Hi guys, so was doing some reading on wired today... saw this http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/05/lets-cut-through-the-bitcoin-hype/ This is the wikipedia page that tells you about Bitcoin (if you were as clueless as I was about it two years ago) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin What do you guys think about a new currency like this? Would it help or hurt online sales, both Legal and otherwise. Do you think it would help lego investors as being an easier way to transfer funds..? Just thought it could be fun to talk about..

Another bad day on the stock market.  I foresee people looking to put their money into the safe haven of LEGO bricks. 

4 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

Another bad day on the stock market.  I foresee people looking to put their money into the safe haven of LEGO bricks. 

Buy Buy Buy!

Anyone used or know anything about IQOption for trading cryptocurrency? 

Buy Buy Buy!

Algos are saying sell sell sell. VIX is all over the place as well.

1 minute ago, Cheese said:

Algos are saying sell sell sell. VIX is all over the place as well.

He is expensive...

3 minutes ago, Cheese said:

Algos are saying sell sell sell. VIX is all over the place as well.

If the stock market continues to tank, people will be looking for alternative investment sources once again.  It has happened before...it can happen again. 

serious wealth dislocations happening the last 6 weeks between crypto meltdown and now equities AND bonds.  in the near term, having a cash stash will end up being  a great investment both because cost of money (credit) is going to go up higher than people expect and little discussed fact :  we are at all time high of margin buying of equities. couple that to passive etf's selling off which just leads to mass indiscriminate dumping of stock .  it's  a setup near term for strong price weakness -lol. 

hard to catch a falling knife when there's margin buying - once that gets going you get cascading waves of selling which are  possibly just getting started.  crazy the speed of the stock market selloff - like crypto volatility.

there is an evolving crypto correlation with equities which does not necessarily bode well for crypto though still in uncharted territory.  tonight will be interesting when asian equities start trading and us crypto trading volumes go way down - might see a setup for flash crash (pure speculation).  i'm up at that time so i'll be watching for some price action :). 

Edited February 8, 20187 yr by cladner

serious wealth dislocations happening the last 6 weeks between crypto meltdown and now equities AND bonds.  in the near term, having a cash stash will end up being  a great investment both because cost of money (credit) is going to go up higher than people expect and little discussed fact :  we are at all time high of margin buying of equities. couple that to passive etf's selling off which just leads to mass indiscriminate dumping of stock .  it's  a setup near term for strong price weakness -lol. 
hard to catch a falling knife when there's margin buying - once that gets going you get cascading waves of selling which are  possibly just getting started.  crazy the speed of the stock market selloff - like crypto volatility.
there is an evolving crypto correlation with equities which does not necessarily bode well for crypto though still in uncharted territory.  tonight will be interesting when asian equities start trading and us crypto trading volumes go way down - might see a setup for flash crash (pure speculation).  i'm up at that time so i'll be watching for some price action . 

You lost me at dislocations ....

4 minutes ago, Phil B said:

You lost me at dislocations ....

 

9 minutes ago, Phil B said:

You lost me at dislocations ....

;0  - giant stone hitting the pond and waves spreading out.  domino effect.   margin buying (buying stock with a credit card) is now causing people to have to sell to cover their margin calls.  that begets more selling which breaches more margins etc.  throw on top of that vicious cycle collapse of inverse volatility  etn's used as a hedging tool by larger financial institutions which are like a giant black hole of money , the waves could be pretty big.  doesn't matter if you have a 20 year horizon but if you are retiring soon, could be uglish.  or this is just the latest mother of all buy on the dips.  meantime main street economy is doing better, at least from my perspective i'm having more sales fba in january and feb 2018 than i did FBM Jan - June 2017.  jobless rate is reportedly lower though i have no factual knowledge of wtf is really going on.  #fakeeverything

Edited February 8, 20187 yr by cladner

3 hours ago, Ed Mack said:

If the stock market continues to tank, people will be looking for alternative investment sources once again.  It has happened before...it can happen again. 

I dont know.. this just asks for a lot of initial symptoms, such as:

a) those people are smart, educated and no novices in investments - compared to some who never finished even an elementary school and put their money either into pension funds or stock options - and then totally forgot about that

b   ) even educated, IQ - capable and enabled ppl holding some degree of any sort dont usually appreciate "unknown territory" (in this case LEGO).. they might withdraw from stock market only to relocate the funds into arts, real estate, diamonds, gold etc..  I dont think that the LEGO would somehow stick out as the first option. Sometimes the "speed of liquidity" (in case of need) plays much more important role than the appreciation.

just my perception, feel free to disagree

Edited February 9, 20187 yr by crayxlp

19 hours ago, Ed Mack said:

If the stock market continues to tank, people will be looking for alternative investment sources once again.  It has happened before...it can happen again. 

I saw in an article that millennials prefer crypto investments to traditional stock market ones.

Do millennials as a whole even have enough money to invest?

Sent from my PH-1 using Brickpicker Forum mobile app

They make up a majority of the U.S. work force now so yes.  

My original comment about people turning back to LEGO was somewhat facetious in nature.  After what we have experienced the last few years, what's the chance that LEGO becomes a hot commodity again?  Not very high...but it is increasing.  I have always appreciated the many very smart people on this site that share information and educate the novices out there.  There are many people way smarter than me and that make a whole bunch of more money than me on stocks, bonds, crypto-currency...whatever, so I respect their opinions.

That being said, the stock market and bitcoins and some of these other high flying investments are a house of cards, built on credit cards and debt and BS.  It is run by the 1%ers, who could care less about the little guy/gal.  They will get paid, regardless of the daily gyrations.  I dabble in them, but I am no means a professional.  I am a novice.  At some point though, when people are tired of losing thousands (or millions) in a few hours, they will revert back to tangible investments....Real estate, small business, gold, coins....LEGO.  I am not saying LEGO will replace stocks or bonds or bitcoins, but at least it is something that does appreciate and you can touch it.  One of these days, "real" will be hip again and "fake" will be another four letter word.

1 hour ago, sauromosis said:

I saw in an article that millennials prefer crypto investments to traditional stock market ones.

This doesn't surprise me at all. Millenials are the ones who are currently answering "long term" and "yes" to the following questions:

1) Are you looking for long term or short term investments?

2) Are you willing to accept a high amount of risk in your investments?

I've done the RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan for those south of the border .. it's a tax-deferred investment option) talk with my financial person a dozen times over the years and the last time, we answered "moderate" to the amount of risk we'd accept for the first time ever (I am not a Millenial :)). We had always been high risk before knowing that we still had plenty of time to recover.

Crypto currencies are high risk and the good ones have proven that a long-term stay-the-course approach has paid off.

I can't emphasize 'high risk' enough though. If I lost every penny I've put into cryptos, it would not matter at all. If I lost everything I've put into savings (RRSPs) then I'd be fu..ed and working until I was dead.

51 minutes ago, gregpj said:

This doesn't surprise me at all. Millenials are the ones who are currently answering "long term" and "yes" to the following questions:

1) Are you looking for long term or short term investments?

2) Are you willing to accept a high amount of risk in your investments?

I've done the RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan for those south of the border .. it's a tax-deferred investment option) talk with my financial person a dozen times over the years and the last time, we answered "moderate" to the amount of risk we'd accept for the first time ever (I am not a Millenial :)). We had always been high risk before knowing that we still had plenty of time to recover.

Crypto currencies are high risk and the good ones have proven that a long-term stay-the-course approach has paid off.

I can't emphasize 'high risk' enough though. If I lost every penny I've put into cryptos, it would not matter at all. If I lost everything I've put into savings (RRSPs) then I'd be fu..ed and working until I was dead.

Millennials also answered that 1 in 6 has $100,000 saved.  I find that hard to believe with my experience with those in that age bracket.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/01/23/millennials-1-6-now-have-100-000-socked-away/1053803001/

Well, maybe like they just like, to, like save more than like, older generations.

11 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

Millennials also answered that 1 in 6 has $100,000 saved.  I find that hard to believe with my experience with those in that age bracket.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/01/23/millennials-1-6-now-have-100-000-socked-away/1053803001/

Helps to save when they all still live with their parents. 

51 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

Millennials also answered that 1 in 6 has $100,000 saved.  I find that hard to believe with my experience with those in that age bracket.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/01/23/millennials-1-6-now-have-100-000-socked-away/1053803001/

With all due respect to those who have decided to save, 16% of people surveyed is still quite scary-low. Also, $100k* saved for a 23 year old is far more significant than $100k* saved for a 37 year old. Unless of course that 37 year old also owns a home (or at least part of) worth a few hundred thousand as well.

The Bank of America survey surely contains more than the few talking points noted in the article. However, at it stands it's just all-is-glowing-with-our-economy-fluff.

I wonder if they asked millennials if they had any crypto savings in there.

*Note that I fully realize $100k US is about 1 million CDN. ?

2 hours ago, Pebble&Park said:

Helps to save when they all still live with their parents. 

This.

@TabbyBoy  did you ever end up buying your ETH back? 

Trying first go around with a pooling group to buy preICO. Sharder is coin. I’ll keep you posted

1 hour ago, justapilgrim said:

Trying first go around with a pooling group to buy preICO. Sharder is coin. I’ll keep you posted

Taco Bell makes me a sharder. Wakka wakka.

Crypto is an even worse investment than LEGO Star Wars or Super Heroes. The €1700 "invested" is now worth €743 and has never gone above €1700 and I now doubt it ever will.

The crypto ship sailed in 2017, it's now game over. There's so many attempts at banning and regulation that prices will now likely freefall to zero. I cashed it all in a few weeks ago. I'd have lost over €50,000 if I held it until now, so I think myself lucky. I'm done with it until the governments and banks are done with it.

BTW... I'm very busy in my new venture so taking a break again. LEGO prices have dropped anyway so, no rush to sell.