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I now know I have almost no interest in investing in the stock market at this time, and possibly for a very long time. I am so glad that I have not been in the stock market (with only exception of those previous AAPL shares).
If/when the market rebounds, I will likely not be interested. I have already had my first meeting with a property manager and discussed rental income from buying small condos in good locations.
TM
Thank you Tony... and I reiterate your wishes and greetings to all.
TM
I am so tempted to buy a house over here for rental. The subdivision my sister lives in has taken a big hit. When you can buy a 1900 sq ft house for around $100k the ROI should be very good. Even if I had to hire a management company it should pay better than many investments. With tax, insurance, HOA and management fees I should still come out with about 12%-14% ROI. Did I mention the $85 HOA includes the water park with slides etc. They are Meritage homes. They have sold off all the models and quit actively selling until the market rebounds. There are about 800 lots left to build on. I just cannot find any buys in San Diego that will give that kind of return on investment.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2489-E-Dulcinea-Trl-Casa-Grande-AZ-85194/88890- 790_zpid/
AZ real estate has taken a terrific hit, 2nd worst in the country, behind only Las Vegas. The problem with buying way-out (relative to working in the Phx metro area) is that there are now a boatload of closer-in properties that are also distressed, and those will need to be absorbed before the stuff in Florence and Casa Grande picks up. That would apply to purchasing and rental as well, I would think.
Either way, it'll eventually pick up after all the speculator's properties have been absorbed into the system. It's taken three years so far and opinions vary widely as to when foreclosures and short sales will get back to the pre-'08 levels.
Good luck.
Let me add my Happy Thanksgiving wishes as well to all the regulars here, from a mostly-lurker.
Real estate can be like the stock market. Too much uncertainty in the World.
As soon as I heard that MF Global was in trouble on October 27, I requested that all the accounts be closed immediately and the balance be sent to the owners. I thought we were safe when it was announced that MF Global filed for bankruptcy on October 31. This was the same day the checks arrived and were immediately deposited. The statements showed a zero balance and checks sent on the evening of October 27. You can probably guess as to what happened next. While we were in MA for my sister's funeral we found out that all the checks bounced. I was devastated especially for my kids and brother. Can you believe this happened? Ever since this time, I have been spending a lot of my time writing emails to the appointed Trustee, senators, etc. and taking on the phone to various people about this incredible injustice. These were segregated funds that are considered sacred in the industry. I have now learned that nothing is safe. There are SO many crooks in the financial industry that your money is NOT safe no matter what.
I decided to share this with you folks since I finally got some good news yesterday while I was driving all day to Akron. The CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) has put up $550 million to help restore the missing money to customers like myself. And, for the first time, they acknowledged the bounced checks issue. Prior to yesterday, they were going to send out 60% of money to customers that showed cash in their statements. Btw, the CME is responsible for overseeing any wrong doing by commodity brokerage houses like MF Global. Nice job, right! Our accounts showed zero cash as of October 27. Until yesterday, they had not addressed accounts like mine that had zero cash showing. Well, now we are suppose to receive 75% of the money by early December. For the rest, we are to file a complicated claim form for each account. In order not to write a "book", I have not given you all the details on this mess. It has caused tremendous amount of pain and anguish. The futures trading industry will never be the same after this.
But in spite of all this, I do have a lot to be thankful on this day. Most importantly, I have my health and my family.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Thanksgiving blessings to you and all here on Edmund's.
Damn that is incredibly bad news...I misssed your posts as always, but for this reason--I would have never thought..
Back in my day, we had to hand segregate each person`s securities --each day--, and if say your account owed a thousand dollars, we could not uses the next account to balance the books, nor could we use a thousand shares of apple to deliver from your account to cover another persons...You are correct to say that that was `sacred`, and further if we made a mistake we had to report ourselves and pay a fine....It happened once, and was just minor, but we paid....
I was reading about this firm, and wondered to myself `just how much of this is going on? with the computers doing everything...
Jees I`m shocked....
On the side of trying to be helpful, if anyone has an account that is a margin account, the firm can use your securities to lend out etc, but if you insist your account to be only `cash` then they can`t do anything--if they are honest-- and if they aren`t then you will have problems anyway..
Although it is a real pain, I was brought up to order out the certificates and keep them in your lock box...I haven`t done that in years, but if thing deteriorate alot further I will start to do just that......They have it rigged that you can`t order out ETF, and I am sure there are other types of things that fall into that category ...
From what little I have read I do believe you will get your funds back, and when you do I strongly suggest you deal with a major firm.....I predominately have my stuff with Wells Fargo, and I am now warmed by your experience
Thank you for sharing---Good Luck---Tony
I am hoping that if you fall into that category you will have a better chance of getting all your money back.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Dear Trustee Giddens and Members of the CME:
It was January of 1989 and it was time for our much anticipated family vacation to Disney World in Orlando, FL. Every chance he got, my father was trying to find a pay phone. (Let me remind you that this was before the time of cell phones). And in one afternoon when he couldn’t find a phone at the right moment, his mood drastically changed, and thus, so did our family vacation. Something bad had just happened. Of course I didn’t understand it at the time (I was 10 years old), my dad had just lost a lot of money in the commodity market because he couldn’t make a phone call when he needed to. I had never seen my father so depressed, that is, until now. And this time around, unfortunately, it is not a simple matter of making a phone call or not. This time, his fate is in the hands of others, others whom we can only hope will do the right thing.
Trustee Giddens, you and the CME are the “others” that have the power to make right what has been so wrong ever since the collapse of MF Global. On October 27th, seeing on CNN that MF Global was in trouble, my father closed all of our accounts and requested that checks be sent. We received the checks, and immediately deposited them in our respective accounts. Much to our dismay, while in Boston for my beloved aunt’s funeral, we learned that all of our checks had bounced. If I sent you a check that bounced, I would be forced to pay or be arrested.
I want you to please understand where we are coming from. This money is ours and nobody else's. My father spent decades earning that money for himself and his family. He has worked tirelessly so that he and his family could have a better future. For me personally, that money was going to be used for a down payment on a house and to save for my children’s future college education. We were looking forward to moving our family of four out of our small apartment, but I guess that has to be put on hold while we helplessly wait for this so-called "timely" process to happen.
I urge you, Trustee Giddens and the CME, to do what you know is the right thing. The commodities industry will FAIL if you and the CME do not step up and do the right thing, which is to make all customers whole (=100%, not 75% of their money). Who would ever be willing to trust their money with a firm again if they know that their money is not segregated and not safe like it is supposed to be. I'm sure you are intelligent people, so you must know this already. And I'm sure you also must know that we deserved our money 3 weeks ago.
In closing, I’d like to leave you with some ironic text from a letter I received from MF Global. The letter is dated October 1, however, I did not receive it until after their collapse. I quote, in exact words:
“Dear Client:
As a leading futures and derivatives broker, MF Global maintains vigorous compliance with all industry regulations. With that in mind we would like to inform you of new regulations that we are implementing in order to protect you and your investments with MF Global.”
(These new regulations were simply regarding them having up-to-date account holder information.)
Please do the right thing.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
If some people don't go to jail for this terrible crime, I will lose faith in our system.
First of all, thank you for your kind words Tony.
I am SO horrified by what happened, that I am not sure I will trade commodities again. These so called major firms have an awful lot of crooks in their offices.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
I really feel as though I myself am experiencing your fear---There but for the grace of God go I---and believe you me I am taking this to heart.....A wonderful letter from your daughter.....and a caring father who is going through a miserable time Tony
I'm really sorry to hear about your problems with MF Global. It is the kind of thing that puts a knot in my stomach about the financial industry in this country and my concerns about things that have been going on over the last few years.
I feel confident this will be worked out for those from whom money was stolen, but some of the funds may be tied up for a long time before being returned.
This is really sad.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
That is an outrage. I hope it all works out, of course, and I feel for you and your family.
I am curious, were those accounts insured?
My Scottrade account is supposedly insured, but I will double check after reading about this.
I know some things are private, and I was willing to divulge the amount of my recent Scottrade loss (software vulnerability that allowed the"key stroke screw-up") which happened a few months ago, so I am wondering if you are comfortable enough to indicate the size & scope of this outrageous situation? It sounds like a potential nightmare.
TM
These were segregated funds. This means that they are free of risk. This money is not supposed to be touched by anyone other than the owner or the person who is managing it (in this case me). It is really considered more secure than being insured if that's possible. This is why I used the word sacred above. It is the first time that anything like this (customer segregated funds used illegally) has ever happened in the industry. The one other example of a brokerage house going under was about 7 years ago when Refco went bankrupt. However, the segregated funds were not touched and the money was returned to the rightful owners within days.
My Scottrade account is supposedly insured, but I will double check after reading about this.
Your Scottrade account is insured up to $500,000 (it's either $500K or $250K) per account by the SIPC. The SIPC does not deal with commodity funds. But yet they appointed a Trustee for the SIPC. More than 99% of the funds at MF Global were commodity and not security funds.
I am wondering if you are comfortable enough to indicate the size & scope of this outrageous situation?
The total for the 8 accounts was about $235K. 2 of the accounts were quite small. I was obviously making occasional disbursements over the years. I really feel bad for my kids. If you read the letter from my daughter above you will understand.
Sure, for those of us that invested long ago, or during the meltdown... but what about a new investor? What about those people that want to start an investment strategy?
Heck, the last twelve to fourteen years are losers, except picking up pieces after the meltdown.... and that's not a normal path to prosperity by any stretch of the imagination.
Ft
What about those that ventured their first brave and trusting steps when the Dow was around 14,000? What about them? What about those that invested 4 weeks ago for the first time? What about those that had Netflix in their portfolio? Or Sprint? Or Hewlett Packard? Or the original GM? Or AIG?
What is the TRUE picture for the average investor? And how can the average person get ahead in a market that is mostly computerized and programmed to TAKE their money away? It's hard enough for a savvy investor, so what's the TRUTH about this new and changed market for the future? Will investors ever get ahead, or at this point will they break even? And if so, for how long until they lose again?
Gotta wonder... why even bother?
What's the REAL TRUTH?
TM
I do believe that we will get 100% back. The 75% is supposed to be returned in early December. The rest may take a month or two. But we should NOT have to go thought this at all. The CME should have made everyone whole within days of the collapse in order to save credibility. The CME could then worry about getting their money back once everything is sorted out. Btw, the CME is worth more than $20 billion.
She put her heart into her words and only an inhuman monster would not be moved by them.
TM
TM
The Dow and S&P had their worst Thanksgiving week in 79 years!
TM
Regards,
OW
TM
Wow! Nearly 3% upside potential in a single day is in store for Monday (today)!!
TM
Now, Cyber Monday could add to the party.
Regards,
OW
http://blog.laptopmag.com/face-off-amazon-kindle-fire-vs-barnes-noble-nook-table- t
Good deal on the Acer, wanted something a little more portable than a 10". Although, to be honest, still not sure what I'm going to use it for! I guess I'm trying to update myself into this century as I just seem to be satisfied with the technology I currently have. Which is why I haven't taken the laptop out of the box yet, may not keep it. The old Dell desktop is still working. Not very well, but working!
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
No, I haven't bought anything yet. Wife isn't sure now which one she wants. She'll probably have to go look at them both.
TM
I am going to be patient and continue to wait for the iPad 3. From everything I have read so far, I have a VERY strong suspicion that it is going to be an amazing device that will be capable of so much productivitiy and entertainment, as well as vastly improved speed, display, and connectivity. It' is going to be the one to get, and I predict it will sell like hotcakes, and totally blow away everything else on the market.
Also, the improved MacBook pros are getting closer.
TM
Count me in for the iPad3 as well. My son informed me about some sneak previews on the iPad3 and he confirms your excitement. If you recall, I was going to get the iPad2 back in the early spring, but I decided to wait a while. I am glad I did. I can't wait for the iPad3.
Also, the next laptop I purchase will definitely be a Macbook Pro. I am rather sick of these Dell laptops that seem to give me headaches by not working very smoothly.
I personally think the next generation of Apple's notebooks should have a touchscreen, but I have not read anything to support that anything like that is imminent, especially since Apple is quite proud of its touchpad with multi-touch.
TM
I missed a `bullet` yesterday....If it hadn`t been for all the poor results from this `merry group of posters` I was just about to buy amr at a dollar and a half....I though to myself ` just how low can it go?` Stopped myself and here the very next day I would have been a big looser, probably wiping out all the gains for the year and maybe some, so thanks all
Thanks for asking Tony. The answer is there is nothing concrete yet. We have not received any of our money yet. Hopefully, we will in December. It has been extremely frustrating. The appointed Trustee is going along at a snails pace in this process.
You sir, are a lucky guy to not have invested in AMR yesterday. Wow! Incredible timing. Maybe your good fortune will rub off to some of the rest of us that have had nothing but bad luck lately.
Charlie - I hope all goes well for you.
If I had bought earlier in the day at $0.26 I would've been out of it already.
see Delta or Charter Communications for examples....
The creditors and bondholders get the re-organized company... Current shareholders may get something... but, not likely...
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2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
As to who owns who, it was K-Mart that bought Sears and then changed their name to Sears Holdings. Luckily Sears hasn't damaged the Lands' End brand.
The whole Sears/K-Mart thing is just a goofy enterprise that has outlived its business model and is dying a slow painful death.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Yeah, they've been dying slowly for 30+ years. I think they've survived this long mainly due to their property holdings between kmart and sears.
My wife and I went to Sears a few months ago to look at refrigerators. It was a disappointing experience. The store was dirty and appeared to be in neglect. My wife wanted a specific whirlpool cabinet depth model which they couldn't order for us. We ended up going to a local independent appliance store and in 15 minutes had an order placed.
Back when my wife were married in the mid 90's. Sears was a good place to buy appliances. I've spent a ton there over the years. I don't even consider them anymore. I haven't been in a Kmart in probably 8-9 years. I don't think we have one within 30 miles.