iBankCoin
18 years in Wall Street, left after finding out it was all horseshit. Founder/ Master and Commander: iBankCoin, finance news and commentary from the future.
Joined Nov 10, 2007
23,417 Blog Posts

Happy to be Speculating Again

The term speculation gets such a bad rap from snooty value investors, older men clad in burlap frocks who wait 5 years to realize the upside in their investments. They like to deride speculators as gamblers, people who carelessly toss money into the wind whilst drinking large vats of red bull. I do not harbor any bad feelings towards the blackguardly peasants who meander in and out of my equities, for they provide me with liquidity. All of you value investors are now sucking from the end of a boot now, as high beta biotech names defy reason.

From the perspective of money management, speculation is a cardinal sin. Regulators are quick to label it as “churning” and compliance officers are fast to judge portfolio allocation models. If you are trying to raise capital for a hedge fund, it will be exceedingly difficult to accomplish if your investment style is susceptible to large draw downs. Everyone loves the value guy, cleverly making 10-20% per annum, never rocking the boat, always making himself a fortune.

I believe there is room for both value investing and speculation, with a portion of assets dedicated towards longer term thinking and a smaller swath of cash directed towards price discovery.

I’m up nearly 20% in TEDU and the trade hasn’t settled yet. I made 35% in XON and the stock is still running higher. I’m up 10% in DRNA and I bought it yesterday. I did all of this through speculating wisely. I wasn’t guessing when I bought them. I had an idea about where money flow was heading and I got in front of buyers–plain and simple.

Now this round of speculation might be coming to an end soon and many of my positions, like ANGI, SGEN, TEDU, DRNA, AEGR and GIMO might come under some selling pressure, placing yours truly back into the penalty box. Over the past month or so, I’ve managed to reduce my year-to-date losses from -37% to now -22.5%, following today’s showing. But these are the risks one takes in order to attempt to achieve greatness. Had I left my portfolio stuck in PG, KMT and WCC, I’d still be down 32% now, punching holes into the sheetrock for missing this run.

The market is the sum total of a sundry of investment strategies displayed in real time. Just because some people choose to rip in and out of stocks based upon non-traditional Graham-Dodd investment methods, that doesn’t mean they’re road slobs–booze hounding about Wall Street fixing to blow up his savings account.

I am happy to be speculating again and doing it with the panache and decorum befitting of a top hatted, sword swinging, gentlemen of the 33rd degree.

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23 comments

  1. clegger_2000

    Free Mason, eh?

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    • bluestar

      Not just a free mason but a 33rd degree! That is illuminati status. The Fly is at the top of the pyramid.

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      • Dr. Fly

        We like to call it “the capstone”.

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        • bluestar

          I stand corrected. Could you please post some pictures of your Eyes Wide Shut sex parties. That would be cool.

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  2. matt_bear

    never forget the Four Horsemen!

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  3. bigl

    U speak the truth

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    • iBlackCon

      honestly ya’ll some fuck ass kool aid sippers. ya’l are dumb as fuck, yall always up on Fly stylin, non-gucci ass tradin shit penny stocks “with liquidity” when the bald mick fake fronts n sucks more dick than kim kardashian on a good day, same with the “returns”, fuck that power cryin ass can’t manage a risk for shit if he was paid not from subs, try hard as fuck ya feel

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  4. confused

    You are still down so much this year on terrible stocks that you rode to bottom, managing the positions terribly, did you not learn your lesson??? Then again, you are just paper trading out of your moms basement from what Ive read

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  5. JPMorgains

    Last line is so money.

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  6. Biggranddaddy

    Ifon,dead money?

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  7. bruce keller

    My boss is a Mason, make him gimme a raise.

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  8. smartestone

    best stock picker i’ve seen

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  9. Drake sucks

    Ifon?

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    • bonobo smores

      Got out of IFON a couple of days ago. Hope it rises from its own ashes.

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  10. Dr Fly

    Ifon will rise again

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  11. bonobo smores

    In the ancient Roman army the speculatores were originally scouts who eventually took on the role of spies and hit men. Appropriate for the current market and widespread cultural phenomenon of government spying.

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  12. the roller

    There’s a word for “people who carelessly toss money into the wind”.

    And the word is, Tossers.

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  13. matt_bear

    A lot of World Cup selfies and dick pics are going to be snapped on ifon very kool’s in less than 48 hours.

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  14. dmg1

    Dave Brat is a good man.

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