Official Investing Thread

I've been in and out of MPEL since fall.

Don't know how much, if any, they do in Macau, but I am pissed that I missed that move in CZR last week. I had been eye balling it for a couple of weeks, but got pretty busy at work and it was too little too late by the time I noticed my price alert.

 

Got into some C and MS yesterday

Solar has been hot as well - FSLR and SCTY

Watching my company's stock make new 52 wk high as well (DST)

 

s92 gr is up about 10% today and still is one of the more interesting angles on the solar market

 

I'd been looking at CZR for a while too, but their balance sheet is just so damn ugly I couldn't justify buying in

 

MPEL owns City of Dreams and the Altira Hotel/Spa in Macao. Decent yoy revenue growth. Good secondary play(LVS) on Macao.

Ceasars debt is frightening...

 

bro

 

CZR would have been a trade only for me, much the same way solar stocks usually are.

PCYC looking interesting on the breakout today, would be crazy if it got a another leg up like the one last yr.

Hoping GE can hold the move over 23 as I think it'd be pretty bullish for the market in general.

 

can someone explain the concept of liquidation preference on preferred shares to me like I'm a 5 year old? TIA

 

Think of the capital structure as a hierarchy. Senior debt is at the top, then subordinated debt (mezz) is second, preferred equity (mezz) is third, and common equity is fourth. If a company is sold, or goes under and assets are sold in bankruptcy, that's the order in which the parties get paid in the liquidation event. Preferred equity has preference over the common shareholders.

 

99.9% of the time-if you're buying preferred shares because you are afraid that might happen and you want to be ahead of the equity holders, you're investing in the wrong company and in the wrong part of the capital structure.

 

ok that makes sense. I was trying to make it more complicated than it is.

 

Definitely true. Gump - Preferred equity often accomplishes other things, too, however I understand the context is within liquidity preference.

 

yah I'm studying corporations in my final semester of law school. Was reading about common v preferred stock earlier. That was just something that I read about that wasn't explained well in the book. Thanks.

 

held a bunch of AAPL contracts overnight, oops

 

Hey guys. I'm not money smart so I'm looking for some opinions in here. As I understand it, I'm allowed to invest 17500 a year under the Roth option (Roth tsp, for federal workers). This is about a third of my take home pay for the year. I'm 26 and will probably get out of this job in three or four years (which would mean I would then be subject to the 5500 a year limit, as I understand it).

My question is, is it worth it to try and hit this 17500 limit? I'm single and will likely be in Hawaii or the northeast for that period.

Basically, wondering if I should be slumming it at this point in order to save and have a solid retirement later on in life (will saving that amount for three or for years even lead to a solid retirement?)

 

find a good middle ground, no way I'd be putting 1/3rd of my income away at 26. What would your post-tax disposable income be, like $400/month?

 

Heinz purchased for 72.50/share by Berkshire and 3G capital

Spoiler

 

We avoided HNZ bonds. I'm quite happy about that right now. The 10-yr bond has widened about 30 bps and the CDS is +65-70.

Edit: CDS is now 140 wider on the day.

 

owned a bit, not much

and i always thought the rule was, everybody makes money in airtravel except the airlines

 

many are now taking the other side of that trade

massive mergers, capacity cuts and charging for everything...

now only 3 major carriers, AA/USAir, UAL and DAL, followed by LUV and JBLU...

 

I don't like it for a number of technical reasons. Continue to keep an eye on it, let sequestration play out, then re-visit imo....

 

how awesome is it going to be when everyone agrees to kick the can down the road another 4 months? there's a bunch of stock i'm looking at right now, but want to wait until after march when sequestration is supposed to be done with...let's hope

 

PFE did what it needed to do yesterday Joe Louis, which was bounce of 26.78 with some conviction. It needs to continue to build off the double bottom and continue to push higher next week. If so, it will be a meaningful move higher(all things equal). If not, 26.30....

imo

 

CFA2 books in today, studying is gonna suck

 

It's definitely transitioning to a seller's market, at least in Atlanta.

 

Are hedge funds considered institutional shareholders?

EDIT: nevermind already found the answer, they are considered institutional shareholders

 

Not to scare you but I thought level 2 was the hardest by far. I just remember wanting to cry when we had to price a convertible bond on the exam. But i passed in december in and then passed 2 in june so if i can do it anyone can.

On a lighter note it's fun to walk in there and be so smug towards level 1 candidates. Level 3 is straight smuggy. Hope you didn't have anything planned the next few months. Good luck though.

 

i had no idea that there was such a thing as a proxy advisory firm whose sole reason for existence is to advise institutional shareholders on which directors/management to vote for. I also didn't realize that hedge funds seek underpeforming companies and attempt to get new directors elected to increase production.

 

My advice to you would be to put as much money as you comfortably can into your Roth IRA. 1/3 of your income is a ton but if you can do that while you are single that is great. Once you are married it will be much harder to save money.

 

IIRC, Reg D defines a Qualified Institutional Buyer (QIB)--what I'm assuming your text is using for 'Institutional Shareholder'--as one has a net worth of $25 million or greater and who owns and invests $100 million or greater in securities. In practice the primary benefit that I'm aware of is that it permits them to buy securities issued under the 144A exemption (private placements that do not require financial reporting).

But what do I know? I had to cram that info in to my brain for a test years ago and for some reason it, or some version close to it, are still stuck there.

 

A strategy known as activist investing. It's a very small community within the broader HF world.

 

Thanks. 1 was easy as fuck but i figured it would more tough

 

we learned about Qualfified INstutitonal Buyer's in international finance. Don't you have to be one to be one to invest in certain funds?

 

Just sitting here yelling at AAPL to break down completely. Shit or get of the fucking pot AAPL.

 

anyone have a recommendation for reading material on Options, I basically just want like an options bible

 

totally not what youre looking for but the best book about investing ever written

http://www.fxf1.com/english-books/The Intelligent Investor - BENJAMIN GRAHAM.pdf

 

Certain (Hedge or Private Equity) funds may require it but I don't think there is an actual legal restriction meaning if you are an Accredited Investor they could take your money but they may not want to deal with individual investors even if they are high net worth.

Being a QIB is a legal restriction to invest in securities that are exempt from SEC registration (Rule 144A--private placement, Reg S--foreign issuer, etc).

I'm just somebody that used to be Series 7, 66 (63 & 65), 86 & 87 registered though and not a lawyer though so I'm not 100% sure on that.

 

I work for one that one is well.... Ripe for activism. 13-Fs (institutions have to disclose their holdings) had to be filed today so I'm looking through now to see who's been building. But hopefully I'm outta here before the vote.

ISS and Glass Lewis are not used though as most do in-house voting. So we reach out to PMs and such to try and sway.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Option-Volatility-Pricing-Strategies-Techniques/dp/155738486X

This is the book that most beginning traders get around here.