The Investment Thread

[MrTPlush]

Those round up investment apps are a complete and stupid scam. Acorns charges $1 a month if your balance is under $5,000. That is 4% if you are putting in $25 a month. Yikes. Not to mention this really is not going to build you any meaningful wealth anyway. If you really want to maximize returns and actually invest look elsewhere.

 

Acorns is great for people that have no ability to actually save the conventional way. People who like spending and have a hard time putting a big sum at once into savings. Even $25 is hard for some people. However putting in .25 when you spend $10 etc. seems like "oops I dropped a quarter, oh well". That can add up over time though if you have 50+ transactions a month. Suddenly those people can save a little bit.

[PlayerHader]

Those round up investment apps are a complete and stupid scam. Acorns charges $1 a month if your balance is under $5,000. That is 4% if you are putting in $25 a month. Yikes. Not to mention this really is not going to build you any meaningful wealth anyway. If you really want to maximize returns and actually invest look elsewhere.

 

Acorns is great for people that have no ability to actually save the conventional way. People who like spending and have a hard time putting a big sum at once into savings. Even $25 is hard for some people. However putting in .25 when you spend $10 etc. seems like "oops I dropped a quarter, oh well". That can add up over time though if you have 50+ transactions a month. Suddenly those people can save a little bit.

 

I just read about the $1 a month rate. That definitely is a downer. I read a bit about it and thought it might be a nice secondary way to save up for a vacation or something without really even noticing the money going anywhere.

[MrTPlush]

Those round up investment apps are a complete and stupid scam. Acorns charges $1 a month if your balance is under $5,000. That is 4% if you are putting in $25 a month. Yikes. Not to mention this really is not going to build you any meaningful wealth anyway. If you really want to maximize returns and actually invest look elsewhere.

 

Acorns is great for people that have no ability to actually save the conventional way. People who like spending and have a hard time putting a big sum at once into savings. Even $25 is hard for some people. However putting in .25 when you spend $10 etc. seems like "oops I dropped a quarter, oh well". That can add up over time though if you have 50+ transactions a month. Suddenly those people can save a little bit.

 

I just read about the $1 a month rate. That definitely is a downer. I read a bit about it and thought it might be a nice secondary way to save up for a vacation or something without really even noticing the money going anywhere.

 

Haha that is really funny as I typed that up as a reason I could see someone using Acorn, but opted to delete it out of my post. Though I thought of an example of $25 a month and saving up for a $2,000 vacation...still would take nearly 7 years to accomplish if that is what your Acorn account was averaging.

[PlayerHader]

Jumped in the market for the first time today. Used Robinhood app. I'm the owner of a tiny amount of shares of Aurora Cannabis, which has jumped $.14 a share in the minutes since I bought. Sell high, right!?!?

 

Just kidding. Should be fun. Going to educate myself along the way.

 

Up $1.00. 17%+ growth since I got in. I’m clearly a savant.

[homer]

The way I look at acorns is that it's money you never would have invested anyway. So what's a dollar out of $25 each month if you were never going to put that $24 away in the first place? Also, that dollar stays a dollar no matter how much you have in there. If it was 4% all the time then yeah it's outrageous.

[PlayerHader]

The way I look at acorns is that it's money you never would have invested anyway. So what's a dollar out of $25 each month if you were never going to put that $24 away in the first place? Also, that dollar stays a dollar no matter how much you have in there. If it was 4% all the time then yeah it's outrageous.

 

I’d agree with this. It’s a dollar blown at a bar or out eating or on some toy if I’m not saving. It’s not like it’s a primary investment account.

 

That makes sense, too.

[MrTPlush]

Right, but the concept of it being an investment vehicle isn’t really accurate. It is more like a savings account. Not bad if that is your goal. If you are trying to actually invest and grow your money...not so great.

[PlayerHader]

Agreed.

[PlayerHader]

Rough stretch for the markets lately. How ya'll holding up?

[nodakfan17]

I only check my retirement accounts annually to ensure my employer match it deposited correctly, but I have a few hundred of ‘fun money’ in Bitcoin that’s taken a hit this week.

[RollieTime]

The stock market the last week... Eesh... Over 3,500 point drop. I feel like it’s going to continue into next week.

[homer]

Monday should be interesting. Seemed some people started jumping back in at the end of the day today. Curious to see if that continues. Feels kinda like fall of 2008 the last week.

[nodakfan17]

I’m not going to speculate on individual stocks until the Dow goes positive for a day ... and even then, I’ll be cautious. Just a hunch, but I think this is the tip of the ice berg.

[TURBO]

How much does the Corona Virus have to do with this?

[nate82]

How much does the Corona Virus have to do with this?

 

Everything right now. The biggest impact the corona virus will have is on manufacturing. Also if it isn't contained or it spreads more than it has you will start to see the travel industry take a hit. If that does happen I would book your international travel then. You can already see the travel industry getting hit with companies suspending international travel. The company I work for sent out an email today about suspending international travel and restricting business travel in Europe and no business travel to Asia.

 

There are some predictions of companies not making a profit this year though I think that is way too early to even predict that we haven't even completed the 1st quarter of the year yet. If the corona virus is still a serious issue come April or May then yeah it is time to panic about profits.

[DHonks]

Monday should be interesting. Seemed some people started jumping back in at the end of the day today. Curious to see if that continues. Feels kinda like fall of 2008 the last week.

 

I’m expecting Monday to be another blood bath. It seems that when the Dow was at all-time highs and coronavirus wasn’t a US concern, it was like Teflon to the news. Daily news updates slid off. But Monday’s we have been getting 3 days work of panic reflected in the market, hence why they’ve been bad for several weeks. Mid week last week I moved my Roth 403(b) and HSA mutual funds primarily into MMAs and Bond Funds. Crazy we gave up our 30% 2019 gains in a matter of 8 days.

[brewcrewdue80]

I could use a 1200pt or more session loss. Moved conservative last year in April as it approached All time high. This referring to 401k. Should finally be able to buy back what I moved and more.

[nodakfan17]

Anyone else find it odd that silver was down last week?

[PeaveyFury]

Crazy we gave up our 30% 2019 gains in a matter of 8 days.

 

That's really not true, though. The S&P 500 is still up 13.32% vs. 1/1/19 values.

[AKCheesehead]

Anyone else find it odd that silver was down last week?

 

The metals all dropped last week. I was hoping palladium had fallen way down but no. I wish I'd gotten in on palladium a year or two ago....

[brewcrewdue80]

I could use a 1200pt or more session loss. Moved conservative last year in April as it approached All time high. This referring to 401k. Should finally be able to buy back what I moved and more.

 

And so the market climbs 1200+pts today. Well ask and I shall not receive.

[LouisEly]

And dropped another 800 points today. Lots of uncertainty surrounding the impact this is going to have.

 

Nothing like 2008, however. There are no underlying issues with the financial system. Just like in Trading Places, those buying calls on margin had their pants pulled down and have to cover their margin calls and sell, putting further downward pressure on the markets. Now you're seeing money move from where the anticipated issues will be (anything relating to travel or sourcing from China) to what is not likely to be affected (low interest rates benefit the consumer - buying houses, buying vehicles, remodeling, refinancing, plus boons to the healthcare system, suppliers to healthcare, technology, etc.), and not a broad sell-off.

[DHonks]

And dropped another 800 points today. Lots of uncertainty surrounding the impact this is going to have.

 

Nothing like 2008, however. There are no underlying issues with the financial system. Just like in Trading Places, those buying calls on margin had their pants pulled down and have to cover their margin calls and sell, putting further downward pressure on the markets. Now you're seeing money move from where the anticipated issues will be (anything relating to travel or sourcing from China) to what is not likely to be affected (low interest rates benefit the consumer - buying houses, buying vehicles, remodeling, refinancing, plus boons to the healthcare system, suppliers to healthcare, technology, etc.), and not a broad sell-off.

 

the panics related to Coronavirus are primarily driven by other countries. We likely won't hit peak panic for 6-8 weeks, so I'm looking to be more on the sideline. I made a nice profit on AAPL by buying at $260 and selling at $298. I expect it'll hit $260 before $320 again.

[nodakfan17]

Did anyone else have issues with Robinhood this week?

[homer]

Did anyone else have issues with Robinhood this week?

 

Everyone did. Not the best timing for them. Guess you get what you pay for?