What did you trade today and why?

[marget]

@marget
Ouch! Several tried as I recall from time to time to caution on the CEF thread since late last year and gave up. But quick question, since this is not the CEF thread, why then continue to invest in something that has "swooned" so much, (much worse than equities if above accurate and equities historically recover market price and move higher) AND for which you still expect another "swoon"? Your description. Wish you well but curious as to your reasoning given your post.

Not sure what you are referring to.
Are you asking why do I invest in Pimco bond-ish cefs?
Or are you asking why did I post the figures?

 

[rjsos5]

@marget
Why keep investing in them given those posted declines ("swoon"), (for which in past they don't seem historically to fully recover), and now especially your anticipation of yet another "swoon"? I guess that is the part I am bit confused about. If anticipated something was going to fall off another cliff, probably would sell it.

Am guessing you believe you can time the next "swoon" and avoid it, and will collect distributions and sell all before the next "swoon"? Not criticizing just want to understand your reasoning. Maybe not understanding.

 

[marget]

@marget
Why keep investing in them given those posted declines ("swoon"), (for which in past they don't seem historically to fully recover), and now especially your anticipation of yet another "swoon"?

Am guessing you believe you can time the next swoon and avoid it, and will collect distributions and sell all before the next "swoon"? Not criticizing just want to understand your reasoning. Maybe not understanding.

1. the most honest answer is: destiny & fate
2. this has proved to be the easiest, clearest, least moving parts way to invest for me
3. i like to know exactly how much income will be received on the first of the month
4. i don't do timing. I do positioning. This is totally different from thinking about cgs and timing. I don't mess w/ cgs nor timing. They = too many moving parts
5. i know exactly when to sell; there is no guess work involved
6. i know exactly when to buy; no guess work there either
7. Pimco bondish cefs are actually very clear cut from what i've observed over almost 20 years of dealing w/ them.
8. but, most importantly, i know how to position each holding. At this time i have a single lot of PDI shares @ 17.36 which i will probably sell after the ex-date of 4/13. All the rest of the shares (17k) are at 17.01 and below. I believe i'm positioned in the right price range for the next swoon.
9. I have more shares and much more cash. By the time all this political stress is over, i expect to have even more shares and more cash.

different strokes for different folks
in this store everything is perfect

 

[rjsos5]

OK. Agree different strokes for different folks. I don't market time either, but for me that means I never know exactly when to sell nor exactly when to buy and I accept that. But best of luck and thank you for responding.

 

[marget]

OK. Agree different strokes for different folks. I don't market time either, but for me that means I never know exactly when to sell nor exactly when to buy and I accept that. But best of luck and thank you for responding.

I learned and then tweeked IBD's philosophy for buying/selling (Bill O'Neil). It was developed for stocks but I have learned how to apply it to Pimco's bond-ish cefs.
Also, I don't mess around w/ a bunch of other stuff. I stay focused on the 4 I presently own: PDI, PDO, PAXS & PFN.
Do you recall that guy who was buying and selling NVDA at the end of last year? One stock, in and out and he posted that he'd made $150k. amazing
It is possible to know exactly when to buy and sell anything. Just think about all the things in your life that you know exactly when to let it go and when you need some kind of replacement. Everything that surrounds us is always broadcasting it's particular timeline. Investments are no different. They are speaking to us all the time, but we are so filled w/ our own thoughts that we lack the room to hear them.

far out on the misty waves of thought another yet more excellent realm of thought exists.......let's go there! right now! this very second!!!!!

 

[YellowSubmarine]

- JEPI sold all and added to my SPYI position...better performance (TR)
+ SCHD add to position

 

[Fermion]

I love looking back at old discussions we had. Check out my post from 2013:

Is Microsoft a buy now?

The question was if Microsoft was worth buying at around $35 a share. LOL

One poster wrote: "I don't understand why you'd want to buy a dinosaur of a stock like Microsoft. Wouldn't you rather be owning the next Microsoft? Over the past 10 years Microsoft has struggled to even keep pace with the S&P 500, so why would you put money in that single stock in hopes of what "might happen"?"

Over the next decade from this post, Microsoft climbed 1000%.

 

[target2019]

I love looking back at old discussions we had. Check out my post from 2013:

Is Microsoft a buy now?

The question was if Microsoft was worth buying at around $35 a share. LOL

One poster wrote: "I don't understand why you'd want to buy a dinosaur of a stock like Microsoft. Wouldn't you rather be owning the next Microsoft? Over the past 10 years Microsoft has struggled to even keep pace with the S&P 500, so why would you put money in that single stock in hopes of what "might happen"?"

Over the next decade from this post, Microsoft climbed 1000%.

You do own the next MS. Lol. Companies transform when necessary. Same with Cisco. Reinvented themselves several times.

 

[dobig]

If I were

I learned and then tweeked IBD's philosophy for buying/selling (Bill O'Neil). It was developed for stocks but I have learned how to apply it to Pimco's bond-ish cefs.
Also, I don't mess around w/ a bunch of other stuff. I stay focused on the 4 I presently own: PDI, PDO, PAXS & PFN.
Do you recall that guy who was buying and selling NVDA at the end of last year? One stock, in and out and he posted that he'd made $150k. amazing
It is possible to know exactly when to buy and sell anything. Just think about all the things in your life that you know exactly when to let it go and when you need some kind of replacement. Everything that surrounds us is always broadcasting it's particular timeline. Investments are no different. They are speaking to us all the time, but we are so filled w/ our own thoughts that we lack the room to hear them.

far out on the misty waves of thought another yet more excellent realm of thought exists.......let's go there! right now! this very second!!!!!

That was me buying and selling NVDA last year and it was during the tariff tantrum on the way down and rebound. Was nothing but blind dumb luck. 30 straight trading days of in and out and making a profit every single day. I'm a horrible example to use as I relied on gut and intuition and nothing else. No charts. No indicators. My winning streak defied all logic and probabilities which is why I got off that train. Any serious investor knows what I did wasn't smart.

I'd rather be honest and upfront about it so no one thinks I'm an astute investor they should follow.


This was our trading account I did those trades in. Our main account account had a few more trades pushing those NVDA gains to just over $200k.

 

[NW-Bound]

$150K gain is cool, but what is your committed principal for these trades?

I have had impressive gains on our Roth accounts, but when divided all over the stash which includes a lot of cash and safe stocks, the overall gain is still quite good (better than S&P although I am not 100% invested), but no longer outrageous.

Still, the fact that I do not throw all of my stash into the market to get this total return means something to me. It could be just luck, and I have been an active investor for almost 30 years, so have learned to be cautious.

 

[marget]

If I were



That was me buying and selling NVDA last year and it was during the tariff tantrum on the way down and rebound. Was nothing but blind dumb luck. 30 straight trading days of in and out and making a profit every single day. I'm a horrible example to use as I relied on gut and intuition and nothing else. No charts. No indicators. My winning streak defied all logic and probabilities which is why I got off that train. Any serious investor knows what I did wasn't smart.

I'd rather be honest and upfront about it so no one thinks I'm an astute investor they should follow.


This was our trading account I did those trades in. Our main account account had a few more trades pushing those NVDA gains to just over $200k.

View attachment 62913

I don't care what you say: What you did was awesome! amazing!
To my mind it was like you caught a 100 foot wave and managed to ride it all the way in. You probably don't remember how amazed you were, but your personal amazement was clearly seen. You weren't bragging. Who has time to brag when they're riding a 100 foot wave? It was exciting to watch for me.

Is riding a 100 foot wave ever smart? gut and intuition-------are major factors b/c, as animals, we have hundreds of millions of years of evolution w/ regard to primeval urges and instincts (gut & intuition), which has enabled us mammals to become homo sapiens.

I would 100% of the time choose gut/intuition over astute, hands down.
Thanks so much for sharing this additional self reflection and information.

The only reason i'm posting this is b/c you don't seem to have realized what that was all about. That was a specific event in your life that will never be forgotten. Some unique and special understandings are there to be assimilated....imHo

 

[dobig]

$150K gain is cool, but what is your committed principal for these trades?

...............

*shrinking in embarrassment* - there were none.

 

[Fermion]

*shrinking in embarrassment* - there were none.

That is pretty cool. You should teach that to Cathie Wood or someone. $150,000+ gain with no committed principal. Well, I guess Cathie Wood already does this, she just loses other people's money.

 

[NW-Bound]

Too lazy to add up my assigned covered calls, so I waited for the brokerages to do it for me. Counted the cash in my accounts, and saw that my stock AA is down to 58%. I thought it would be a lot lower, as I "lost" most of my high-flyer semi and semi-equipment stocks. Will I regret this?

Just saw something on the news that may bring down the market tomorrow. Y'all can go look yourself.

 

[Fermion]

Just saw something on the news that may bring down the market tomorrow. Y'all can go look yourself.

Very hard to predict the direction but has been pretty easy to predict volatility. This is good for your option premiums.

 

[Car-Guy]

Bought 100 shares Microsoft everyday last week. Ended up the week with 500 shares. Also bought into several technology heavy ETF's.

 

[Fermion]

I am kind of side eying my 1000 share purchase of GIS. I may not have thought that through as well as I could have. I sold May 37.50 calls against the shares and also received the dividend Friday ($0.61 per share) but I can't get out of my mind why analysts were thinking it was worth $50 in Feb and dropped that to $33 in April. That is a big drop with nothing major changing from the company. Right now with the shares at $35.60, I am only $0.20 in the money if the calls expire worthless. How safe is that near 7% dividend?

 

[tutan]

I didn’t want to lose my QQQ and NVDA to calls expiring yesterday so rolled them to May and June hoping to close them out early when market goes down.

 

[dickoncapecod]

AGNC called as planned on ITM buy-write. USO buy-write will also probably come off, so I have some cash to use on a dip --- if any.
Aside: quack about a Fed hike is as silly as it is possible. In recent years, the transmission effects of 1/4 hikes are modest and delayed by many months. Like crude prices, rate hikes fight inflation by accelerating price INCREASES and destroying demand. In this round, it seems crude is doing a good job and doesn't need a extra push.
Regards, Dick

 

[NW-Bound]

The market is taking the news out of the Middle East far better than I expected. As of this writing, the S&P is 0.09% up, while I am up 0.1%. Of course the day is young, and who knows what the market will think tomorrow and the day after. I remember that when the bombs started falling on a weekend, the market did not go down much on Monday, but it changed its mind on Tuesday. Really weird behavior!

Anyway, the semi and semi-equipment sectors that gave me much of my recent gain, and were taken from me last Friday via call assignment, are not taken down as much as I expected. The only thing I could think of was that Elon and Intel announced a deal in AI chip making, something about his terafactory or petafactory. That gives the market the expectation that chip makers will continue to make money hand-over-fists. I dunno, so just gingerly sold puts on AMAT at 360, and MU at 380, both with Apr 17 expiry. As mentioned, I am out of these positions right now, and just testing the water.

I am kind of side eying my 1000 share purchase of GIS. I may not have thought that through as well as I could have. I sold May 37.50 calls against the shares and also received the dividend Friday ($0.61 per share) but I can't get out of my mind why analysts were thinking it was worth $50 in Feb and dropped that to $33 in April. That is a big drop with nothing major changing from the company. Right now with the shares at $35.60, I am only $0.20 in the money if the calls expire worthless. How safe is that near 7% dividend?

GIS was not on my radar screen, so I looked. There's talk about higher costs driving down profit margin, and headwinds that I know nothing about. But as part of my posture shifting to defensive stocks, I wrote Apr 17 puts on XLP at 81 strike, to potentially add to my existing position. Just for a lark, and not much money here.

I usually have a feeling of whether the market goes down or up, but to tell the magnitude of the change and the period that it plays out requires prescience that I don't have. So, I will not be trading much for the next few days.

 

[dobig]

Continued trimming a couple points in international and adding to quality and growth. JQUA, MGV and QQQM.

Still believe international has the most upside potential but also the most volitile route. Tech outside of software is looking strong to me. Currently somewhere around 24 - 25% international/emerging markets which I was loading up on before the conflict.

 

[COcheesehead]

Selling about 6% of my equity positions mostly in international. One fund is up 76% another is up 10%. Will rotate as I see fit, but with the VIX dropping I think it’s a good time to bank some profits to reinvest when it spikes again.
I am also selling half of QLENX and will redeploy into my other AQR funds all which having been doing much better.

 

[joejetski]

Less than 1% cash right now, so waiting for a big down day. A CD will mature in 10 or so days and then I will have some play money.

 

[dickoncapecod]

Started taking some post-ex-date PIMCO profits and swinging exposures around into later ex's GOF DMO WDI. Already had a meaningful amount of GOF --- others new this month.
Regards, Dick

 

[YellowSubmarine]

+ QDVO add to position in SEP, full position now for this sort of fund.