by Anura Guruge
on April 19, 204
I am an Options TRADER, but a stock INVESTOR.
Huge difference. I don’t trade stock. I buy and hold … & hold … & hold.
I am very selective about what stock I buy. I have a theme. Yes, it is MAINLY TECH (and SEMIs within that).
Yes, it is POSSIBLE that ALL of TECH could go down another 20% in the next month. I appreciate that. That is OK with I. SMILE.
I know that they will ALL be up 20% in a year. SMILE. If, not … then in two years. Joys of long term investing.
by Anura Guruge
on April 17, 204
I did NOT think this would be possible.
Wow.
WASH SALE on an option! Ah!
I had to call ‘Fidelity‘ to find out what is happening.
Appears it is ALL legit.
Appears I sold a ‘AMZN 210 May 17, 2024‘ call on March 28, 2024. Possible. I do option trades most days. I do THOUSANDS a year! Yep. My addiction. Option trading. The guy at Fidelity commented on it too. He goes “Yes, I can see that you trade a LOT“. Understatment.
I can LIVE with a $329 WASH SALE. SMILE. Won’t bankrupt me (just). SMILE.
But, I learnt a lesson. Be careful …. You can incur a WASH. This one is trivial. Wasn’t even really worth a phone call. But, I wanted to know.
Smile.
by Anura Guruge
on December 4, 2023
I told YOU. SMILE. What else can I say?
I know my Semiconductor stock. SMILE.
I say that as someone who has owned NVDA for a very long time (SMILE) & AVGO, off and on, for nearly as long. I currently also own AVGO.
NVDA, AVGO & ARM. My 3 semi stock — alongside AMZN, TSLA, AAPL, GOOG & NFLX. Smile.
For years people told me I was CRAZY. That I am. Said I was not diversified. All in tech. I used to say, that is ALL I KNOW. I know tech. I understand tech. So, I am buying and staying with tech. SMILE.
In late September I spoke with a Financial Advisor — socially. He had never heard of ARM. That is why I avoid Financial Advisors. AMILE.
by Anura Guruge
on September 21, 2023
I had a fairly good hunch that the markets would take a much needed breather after the Fed decision on Wednesday. They did, both Wednesday afternoon & today — exactly as I had expected & hoped.
I had been keeping an eye on ARM given that I did NOT get an IPO price share allocation.
I also had a hunch that ARM would drop below (or get close to) its $51 IPO price this week — IF there was a market downturn.
There was a market downturn & ARM did fall into the $51/$52 range.
I traded some AMZN options & used the proceeds to buy some ARM.
I want to build up a decent position in ARM.
I have known ARM for a long time.
I have had a LOT of success with NVDA & AVGO over the years. I think ARM will serve me well too.
by Anura Guruge
on September 11, 2023
I had to TRY (at least). IF I didn’t then I have even less of a chance.
Yes, I know that it will be HUGELY oversubscribed. Not even sure whether ‘Fidelity‘ will even get a large enough allocation they can sell to customers RATHER than holding onto for their own investments, mutual funds & ETFs.
But, I was told I could BID. So, I did. Didn’t ask for many. The minimum lot size. That also might disqualify me. They like those that ask for LARGE allocations — in the tens of thousands.
PLUS, I am a NOBODY as far as Fidelity is concerned. Some POOR schmuck. Yes, the allocations go to their RICH CLIENTS & I am a billion miles (& dollars) away from that group.
But, I will live in hope. YES, I will, on the day of the IPO, CHECK to see if I got my allocation. SMILE.
Fidelity has ONLY ONCE given me an IPO allocation. That was during the GRIM Financial Crisis of 2008. They gave me 200 shares of ‘Visa‘ (V) at the IPO price. {I just looked it up. It was $44.} I made 5x on that. SMILE. Yes, buy & hold.
Given that I was in high-tech, I have had a couple of other IPO allocations — via ‘Friends & Family’. That was a longtime ago.
Well, I will keep you posted.
You can laugh at me. Yes, I live in HOPE.
by Anura Guruge
on August 30, 2023
This outage was BAD. Very bad. It was SCARY. SCARY. SCARY. I was NOT amused, especially when I couldn’t get any assurance from them as to whether all my money was SAFE.
UNACCEPTABLE!
What is even worse, & totally bloody inexcusable was HOW Fidelity REFUSED to acknowledge the outage.
The APP & Website were still working — though all the account data was gone.
They could have easily put a banner message to tell us what was happening.
They should have put out a TWEET.
But, NOTHING. Total silence. Total denial.
Yes, I am sure, 500%, that we have NO recourse. I know that somewhere along the line I must have signed something that said that Fidelity cannot be held responsible, whatsoever, whatsoever, for system outages.
I wanted to do 3 option trades. Not imperative & none were expiring today. Just wanted to exploit today’s prices. I lost that opportunity. I probably lost $500 because of that. THAT IS BIG for I. HUGE. A LOT OF MONEY. I am not a rich man. But, I am sure there are those that lost MILLIONS, possibly multi-millions. NO RECOURSE. We are just screwed. Not even an apology.
I didn’t experience the earlier one (possibly because I was out ambling) but I am learning that this was the 2nd in 15 days. NOT GOOD. NOT ACCEPTABLE.
by Anura Guruge
on August 30, 2023
I logged on. It logs you in. So they will TECHNICALLY claim that they are NOT DOWN!
But, you can’t access ANYTHING. NOTHING SHOWS.
Possible I have LOST all my money. [Not much, BUT it is all I have.]
SCARY. SCARY. SCARY.
Not good for my heart.
I am PANICKING!
I called. Long wait. Eventually got a Rep. who grudgingly admitted that something was ‘not right’ BUT she couldn’t be specific.
SHE COULD NOT ASSURE ME THAT ALL MY MONEY WAS SAFE!
SCARY. SCARY. SCARY.
Not good for my heart.
I am PANICKING!
All she was willing to say is that SHE can’t access her account either!
by Anura Guruge
on May 2, 2023
Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com
The ‘Buy, Borrow, Die’ Strategy.
Google for more. Also many more videos on YouTube.
This winter, where we had a few BRUTAL days, was the last straw. I am getting a top-of-the-line, whole house ‘Generac‘ (with ‘Kohler‘ a possibility too). All told, with the underground 500 gallon propane tank I am also getting, it is going to cost me around $10K.
Yes, I could pay for that with my investments. SMILE. Remember, I do allude to having owned ‘Amazon‘ shares for over a decade. The issue is TAXES — capital gains. It is CHEAPER to BORROW at 6.6% (or more) rather than paying taxes. That is the whole concept of ‘buy, borrow, die‘ — especially at MY age. So, I decided I should get a ‘Home Equity Line of Credit‘ (HELOC) rather than trying to pull out all the money I need for this project all at once.
I have 3 three bank accounts: Fidelity, Bank of America & Meredith Village Savings Bank (MVSB). I have had all of them for over 20 years.
I personally don’t use the MVSB account that much. Wife does. I use them mainly for the Safe Deposit Box we have with the. My pensions (& I get a few) go to BofA since two of them are from overseas (i.e., UK). I also have multiple BofA credit cards — & those are my main credit cards. I do a lot of business with BofA — daily.
So, when I wanted an HELOC I contacted BofA. They were polite etc. & got the process going. But, it was interminable. I could never see the light at the end of the tunnel. It just dragged on & on & on. They were slow as frozen molasses. Most of the time they seemed confused.
Then I needed to use the Safe Deposit Box to retrieve some documents. While at the local branch, i.e., Alton, I realized how FRIENDLY they are. I happened to ask them about an HELOC. They gave me a name. I contacted her. WOW! She was AMAZING. So helpful, SO COMPETENT & responsive. It was like night & day compared with BofA. I actually felt that they KNEW what they were doing — unlike when I was dealing with BofA.
Their document submission system is ALSO MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better than what they have at BofA. The MVSB very slick. A joy to use.
The MVSB process went quick. I could see the progress online PLUS they were very responsive. A week into the process with MVSB I was much further along than I was with BofA — & I had started dealing with BofA at least 6 weeks earlier. I called up BofA and told them rather nicely to take a HIKE!
I got my HELOC from MVSB a few weeks ago. I have yet to use it.
The whole process was smooth & slick. The CLOSING was a delight. I had fun.
No hesitation, no reservation. I wholeheartedly recommend MVSB if you are looking for an HELOC. Oh! There rates are GOOD TOO! {Smile} {I think better than BofA (but I won’t vouch for that).}
So, at a time when small banks are under some ‘scrutiny’ I fully ENDORSE MVSB. Lot to be said for friendly, local banks as opposed to the BIG impersonal ones.
by Anura Guruge
on April 27, 2023
My luck in life, never great, is not, alas, even what it used to be in the past. More & more I appear to have got the Reverse Midas Touch. My investments never pan out like I was hoping.
Today was a RARE exception.
Big DAY for I. AMZN results, & those that follow this Blog know that I own quite a number of shares {SMILE} & my lifestyle is contingent on those stocks.
This morning, sharp at 9:30am (delaying my morning amble by 30 minutes) I rolled quite a FEW of my CALL options to even withstand a 20% increase in price IF the results proved to be exceptional.
Then at 4pm, having an EARLY lunch for a change I watched the results come in. Saw AMZN spike to $117.
I had been PLANNING to sell a FEW (& I stress FEW) stray shares I had — which were not covered by options. Kind of had a feeling that the $117 might not be there tomorrow. Plus, I was not going to be around tomorrow morning.
So, decided to do my sale after hours (‘extended hours’ as Fidelity calls it).
I, however, didn’t KNOW how to do it!
I had never traded after hours or before hours. I am old fashioned when it comes to trading. So, I had to CALL Fidelity to ask HOW. They, of course, helped me out.
I sold some. Had to be a LIMIT ORDER. I specified $117.
I got $118.15.
Well a BIT of luck.
I will also do OK with the options. I can now roll them down & back. SMILE.
Well, even au unlucky bugger like I deserves a rare break. SMILE. I am happy.
by Anura Guruge
on February 11, 2023
To be honest I had never noticed it! My fault. That is why I am bringing it to YOUR attention. Yes, it is the SETTINGS icon for the page display. Some useful setting. Worth checking out. Also the way to set everything back to the DEFAULT.
I just wanted to make sure that you knew about this SETTINGS feature behind that ‘gear’ icon. That is all.