Down goes the Dow

Does anyone have an opinion on stock splits. Or specifically lack of stock splits by the likes of Amazon and Alphabet.

As I type this one share of Alphabet is worth $1,300. One share of Amazon is something like $1.800. As someone who is actively investing only about $20,000 it is becoming aggravating.

Ideally I think you want to own about 10 shares of any stock if you want to own it at all. That amount at least allows you to trim and take some profits without having to unload a big part of your investment. It makes it doubly tough when the stocks don't offer any significant dividend.

I'm not talking about retirement funds. Of course obviously you can get indirect exposure through mutual and index funds.

I've always understood that a higher price makes the company look more successful and prosperous. But at a certain high price level I would think it would start generating an image of snobby elitism as it alienates middle class retail investors.

Is there some reason I'm not thinking of that they would leave their share prices high? Or is it as simple as Amazon and Alphabet don't care about investors like me.?

Keep in mind, I am a buy and hold investor. I'm not a day trader. I don't think discouraging day traders should be their reason to not do a stock split.

Some brokers allow buying fractional shares so there's that. As long as institutions continue to buy AMZN or GOOGL hand over fist then there's really no need to. Yeah it makes it hard for mom and pop investors but big boys are lining up cash by the billions to buy.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

mellon wrote:

You've been singing the same song for 3 1/2 years. Equity purchases made in 2015, 2016, 2017 have done quite well.

Only time will tell if you're wrong again about purchases made this year.

Only time will tell if your purchases made since 2011 will pay off. I say they won’t?.

He hasn't felt that way for just 6 years. Obviously by the above post, he's felt that way since at least 2011.

Racket wrote:

Maserati wrote:

Racket, fantastic! Good for you, I will raise a beer tonight to celebrate your good fortune.

Snowing where I am. Long nat gas, salt, and shovels!

Thank you Mas and others! Hopefully Igy's prediction doesn't come true although this company does appear to have an actually reasonable P/E and it isn't affected by tariffs.

seattle, I saw over the weekend that AMD is releasing "the most powerful ever" desktop CPU. Maybe you sold a bit early

Against my better judgement, bought back into AMD this morning. I just know this isn't going to end well, but it's the old seller's remorse and FOMO.

Hey, to the guy looking at Amazon and Google, and their lack of splits, you might want to check out this technology ETF: XLK. It has moved fairly similarly to Alphabet, and it's major holdings are MIcrosoft and Apple. It's been doing well for me, and at $87, it doesn't have a cumbersome share price.

re; tech...i go back and forth on this:

Tech is up c.17% per year for 10 years. That's pretty phenomenal performance.

(which is one reason some tech stock prices are so high)

The SP500 is around 20% tech.

Is there an argument to own say 40% tech in a portfolio? I think probably yes.

Someone went through the vast outperformance of the US over european stocks and found that most of the reason was tech outperformance. Europe is ok with tech but just not at the US level.

I mean I know,,2000-2002...but maybe we should all have a lot more tech.

//

unrelated - re; the lack of splits...it's just one more example of how companies are going to wean themselves off the public markets. Splits cost money to do...if you don't have to do a split why spend the money?

Plus it's a bit of a big swinging d/k move - reminds everyone that your stock is up 1000% or whatever.

agip wrote:

unrelated - re; the lack of splits...it's just one more example of how companies are going to wean themselves off the public markets. Splits cost money to do...if you don't have to do a split why spend the money?

Plus it's a bit of a big swinging d/k move - reminds everyone that your stock is up 1000% or whatever.

in the brief encounters i had with Amazon and their staff, they gave me the impression that Bezos spurns any focus or attention on stock fluctuations in favor of more stable business metrics like revenue and income. In the case of that company, i get the impression they don't want to play the game and splitting the stock would be an example of pandering to the very forces they pride themselves so much in ignoring.

Hey, there's always the Berkshire Hathaways with two classes of shares actively trading, one for the large investors and instutions, and one for the retail sector, if you will.

On tech.: definitely overweight for me, largely due to seeing the opportunity in the early years, adding along the way, and with their appreciation, i let the winners ride and did not re-balance (my bad?). THen, last year when i sold off the small cap and the market turned back up early this year, seeing that we were in the late stages of a bull market, did not go back into small cap but went for the high growth large caps: i.e., tech.

agip wrote:

yes or no: You would rather have been born in 1955 than in 1990.

I lived through the 70s and 80s. They were positively poor compared to today. Poor. Everything was garbage.

sure, there are some groups that were better off then. But overall no one should prefer to have had to mature in the 70s over the 90s or 00s.

No era is perfect. But these kids have such a massive better opportunity than boomers.

Agip you have jumped the shark!

I don't even know where to begin. Just like your economic ideas, the ideas expressed in your post don't hold water, and you try to sell value judgments as fact. As the markets rise, your posting deteriorates!

Yes I would rather have been born in 1955 than in 1990.

I lived through the 70s and 80s. They were, in turn, fascinating, intellectual, free-spirited, and revolutionary. They were both culturally and scientifically rich. The ideas of the 60's didn't really happen until the 70's, and produced some of the best of western intellectualism in the new world. The high end of analog material goods arguably reached its fullest flower in the 70's, a level that has not been surpassed. The better things were made to last, and last they have. The personal computing revolution started in this era. New music, dance, visual, and other art forms appeared, and others reached a zenith. Population was not what it is now, and peace could still be found relatively easily, even in the lower 48.

Of course there was a lot of crap, and there were problems and exceptions to what I have written, but the picture that you present is woefully inadequate. It might reflect your personal attitudes, but it is far from fact. I could post specifics all day long.

Every generation has "opportunities"--that is the basis of life, of choice. Those born into less-free and less-diversified societies have less freedom of choice. We are arguably less free today, but also arguably more diversified, so it might be a wash. The opportunities, however, are different--which is natural, since boomers are different people than are millenials. Also, the value of opportunities varies with the individual--some thrive in a society with limited, but well-tailored, opportunities.

I personally prefer the opportunities that would have been presented to me had I been born in 1955 to those that would have been presented to me had I been born in 1990...I think. It is a very personal and specific determination that is, at best, very difficult to make.

Has anybody here tried the old price box + trailing loss system? I don't remember where I read it eons ago, but I remember that it worked for a guy in a bull market.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Gruntz wrote:

As usual you didn’t”t read the story. The article talks about Eagle. It is totally about how the natives hate you. I now understand why you are so unhappy.

No, the only one that hates me is you for some sick reason. Get over it.

It’s hard for you not to feel persecuted when even your neighbors don’t want you around. But I don’t hate you. I actually feel sorry for you (and your few remaining clients ☹️). But I do enjoy the comic relief you bring to this thread. Your trolling is epic.

you have to ask yourself why virtually every single generation thinks the people who went before them had it better.

and you have to be very suspicious when middle aged or older people reminisce about how free the times where when they grew up. I mean really. Yeah, when we were young we were freer. Our parents were not freer by any means.

But you bring up a good point - that while the average american is far wealthier today than in the 70s, and living standards are far, far higher today than in the 70s...it's not all about economics. TV and the internet have wrecked much of the community that America used to have.

We all stay home and treat ourselves to fabulous home entertainment rather than go out and be with people.

sorry have to leap this angry hammerhead...hold on

ok, better now.

All time highs today!

Maserati wrote:

Has anybody here tried the old price box + trailing loss system? I don't remember where I read it eons ago, but I remember that it worked for a guy in a bull market.

NOt sure if this is what you are refering to, but i set a mental trailing stop loss at about 15% for trades i consider longer term, and for the shorter term swing trade, i try not to be down more than $xx, and then i would sell if so.

Earnings Scorecard: For Q3 2019 (with 92% of the companies in the S&P 500 reporting actual results), 75% of S&P 500 companies have reported a positive EPS surprise and 60% of S&P 500 companies have reported a positive revenue surprise.

seattle prattle wrote:

Maserati wrote:

Has anybody here tried the old price box + trailing loss system? I don't remember where I read it eons ago, but I remember that it worked for a guy in a bull market.

NOt sure if this is what you are refering to, but i set a mental trailing stop loss at about 15% for trades i consider longer term, and for the shorter term swing trade, i try not to be down more than $xx, and then i would sell if so.

Not sure why i said that about the 15% threshold drop for a stop loss other than that's what i've heard swing traders or day traders would use. I bail if the price hits what amounts to about a 2% or 3% loss. On longer term holdings, i usually hold out until i reach the point where the investment is about to lose money and would then sell.

Gruntz wrote:

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

No, the only one that hates me is you for some sick reason. Get over it.

It’s hard for you not to feel persecuted when even your neighbors don’t want you around. But I don’t hate you. I actually feel sorry for you (and your few remaining clients ☹️). But I do enjoy the comic relief you bring to this thread. Your trolling is epic.

^Hey ?, it is Your purpose in life.

mister wrote:

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Only time will tell if your purchases made since 2011 will pay off. I say they won’t?.

He hasn't felt that way for just 6 years. Obviously by the above post, he's felt that way since at least 2011.

Q4 Atlanta GDP Now:

Latest forecast: 0.3 percent — November 15, 2019

The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the fourth quarter of 2019 is 0.3 percent on November 15, down from 1.0 percent on November 8. After this morning's retail trade releases from the U.S. Census Bureau, and this morning's industrial production report from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the nowcasts of fourth-quarter real personal consumption expenditures growth and fourth-quarter real gross private domestic investment growth decreased from 2.1 percent and -2.3 percent, respectively, to 1.7 percent and -4.4 percent, respectively.

The next GDPNow update is Tuesday, November 19. Please see the "Release Dates" tab below for a list of upcoming releases.

The market has been going bonkers. Anyone who did not buy at its nadir in 2008 missed out HUGELY. Every day seems to bring new highs. 28,000 for the Dow. I think it was around 6,500 or so just over 10 years ago. Just an incredible run. Igy please comment on how these incredible gains will evaporate very soon.

Sally Vix wrote:

The market has been going bonkers. Anyone who did not buy at its nadir in 2008 missed out HUGELY. Every day seems to bring new highs. 28,000 for the Dow. I think it was around 6,500 or so just over 10 years ago. Just an incredible run. Igy please comment on how these incredible gains will evaporate very soon.

I know, right. But some people wouldn't see it if hit them over their head.

Apparently, there's no telling.

It's kind of like some clueless bastards elsewhere on this messageboard trying to say global warming isn't happening. LOL!

Can you believe that?!

Racket wrote:

[quote}

Some brokers allow buying fractional shares so there's that. As long as institutions continue to buy AMZN or GOOGL hand over fist then there's really no need to. Yeah it makes it hard for mom and pop investors but big boys are lining up cash by the billions to buy.

Thanks. I was vaguely aware that some brokers offer fractional shares. I may check that out. But I use Fidelity and I generally have had a good experience with it. But it doesn't offer fractional shares nor does any of the major retail brokerage from what I can see. That bothers me a little.