Packers Huddle

Kind of related...

So since 2005 when I was 22 I have had a Upromise account and credit card. It is basically a rewards program but the money goes into a college savings account, and at $50 increments you accrued you can choose for that money to go into a 529. I put in $500 of my own money around the time I opened it, otherwise all the earnings have been from the credit card and online shopping (you get 1% to 2% on credit card purchases based on their promotions at the time over the years, and usually 2-4% from a lot of major retailers if you buy online, such as Best Buy, Lowes, Zappos, QVC, etc. with some being quite a bit higher %).

Initially I opened a Vanguard 529 through Upromise. A few years ago they started only working with state sponsored 529 plans, and automatically by default transferred everyone's balances in their prior account(s) into one of the Nevada ones. I just found out a few weeks ago they are working with WI Edvest, which I already have an account for a 2.5 year old. So I switched the account contributions from the NV plan to the WI plan. But it didn't transfer the NV amount, only new contributions went/go into the WI Edvest account. So yesterday I looked into doing a rollover, filled out the form, and faxed it over. I have $7400ish in the NV account, with $2700ish of contributions over the years. I have over $8k, maybe more, in the Edvest account right now which we started right after she was born and put in $200-$250 per month. So when the rollover is completed, there will be about $15,500 in her 529 and she is just over halfway between her second and third birthdays.

Now, I fully expect the market to crash relatively soon, but we have a lot of time for it to build back before she needs to cash out.

<snip>

Mod edit: Not the forum, [mention]wallyuwl[/mention]. C’mon man.

Read something interesting over the weekend. Apparently in 40 of the last 47 January's, the performance of the stock market at the end of the year correlated with the its performance in the first week of January. When it closed up at the end of the first week, it closed up at EOY. And vice versa. Of the 7 years that it didn't, 4 ended up being recessions.

My investing portfolios stink.

go pak go wrote: ↑

22 Jan 2022 12:25

My investing portfolios stink.

Don’t think it’s just yours right now.

BF004 wrote: ↑

22 Jan 2022 13:36

go pak go wrote: ↑

22 Jan 2022 12:25

My investing portfolios stink.

Don’t think it’s just yours right now.

Buy low opportunities.

BF004 wrote: ↑

22 Jan 2022 13:36

go pak go wrote: ↑

22 Jan 2022 12:25

My investing portfolios stink.

Don’t think it’s just yours right now.

Yeah. I just made so many dumb decisions the past 24 months. Was too slow on buying (I never dreamed the markets would recover so fast) and then didn't sell enough when shares were high.... Especially not selling when the opporutnity was there; worst mistake. Don't lose your gains. I learned that the hard way. Of course investing isn't easy because all of the bullsh*t cliche sayings can be made at any time.

"buy the dip"...except the dip just kept dipping
"don't sell on red days"....except when I did it was my best moves so far
"don't buy a falling knife"....except I thought we were supposed to buy the dip?

I'm now in the red in Bitcoin too.

If "they" say the market isn't crashing, it is crashing.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-th ... 1642892638

Sounds like the Ukraine conflict could ultimately send gold through the roof if this guy's analysis is anywhere near correct.

https://www.intellasia.net/gold-will-so ... es-1024480

If I bought gold every time I heard China was looking for an alternative to the USD, I’d have less money than if I let that inflation hammered money sit under my pillow.

Now I have gold and silver and platinum. There are reasons metals are actually a great investment (Gov has zero clue how much you have, can avoid capital gains or inheritance taxes).

But there is a new player in cryptocurrency. Which currently has a give or take value of 2 trillion dollars.

Now the market cap of gold is like 12 trillion. Figure half that 2 trillion might go to gold, price should be like 2100-2200 right now without a crypto world. Although that can enter you into an interest philosophical debate about market cap and actual monies invested.

But she has been just dogging. Could make the case that gold is in a 15 year cup and handle right now, doing the handle things. But that’s a tough sell.

Metals definitely seem to go up during Democratic presidents as the boomers with money look for a store of value.

I'm putting my money in styrofoam.

Easier to store and lift than metal.

Ghost_Lombardi wrote: ↑

04 Mar 2022 15:12

I'm putting my money in styrofoam.

Easier to store and lift than metal.

Silver can be a pain, but if you got so much gold it is a struggle to store it, that is a very good problem to have.

BF004 wrote: ↑

03 Mar 2022 21:11

If I bought gold every time I heard China was looking for an alternative to the USD, I’d have less money than if I let that inflation hammered money sit under my pillow.

Now I have gold and silver and platinum. There are reasons metals are actually a great investment (Gov has zero clue how much you have, can avoid capital gains or inheritance taxes).

But there is a new player in cryptocurrency. Which currently has a give or take value of 2 trillion dollars.

Now the market cap of gold is like 12 trillion. Figure half that 2 trillion might go to gold, price should be like 2100-2200 right now without a crypto world. Although that can enter you into an interest philosophical debate about market cap and actual monies invested.

But she has been just dogging. Could make the case that gold is in a 15 year cup and handle right now, doing the handle things. But that’s a tough sell.

Metals definitely seem to go up during Democratic presidents as the boomers with money look for a store of value.

I've been pretty long gold throughout the pandemic. 2020 was great. Last year sucked. This year has been pretty good, so far. FOMO is what keeps me in bitcoin. But at the end of the day, we don't really know what crypto will do when a recession hits. Let's face it, most of the people investing in crypto really don't even know what it is, myself included. It's really this abstract idea with no tangible value. I'm skeptical that the masses will ever see crypto as a legitimate safe haven when the &%$@ really hits the fan. But I could be wrong- been wrong plenty of times before.

Crypto does have tangible value, in a sense. That’s what people who bash it don’t understand.


The utilization of block chain technology and need of a certain, limited, non-reproducible token respective to environment to write to that block chain ensures its demand.

It isn’t just fomo and/or nothing. Many industries use block chain technologies. Online gambling sites have been using smart contract for automatic processing of event results. The Weather Channel uses it to store their forecasts, it is budding into insurance industries, it’s gunna essentially run facebooks metaverse.

I interviewed for a company that monitors all sorts of machinery on properties, particularly larger industrial buildings, hospitals, and buildings like churches, monitor their water heater, boiler, furnace, electrical, etc, then uses ai to find anomalies and intervene before disasters.

Point being, the demand for these tokens will remain high and keep growing. The big question is how much speculation and hype has already been built in.

Just bought a lot of AMC under $15 a few weeks ago, such an easy buy when it got below fundamental value.

&%$@'s getting crazy again.

BF004 wrote: ↑

28 Mar 2022 14:53

Just bought a lot of AMC under $15 a few weeks ago, such an easy buy when it got below fundamental value.

&%$@'s getting crazy again.

Looks like they bought into Hycroft Mining, which is a gold and silver mining company. Eric Sprott of Sprott Capital (big time mining investor) bought in as well. The network commentators were grilling Adam Aaron this morning about venturing outside of AMC's "core competence," but I actually think it's a great idea.

Good for you, buying more shares under $15. I gotta admit I lost some confidence and didn't buy when it was that low. The good news is that I still haven't sold any shares. If the squeeze really does happen, it's going to be so difficult to determine an appropriate sell price. I need to re evaluate my sell brackets.

SNDL looking good too

BF004 wrote: ↑

04 Mar 2022 17:55

Crypto does have tangible value, in a sense. That’s what people who bash it don’t understand.


The utilization of block chain technology and need of a certain, limited, non-reproducible token respective to environment to write to that block chain ensures its demand.

It isn’t just fomo and/or nothing. Many industries use block chain technologies. Online gambling sites have been using smart contract for automatic processing of event results. The Weather Channel uses it to store their forecasts, it is budding into insurance industries, it’s gunna essentially run facebooks metaverse.

I interviewed for a company that monitors all sorts of machinery on properties, particularly larger industrial buildings, hospitals, and buildings like churches, monitor their water heater, boiler, furnace, electrical, etc, then uses ai to find anomalies and intervene before disasters.

Point being, the demand for these tokens will remain high and keep growing. The big question is how much speculation and hype has already been built in.

My issue is that there are literally no barriers to entry. Also, the Marines won't invade to protect Bitcoin, but they will to protect the Dollar.

Ghost_Lombardi wrote: ↑

03 Apr 2022 14:15

BF004 wrote: ↑

04 Mar 2022 17:55

Crypto does have tangible value, in a sense. That’s what people who bash it don’t understand.


The utilization of block chain technology and need of a certain, limited, non-reproducible token respective to environment to write to that block chain ensures its demand.

It isn’t just fomo and/or nothing. Many industries use block chain technologies. Online gambling sites have been using smart contract for automatic processing of event results. The Weather Channel uses it to store their forecasts, it is budding into insurance industries, it’s gunna essentially run facebooks metaverse.

I interviewed for a company that monitors all sorts of machinery on properties, particularly larger industrial buildings, hospitals, and buildings like churches, monitor their water heater, boiler, furnace, electrical, etc, then uses ai to find anomalies and intervene before disasters.

Point being, the demand for these tokens will remain high and keep growing. The big question is how much speculation and hype has already been built in.

My issue is that there are literally no barriers to entry. Also, the Marines won't invade to protect Bitcoin, but they will to protect the Dollar.

Fantastic! I want the US military, or government, to absolutely nothing to do with cryptocurrency.

BF004 wrote: ↑

03 Apr 2022 14:52

Ghost_Lombardi wrote: ↑

03 Apr 2022 14:15

BF004 wrote: ↑

04 Mar 2022 17:55

Crypto does have tangible value, in a sense. That’s what people who bash it don’t understand.


The utilization of block chain technology and need of a certain, limited, non-reproducible token respective to environment to write to that block chain ensures its demand.

It isn’t just fomo and/or nothing. Many industries use block chain technologies. Online gambling sites have been using smart contract for automatic processing of event results. The Weather Channel uses it to store their forecasts, it is budding into insurance industries, it’s gunna essentially run facebooks metaverse.

I interviewed for a company that monitors all sorts of machinery on properties, particularly larger industrial buildings, hospitals, and buildings like churches, monitor their water heater, boiler, furnace, electrical, etc, then uses ai to find anomalies and intervene before disasters.

Point being, the demand for these tokens will remain high and keep growing. The big question is how much speculation and hype has already been built in.

My issue is that there are literally no barriers to entry. Also, the Marines won't invade to protect Bitcoin, but they will to protect the Dollar.

Fantastic! I want absolutely nothing to do with the US military, or government, and cryptocurrency.

I have no idea what you are talking about.

Anyone can create a cryptocurrency, ie, no barriers to entry. No moat. Nothing.

And yeah, if financial interests/the dollar are threatened, the US military will intervene. That's good if you are invested in anything denominated in dollars. And yeah, it is bad if you want a Republic not dominated by business interests and defense contractors.

Huge sell-off today. This after a 1.4% gdp loss last quarter and a 8.5% inflation CPI (and real inflation including energy and food is about double).

As CFO of a small business, I'm starting to get worried.

As an investor of riskier assets that has already gotten destroyed, I'm glad everyone else starting to be as miserable as I have been.