Time to start drinking: There's a game on soon!

I just popped open a Yeungling

I don’t usually drink alone, but the impending demise of the universe has me mellowing out more.

"You never want to give up a 7-0 lead, in your rival's ballpark, that would put them in first place. Never want to do that." - Ron Darling

by Slyde on Oct 9, 2008 7:55 PM EDT 0 recs

I checked the mail tonight

and received my deferred comp statement. Yikes and away I took a huge hit this time. Good thing it is only paper money at this point in life

Hope Springs Eternal! Go Reds

by Caleb on Oct 9, 2008 8:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

my $250 investment in a Roth IRA

three or four years ago is now worth less than $250. Nice!

This place is like a sexy preschool.

by Gray on Oct 9, 2008 8:02 PM EDT up 0 recs

I just got my IRA statement today

I refuse to open it.

"You never want to give up a 7-0 lead, in your rival's ballpark, that would put them in first place. Never want to do that." - Ron Darling

by Slyde on Oct 9, 2008 8:05 PM EDT up 0 recs

What did you have it invested in?

And, uhhh, don’t open it.

This place is like a sexy preschool.

by Gray on Oct 9, 2008 8:09 PM EDT up 0 recs

I made 40% last month

Had it in the right stock.

by obc2 on Oct 9, 2008 8:09 PM EDT up 0 recs

You have your IRA invested in one stock?

This place is like a sexy preschool.

by Gray on Oct 9, 2008 8:13 PM EDT up 0 recs

I did for 8 magnificent days

40%

by obc2 on Oct 9, 2008 8:16 PM EDT up 0 recs

I hope it wasn't GM

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Oct 9, 2008 8:19 PM EDT up 0 recs

lol

Fifth Third

by obc2 on Oct 9, 2008 8:20 PM EDT up 0 recs

down under ten bucks again

time for round three tomorrow if it doesnt rebound. i was out of the office today and missed the 20% dip in one day. dammit.

by obc2 on Oct 9, 2008 8:22 PM EDT up 0 recs

ouch

Financials got hammered today, because the ban on short-selling was lifted.

Tomorrow could be interesting, with the three-day weekend coming up. People are going to be afraid to hold anything, for fear that some momentous news will break over the weekend, leaving them with toxic waste on their hands.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Oct 9, 2008 8:31 PM EDT up 0 recs

Incidentally...

short selling bans don’t actually have any effect beyond the very short term. Well, and the stupid psychological effect.

This place is like a sexy preschool.

by Gray on Oct 9, 2008 8:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

I think they do

Yes, there are ways you can get around it. But changing the rules in mid-game like that is one of the reasons people are so spooked. People who got caught with their shorts down lost their shirts. Now they’re afraid to stay in the market, for fear the rules will change again without warning.

I know someone who manages a hedge fund that specializes in shorts, and he will probably have to close it.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Oct 9, 2008 8:40 PM EDT up 0 recs

I know it feels like they should...

but the empirical evidence is not there, and even suggests that allowing short selling may be a net positive. See e.g. this working paper.

This place is like a sexy preschool.

by Gray on Oct 9, 2008 8:46 PM EDT up 0 recs

That's not what I'm talking about

The problem is changing the rules in mid-game that way. It screwed a lot of people including a lot of people who had nothing to do with the collapse of Lehman or AIG.

I think there will be long-term effects. Nobody wants to play a game when the biggest kid can change the rules whenever he wants.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Oct 9, 2008 8:57 PM EDT up 0 recs

Oh, reading back...

I think I misunderstood what you wrote. I now think you were saying that the bans were bad, but impactful in the very short term. That I can agree with.

Academic economists would almost uniformly argue that short-selling bans are a bad idea. I don’t know if policymakers have gotten that point yet, though. Hopefully they’ll get it after this time.

This place is like a sexy preschool.

by Gray on Oct 9, 2008 9:00 PM EDT up 0 recs

I watch the market every day

I feel like short term bans are effective. Those academic economists need to get out of their parents’ basement. There’s more to the market than just numbers, you know.

by Red Menace on Oct 9, 2008 9:46 PM EDT up 0 recs

It's fairly well diversified

but that doesn’t matter much these days. I’m trying to remind myself that I have 30+ years to retirement and just keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn’t go empty first.

"You never want to give up a 7-0 lead, in your rival's ballpark, that would put them in first place. Never want to do that." - Ron Darling

by Slyde on Oct 9, 2008 8:34 PM EDT up 0 recs

when you aint got nothin'

you got nothin’ to lose. thats my investment strategy!

"for integrity of races and the game" - Dusty Baker

by Charlie Scrabbles on Oct 9, 2008 8:35 PM EDT up 0 recs

Freedom's just another word for

sleeping on the street.

"You never want to give up a 7-0 lead, in your rival's ballpark, that would put them in first place. Never want to do that." - Ron Darling

by Slyde on Oct 9, 2008 8:37 PM EDT up 0 recs

Good enough for me

and my Bobby McGee.

This place is like a sexy preschool.

by Gray on Oct 9, 2008 8:38 PM EDT up 0 recs

i have a very well furnished apartment

and a pretty impressive stock of beer, if you hadnt heard.

"for integrity of races and the game" - Dusty Baker

by Charlie Scrabbles on Oct 9, 2008 8:38 PM EDT up 0 recs

I logged into the 401k today for the first time this month

Bad Idea.

by ken on Oct 9, 2008 8:39 PM EDT up 0 recs

I'm thanking me lucky stars for having put off starting the 529 for my kid's educations

I wasn’t even trying to time the market or anything. I was just lazy. Whoever said that being lazy doesn’t pay can eat it!

"You never want to give up a 7-0 lead, in your rival's ballpark, that would put them in first place. Never want to do that." - Ron Darling

by Slyde on Oct 9, 2008 8:42 PM EDT up 0 recs

It's not laziness, it's market timing

I’m waiting for the crop report announcement later this year before building my commodities portfolio.

(I got an inside tip about the frozen OJ market)

by ken on Oct 9, 2008 8:46 PM EDT up 0 recs

convicted

not frozen.

they only do that to Han Solo.

by bbjones on Oct 10, 2008 2:42 AM EDT up 0 recs

You need to adjust your 80's movie reference antennae

by Red Menace on Oct 10, 2008 2:51 AM EDT up 0 recs

I got mine today too

It was okay.

Of course, the end of the quarter is Sept. 30, so the statement was issued before the market freefall started.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Oct 9, 2008 8:19 PM EDT up 0 recs

I am considering drinking, as well...

and thinking I need to find a way to delay my grad school exit. And avoiding working on my dissertation is the best way to do that, right?

This place is like a sexy preschool.

by Gray on Oct 9, 2008 8:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

oh, and thanks for starting a thread

I didn’t feel like doing it tonight. I’m gonna try to bust out something fresh tomorrow though. Or not. Depends on if I get out of bed.

"You never want to give up a 7-0 lead, in your rival's ballpark, that would put them in first place. Never want to do that." - Ron Darling

by Slyde on Oct 9, 2008 7:56 PM EDT 0 recs

It's nice of your mom

to let you have a beer fridge in the basement.

This place is like a sexy preschool.

by Gray on Oct 9, 2008 8:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

That stupid woman at Fox

needs to stop saying “J-Roll.”

This place is like a sexy preschool.

by Gray on Oct 9, 2008 8:11 PM EDT 0 recs

Budweiser American Ale needs a bottle opener!

holy moses. im giddy.

by obc2 on Oct 9, 2008 8:17 PM EDT 0 recs

...whoa

"My wife ain't never ran and got me no pheasant." - Fistbands

by BK on Oct 9, 2008 8:18 PM EDT up 0 recs

tastes like Moerlien

by obc2 on Oct 9, 2008 8:19 PM EDT up 0 recs

which one?

"My wife ain't never ran and got me no pheasant." - Fistbands

by BK on Oct 9, 2008 8:20 PM EDT up 0 recs

orginal flavor

with a little bit of Schlitz aftertaste.

me no likey much.

by obc2 on Oct 9, 2008 8:22 PM EDT up 0 recs

Yeah, I think it's the aftertaste that's bothering me.

It would be okay if it wasn’t for that. Just okay though, still nothing special.

"My wife ain't never ran and got me no pheasant." - Fistbands

by BK on Oct 9, 2008 8:27 PM EDT up 0 recs

don't like American Lager?

terrorist.

...because there's already someone posing as Jacob Brumfield

by Cy Schourek on Oct 9, 2008 10:31 PM EDT up 0 recs

i was going to text you later to see if you'd tried it yet, and get a review

now i won’t do that

What's the ratio of Stanley Nickels to Schrute Bucks?

by chandrathan on Oct 9, 2008 10:17 PM EDT up 0 recs

Sip

Pause

by obc2 on Oct 9, 2008 8:18 PM EDT up 0 recs

Budweiser American ale here.

I got a 6-er just to try it… meh.

"My wife ain't never ran and got me no pheasant." - Fistbands

by BK on Oct 9, 2008 8:17 PM EDT 0 recs

my wife got me a case of "beers around the world"

for our anniversary. i plan on sailing off to the shores of Vietnam for a brew tonight. i wonder how they say “cheers” there. i bet John McCain knows. /political threadjack

"for integrity of races and the game" - Dusty Baker

by Charlie Scrabbles on Oct 9, 2008 8:24 PM EDT 0 recs

John McCain spent some time in Vietnam?

I’ve never heard this story.

This place is like a sexy preschool.

by Gray on Oct 9, 2008 8:25 PM EDT up 0 recs

vietnam beer rankings

http://www.thebackpacker.net/worldbeers/vietnam/index.htm

by obc2 on Oct 9, 2008 8:29 PM EDT up 0 recs

Singapore makes a damn good beer.....

AKA redsfan68 Nobody listens to Andrew

by nlt-andrew68 on Oct 9, 2008 8:41 PM EDT up 0 recs

i had some of that in England

i knew an english/indian chick who drank it all the time. there is something about indian chicks with english accents drinking “tiger beer” that really balances my chi.

"for integrity of races and the game" - Dusty Baker

by Charlie Scrabbles on Oct 9, 2008 8:44 PM EDT up 0 recs