Out of the Blue [Nov 05, 2024, 10:27 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
Today is Election Day in the U.S. If you are a voter, I'm really hoping this is
not the first you're hearing of this. MrsBlue and I are about to duck out to do
our civic duty. I promised the Pickle Rick on my desk an "I Voted" sticker, and
he seems excited about that. We expect things to go smoothly for us, so I really
appreciate those who willingly endure long-lines and other obstacles that stand
between them and democracy. The stakes are high and the rhetoric has reflected
that, so hopefully we can proceed peacefully through this process and its
aftermath, Guy Fawkes Night notwithstanding.
To follow up on my jury duty summons, last night I learned I don't have to report tomorrow, so my luck held out. My next check-in is after business tomorrow, when I find out if I'm required to report on Thursday. I'll keep you posted.
To follow up on my jury duty summons, last night I learned I don't have to report tomorrow, so my luck held out. My next check-in is after business tomorrow, when I find out if I'm required to report on Thursday. I'll keep you posted.
Elective Round-up
Thanks Ant, Neutronbeam, and Max.Play
- Try This Quiz on Books That Were Made Into Great Space Movies - The New York Times. Not too challenging.
Stories
- Hurricane Rafael- Rare November storm set to hit the US – here’s the projected path - The Independent.
- Ryan Reynolds Writing Non-Marvel Film for Hugh Jackman, Shawn Levy - Variety.
Science
- Study: Special mud rubbed on MLB baseballs has 'magical' properties - NBC News. About time science tackled magic.
- World's first wooden satellite, developed in Japan, heads to space - Reuters.
Media
- Election Touchscreen Map Takes Deeper Look Inside Key Swing Voter - Onion News Network. Thanks Warpig.
- Making pop rocks from scratch (is complicated). Thanks RedEye9.
Creature Features
Beamer wrote on Nov 8, 2024, 14:26:Yes, the S&P 500 is mostly the way to go. And yes, the stock market is straight up gambling. Anyone saying something different is either lying or doesn't know what they are talking about. That said, like gambling it is sometimes possible to "game the system", a bit. But you have to be smart (smarter than me), dedicated, responsive, and willing to take some risk.
The only genuinely smart investment is a low cost ETF that replicates the S&P, like VOO. Market goes up, you go up. No one has ever beaten the S&P in the long term.
That said, a lot of people really like gambling, and see the market as just more fun gambling.
Two buddies of mine spent a couple of years playing the options game on Tesla and Amazon. They switched back and forth a couple of times. But basically both stocks had several periods of high volitivity. And at market open they would effectively buy straddle options on the stock. Then in the first few minutes of trading they would make a decision on which way it was going to go, and sell the option which was "on the wrong side" and a few minutes later sell the "good side". Each day they were in and out of the market in the first 20 minutes. They used Interactive Broker as their interface to the market which allowed them to do this stuff using scripts. So, the buys and sells happen in seconds. Obviously they didn't always get it right, but they started slow and learned what to look for in the either in the post trades of the previous day or the pre-open trading. They made good money doing it. Certainly $100k+ annually, but I never asked for specifics...
This comment was edited on Nov 8, 2024, 16:59.
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