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2025 Investment Thread

Some say the state-controlled market is propping it up

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Killroy1999 said:
Some say the state-controlled market is propping it up

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That's basically what the GOP is. Socialism for their buddies and favored industries, and harsh capitalism for everyone else. Patrick Bateman's "why don't you just get a job" comes to mind.
 
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Reli said:
That's basically what the GOP is. Socialism for their buddies and favored industries, harsh capitalism for everyone else. Patrick Bateman "why don't you just get a job" comes to mind.
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That is basically how politics works for both sides of the aisle. Don't forget we have the best government that money can buy.
 
Except Dems believe in providing socialism to those who have difficulty supporting themselves thru no fault of their own. The GOP doesn't. Witness how the GOP cuts mental health programs. Which btw is ironic considering how they always claim that school shootings are a mental health problem. Hmm, mention a problem, but then reduce funding for that problem. Winning!
 
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I just bought a few thousand shares of BYND. why not.

my vegan friend says its the best meatless meat. Trading at sub one dollar and did a lot to get debt off the books
 
oh its not a buy and forget. I have covered calls on a good part of my position in case it goes to 0 its not a total loss. Also if it rockets past $1 by october 31st im not going to cry if a large portion of the shares are called away. The return would be nearly 50% for a quick gamble
 
Ahh that doesn't sound as fun. No hedge, just forget it. A few thousand shares at noon today is like $1900, run it.
 
Who Really Benefits When the Market Rises? (IMO)

Here’s a hard truth: the stock market isn’t just a financial system—it’s a political one. Across the board, from left to right, those in power are personally and professionally invested in its success. Elected officials, corporate leaders, lobbyists, and insiders all have skin in the game. Their portfolios grow when the market goes up. Their partners profit. Their donors smile.

So what happens when decisions are made—laws passed, bailouts approved, interest rates adjusted? The market responds. And those with influence often benefit first and most.

But what about the rest of us?

If you’re not invested, you’re not invited. Working-class folks, retirees without market exposure, anyone without the means or access—they’re left watching from the sidelines. They labor, they pay taxes, they follow the rules. But they don’t see the gains.

The system is built to protect itself. The market can’t fail—because too many powerful people depend on it not failing. That’s the real bipartisan agreement.

If you want to understand why certain policies pass, why crises get managed the way they do, or why some voices get heard louder than others… follow the money. Follow the market.

And ask: who’s really winning?

I use a Vanguard managed account with a fixed rate of $3,500 per year—versus a managed account with someone like LPL, who charges 1% of my net worth annually. The fine print in the LPL contract reads “not to exceed 2.97%,” and when questioned, they can’t clearly explain what constitutes that percentage or how it differs from the 1% net worth fee year after year.

I’m a simpleton, and my strategy is open to critique—just like my ideas about the market.

PaulR
 
Never heard of LPL, but a google search shows lots of complaints, so you probably dodged a bullet there.
As for Vanguard, I'm pretty sure they'd be just parking your money in the same fund(s) that you could buy yourself.
 
Mutual funds are a scam. Back in the 2000’s when I last held funds i recall seeing the advertised annual gains being significantly higher than what was reflected in my account so dumped them all and haven’t considered one since.
Redemption fee, management fee, turnover rates… all bleeding money from my pocket.
 
So, in the last few days I was looking at long term charts of SPY (last 25 years.) The length and the size of this current bull market simply aren't that anomalous, there have been multiple periods of longer bull markets with larger % gains than this one. "Historic" forward PE of the SPY is 19.5:1, but that includes some economically pretty crappy times during the late 1970s and early 80s.If you look at the last 20 years, we are right at the average, and it's trending down because corporate EPS has just been really, really good over the last year.

This isn't to say that tariffs, the China trade war, inflation, job losses etc doesn't have the potential to derail things. But as it stands right now, the markets are not particularly overpriced.
 
Kids haven't been through significant market downturns and are simply used to and seem to expect nothing but bull runs. Drumming fingers.......
 
I've lived through black Monday, the dot com bust, 2008, and whatever the fuck is going on right now. "The kids" will get their turn.
 
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