AliBaba

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SuperSaver
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AliBaba

Post by SuperSaver »

Whos's buying, at what price, and how many shares???

Write it in stone: BABA will outperform VTI over next decade.
:moneybag
ArthurO
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Re: AliBaba

Post by ArthurO »

1000 shares at $75, it goes to 90 or more I sell, can't get it on 2ndary market for that price, I don't buy, I get it and goes down, hold it for long term, this is my gambling money....
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Re: AliBaba

Post by LadyGeek »

This thread is now in the Investing - Theory, News & General forum (general investing).
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munemaker
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Re: AliBaba

Post by munemaker »

SuperSaver wrote:Whos's buying, at what price, and how many shares???

Write it in stone: BABA will outperform VTI over next decade.
:moneybag
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InvestorNewb
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Re: AliBaba

Post by InvestorNewb »

ArthurO wrote:1000 shares at $75, it goes to 90 or more I sell, can't get it on 2ndary market for that price, I don't buy, I get it and goes down, hold it for long term, this is my gambling money....
Is risking $75,000 worth it to make $15k? I'd rather buy more shares of VTI.
My Portfolio: VTI [US], VXUS [Int'l], VNQ [REIT], VCN [Canada] (largest to smallest)
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ivyhedge
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Re: AliBaba

Post by ivyhedge »

We're in. IPO price: undisclosed number of shares.
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ArthurO
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Re: AliBaba

Post by ArthurO »

InvestorNewb wrote:
ArthurO wrote:1000 shares at $75, it goes to 90 or more I sell, can't get it on 2ndary market for that price, I don't buy, I get it and goes down, hold it for long term, this is my gambling money....
Is risking $75,000 worth it to make $15k? I'd rather buy more shares of VTI.
The problem with VTI is that it is slow and steady, I expect BABA to fly high for a while because of all the hype, and making 15k from 75k in a week, what is this apy anyone? So please before you make a silly apples to oranges comparison think a little, and full disclosure I am a happy investor in VTI in my retirement account and I add to that position monthly
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pennstater2005
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Re: AliBaba

Post by pennstater2005 »

And the forty thieves.
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flyingaway
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Re: AliBaba

Post by flyingaway »

Do you buy a company's stock just because you believe that it will go up in a short time period, or because you believe fundamentally that the company is good?
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Re: AliBaba

Post by tc101 »

I just put in an order for one share in my Vanguard Roth brokerage account. It will be fun to watch.
The current listed price is 68 but trading is halted. I put in a limit order for $70.
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Chan_va
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Re: AliBaba

Post by Chan_va »

ArthurO wrote:1000 shares at $75, it goes to 90 or more I sell, can't get it on 2ndary market for that price, I don't buy, I get it and goes down, hold it for long term, this is my gambling money....
Arthur, if your gambling money is $75k, you must be in a different league in net worth. If you had mentioned that, people wouldn't have given you such a hard time about the suit and watch :)
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ivyhedge
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Re: AliBaba

Post by ivyhedge »

flyingaway wrote:Do you buy a company's stock just because you believe that it will go up in a short time period, or because you believe fundamentally that the company is good?
Mostly the latter (if I read "good" as "financially fundamentally promising"). I rarely sell anything and the majority of our (public) domestic holdings are individual equities (DGI).

Folks questioned why I bought into GOOG, FB, XMSR, PTR, and MBLY early. I didn't. This is part of our IPS.
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cfs
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Re: AliBaba

Post by cfs »

Investing in BABA?

Just wondering who picked this symbol, there is a baba word in Spanish--saliva dripping out of the mouth is baba.
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ivyhedge
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Re: AliBaba

Post by ivyhedge »

cfs wrote:Investing in BABA?

Just wondering who picked this symbol, there is a baba word in Spanish--saliva dripping out of the mouth is baba.
Since no tone is mentioned (there are four in Mandarin), assume the generic for "ba": 8, which is an historically "lucky" number for Chinese (also has secondary meanings as "wealth" and "prosperity"). Double-8, like the phrase, "double happiness", is that much luckier! The company's tradition station this morning for the open is also ... Post 8 at the NYSE.
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Methedras
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Re: AliBaba

Post by Methedras »

cfs wrote:Investing in BABA?

Just wondering who picked this symbol, there is a baba word in Spanish--saliva dripping out of the mouth is baba.
I think the word you are looking for is drool.
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Re: AliBaba

Post by jdb »

ivyhedge wrote:
cfs wrote:Investing in BABA?

Just wondering who picked this symbol, there is a baba word in Spanish--saliva dripping out of the mouth is baba.
Since no tone is mentioned (there are four in Mandarin), assume the generic for "ba": 8, which is an historically "lucky" number for Chinese (also has secondary meanings as "wealth" and "prosperity"). Double-8, like the phrase, "double happiness", is that much luckier! The company's tradition station this morning for the open is also ... Post 8 at the NYSE.
Like pennstater I thought it was from Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. May be more symbolic.
Last edited by jdb on Fri Sep 19, 2014 9:31 am, edited 2 times in total.
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stemikger
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Re: AliBaba

Post by stemikger »

SuperSaver wrote:Whos's buying, at what price, and how many shares???

Write it in stone: BABA will outperform VTI over next decade.
:moneybag
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Re: AliBaba

Post by moshe »

Isn't this a sign that a market top can't be far away?

People willing to risk 22B+ dollars on a "investment" product (ha!) where you have shares in a cayman island company that has a contact which entitles them to a share of the profit in some company who no one seems to know how it is structured and is really controlled at the whim of one man. [OT comment removed by admin LadyGeek]

No thank you.
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Crow Hunter
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Re: AliBaba

Post by Crow Hunter »

I heard about the "corporate structure" on NPR the other morning on the way to work.

If I am going to own individual shares, I want to own the actual individual shares. That is not what you are going to get with Alibaba.

From what little I know about it, it sounds like a company with a serious opportunity to make money, but it doesn't sound like you will actually be guaranteed to have a share of that with the way this is being done.
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Re: AliBaba

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

moshe wrote:Isn't this a sign that a market top can't be far away?

People willing to risk 22B+ dollars on a "investment" product (ha!) where you have shares in a cayman island company that has a contact which entitles them to a share of the profit in some company who no one seems to know how it is structured and is really controlled at the whim of one man. And to top that all off the Chinese government could make that 22B+ go away quicker than the lobster i enjoyed last night.

No thank you.
This is going to make Madoff and Enron look small in comparison......They will be valued at 1/3 the market cap of Apple, 1/2 of Exxon Mobil and 3/4's the market cap of General Electric Company. Please, please, please tell me this is NOT going to be in any of the indexes I own!

I'll bet Warren and Charlie won't touch this with a 1000 mile pole. Perhaps they are taking the other side of the trade - Sell, Sell, Sell!!!! :twisted:
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Quickfoot
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Re: AliBaba

Post by Quickfoot »

Not interested in buying a single share directly. Historically it's almost impossible for individual investors to make more money from an IPO than from an index fund but it is extremely easy to lose money. The majority of profit will be made by early investors in AliBaba. People that chase IPOs are gambling, not investing.
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Re: AliBaba

Post by flyingaway »

ivyhedge wrote:
flyingaway wrote:Do you buy a company's stock just because you believe that it will go up in a short time period, or because you believe fundamentally that the company is good?
Mostly the latter (if I read "good" as "financially fundamentally promising"). I rarely sell anything and the majority of our (public) domestic holdings are individual equities (DGI).

Folks questioned why I bought into GOOG, FB, XMSR, PTR, and MBLY early. I didn't. This is part of our IPS.
Companies in China can make their numbers look better. I have very deep China background and I do not believe in Ablibaba's growth story.
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Re: AliBaba

Post by TareNeko »

Chan_va wrote:
ArthurO wrote:1000 shares at $75, it goes to 90 or more I sell, can't get it on 2ndary market for that price, I don't buy, I get it and goes down, hold it for long term, this is my gambling money....
Arthur, if your gambling money is $75k, you must be in a different league in net worth. If you had mentioned that, people wouldn't have given you such a hard time about the suit and watch :)
Also, a Patek Philippe would be a better choice. Watch & investment at the same time.
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Re: AliBaba

Post by ivyhedge »

flyingaway wrote:
ivyhedge wrote:
flyingaway wrote:Do you buy a company's stock just because you believe that it will go up in a short time period, or because you believe fundamentally that the company is good?
Mostly the latter (if I read "good" as "financially fundamentally promising"). I rarely sell anything and the majority of our (public) domestic holdings are individual equities (DGI).

Folks questioned why I bought into GOOG, FB, XMSR, PTR, and MBLY early. I didn't. This is part of our IPS.
Companies in China can make their numbers look better. I have very deep China background and I do not believe in Ablibaba's growth story.
Indeed. But fearmongering is hardly required here (not you - some others). As someone who's done business in China for the better part of a decade, I know some of us are simply better able to understand what makes things tick there. And while it's not like here, it's also not the totally "communist", corrupt, backwater hole that characterizes it in some folks' minds. I know many entrepreneurs in China - to think that they want everything hidden to make a few thousand dollars and ruin future reputations is ignorant. Many Chinese are simply the best pure capitalists I've ever known.
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BigFoot48
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Re: AliBaba

Post by BigFoot48 »

I don't own individual stocks anymore, but would hesitate to buy for the long-term the stock of a company in a country ruled by a dictatorship. I also find that this is going to be "the biggest IPO of all time" rather disturbing in the scheme of things. Irrational exuberance comes to mind.

Good luck!
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in_reality
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Re: AliBaba

Post by in_reality »

ivyhedge wrote: As someone who's done business in China for the better part of a decade, I know some of us are simply better able to understand what makes things tick there.
Just curious, how much of that experience involved shell companies to get around restrictions of the Chinese Gov?

Even if it were all 10 years and you had no problems, are you sure nothing has and won't change? It seems foreign investment is being viewed in a different light recently.

I'd like to hold BABA in my EM but not by evading Chinese Gov. restrictions. Tell me what you think. Is this just the normal way of doing business?

The only business experience I've had with evading Gov. restrictions was in Japan and the unit got the total death penalty. I wasnt aware of the evasion until after the fact though, so please don't think I had anything to do with it. Anyway, BABA seems comparatively egarious to me but yeah I don't know the culture.
Last edited by in_reality on Fri Sep 19, 2014 10:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: AliBaba

Post by camptalcott »

pennstater2005 wrote:And the forty thieves.

Oh thank God, I couldn't have been the only person who says that every time I hear Alibaba!! :D

I'm not buying individual stocks right now and I definitely don't have 75K I gamble with so I'm out.
"He who dies with the most toys is still, nonetheless dead"
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gardemanger
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Re: AliBaba

Post by gardemanger »

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves *is* the origin of the company's name. The selection of BABA as the ticker symbol also happens to helpfully have good-luck connotations in Chinese (presumably they consciously chose that instead of some other selection of letters from the name.)


One day I was in San Francisco in a coffee shop, and I was thinking Alibaba is a good name. And then a waitress came, and I said, "Do you know about Alibaba?" And she said yes. I said, "What do you know about Alibaba?", and she said, "Alibaba and 40 thieves". And I said, "Yes, this is the name!" Then I went onto the street and found 30 people and asked them, "Do you know Alibaba?" People from India, people from Germany, people from Tokyo and China … they all knew about Alibaba. Alibaba — open sesame. Alibaba is a kind, smart business person, and he helped the village. So … easy to spell, and globally known. Alibaba opens sesame for small- to medium-sized companies. We also registered the name "Alimama", in case someone wants to marry us!"[9][10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alibaba_Group
Last edited by gardemanger on Fri Sep 19, 2014 10:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: AliBaba

Post by Yesterdaysnews »

I tried to get some shares at IPO price via family friend at MS. Of course, got nothing. :(

Having said that, I dabble in buying IPOs by requesting shares often and usually getting a small amount per offering. It is fun and pretty profitable. Problem is that it is not a scalable strategy because of how difficult it is to get shares at IPO price for anything good.

Like they say, if you want it it you can't get it, and if you can get it you don't want it! LOL :greedy
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Re: AliBaba

Post by pshonore »

deleted
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parsi1
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Re: AliBaba

Post by parsi1 »

They didn't let them go public in Hong Kong because of technical issue, they are going public here and people are going GooGoo GaaGaa.
No I am not buying
Howard Donnelly
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Re: AliBaba

Post by Howard Donnelly »

Regarding IPOs, Warren Buffett had this to say: "The only time to buy these is on a day with no y in it."
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Re: AliBaba

Post by ivyhedge »

parsi1 wrote:They didn't let them go public in Hong Kong because of technical issue, they are going public here and people are going GooGoo GaaGaa.
No I am not buying
The primary non starter for an HK IPO was the dual share class structure.
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Re: AliBaba

Post by kd2008 »

Already reached a high of 99.25 & heading down. Those who got in & out, got in pretty good. IPO strategy is not a good strategy for those who don't want to pay attention to the markets. Include me in that. But my good friend has a stomach for volatility and reads company filings and what not. He has turned $15,000 borrowed on credit card 0% balance transfer in 2008 to $180,000 by now. Of course, he is retired and manages rental units, lunches with his mom everyday and is set in every way. He couldn't care less about losing $15,000. Fortune favors the brave, and also crazy.
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Re: AliBaba

Post by Austintatious »

ivyhedge wrote:
flyingaway wrote:Do you buy a company's stock just because you believe that it will go up in a short time period, or because you believe fundamentally that the company is good?
Mostly the latter (if I read "good" as "financially fundamentally promising"). I rarely sell anything and the majority of our (public) domestic holdings are individual equities (DGI).

Folks questioned why I bought into GOOG, FB, XMSR, PTR, and MBLY early. I didn't. This is part of our IPS.
The problem with this IPO is that you're not buying the company's stock. You're buying a piece of a shell corporation in the Caymans that is based on the company's profits. To the extent an investor typically has some rights as a shareholder in a company, it won't be the case here since Chinese law prevents it. That old rule about not investing in what you don't (I'd add "can't") understand seems to apply.
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Re: AliBaba

Post by cfs »

Methedras wrote:
cfs wrote:Investing in BABA?

Just wondering who picked this symbol, there is a baba word in Spanish--saliva dripping out of the mouth is baba.
I think the word you are looking for is drool.
Correcto, baba is drool.
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miles monroe
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Re: AliBaba

Post by miles monroe »

this reminds me of the internet stock frenzy of the 90's.

look out below when the lock out period (90 days!!!) expires.
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Re: AliBaba

Post by ivyhedge »

Austintatious wrote:
ivyhedge wrote:
flyingaway wrote:Do you buy a company's stock just because you believe that it will go up in a short time period, or because you believe fundamentally that the company is good?
Mostly the latter (if I read "good" as "financially fundamentally promising"). I rarely sell anything and the majority of our (public) domestic holdings are individual equities (DGI).

Folks questioned why I bought into GOOG, FB, XMSR, PTR, and MBLY early. I didn't. This is part of our IPS.
The problem with this IPO is that you're not buying the company's stock. You're buying a piece of a shell corporation in the Caymans that is based on the company's profits. To the extent an investor typically has some rights as a shareholder in a company, it won't be the case here since Chinese law prevents it. That old rule about not investing in what you don't (I'd add "can't") understand seems to apply.
What you've said is true. I know exactly what I bought. I wouldn't have invested had I not. I assume your comment was directed at others.
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Re: AliBaba

Post by ivyhedge »

kd2008 wrote:Already reached a high of 99.25 & heading down. Those who got in & out, got in pretty good. IPO strategy is not a good strategy for those who don't want to pay attention to the markets. Include me in that. But my good friend has a stomach for volatility and reads company filings and what not. He has turned $15,000 borrowed on credit card 0% balance transfer in 2008 to $180,000 by now. Of course, he is retired and manages rental units, lunches with his mom everyday and is set in every way. He couldn't care less about losing $15,000. Fortune favors the brave, and also crazy.
Here's to the crazy; here's the foolish; here's to the planners; here's to the structured. :sharebeer
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hornet96
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Re: AliBaba

Post by hornet96 »

miles monroe wrote:look out below when the lock out period (90 days!!!) expires.
I actually don't think there is even a lock up period for this IPO (based on what I read this morning), making this thing all the more suspicious. Given the opacity of the governance structure, the lack of independent directors on the board, the ability of the significant insiders to basically do whatever they want with capital allocation decisions without regard to shareholder pressures, and the well documented "softness" of the reliability of reported Chinese company financial statements......this smells like a recipe for disaster, to me.

Current share price looks to be $90.77. I'm documenting this as a reference point for the future to see how my prediction turns out.
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Re: AliBaba

Post by cfs »

jdb wrote:
ivyhedge wrote:
cfs wrote:Investing in BABA?

Just wondering who picked this symbol, there is a baba word in Spanish--saliva dripping out of the mouth is baba.
Since no tone is mentioned (there are four in Mandarin), assume the generic for "ba": 8, which is an historically "lucky" number for Chinese (also has secondary meanings as "wealth" and "prosperity"). Double-8, like the phrase, "double happiness", is that much luckier! The company's tradition station this morning for the open is also ... Post 8 at the NYSE.
Like pennstater I thought it was from Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. May be more symbolic.
A large percentage of Americans are aware of the name Ali Baba from the old movie (that's why Mister Ma picked this name for his company, it was easy to recognize and easy to remember), now that BA (as in 8) and BABA (88) is a good one, thanks.
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pennstater2005
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Re: AliBaba

Post by pennstater2005 »

camptalcott wrote:
pennstater2005 wrote:And the forty thieves.

Oh thank God, I couldn't have been the only person who says that every time I hear Alibaba!! :D

I'm not buying individual stocks right now and I definitely don't have 75K I gamble with so I'm out.
Actually I was thinking of this: Go to 1min 35 seconds of clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIikcGo_dgU

:D
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Re: AliBaba

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

cfs wrote:
jdb wrote:
ivyhedge wrote:
cfs wrote:Investing in BABA?

Just wondering who picked this symbol, there is a baba word in Spanish--saliva dripping out of the mouth is baba.
Since no tone is mentioned (there are four in Mandarin), assume the generic for "ba": 8, which is an historically "lucky" number for Chinese (also has secondary meanings as "wealth" and "prosperity"). Double-8, like the phrase, "double happiness", is that much luckier! The company's tradition station this morning for the open is also ... Post 8 at the NYSE.
Like pennstater I thought it was from Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. May be more symbolic.
A large percentage of Americans are aware of the name Ali Baba from the old movie (that's why Mister Ma picked this name for his company, it was easy to recognize and easy to remember), now that BA (as in 8) and BABA (88) is a good one, thanks.
I'm sure Cassius Clay would be pleased that a company has been named after him. Are they now proclaiming to be the Greatest Double Eights to have traded or maybe the Craziest Double Eights would be more appropriate? :P
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SuperSaver
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Re: AliBaba

Post by SuperSaver »

To suggest one can't make a handsome fortune on IPO's is just foolish and silly.

For some actual facts, look here (hits and misses):
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014 ... ibaba.html

The busts had glaring weaknesses that GOOGLE, facebook, and Alibaba do not: they were untried models, failed to monitize, and had serious competitions.

Put your $1000 in BABA Monday, and thank me in 3y
ArthurO
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Re: AliBaba

Post by ArthurO »

Chan_va wrote:
ArthurO wrote:1000 shares at $75, it goes to 90 or more I sell, can't get it on 2ndary market for that price, I don't buy, I get it and goes down, hold it for long term, this is my gambling money....
Arthur, if your gambling money is $75k, you must be in a different league in net worth. If you had mentioned that, people wouldn't have given you such a hard time about the suit and watch :)
I don't think i am in differen league in net worth comparing to other people, I am certainly not on the bottom of the pack but certainly I still need a job and still need to save in order to be employment independent and one day market independent if or when i win the game.

yes i can invest $75k of my play money in one stock but as I said this is my play money. I started playing market about 10 years ago with 15k, lucky for me I bought Bank of America, CITI Group AIG and few others when market tanked in 2008 and subsequently sold my holdings and multiplied my play money x11, i guess it is pure luck but I am doing well with my play money even comparing to my diversified vanguard portfolio, in fact way better.

I choose though to be a boglehead for the long term, I gamble for fun, i don't gamble with my future and my independence, hence i am a bogle head.

I also have a very conservative portfolio of bonds and CDs which is meant for present consumption, my return is about 3% annual but zero risk, no bond funds but only direct bonds and CDs, yes inflation is a risk but running at 2.5% average at least i am making a little and I reinvest half of the income and spend half, hence I can afford Zegna Suit, I can afford Hamilton watch, my critical mass is large enough in this portfolio so that 1.5% amounts to something substantial.

Sometimes I wonder if i would be better off just having all my assets split in 60/40 portfolio, I simply don't know, I am comfortable with a bucket of safe assets for present consumption, bucket of diversified assets for the retirement, and a bucket of play money that I can go crazy with and have no regrets if I lose it all, so far i am doing the best with my play bucket :), irony of a boglehead being able to time the market and buy individual stocks :)
4nursebee
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Re: AliBaba

Post by 4nursebee »

I must be on the wrong forum.
Could someone point me out to the bogleheads forum? It is a place where long term investors that have done well remind me to run the marathon to finish well. They typically have join dates from a long time ago when they start a topic.
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ivyhedge
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Re: AliBaba

Post by ivyhedge »

4nursebee wrote:I must be on the wrong forum.
Could someone point me out to the bogleheads forum? It is a place where long term investors that have done well remind me to run the marathon to finish well. They typically have join dates from a long time ago when they start a topic.
Would you rather those of us with extensive investment backgrounds divergent from yours and the occasional desire to write - and read - about investments other than index exposure leave you to constantly rehash 3-fund portfolios? [OT comment removed by admin LadyGeek]

Run the marathon. Your only goal is to finish. [OT comment removed by admin LadyGeek]
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cfs
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Re: AliBaba

Post by cfs »

4nursebee wrote:I must be on the wrong forum.
Could someone point me out to the bogleheads forum? It is a place where long term investors that have done well remind me to run the marathon to finish well. They typically have join dates from a long time ago when they start a topic.
Welcome to M* Janus Junction !!!

Note, not everyone is participating in the largest pyramid scheme IPO in history.
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Austintatious
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Re: AliBaba

Post by Austintatious »

a flow chart that may be helpful to "regular people" thinking about buying "shares" of Alibaba

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/1 ... f=business
hicabob
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Re: AliBaba

Post by hicabob »

Looking at their website is quite interesting - it helped me get some appreciation of what it's about.
After you look at something for a while "sell offers" start to come to the webpage - very competitive pricing as you would expect

http://www.alibaba.com/
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