5 ms·

...my theory that you should buy stocks in the companies that you hate the most Wow, that's a pretty sad statement. No wonder our economic system is so fucked

by blehn 16y ago

...my theory that you should buy stocks in the companies that you hate the most Wow, that's a pretty sad statement. No wonder our economic system is so fucked up. We've got people out there investing in companies they'd otherwise prefer never existed. Then, of course, there are machines making billions of transactions a day in an effort to game the system. Unless people start investing in companies that they truly believe in, I don't see how this system can do anything but fail in the long run.

sliverstorm 16y ago
It has always been very American to love the underdog (maybe it's human, not American, but I myself am not in a position to vouch for the rest of the globe). So, the companies that we like and want to succeed are almost invariably the smaller companies, and the companies we hate are the successful ones.
- _delirium 16y ago
  I think some of that isn't just hating the successful companies, but the big/boring ones. Betting that the huge firm dominating a market will continue to dominate the market in basically the same way, with minor variants of their current products, probably is often the smart bet, but it's a really boring possibility to root for. Some innovative company shaking up the market is a lot more interesting!
yummyfajitas 16y ago
Suppose you want to invest in a company you truly believe in. Where will you get the shares from? Unless someone else thinks it's crap and wants to unload it, there will be no one to buy it from. Luckily, there is a machine out there willing to sell it to you. An evil evil machine.
- timwiseman 16y ago
  Suppose you want to invest in a company you truly believe in. Where will you get the shares from? Unless someone else thinks it's crap and wants to unload it, there will be no one to buy it from. There are a reasons to sell a shares besides thinking that a company is bad. Sells are also sold to raise capital, this may of course be done by the company itself to raise capital for expansion or in lieu of a loan. This is precisely what an IPO is and companies will also do it post IPO if the cirumstances are right. But individual or institutional stock holders may also sell it to raise capital even while thinking that the company is doing fine and will likely go up over the long run. If the money was invested specifically for retirement or college for instance, it will be withdrawn (the shares sold) for that reason. An individual or instution may also sell some shares to support diversification or to move to a lower risk investment class while believing the company is most likely to prosper. And of course its perfectly rational to sell your shares if you believe an overall market decline is coming, even if the intention is to rebuy those shares when you believe it is near the bottom There will be plenty of people to buy stock in any major company without anyone necessarily believing the stock is bad.
mileszs 16y ago
Smart, greedy people are never going to let emotion get in the way of making money. That's just the way it is. We're never going to return to an era where a significant amount of people make investment choices with a significant basis on how they feel about the company. It's not a rational way to meet the end goal of making money. Sad, though, yes.
Tuna-Fish 16y ago
This reminds me of an investment strategy Iain Banks described in his novel Complicity: Leverage yourself and load up on the most unethical companies you can find. This is because there is a lot of money that seeks to invest only in ethical business, so the prices of unethical companies are permanently depressed from their true value, and in the long term the return from their dividends should thus beat the average of the market. It's scary how it almost made sense.
- baguasquirrel 16y ago
  And then some people wonder why most of the mainstream seems to like the idea of government intervention into the markets (as long as it's not their industry being regulated ;).

by blehn 16y ago

sliverstorm 16y ago

It has always been very American to love the underdog (maybe it's human, not American, but I myself am not in a position to vouch for the rest of the globe). So, the companies that we like and want to succeed are almost invariably the smaller companies, and the companies we hate are the successful ones.

_delirium 16y ago
I think some of that isn't just hating the successful companies, but the big/boring ones. Betting that the huge firm dominating a market will continue to dominate the market in basically the same way, with minor variants of their current products, probably is often the smart bet, but it's a really boring possibility to root for. Some innovative company shaking up the market is a lot more interesting!

yummyfajitas 16y ago

Suppose you want to invest in a company you truly believe in. Where will you get the shares from? Unless someone else thinks it's crap and wants to unload it, there will be no one to buy it from. Luckily, there is a machine out there willing to sell it to you. An evil evil machine.

timwiseman 16y ago
Suppose you want to invest in a company you truly believe in. Where will you get the shares from? Unless someone else thinks it's crap and wants to unload it, there will be no one to buy it from. There are a reasons to sell a shares besides thinking that a company is bad. Sells are also sold to raise capital, this may of course be done by the company itself to raise capital for expansion or in lieu of a loan. This is precisely what an IPO is and companies will also do it post IPO if the cirumstances are right. But individual or institutional stock holders may also sell it to raise capital even while thinking that the company is doing fine and will likely go up over the long run. If the money was invested specifically for retirement or college for instance, it will be withdrawn (the shares sold) for that reason. An individual or instution may also sell some shares to support diversification or to move to a lower risk investment class while believing the company is most likely to prosper. And of course its perfectly rational to sell your shares if you believe an overall market decline is coming, even if the intention is to rebuy those shares when you believe it is near the bottom There will be plenty of people to buy stock in any major company without anyone necessarily believing the stock is bad.

mileszs 16y ago

Smart, greedy people are never going to let emotion get in the way of making money. That's just the way it is. We're never going to return to an era where a significant amount of people make investment choices with a significant basis on how they feel about the company. It's not a rational way to meet the end goal of making money. Sad, though, yes.

Tuna-Fish 16y ago

This reminds me of an investment strategy Iain Banks described in his novel Complicity: Leverage yourself and load up on the most unethical companies you can find. This is because there is a lot of money that seeks to invest only in ethical business, so the prices of unethical companies are permanently depressed from their true value, and in the long term the return from their dividends should thus beat the average of the market. It's scary how it almost made sense.

baguasquirrel 16y ago
And then some people wonder why most of the mainstream seems to like the idea of government intervention into the markets (as long as it's not their industry being regulated ;).