Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KeepItSimple who wrote (75658)	8/28/1999 2:47:00 PM
From: Bilow	Respond to of 164684

Hi KeepItSimple; Regarding short selling. There is some feeling over on the daytrading fundamentals thread that the market makers are going to try and prevent retail customers from selling short. This in order to reduce the competition, of course. By the way, your market calls on the internets have been truly phenomenal, though not perfect, of course. But speculating is a matter of making more on your winnings than you lose on your losings. What some people don't realize is that in the options game, when played on the long side, you don't have to avoid being wrong so much as avoid missing out on the big sudden moves. They do wonders for the volatility premium. So a long options player gets rewarded for predicting volatility, as well as direction. It's a rough market, due to the nasty spreads and illiquidity. By the way, it's been a long time since I've done an analysis of the major positions in out of the money AMZN options, perhaps I should look through the numbers again. By examining the pricing of the stock, versus calls minus puts at the same strike price (i.e. the fundamental arbitrage), you can determine which way the options market makers are leaning, and, therefore, which way the retail trade is holding the position. (I.e. you can tell if somebody sold a bunch of calls, maybe covered, versus if somebody bought a bunch of calls.) -- Carl

To: KeepItSimple who wrote (75658)	8/28/1999 3:00:00 PM
From: H James Morris	Respond to of 164684

>>Someone also mentioned that some put positions will be very hard to collect on, because so many of them were written naked... << Kis, your a Palo Alto boy so here's something I want to share with you. I learned the hard way on why I seldom do options, calls or puts. You and I think very much alike, but neither of us has a clue about timing. Do you think that William or Mark really make their decisions on market timing? Well maybe Mark does. If they're smart which I believe they are, they have 80% of their well earned profits under their pillows. We're down to speculation time, that's all I'm playing with. TRUST ME! But don't try to be a market timer. Most market timers are broke. Especially the shorts that bet this mania would end 2 years ago. Thank God I started buying the pimps recommendations, and now I'm almost out of all of them. Do you know I still like Proctor & Gamble?

To: KeepItSimple who wrote (75658)	8/28/1999 8:27:00 PM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

KIS I heard something interesting on BBC today. They talked about the parallels between the last turn of the century and today in the US. The years around 1900 were flush with new inventions and prosperity here, but the one invention that started it all was electicity (I had never thought of it on those terms). Based on electricity all this other stuff came along, including the reinvention of some things that existed before in different forms. The reported likend this to the internet and its effect on all sorts of other inventions, including the reinvention of retail etc. The real point is that this prosperity in the last century lasted for a total 40 year period, approximately, beginning in the 1890s and ending in 1929. So for all those that say this time isn't different, the question is, where are we in that 40 year cycle... year 5 or year 10?