Buffett's quote "Never invest in a business you cannot understand" is definitely something to consider if anyone is considering 'investing' in BitCoin....

The only "investment" here -- is you hope there's a larger fool out there when you want to sell..... because otherwise there is absolutely ZERO behind any of this except that someone will pay more for whatever "it" is. It's not backed a a single thing - it apparently is up for grabs from hackers... and there's nothing behind the exchanges either apparently.

I like to make money -- but I also LOVE to actually try to be somewhat intelligent about it.

Tesla
 

I just read that UPS has placed an order for 125 Tesla electric trucks..... Not sure how many they've sold or have orders for now - but it has to be quiet a few now.... WalMart order some... Pepsi.... Anheuser-Busch.... Sysco.... J B Hunt... DHL....


These folks aren't stupid....


Maybe I better pay more attention to this floundering company. My take is that Musk is trying to build too many money losing businesses at once... a battery company - a solar energy company - a space flight company - and a car company that can't make a profit and can't deliver cars on order... but WTH.... he's selling stuff! And investors keep buying the debt.

One of my customers is looking to start running electric trucks in his oil transport business. Oh the Irony.

But its going to a real thing in California with all our regulations. And the overall scope of the oil business is already changing in a huge way to get the oil companies out of California while still pumping the oil.

Bitcoin is looking pretty smart.......



LOL



OMG.......

DOH :getout:

40% in a week. Doesn't sound like investing, sounds more like roulette, wait, thats not fair to roulette

Just some "for the way you think" about investing -- or when you're shopping for places to put your money.......

REMEMBER PLEASE!!! I'm not saying buy this or buy that -- I'm using this as an EXAMPLE --- a way to think... it can apply to almost every investment. You can buy Apple -- if you think their business is good - or you can buy one of their suppliers?


Let's pick on Amazon for an "instance"

Amazon is hugely pricey.... dang near $1200 per share (I personally wish they'd split 4 for 1).... and this simple fact closes many investors out. They think - WTF - I can only buy 2 shares with my $2500 deposit this quarter. And they're right!!


But --- start to think about the beneficiaries or ancillary businesses that benefit from THEM....


Box sellars?? Amazon buys a lot of boxes --- way more than retail stores do - they buy bags... Everything Amazon sells gets shipped in a box....

UPS ??


FED-ED??


Oh yeah...... As Amazon grows -- won't these two favored shippers get their fare share?


I just read this:

"Good news for FedEx and UPS: People just opened $90 billion in unwanted gifts".


UNQUOTE: Somebody is paying to ship those back aren't they? UPS and FED-EX get it going both ways? And how much of those returns generate another purchase.... another box.... another shipment....

Think of it like car companies having good sales --- every car/truck comes with 4 tires.... LOL



Merry Xmas you Deplorables

Building these cars benefits those guys big time as well. I rarely ship anything out these days, but every time I go to UPS and the fleece me for $20 to ship nothing nowhere, I recall all the money I pissed down the drain shipping car parts. Had to be over 5k just building a car from start to finish. And like you said, all the returns where they get you going and leaving.

Those free returns are not a good thing for any of the parties concerned..except the entity getting the return back themselves. UPS, Fedex and any party involved in getting those returns back into the shipping system ALL loose money on them.

Amazon and the likes hold a gun to Fedex and UPS's head when negotiating new contracts\discounts...include returns for free or next to it or don't get the contract.

Amazon is the devil and are doing more harm than WalMart did to small town mom and pop businesses. The difference is they’re hurting more than just small business.
I’d rather spend more and wait an extra day or two than give a dollar to that machine. **** Amazon.

It's free enterprise and it's an entrepreneurs job to figure out how to add more value to the consumer than the competition. Amazon nailed it as they are filling two huge needs:

1. American's buy junk, more junk, and even more junk. Many times with money they don't have. Amazon is like an all you can eat buffet.
2. American's are extremely impatient and they want it NOW.

I don't personally shop on Amazon like I used to. I like to touch many things and support local businesses when I can like you do.

WOW!! GOOD INFO Lance!!

Fedex and UPS used to hold a gun to my head and make me accept the free return drop offs at my store as a way to get them into the system. 75% of the foot traffic thru my retail store came in with pre-paid labels and never left a dime on my counter. I used to pay UPS $20 a week to stop by my store every day and pickup drop off packages with prepaid labels on them...and I very rarely EVER shipped any UPS packages on my own account.

It's a messed up system top to bottom.

I've been smiling every day since I closed that store down back in Sept 2015. :)

No one guarantees my business survives any given year, competitor attack, or economic shift, etc. We must adapt and persevere. We all do if we own a business of any kind.

I despise Jeff Bezos but I love the business of Amazon and the disruptor role they play. Why should I feel sorry for FedEx or UPS or anyone else? I don't (not saying any of you do, I'm just saying).

Just like Uber.... do any of you feel sorry for the traditional mafia taxi cab companies?

LOL

I do feel sorry for the mom and pop main street type businesses though that are hurting in small towns like I grew up in. My mom still scolds me for using Amazon as much as I do. Sorry Mom.

A buddy here is CEO of a high tech import company ---- what they did was to set up a division that sells via Amazon..... said they were just killing it -- and that while it's harder to gain some traction -- Amazon offers training and all manor of "aid" to get you up and running....MOM AND POP Kettle are capable of doubling or tripling their business if they'd get on the wagon instead of slowly wasting away.

This.

New technologies and advancements must be met and adapted to. Look at telephones. AT&T adapted instead of begged to survive as a land line only company. This is why I'm not worried about companies like Disney who a lot of people say is not doing well because ESPN is sucking. I believe Disney will adapt to the new way of watching TV via streaming or online content. Will Comcast and other ISPs work on trying to become content providers and not just carriers? Or, will another Hulu, Netflix, or Prime show up to fill in the void before ABC, CBS, or NBC move to online only/streaming content? Will Coke survive the attitude change towards healthier products? Altria?

I don't have the answers. I'm not that smart. But, I do look for companies that have adapted to the changing tides in order to stay relevant and alive. Look to the future because its ever changing and will be here before you know it. You don't have to be at the forefront but you can't ignore the obvious changes.

Egg sack lee!

Sears?

Postal Service?

Kodak?

Blockbuster?

I remember we've discussed Marijuana stocks etc with the legalization movement growing. What happened today with our rat looking AG is exactly why I won't go near them for some time to come. I'd love to invest in that industry as I believe it has value, but not until it's truly free and legally safe.

The mechanical company I used to work for was investing in the grow industry pretty heavy. It’s all cash based around here with banks not willing to loan, yet. The company would finance the mechanical equipment and installation for the operation with a higher % rate than normal, 35-40%. These were short term loans, typically 12-18 months and were often paid back ahead of schedule. With permitting and ordering the equipment often the loan was paid as the start-up/commissioning mechanic was leaving the building.

I have two friends that are well out of the city and they’ve put up pole buildings on their property that are rented to growers. One is a commercial nursery and you’d never know what’s going on in the buildings out back, hardly any daily traffic. The other dude has his lil hot rod shop and a couple “storage” buildings on what looks like farmland, last I checked his income was only the rent off the two buildings.

Money to be made if you have the money to front.
:flag2: :G-Dub:

Have you guys been following the weed stocks? They are risky but easiest 300% return I've ever made. Thanks Greg for opening my eyes!

Cedar Rapids! I worked there for a while. Unfortunately, I only got to see it during the winter and dear lord that was the coldest winter I've ever seen. It was -25 in the morning for a week.

Outside of this thread I've looked into investment opportunities here, but all I've found with my little bit of research is penny stocks. Is there anything more developed than that yet?

Here's the post that I remembered reading when I started looking into these stocks. It matched what I was seeing when looking at the options at the time.

Aside from direct investments, investing in the infrastructure required to get an operation up and running and/or keep it going seemed to be the safest approach at the time, but then you're back into agriculture investments (for the most part).

Good (lucky!) for you!

If I was going to invest in this "industry" - which it is - I'd pick a Weed ETF and let them do the homework.

I toured a grow op in Phoenix last time I was down (4 months ago) and the amount of A/C and lighting they had going was incredible.... and this was a 200,000 square foot indoor operation. Still, there's not enough of these big operations going to make a dent in lighting and HVAC.

There are infrastructure plays for the build outs -- HVAC -- Lighting etc but my view is that even if build outs tripled.... it probably wouldn't move the needle on the big publicly traded players. They would be moved up and down with home and commercial building and that's already going full tilt boogie.

AU DOC -- investing in penny stocks is the equivalent to craps in Las Vegas. If you'd have bought 10 good names when you first posted - you'd already be up 10% and have collected a couple dividends.

Haha! Yeah, no question there. Like 10% since Jan 1 :), but that's just a short term blip. I have my money in what I consider stable investments, but I like to keep an eye out for the next industry. I'm not opposed to the occasional gamble, but it's never with any significant amount of money, and only with money I would have wasted on something else I didn't need. My retirement funds don't go into anything as risky as a penny stock. There's always some risk with investing, but it doesn't need to be like a trip to Vegas risky.

All that to say, if this industry is ever legalized at the federal level, it's going to be big. I have no doubt about that. It may take a few more presidents, but I think it will happen eventually. So I don't think it's a bad idea to keep an eye on it, and look for legitimate investment opportunities (not penny stocks).

Completely agree! On all points.

Marijuana investing
 

Here's a really well done piece on how important this industry has become - vis-a-vis the political outcry about Jeff Sessions latest idiot move.




https://www.politico.com/magazine/st...ongress-216251

I didn't want to get into politics even though I did call him a rat. Seriously, he looks like one, and I need to stop before I go off on a rant. My long term hope is that congress does start passing laws to stop this executive branch wishy washy **** that changes every time the executive does. You can't continue to have the greatest economy in the world if what's legal changes every 4 or 8 years due to the whims of the asshole who holds the title of "leader" at the time.

Interesting..... and how I personally feel as well. It’s always about EARNINGS in the end despite all the background noise.



https://finance.yahoo.com/news/goldm...123353880.html

Thanks for keeping this thread alive guys! I haven’t been active on forums much the past few years but this is one thread I pay attention to.

It's gotten "hard" for me to add new info --- and still trying to keep it in the 102 vein....

Glad / hope it's been helpful !!

Glad to know people are still taking interest in it all these years later.

i have read almost this entire thread in the last 3 months and have used information from. i appreciate it.

will there be an investing 103?

Amazing what you started Trey!!!








You are probably on to something there -- maybe a condensed version of 102.... LOL

I know it's a lot of reading now - because of the length of time since Trey started the thread --- but I actually think --- if people start from the beginning like you've done -- and take some time and read it all -- they'll actually get good information for all of the discussions. There's lots of little gems of info in there from many sources.

What's really amazing --- is if you pull of a chart of "the market" from the day Trey started the thread - to today..... if a guy just started with basic investments - he's looking pretty damn smart right now. And that was always my goal. To just get people to start.

I doubt it. In my mind 103 would be too specific to the desires and goals of the individual. Be it investing strictly in certain segments or styles of investing/trading. I'd think people would have to seek out that information on their own.


From such a simple request for information, too. I never thought it would get this much attention or help this many people.

It's a fact that people get wealthy/financially secure from taking small, simple steps and planning long term. You don't wake up one day with lots of money in the bank typically. I just wanted to make sure I was on the right path.

Thanks for all you've contributed Greg and to everyone else for making this thread great.

Job and income chance a few years ago I have been out of the loop treading water. Getting ready to start investing again and just caught up on the last 2.5 years of this thread. It was kind of funny seeing the conversations of what is going to happen while already knowing what did happen. Still very greatfull for this thread and even though I have not need been able to add more my retirement account has grown and DRIP has increased my positions.

I finished reading this entire thread almost a year ago to the day, and opened my own "102" account. Investing extra income over the last year I've seen a 14% increase between growth and drip. Yeah, the market's been good, but I attribute most of this to those "gems of wisdom" I've gotten from this thread. Thanks to Trey and Greg, and everyone else who's contributed!

Ron

Awesome!!!

Cryptocurrency
 

And just another in a series of "OOPS" we lost your money -- oh well......




One of Japan’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges said that about $400 million in NEM tokens were lost after the coins were sent “illicitly” outside the venue, spooking investors in a country that’s still wary of digital-token exchanges four years after the collapse of Mt. Gox.

I'm really glad to hear this thread if continuing to help people. Congrats to you guys on reading, learning, and acting on your new found knowledge.