Investment & Finance End of 2014 Q3 into Q4 Thread Edition

Weekly investment & finance thread ^ | Sept. 26, 2014 | Freeper Investors

[expat_panama]

Expect More Volatility With Stocks Priced Near Perfection By E.S. Browning

Interesting how this morning I was just reading the same thinking in How to Be Prepared for the Next Volatility Wave.  Man I LOOOVEE this info age, I just googled "what is the largest VIX etf" and found this page w/ this table and more...

Symbol	Name	Price	Change	Assets * ▼	Avg Vol	YTD
VXX	iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN	$30.67	+4.43%	$1,402,412	35,660,684	-27.36%
XIV	VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short Term ETN	$38.99	-4.27%	$561,232	10,344,856	+12.45%
UVXY	ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF	$28.68	+8.97%	$299,400	8,858,161	-56.63%
TVIX	VelocityShares Daily 2x VIX Short Term ETN	$3.15	+7.88%	$270,152	14,366,401	-57.33%
SVXY	ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF	$76.39	-4.39%	$255,750	963,471	+12.26%
VIXY	ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF	$20.46	+4.65%	$133,622	1,146,733	-27.87%
ZIV	VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Medium Term ETN	$44.61	-2.32%	$129,781	89,899	+14.99%
VXZ	iPath S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN	$12.91	+1.97%	$67,482	1,135,567	-17.49%
VIXM	ProShares VIX Mid-Term Futures ETF	$15.73	+1.94%	$44,346	69,277	-17.94%
XVIX	UBS E-TRACS Daily Long-Short VIX ETN	$16.40	-0.30%	$12,338	4,827	-7.08%

[expat_panama]

Like, my first thought was that if politics made any sense then nobody would believe in global warming.

[expat_panama]

Good morning all, way to much going on today! 

Actually, capital markets are in a holding mode w/ today's stock indexes up a bit and metals flat after yesterdays drop in both, but beyond this morning's Case-Shiller 20-city Index, Chicago PMI, and Consumer Confidence reports the stories we may also want to keep an eye on include--

Eric Holder Erred In Not Prosecuting Financial Crimes - Joe Nocera, NYT,
Eric Holder Takes $77 Million Job With JPMorgan Chase, which may be overshadowed by
ISIS militants less than 2 miles from Baghdad, fierce fighting reported near Iraqi capital and
Hong Kong Protesters Defy Beijing, Pack Streets

Any one of these is bad enough while more-or-less manageable, but with all of this hitting the fan at once the idea may be to quick run these all past the low-info crowd at once.  Then again that may be more difficult later on if IS boots march from Syria into Israel because the geography has the route going from the Golan Heights down thru the Armageddon valley.

Somehow the phrase "buying opportunity" seems a bit awkward here.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

I think that Holder thing is satire. ;^)

[expat_panama]

huh, nothing on google yet w/ other news outlets. Now it’s sounding like the old trick the Dems played in the past of “leaking” a horrific scandal for the purpose of later using it to “prove” that the opposition is stupid or a bunch of liars.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

That site that put that out is like The Onion. From Wikipedia

“The Daily Currant is an American satirical news blog that focuses on politics, technology, and entertainment.[1] A number of its satirical stories have been taken for true news reports by press.[2]

The Daily Currant is a competitor to The Onion. According to Quantcast, the site garners over 1.5 million page views a month.[3]”

[expat_panama]

That’s what I was trying to tell everyone from the beginning —it was obviously a spoof to poke the unwary. Didn’t fool me for a second though...

[Chgogal]

FYI expat, to my chagrin, the JPM/Holder $77 million link is satire (I think, it is believable). I figured it out yesterday when it wasn't in the news. Then I did a search and the article came up as satire. : (

Sorry.

[Chgogal]

Yesterday, Jim posted this about posting satire.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3209196/posts

I guess people are complaining about those who are posting satire. And the satire posters are complaining to Jim. Yikes!

[Rich21IE]

If Baghdad falls....all bets are off.

[expat_panama]

...satire. : (  Sorry.

Hey, our beds got short-sheeted and we got a good laugh!  Like you said, it was so believable that imho it's a matter of time before Holder at the least gets say, big 'consulting fees' from banks he refused to pursue.

[expat_panama]

If Baghdad falls....

From what I can see 'falling' is something Baghdad's very good at --looking back over the past hundred year since it was a border town between Persia and Turkey till now, it's changed hands what, seven times?

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

It’s hard to fall off of the floor.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Something to think about for the long term future of utilities.

Solar power is growing so fast that older energy companies are trying to stop it
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3209447/posts

“That’s a genuine problem for utilities. All these solar households are now buying less and less electricity, but the utilities still have to manage the costs of connecting them to the grid. Indeed, a new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory argues that, without policy changes, this trend could soon put utilities in dire financial straits. If rooftop solar were to grab 10 percent of the market over the next decade, utility earnings could decline as much as 41 percent.”

[expat_panama]

The problem is earlier in the piece:  "...43 states and Washington DC have "net metering" laws that allow solar-powered households to sell their excess electricity back to the grid at retail prices."  That's a flat out populist attack on business --most folks to know or care that most of their electricity bill pays not for the electricity but for the cost of shipping that power to the door. Industrial power costs less than half residential for just that reason --for them it's power sales w/o the extra transmission cost.

What the "net metering law" does is it forces the power company to pay for unneeded solar power at non-peak hours, at a price that includes transmission costs the resident does not pay, and then the power company has to pay to ship that power to customers that had been buying electricity from the power company.

If left unchecked this would eventually put the power company out of business and all residents would have to go solar for all their electricity.  That means instead of $100/month for grid power, residents will have to pay up-front about $30,000 for panels, batteries, and inverters and they'll have to replace the entire system every five or ten years.

Gov't interference, ya can't beat it!

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

My brother works for Redding Cal’s power which is city owned and he said it’s becoming a real problem. He said they give a credit for your excess so you can use them for a cheap battery but they don’t pay for your excess. As more people install it is going to be disruptive.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Don’t know what this means for tomorrow but heads up.

CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3209546/posts?q=1&;page=41

[expat_panama]

My son in Canada said they fully understand peak expensive power vs off-time usage —and the free market is allowed to solve it. He just bought an electric heating system w/ a timer and heat storage unit. Elect. pwr heats up the storage off-hours which in turn heats the home w/o power during peak times. The electric co. gives him a super reduced rate and everyone wins. Complete opposite of U.S. socialist “net-metering”.

[expat_panama]

tx fer the headsup; I got family a few hours so. of Dallas...

[Chgogal]

I didn't ping you guys at the time but you are going to enjoy this Freeper Model Builder's post:

Vanity - Ebola model projects future case based on Daily Transmission Rate
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3204322/posts

....and who would have guessed this yahoo article (dated September 4) could be so accurate?
http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-could-reach-u-end-month-215517951.html