Quantum Mechanics writes: “I wish you’d consider making a show about aliens who help people instead of trying to harm them as all the rest of TV and movies portray aliens.”
Answer: One of the main characters in the TimEscape series I’m developing is a helpful alien. Well, an alien with the best of intentions anyway.
Drea writes: “Maybe, start with 3-4 smaller, but stable, tech or retail, safer bet, technologies
without making any initial huge investments in any?”
Answer: Makes senes. But do I invest now or wait for the bottom to fall out of the markets again?
K.C. writes: “please also consider taking Suji to a specialist in veterinary ophthalmology services.”
Answer: Thanks for this. We’re looking into it.
DP: “This suppression of competing currencies made cryptocurrency necessary.”
Answer: Oh, I understand this and, like I said, conceptually I get it. But from a practical standpoint, it’s hard to trust.
John writes: “Crypto-currencies that are not backed up by real assets, like a nations GDP, are just speculative gambling.”
Answer: So what do you think of stablecoins like Tether that are pegged to fiat currencies or exchange-traded commodities?
Karl writes: “Cryptocurrencies are the digital-equivalent of ponzi schemes. My advice is to stay away from all of them. Invest in something more stable, like Dutch tulip futures.”
Answer: Love this – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania
Line Noise writes: “Alas, I failed to jump on the Bitcoin bandwagon when I first heard about it in the early days. A work colleague was one of the early adopters and had thousands of coins which would have made him a multi-multi-multi-millionaire today . . . if he hadn’t sold them to buy a new computer monitor when he was in school.”
Answer: Ah, timing is everything, no? Early in my career, I worked at an animation company that gifted us stock one year. Our receptionist cashed out six months after receiving the stock – only to watch it climb to some ten times its original worth. Many of her co-workers considered her crazy for not having been more patient – until the company collapsed two years later, rendering the stock almost worthless.
arctic goddess asks: “When you do your next Q&A, what happened to that cool car Sheppard was driving in Vegas? Did it belong to someone? Was it sold?”
Answer: We bought the car for the episode and then sold it after wrap.
Today’s movie-themed question:
What was a movie you thought you'd love that you ended up hating?
Answer with a gif. pic.twitter.com/3R4iSQy7db— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) June 3, 2020
Hmm. I do like tulips…
Anyway, you mean to say there’s someone driving around alt-Sheppard’s car around possibly not knowing that it’s actually an official Stargate prop?? That thing would be worth a fortune! Well, if it’s not junked already.
Timing is definitely everything when it comes to investing.
Although, the common piece of advice I see on the AusFinance sub-Reddit is to focus on the time you stay invested, not the timing of your investments. If you’re investing for the long term then it doesn’t matter when you enter the market. If you wait for the bottom you might miss it completely. If you have money to invest, invest it.
Oh the other hand, if you own shares and you wait for the peak you might miss that as well! So if you’re ready to sell then sell.
I used to work for a startup. I received some stock options and have been selling them a little and often over the last few years. The value of the shares have been steadily decreasing and they’re now worth little more than the strike price I paid for them. I’ve done quite well out of it, though, and they helped pay the deposit on my house. If I’d sold them all earlier I would have made more money but there was always the chance a takeover offer would come in and I could have cashed out with a fortune. That didn’t happen and I’m glad I sold the shares that I did for the price I got. Hindsight is 20/20.
Movie that I thought I’d love and ended up hating? Hate is such a strong word. There’s not many movies that I really, really hate. “The Fabulous Baker Boys” is one movie I hate. I don’t know why. I saw it in the cinema and wanted to walk out. I should watch it again to remind myself why I hate it. Maybe now that I’m older I would appreciate it more. I also hated “American Beauty”. It was overhyped trash. Maybe I just don’t like slow paced dramas?
John writes: “Crypto-currencies that are not backed up by real assets, like a nations GDP, are just speculative gambling.”
Answer: So what do you think of stablecoins like Tether that are pegged to fiat currencies or exchange-traded commodities?
On Wikipedia:
‘(Tether)…formerly claimed that each token was backed by one United States dollar, but on 14 March 2019 changed the backing to include loans to affiliate companies’
The problem with ANY private company issuing currency is that they can change the rules to the way they like. A national government would has swathes of economists to advise on what would be best for the nation, not for the company and hence would likely make better decisions.
Very good point.
Joe writes: Makes senes.
But do I invest now or wait for the bottom to fall out of the markets again?”
I agree with Line Noise on this one.
The way I see it
there are two common types of general public mindsets
that initially enter the stock market.
Pie in the sky dreamers seeking thrills
who dabble in companies
as if playing Power ball or Mega Millions lottery jackpot games.
Guessing on and waiting on peaks.
Hoping to get rich.
Often losing.
And those seeking to add a bit of extra cusion in retirement.
The nest egg builder, like my brother and others,
go in with an informed plan and
do a gradual build to reach their pre determined goal.
They don’t concern themselves with
when a stock will peak
or what game changing innovation
the company claims it is going to release next.
They don’t lay all their eggs in one basket.
They pre determine how long they are going to hang on to any given stock
but understand there is a large number of things that can happen
to ruin even the healthiest companies,
so they dont inescapably lock themselves into it.
Nest egg builders initally select a few small, sensible, stable, gradual growth,
companies and technologies for their newbie investments
such as the ones I suggested the other day.
https://josephmallozzi.com/2020/05/30/may-30-2020-the-final-word-on-crypto/#comment-271741
They determine how long they will hang onto the stock based on doing their
homework of the over all behavior of the industry they are investing in.
Albeit, I stress again, they do not inescapably lock themselves into it.
They know to hang onto a stock only so long as the company is
gradually growing at a steady rate.
After they sell their initial investments
They use the profit they made to re-invest
in companies with slightly larger pay offs
but again dont take too big of a leap beyond where they began.
They repeat the process a few times, gradually building,
and get out of the market entirely
once they’ve reached their pre determined financial cusion goal.
No matter how much experience they gain,
They don’t allow themselves, at any time in the process,
to become addicted to the stock market.
In the end, my brother, Line Noise and others,
while not monetarily wealthy,
do now own a decent comfortable house
to retire in.
With young, gradually on the rise, technologies
such as AI & VR,
24 months is likely a safe bet for ones initial investments.
Because they are still young technologies,
the bigger tech leader companies
know it is fairly easy to rule the roost in the early days
until less expensive innovations come along.
The tendency of the current tech giants of the world
has been to wait till about the three year mark,
(after that currently leading, but smaller,
sensible growth, company goes public
and reaches a certain level of growth
and more competitor brand start ups enter the arena),
then jump out from behind the bushes,
where they’ve been hiding, poised to pounce, all along
and begin retailing smarter, cheaper, end user products
rendering the technology accesible to a larger, wider, user audience.
This is when you begin to see the larger fluctuations.
Spooked investors dump the
smaller, previously stable, tech company stock one week
and noobs start buying in to it a few weeks later
when that smaller company,
in a gambit for survival,
suddenly claims it will soon be releasing
a game changing innovation.
Albeit, the truth is
No matter how good or innovative that new product is,
that smaller company
doesnt have the money or resources the tech giants have
to put out a better end user product
at a competive price every household, school and office can afford.
Thus, in the short term,
Smaller companies cannot continue thriving at the same pace they prevously did
unless the company is fortunate enough
to get bought out by one of the bigger fish in the industry.
(Much too big an if).
In a nut shell:
Hindsight is 20/20.
Dont make the mistakes pie in the sky noobs do.
Always follow rule #1:
Dont try to guess.
The smart nest egg builder
doesn’t wait till the last possible moment
to pull a Snaggle Puss.
“Exit stage left”.
They are seeking to add a cusion to their retirement.
They are not seeking a gambling thrill.
There’s always Power Ball,
Las Vegas Casino’s
and Fantasy football for that.