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.

Pastimes : All Clowns Must Be Destroyed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lucretius who wrote (9173)	2/13/2000 1:06:00 PM
From: Oblomov	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 42523

Unfortunately, I have acquired some notoriety among my acquaintances by touting JDSU, BRCM, and GBLX to a few people back in late 1998. I went to a party last night and several people brought up the stock market without any prompting from me: 1) a self-employed woman, 30 years old, who recently started a SEP-IRA and is looking for some "really aggressive picks". I told her that cash looked really good right now. She seemed undeterred, however. After all, she plans to retire at age 45. 2) a good friend of mine, a high-earning VP of sales in his mid-30s, who recently bought even more AOL on margin because "it's so cheap right now". 3) a power-plant worker who trusted the acumen of person #2 and bought AOL on margin at 87, who is now underwater on the order of tens of thousands of dollars. The money he put in to the market was a capital gain from real estate he sold, and he will barely be able to cover the taxes from the sale now. 4) another self-employed person who told me how he is making a killing on stocks like RACE and XING... he does this by watching CNBC and following the Yahoo! message boards. He plans to retire within 4 more years. 5) A young engineer at Raytheon who has seen his 401(k) fall by 50% in the last few months. He seemed to embrace the New Economy a bit less tahn the others. I left the party less sanguine about the market than I have ever been. This is suburban Indianapolis, Indiana after all - not a tavern in midtown Manhattan. Yep, everybody is in the pool. P.S. I did not exaggerate or fabricate here in the slightest.