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The guy struck rich! Same with people who shorted crude last year when it went straight to -40. Billions were made.

dbtc 6y ago
I realize I need to do some basic reading on this stuff... but, when you say "made" does that really mean "changed hands"? Or is value/money somehow generated in these processes?
- hehehaha 6y ago
  No, it’s zero sum.
  - alasdair_ 6y ago
    It’s zero sum until a too big to fail actor is in danger, then new money is created and the game ceases to be zero sum.
    - SuoDuanDao 6y ago
      well really, at that point everyone's purchasing power is diminished, so the game remains zero sum relative to anything outside itself.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
alasdair_ 6y ago
Billions were made, but retail traders lost out. The fact that IBKR couldn’t handle a negative oil price at that time made me realize that for all their marketing as being a higher quality broker for serious investors, they had some serious holes. Then when they stopped buys on GME while Vanguard and Fidelity still allowed them, I gave up on IB completely. Right now I’ve bought puts on IBKR - I expect a lot of clients with money will drop them (along with Robinhood etc.) and move to Vanguard/Fidelity.
- aphextron 6y ago
  Liquidated everything on Robinhood today and moved to Fidelity.
- hehehaha 6y ago
  As a derivative trader and some one who is constantly looking for mispriced assets from the upside (ie short), my number one concern when we have market turmoils is always broker liquidity. This is also why hedge funds have prime accounts directly with bulge brackets. My recommendation is to always have at least two accounts plus Fidelity. FIDO, while expensive, invested a ton of money into their platform/technology. I rarely see them go down. Plus they basically own everything including cryptos. Key is to have multiple accounts and know how to wire money without even looking up the information so that you’re up and running in minutes not hours or days.
  - bravura 6y ago
    Which are good brokers for the primary two accounts?
    - hehehaha 6y ago
      To be completely honest, you can’t beat RH and zero commish on options. But I only use it for trades that I can execute over the course of a day. Schwab/TOS is probably going to be the best discount broker when they complete the integration. I don’t like IKBR because it’s not that much better than others unless you are a quant. Pick the products you think you want to trade first then pick the brokers. For example, you don’t want to trade on a platform that doesn’t offer futures because you are more than likely to need it later down the road (this is also why some prefer IKBR due to their breadth in products). And make sure you try their mobile apps since most of them are horrible!

dbtc 6y ago

I realize I need to do some basic reading on this stuff... but, when you say "made" does that really mean "changed hands"? Or is value/money somehow generated in these processes?

hehehaha 6y ago
No, it’s zero sum.
- alasdair_ 6y ago
  It’s zero sum until a too big to fail actor is in danger, then new money is created and the game ceases to be zero sum.
  - SuoDuanDao 6y ago
    well really, at that point everyone's purchasing power is diminished, so the game remains zero sum relative to anything outside itself.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

alasdair_ 6y ago

Billions were made, but retail traders lost out. The fact that IBKR couldn’t handle a negative oil price at that time made me realize that for all their marketing as being a higher quality broker for serious investors, they had some serious holes. Then when they stopped buys on GME while Vanguard and Fidelity still allowed them, I gave up on IB completely. Right now I’ve bought puts on IBKR - I expect a lot of clients with money will drop them (along with Robinhood etc.) and move to Vanguard/Fidelity.

aphextron 6y ago
Liquidated everything on Robinhood today and moved to Fidelity.
hehehaha 6y ago
As a derivative trader and some one who is constantly looking for mispriced assets from the upside (ie short), my number one concern when we have market turmoils is always broker liquidity. This is also why hedge funds have prime accounts directly with bulge brackets. My recommendation is to always have at least two accounts plus Fidelity. FIDO, while expensive, invested a ton of money into their platform/technology. I rarely see them go down. Plus they basically own everything including cryptos. Key is to have multiple accounts and know how to wire money without even looking up the information so that you’re up and running in minutes not hours or days.
- bravura 6y ago
  Which are good brokers for the primary two accounts?
  - hehehaha 6y ago
    To be completely honest, you can’t beat RH and zero commish on options. But I only use it for trades that I can execute over the course of a day. Schwab/TOS is probably going to be the best discount broker when they complete the integration. I don’t like IKBR because it’s not that much better than others unless you are a quant. Pick the products you think you want to trade first then pick the brokers. For example, you don’t want to trade on a platform that doesn’t offer futures because you are more than likely to need it later down the road (this is also why some prefer IKBR due to their breadth in products). And make sure you try their mobile apps since most of them are horrible!