Investing "OUTSIDE" the box for SAFE profits.

[OldSchool]

Ok. You win.View attachment 158906
You are a successful investor, and I suck.

I knew enough to stay out of this and let the conversation go… between the two of you.

Now I believe you’ve learned Quark does know what he’s talking about. But… he is a pessimist, so his observations and predictions are slanted to the negative side of things.

This ‘news flash’ has been brought to you all by one of Quark’s friends - OldSchool

 

[Supervisor42]

I knew enough to stay out of this and let the conversation go… between the two of you.

Now I believe you’ve learned Quark does know what he’s talking about. But… he is a pessimist, so his observations and predictions are slanted to the negative side of things.

This ‘news flash’ has been brought to you all by one of Quark’s friends - OldSchool

I'm one of his friends too, but he may not know it.
Just trying to get him to say something productive instead of: 'everything sux! '.

 

[Neb]

I'm one of his friends too, but he may not know it.
Just trying to get him to say something productive instead of: 'everything sux! '.

Fixed rate annuities

Ben

 

[old tex]

I believe that it's possible to make a profit buying & selling things. To do that you need to have knowledge of what your buying, time to look for it & of course the cash to "invest" Understand that we don't really do that except my wife shops flea markets, estate sales & such. Then she has a garage sale to resell it generally for about twice what she paid for it. It's a gamble but she does pretty well.

I used to buy extra pieces of Swarovski crystal to trade or sell but don't anymore. We do a little better than break even on the extra pieces that we have sold. (We pay someone to sell it for us). But those are pieces that we have that are not part of our collection.

I'll throw out a couple of examples (that we kept). I bought a giant Swarovski chaton (diamond shape) for about $500 (shipping & everything included). At the time there was one for sale on Ebay for $14,000.

Another time I bought a small Swarovski paradise bird for $80. While talking to the seller & told her that if she had more email me & let me know. She came back with I have 9 more of them. We agreed on a price, $560 & I bought all 9 of them. Now they are selling for between $130 to $180 each.

 

[Tommyice]

The original poster poses the question "What are you investing in, (Other than Gold/Silver) that you feel safe about the profitability going forward..??"

The key word in that question is "feel." Feelings are individual, emotional and subjective to one's situation. Profitability depends upon someone else’s feelings.

My father is a rail fan (don’t judge me by my father lol). He doesn’t just have model trains and layout stuff but he also collects railroadiana. There are switch lamps in the backyard, smoking/beverage stands in the basement, china in the dish cupboard. And we won’t talk about the lanterns—let’s just say if Yankee stadium runs out of lights, I got them covered. He wants to try and sell some of it, both for the money now and so my brother and I aren’t saddled with dealing with something we know nothing about. He tells me “I don’t know what it’s worth.” The answer is whatever someone who has cash in fist is willing to pay.

Life’s always been a crap shoot—roll your dice and deal with it.

 

[Quark]

So, what would you consider "investing in for mostly-safe profits?"

A. Buy some goats? You can watch them multiply right before your eyes.
B. Some chickens? They provide eggs, meat, and multiply.
C. Land? (Large 'minimum investment' stops most people).
D. PM's? Doesn't pay any dividends, but keeps pace with inflation.
E. Stock in a 100+y/o company that pays a 8.16% dividend?
F. (Your 'perfect' suggestion goes here)

Okay I give up. Have fun.

 

[zoomzoom]

Why can't we all just get along?
All of us here have our own approach and results. Investing is a personal thing and each do what we think is right FOR YOURSELF!
Sharing in this forum and thread should give ideas of what has worked (or not) for others to consider.

 

[Supervisor42]

Well the DOW broke above 40K today and gold above $2,400 for the first time in months.
Good times!
(or as I refer to it: the calm before the storm ).

And presto, the DOW is back above 40K today.
...Sorry fellow 'bottom-feeders', but our recession is on backorder.

 

[Quark]

And presto, the DOW is back above 40K today.
...Sorry fellow 'bottom-feeders', but our recession is on backorder.
View attachment 159755

You can have a booming stock market and still have a recession or a depression. All markets are manipulated by TPTB. Be that as it may the markets can't tell you what each individual is thinking or doing. When all is said and done markets are a crap game.

 

[Bacpacker]

What stocks are driving the bus. I'd bet the 7 biggies.

 

[Supervisor42]

Quark said: You can have a booming stock market and still have a recession or a depression. All markets are manipulated by TPTB. Be that as it may the markets can't tell you what each individual is thinking or doing. When all is said and done markets are a crap game.

Not all of it... but 'speculating' is.
Getting paid:

06/10/2024

Qualified Dividend

XOM EXXON MOBIL CORP

$295.45

Unrealized gains:

EXXON MOBIL CORP

311

$37,145.84

+$491.38 +1.34%

$119.44 Price as of 8/14/2024

+$1.58

$20,121.62 $64.70/share

+$17,024.22

 

[Quark]

Not all of it... but 'speculating' is.
Getting paid:

Unrealized gains:

I say what I mean and I mean what I say. I meant ALL markets. We are just small retail potatoes in the market place.

 

[Quark]

What stocks are driving the bus. I'd bet the 7 biggies.

Hard to say. The Feds play the market. The banks especially the big banks play the market. The big funds have a big say in the markets. And most state pensions are also market players. This is trillions of dollars at play. The average retail player has little affect on the market.

The market you want to worry about is the small business market. Because of COVID that caused the small business shutdown 80,000 small businesses will be out of business in two years due to stagflation..

 

[Mountain trapper]

I used to work for major oil companies around the world. A large project in the oil fields, such as a major pipeline, can have big impacts on steel and heavy equipment stocks. A new, but unannounced, oil/gas deposit could have very positive impact on oil company stocks. The same goes for when a mining company discovers a new large ore body. When it comes to investing in the stock market, it pays to keep one's eyes and ears open.

 

[mml373]

Bought AbbVie stock at $67.30 .
If you look at the outrageous prices they get for their patent-medicines, they ain't goin' nowhere!
They send me money every 3 months (dividends).
*Required disclaimer: This is not investment advice.

Ha! I sold that stock some time ago. No idea what it was then vs now.

 

[AMC]

I'm back in the investing game! I'm out of debt so I started putting 10% of my paycheck into stocks again.

 

[AMC]

I'm liking Blackrock

 

[Supervisor42]

I'm liking Blackrock

An investment company with 9-trillion$ under management, mostly into AI.
The tech bubble deflating has affected them a lot recently:

Could be a 'buying' opportunity coming up.

 

[shanrose]

What are you investing in, (Other than Gold/Silver) that you feel safe about the profitability going forward..??

I'm in a quandary - I don't want to get into gold and silver so I'm still looking into what to do too.

 

[shanrose]

I would consider that speculation rather than investing. You purchased this out of fear, and it may (currently) be profitable because of other peoples fear. But when that general fear subsides, you may end up with a bunch of canned meat that you can't get rid of at any price. Like the speculators that now have garages full of toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

I would say, if you want a profit from your canned meat, sell it now and bank the profits. If you hang on to it, as an investment, you might end up losing your shirt on it. However, since you can eat it yourself, depending on the quantity that you bought, it might not be a total loss. I would buy enough for family prepping, but not beyond that and into speculation territory.

We are not moving a lot of investments around at the moment. We're pretty happy with where they sit currently, because surviving a financial crisis was part of our plan all along. It's not a last minute "reshuffle everything" deal for us just because things don't look so rosy at the moment.

One tip on things that may be "safe" (well, as safe as they can be): invest in things that are necessary, but not made by a lot of companies. It's also a pretty good plan to hold back on investing in companies owned or operating out of China or Russia. You might want to re-think that strategy based on current world events and tensions.

Are you afraid of banks collapsing? That has been my concern.

 

[Haertig]

Are you afraid of banks collapsing? That has been my concern.

The majority of my money is not in banks, it is invested elsewhere. But I do keep a couple 100k in banks, for quick access. That is currently spread across five different banks, I think it is. I am not worried about ALL of them collapsing at the same time. If they do, then it's complete SHTF time for the world. Money will not be your savior at that point. Things will be very rough. You will be looking at support from your preps. And the level of preps you have stockpiled will depend on how long you have decided you want to live after the collapse of society (which is what a complete failure of all banks will trigger IMHO).

 

[Supervisor42]

.. ALL of them collapsing at the same time. If they do, then it's complete SHTF time for the world. Money will not be your savior at that point. Things will be very rough. You will be looking at support from your preps. And the level of preps you have stockpiled will depend on how long you have decided you want to live after the collapse of society (which is what a complete failure of all banks will trigger IMHO).

Aw c'mon man, don't toss this thread into the TEOTWAWKI -pile with all the others!
We already have an abundance of those.

 

[Quark]

Aw c'mon man, don't toss this thread into the TEOTWAWKI -pile with all the others!
We already have an abundance of those.

 

[Haertig]

Aw c'mon man, don't toss this thread into the TEOTWAWKI -pile with all the others!
We already have an abundance of those.

Good point.

I will amend my above answer to simply, "No, I am not afraid of banks collapsing" and leave it at that.

 

[Mountain trapper]

The doom and gloomers have been preaching bank collapses since the first bank was started. And the banks are still doing well. I feel that my money is safe in a bank. Of course most of my money is invested in stocks, bonds, CD's, real-estate, PM's, gems, antiques, tools/equipment etc.

 

[Quark]

The doom and gloomers have been preaching bank collapses since the first bank was started. And the banks are still doing well. I feel that my money is safe in a bank. Of course most of my money is invested in stocks, bonds, CD's, real-estate, PM's, gems, antiques, tools/equipment etc.

Banks do collapse. It's best to check and see how solvent your particular bank is. Fairly easy with the Internet today.

However, bank collapses are covered by the printing of money by the Fed to cover the collapse. So the money you get from the Fed for the collapse is now worth less than before the collapse. It's a neat card trick of the Federal government.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Banks do collapse. It's best to check and see how solvent your particular bank is. Fairly easy with the Internet today.

However, bank collapses are covered by the printing of money by the Fed to cover the collapse. So the money you get from the Fed for the collapse is now worth less than before the collapse. It's a neat card trick of the Federal government.

My bank is about as safe as any bank is. Usually when an individual bank goes under its bought out by another bank. Most deposits are guaranteed to $250,000 or more. I've got more important things to worry about, like the weather, fire, etc. If every bank in the country failed, and the stock market went to zero, we'd still be fine.

 

[Quark]

My bank is about as safe as any bank is. Usually when an individual bank goes under its bought out by another bank. Most deposits are guaranteed to $250,000 or more. I've got more important things to worry about, like the weather, fire, etc. If every bank in the country failed, and the stock market went to zero, we'd still be fine.

Well that is good. I'd would not be good. Might just as well go under.

 

[Supervisor42]

Banks do collapse. It's best to check and see how solvent your particular bank is. Fairly easy with the Internet today.

However, bank collapses are covered by the printing of money by the Fed to cover the collapse. So the money you get from the Fed for the collapse is now worth less than before the collapse. It's a neat card trick of the Federal government.

I'm with @Haertig , not worried about banks collapsing.
People forget that we have ridden this bus before... and we learned.
Today, banks have to pass a yearly 'stress test' to keep them from doing stupid stuff.
2007:

The emergence of sub-prime loan losses in 2007 began the crisis and exposed other risky loans and over-inflated asset prices. With loan losses mounting and the fall of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, a major panic broke out on the inter-bank loan market. There was the equivalent of a bank run on the shadow banking system, resulting in many large and well established investment banks and commercial banks in the United States and Europe suffering huge losses and even facing bankruptcy, resulting in massive public financial assistance (government bailouts).

Now I have gotten off topic!

 

[Quark]

I'm with @Haertig , not worried about banks collapsing.
People forget that we have ridden this bus before... and we learned.
Today, banks have to pass a yearly 'stress test' to keep them from doing stupid stuff.
2007:

Now I have gotten off topic!

I could not help it. A "stress test" ya right and I have an ocean front property on the Dark Side of the Moon to sell you. Some people will believe anything they are told.