Comments on Fund My Mutual Fund: The Casino

One way to benefit from high volatility is by sell...

2008-11-17T11:16:00.000-05:00

One way to benefit from high volatility is by selling options. I've been writing calls on my positions for the last couple of months and keeping the premium as a nice little dividend. They almost always end out of the money. Also to build new positions I would sell naked puts (if your broker allows that of course). Just a couple of ideas to earn some cash for your long term positions that I'm sure everyone here knows

Wonder if mutual funds are allowed to trade options?

Salman Rushdie, the author of Satanic Verses, in a...

2008-11-16T12:53:00.000-05:00

Salman Rushdie, the author of Satanic Verses, in a later book, which I am unable to recall it's title had a line that went something like this....
I paraphrase..."all the world became a giant casino, and everyone believed they would be winners". Prescient words !

I like the title of this article ... Living near R...

2008-11-15T21:03:00.000-05:00

I like the title of this article ... Living near Reno, I have to pass on this secret.. "The House always wins!"

You're right about the program trading .. There really is no other explanation for the last hour movement.

jegan

TM,Hey... I realized that I never commented on you...

2008-11-15T17:58:00.000-05:00

TM,

Hey... I realized that I never commented on your ETF trading meltdown. That does really suck big time.

Let us know if they give you any response to this event. This market is hard enough for everyone even when the performance is fully reflective of the traders/investors' trading acumen.

Mark,this goes deeper than HAL - I can't post a li...

2008-11-15T15:23:00.000-05:00

Mark,

this goes deeper than HAL - I can't post a link because it's not public data but I've seen several studies showing that trending strategies worked well from the forties until 2000. But not during the 30ies and not since 2000 and it has gotten worse in the last two years. Computers and speed of execution might have made things worse but the environment has changed. We all have to adjust to choppy markets until the mess is over.

Value strategies will work again when the market can has a better understanding of fundamentals. Right now you cannot be sure of anything - besides a huge contraction which will decimate all companies and countries with high fixed investment cost and external financing needs.