Investment BS Thread - Stocks/Futures/Mutual Funds/Bonds/Commodities/Options/ETFs/401ks/Etc

I know but I have everything through Bank of America (banks, loans, investments), trying to keep it all there.

 

Bank of America??! Why???

 

? How would you open an account at vanguard then? I'm confused

 

No I mean I don’t want to open an account anywhere else. Looking for some similar fund that I can buy into at Merrill.

 

Is it bad I don't know what an ETF is?

 

If you are able to max out 2 IRAs and 2 401ks you might not be able to no longer contribute to an IRA. I believe the limitation for married couples is a household income of 200k

 

No we are under the income limit for the IRAs.

We just live on a small portion of our income so we can save like crazy people.

 

Yep. All of the crypto exchanges allow people to trade with an API, which is a program interface that allows two computers to talk to each other. Every minute, I get volume, marketcap, price/candle data form their servers. I analyze it using my algorithms. I focus on machine learning and pattern recognition. And then the computer decides if it wants to buy in. If it does I have a secondary set of algorithms that decided the price and quantity. As soon as a buy is filled, I have another set of algorithms that then automatically post sell orders at either a 0.5% profit, 1% profit, or 1.5% profit, depending on what the market is doing. On high volume days, it will buy and sell a crypto a ~ 100+ times. Multiple this across 11 cryptos, and a lot of money can be made. I basically take advantage of the massive flash crashes that routinely occur. For example, BTC crashed 15% in less than 5 minutes and rose back to it's previous price about a dozen times yesterday, which means $$$$$$$ for me. The whole process takes a few seconds.

The only time I mess this up is when I manually place trades or sells. For example the only open orders I have on my account are from moments when I think my algorithm should have bought in and it didnt, and I manually place a trade, and then I realize why my algorithm didnt buy in when it takes several months for my orders to sell, instead of the ~15minutes it usually takes.

I traded manually through the last bubble, so I don't know how my algorithm will perform under such circumstances. However, given the events in crypto over the last 24hrs, I am very pleased, and will likely move more money into my account. BTC was at 14k yesterday, and now is at 11.6K, and my trading platform hasn't missed a beat, and has continued to make money during this decline. I'll likely move more money in now that I know how it will trade under these circumstances. Theoretically, I can compound a 72% profit monthly. Given my trust issues over my money, I only allow my algorithms to trade the minimum for now, and likely will for another few months until I am sure It wont buy in my entire account at the peak of a bubble and let it hang for a decade.

 

Do you live in cardboard box? I hear ya, its tough to maximize savings. Doing it while you are young is best.

 

To consolidate everything, and enough free trades that I never pay commission. Why not? There has to be a reason you posted this lol

 

Ally 2.2% FDIC insured. I have about $300k parked there now.

 

That's pretty good. I might call Merrill and ask how to transfer my assets out to Vanguard, not that I'll do it, but maybe pressure them to grandfather me into their Money Market fund (that they say I can't get into without a new deposit of $100k).

 

This is the worst advice I heard on here.

 

If businesses had this mindset, there would be no such thing as a business. I focus on cash flow, take advantage of compounding, and really don’t mind debt if the numbers make sense.

 

Debt is a tool. Those who know how to use it will be far better off than those who don't and fear it.

 

Put my comment within a reasonable context. If you have cash on hand, and can outright pay for something, that is my preferred method to handle my finances. When it comes to mortgages, education, and other things that aren't reasonable to pay for outright, of course debt makes sense. I take a very conservative approach to my finances. I have done very well for myself with this approach.

I might walk back the education comment. I am someone who waited before going to college, decided on a career, and then got a lot out of college when I went. I am the anomaly among my peers. I think college makes sense for those who have a use for it. I also think trade school makes sense, and other forms of higher education, as long as people take the time to add up the numbers and have reasonable expectations.

 

I agree with this. However, learning to use debt correctly is not trivial. The majority of people in this country who might read your comment will use it to justify excessive spending and likely use it incorrectly. Risk and reward need to be reconciled, the correct amount of thought needs to be applied, and a conservative approach needs to be considered. I stand by my comment that debt is something that should be taken on when necessary.

 

This is my point. The numbers must make sense for debt to make sense.

 

Let me set up a hypothetical and tell me what you think. Suppose someone has a stock portfolio of $300k that yields 4% (by yields I am talking about dividend payments monthly of actual cash, not possible capital appreciation). That would be a monthly dividend income of $1k per month. This person still works and is reinvesting that dividend, so the growth is going to continue. This person wants to buy a truck for $50k and can get a loan at 2% interest. Do you think it's better to withdraw $50k and pay cash, or take the loan?

I would take the loan, the compounding of the reinvested dividends (even if the market tanks) would put you way ahead after the 5 years of paying that loan off. I'm sure you could do the math, but it would be significant.

Edit: Suppose the dividends are coming from companies with a 20+ year history of increasing, so there's no risk in this scenario of those payments going down, only increasing over time.

 

what are you building your algorithms with? I wish I knew how to communicate via API...

I take it with crypto there is no such thing as day-trading regulations at the moment? What about capital gains tax?