Screw the Greeks

[Steve Ekstrand]

DJIA in major collapse.....

Down nearly a 1000 before the freefall stopped and turned a bit....

[Giovanni Jaramillo]

DJIA in major collapse.....

Down nearly a 1000 before the freefall stopped and turned a bit....

Haha! you and I were thinking the same thing with our posts at the same time!

It's all the PIIGS fault! (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain)

[George Schilling]

DJIA in major collapse.....

Down nearly a 1000 before the freefall stopped and turned a bit....

Haha! you and I were thinking the same thing with our posts at the same time!

It's all the PIIGS fault! (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain)

The irony is we are racing down the same path. What's it going to take for people to wake up?

Wow, what a roller coaster for the DJIA.

[Steve Ekstrand]

Remember I didn't put this in the PP.

[Giovanni Jaramillo]

Remember I didn't put this in the PP.

Me either...it's finance related so it's fine in here.

[Jeff Shyu]

curious to hear what the financially savy people in here make of the ongoings.

there's obviously no magic bullet type solution. how do you see the EU/Euro fairing against the US/Dollar in the short term and long term? especially considering how global everything is now.

[Giovanni Jaramillo]

curious to hear what the financially savy people in here make of the ongoings.

there's obviously no magic bullet type solution. how do you see the EU/Euro fairing against the US/Dollar in the short term and long term? especially considering how global everything is now.

Faulty stock quotes were part of the problem today, so in programming terms it was a ....."bug" so to speak.

[Jeff Shyu]

but the concern re: greece, spain, portugal are all valid, and will drag down the Euro to some degree. does that actually mean some advantage to the US?

[Bob Beamesderfer]

but the concern re: greece, spain, portugal are all valid, and will drag down the Euro to some degree. does that actually mean some advantage to the US?

The dollar should go up if nothing else heavier is weighing on it.

[Steve Ekstrand]

Today is why I refuse to use sell or buy trades at "market" and why I never issue stop orders.

If you need protection, then buy out of money puts on your larger equity holdings as a hedge. Stops really can't protect you, but on a day like today they can totally screw you.

[Joey Schilling]

Today is why I refuse to use sell or buy trades at "market" and why I never issue stop orders.

If you need protection, then buy out of money puts on your larger equity holdings as a hedge. Stops really can't protect you, but on a day like today they can totally screw you.

I agree that options are more efficient than placing stops. However, what if the market really did sell off like that and it didn't come back. You would have closed your option positions but still would have had an equity position. Plus if you hedge with options you really have to be familiar with how options work- "time value" and "intrinsic value". You can screw yourself by not having the right option strategy. If you had a stop in place, sure you might get slipped but at least you're flat. There is a peace of mind knowing that you are flat. A couple years ago the market was making those kinds of moves and not retracing at all. Stops are definitely debatable, but I was always a huge fan.

A stop is the only time I would ever place a market order so I do agree with that. You would have to be stupid to use market orders to get in and out of trades, "a market maker's dream".

[Craig Naylor]

Well it was a rough week on Wall St, in our household too.

On May 3rd we were finally in positive territory (cost basis w/ reinv. div) by $134 for the first time since the bear started in 2008, across all positions combined: personal, college funds, 401K, IRA's etc. By May 5th were now 6% under water again.

(I'll admit this isn't a true picture, were well up over actual invested dollars. But Quicken "forgets" past profits when you sell an investment, and starts you at the new "basis" on the new investment. ie if you invested $100, sold for $150, and bought anew for $150.00 it shows your cost as $150, not $100.)

How were others treated this week?

[Steve Ekstrand]

I lost a couple of Rad's cars.