along the way.

Let me know what y'all are excited about (if you indeed are) in the marketplace. I've been mining Ravencoin since the 3rd week of February. Highly speculative. Backed by Overstock.com. It's a BTC fork project catered to tracking assets on the BTC forked blockchain. I honestly don't know how much longer I'll be giving energy to the project. But, for now, I'm fine with it.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Market getting pounded after another rate hike. Gross. May be a good time to fund you 401k though.

Housing prices are crazy right now. My wife got a job at SC Johnson and we are looking to move back to Racine... and it's hard to find anything that's good for under 300k.

there has to be a drop soon right?

all these old timers are going to start dropping dead or at the very least, leaving their houses?

My friend just put his house on the market on the west side of city of Milwaukee. I looking at like 15 houses in that area last year home shopping. I was expecting an asking of like 160k on his House but he put 190k. Got multiple offers above asking within a day. Can’t believe how much the market increased.

[REDDzone]

I picked up a decent amount of ETH when it dipped into the 300s back in March, otherwise just hodling.

[MickeyDavis]

Glad to see Ripple back over a buck. I averaged down on the big dip to about 1.25 overall but I'm adding no more.