Note to self

[davywavy]

Stock market diary entry:

September 8th 2004. - Sell entire portfolio

September 11th 2004. - Buy back at substantial discount.

Bloody market jitters.

Comments

[raggedhalo.livejournal.com]

Note to self:

Making money based on people's fear of having planes flown through their window is probably immoral.

;-)

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Whereas losing money on the same basis is just dandy, hmn? :)

[raggedhalo.livejournal.com]

But it'll come back, of course, sometime tomorrow and over the next week as people go "oh, I haven't been blown up."

And, as the whole market's being depressed, surely it's only the loss of potential that's the problem..?

[ex-boog351.livejournal.com]

Given that nothing has really happened to change underlying values, all that's happened has been a transfer of wealth from those who got the jitters to those who took the risk.

Speaking of immoral earnings - the Pentagon's idea of a terrorist trading market has to be the best one yet. It was withdrawn rather quickly after Congress was not at all impressed

[raggedhalo.livejournal.com]

Oh, the thing that was effectively betting on when terrorist action would occur? That was kinda cool, in a O_o kinda way...

[ex-boog351.livejournal.com]

I think it would have worked as a futures market - the idea was to use the expertise of the market to predict the next likely terrorist attacks. In spite of itself there is a macabre logic to it - people can be quite inventive at times - and by showing the terrorists they know what the likely targets are it forces them to add to their risk or go for lower-profile targets. It may end up though, with Kleinwort Benson betting heavily on an attack on the HQ of Deutsche Bank.

[raggedhalo.livejournal.com]

I can see the logic, despite it seeming kinda horrible.

It just also seemed vulnerable to infiltration, and therefore a source of intelligence for terrorists.

Although we all know the "war on terror" has just been a means for Colin Powell to get his Star Wars budget by a back door...

[ex-boog351.livejournal.com]

I think Bin Laden did something similar in 2001. How much did the market drop by? The investment banks probably anticipated this and made a fair whack, one would suspect. Anyway - I imagine your portfolio will bounce back in a few days when the world doesn't end.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Yes I know - but I want instant gratification, and I want it NOW!

[ex-boog351.livejournal.com]

You know, I never thought of it, but there must have been something similar prior to the Iraq war. Just think, if Bush gets re-elected, Rumsfeld et. al. will be sitting in a dimly lit room doing eeny meeny miny mo on a map, and there may be further opportunities.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

there wasn't a sharp dip, just a slow decline until we went in and then the market picked up pretty sharpish.

Hehehehe

[applez.livejournal.com]

Stock market = the intelligence of a herd of chickens.

Where's the thrill...oh, I know, where's my axe? ;-)

(ok, back to my bureaucraticky things...)

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