Any MD/MBAs or traders?

[premed45]

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Just curious to see who's interested in the MD/MBA, and if any premeds are market savvy and do some trading on the side.

Feel free to post about the economy, market, maybe even healthcare companies, or other investment ideas.

 

[txprodigal]

Just curious to see who's interested in the MD/MBA, and if any premeds are market savvy and do some trading on the side.

Feel free to post about the economy, market, maybe even healthcare companies, or other investment ideas.

i used to work at a hedge fund and trade stocks

throw you money in a few diversified ETFs and let it be ... if trading was actually productive, you'd be on wall street banging out millions 😎

weak economy + inflation creeping up = uh oh

glad i decided to switch into healthcare

 

[JaggerPlate]

glad i decided to switch into healthcare

Yeah, healthcare is truly on a high note at the moment



Just kidding (sort of - I meant it in the sense that I'm not trying to be a jackass, but the state of it is kind of sad with 10% medicare cuts being approved yearly. The economy is crap anywhere you turn right now)

 

[premed45]

well with the market volatility, and the state of financial institutions, its no suprise that there is an increase towards more stable occupations.

I predict that we still have more downside, possibly with S&P500 down to 1100. Hopefully oil is in a bubble. As of now, Im sitting with mostly cash.

 

[Decicco]

I spend a good amount of time watching the market. I have a diversified ETF portfolio and a few long term calls (MSFT, YHOO, and C). I love the market and am sure it will eat up some of my free time in med school.

 

[TheRealMD]

I love this simple correlation.

Oil high = DJIA low.
Oil low = DJIA high.

I wonder what happens when we have no oil... 🙁

 

[xanthomondo]

just recently i started getting into stocks

it was a bad idea to get involved, all of them have been roller coasters

yaaayy earned 30% this week!
crap lost 50% the next
yaayy

repeat repeat repeat lol

 

[premed45]

well you would think that with high oil, industries in green energy would have a correlating trend, but its pretty crazy how oil affects everything. ex. PBW

 

[premed45]

i started virtually a few years ago, and just started a real portfolio this spring, which wa the worst possible timing.

 

[premed45]

msft, good company, good stats, but it doesn't trade very well. How long are your call contracts?

 

[Decicco]

msft, good company, good stats, but it doesn't trade very well. How long are your call contracts?

Jan 09--hopefully long enough. I can't believe how low they are. My C call expires in Jan '10, and I am much happier with that trade.

 

[nick_carraway]

I love this simple correlation.

Oil high = DJIA low.
Oil low = DJIA high.

I wonder what happens when we have no oil... 🙁

I think the Saudis and the Russians hate us. I think.

 

[nick_carraway]

Jan 09--hopefully long enough. I can't believe how low they are. My C call expires in Jan '10, and I am much happier with that trade.

How do you feel about MA?

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

i used to work at a hedge fund and trade stocks

throw you money in a few diversified ETFs and let it be ... if trading was actually productive, you'd be on wall street banging out millions 😎

weak economy + inflation creeping up = uh oh

glad i decided to switch into healthcare

Thanks, that's my take too. As a Chicago finance guy, I'd mostly take the tact that if there was easy $$ to be made, they hedge fund guys or arbs or fund managers with billions to control would have scooped it up.

Unless you have their access to data & contacts, I'd go with diversified index funds split between S&P 500, Wilshire 4500, international (as broad as possible, definitely NOT something like a Japanese tech stock fund, preferably a "far east fund" or similar) and corporate bond fund to hedge a bit. Possibly gold, too, as this tends to negatively correlate with the market.

Only exceptions would be:

1) person has insider info. But then again, is it worth trading on it?
2) small public companies, theoretically one could find a firm too small for the bulge bracket guys to mess around with.
3) very large portfolio; if one invests directly in stock, the investor can control when capital gains are taken rather than the fund deciding this for you.

Fun to follow the markets, in my opinion. I always get a kick out of those ads about how an investor can make a fortune investing in forwards or other options in which the investor actually takes on the risk of delivering the contract.

 

[txprodigal]

i started virtually a few years ago, and just started a real portfolio this spring, which wa the worst possible timing.

if you are investing for the long term, buying this spring might not have been such a bad idea, but if you were short term trading, maybe it was

Thanks, that's my take too. As a Chicago finance guy, I'd mostly take the tact that if there was easy $$ to be made, they hedge fund guys or arbs or fund managers with billions to control would have scooped it up.

1) person has insider info. But then again, is it worth trading on it?
2) small public companies, theoretically one could find a firm too small for the bulge bracket guys to mess around with.

insider trading happens a LOT among the wall street circles... it's a big gentleman's club and people try to help each other out with 'things they've heard'

the small public companies are also difficult to trade with, because the prices can be so volatile especially because one small trade can really move the price because market capitalization is so small

there are a lot of hedge funds out there (including my old firm) who focus on small cap stocks to make their large returns, so you're not completely safe with small companies

ETFs all the way!

 

[premed45]

ETFs are good, but you also need to do some research on their asset allocation, some of those funds are heavily invested in certain stocks or countries, leaving them less diversified than you think.

If anyone is interested in frontier markets (Africa and Middle East): TRAMX, volatile, but I think it'll have a nice return for a 5 to 10 year hold.

I think we're due for a short rally this month, and then more downside.

(I would go with V instead of MA)

 

[premed45]

There's the rally. I'd give it a few more days before we're back down again.