What other tech stock to consider?

[FluxCap]

Very interesting day. I did buy BABA on the dip to $90 where I placed my buy order. That looks good. On the other side I quickly exited the remainder of my YHOO LEAPS at a nice profit BUT my Oct YHOO calls look a bit sickly.

Yep, interesting indeed. Congrats on BABA trade - are you holding it or selling it soon?

I would be terrified holding YHOO calls right now, in fact I'm thinking of buying puts. Some measures of valuation of YHOO value its core business at essentially zero or negative in relation to BABA at $90.

 

[AlMc]

Yep, interesting indeed. Congrats on BABA trade - are you holding it or selling it soon?

I would be terrified holding YHOO calls right now, in fact I'm thinking of buying puts. Some measures of valuation of YHOO value its core business at essentially zero or negative in relation to BABA at $90.

I will hold half my position until 20%gain or loss; then sit on the other half. I was hoping for $100 plus yesterday with all the froth around the IPO and that would have helped my Oct YHOO calls. My YHOO LEAPS were up quite a bit so they will cover any loss on those Oct calls easily but I am still hoping to at least break even on the calls.....probably won't though.
I have been accumulating MBLY but missed on GPRO having bought and sold the IPO week thinking how smart I was to make some money before the stock dropped...big mistake! Should have held that one.

 

[Thora]

I am considering investing in BABA. Why is YHOO suggested as a good way to invest in BABA?

 

[ggr]

I am considering investing in BABA. Why is YHOO suggested as a good way to invest in BABA?

Yahoo owns a big chunk of Alibaba; pre-dilution it was about 20% IIRC. But looked the other way, an even larger chunk of Yahoo's profitability, given that the rest of their business seems to be not doing so well, is based on Alibaba doing well.

 

[Thora]

Yahoo owns a big chunk of Alibaba; pre-dilution it was about 20% IIRC. But looked the other way, an even larger chunk of Yahoo's profitability, given that the rest of their business seems to be not doing so well, is based on Alibaba doing well.

Thanks for explaining Yahoo's link to Alibaba.

It might be obvious to some posters here but I am still not clear why people are investing in Yahoo rather than BABA directly.

 

[AlMc]

Thanks for explaining Yahoo's link to Alibaba.

It might be obvious to some posters here but I am still not clear why people are investing in Yahoo rather than BABA directly.

People invested (stocks/options) in Yahoo prior to the BABA opening because we small retail investors could not get in on the IPO pricing easily. So, if one's thesis was that BABA would soar to say $100+ quickly it was a way to get IPO pricing and the run up through an investment in YAHOO. It worked well for J16 LEAPS:biggrin: I bought about 6 weeks or so ago and sold (half before/half day of IPO) but not so well for some Oct calls that I am still sitting on:scared:

 

[ggr]

People invested (stocks/options) in Yahoo prior to the BABA opening because we small retail investors could not get in on the IPO pricing easily. So, if one's thesis was that BABA would soar to say $100+ quickly it was a way to get IPO pricing and the run up through an investment in YAHOO. It worked well for J16 LEAPS:biggrin: I bought about 6 weeks or so ago and sold (half before/half day of IPO) but not so well for some Oct calls that I am still sitting on:scared:

You planned for it fairly far in advance, and I applaud this. By the time I tried to do it, after people started to talk about the connection, most of the expectations were already priced in. Once you hear about it from someone else, it is usually too late.

 

[Chickenlittle]

You planned for it fairly far in advance, and I applaud this. By the time I tried to do it, after people started to talk about the connection, most of the expectations were already priced in. Once you hear about it from someone else, it is usually too late.

There was no way to short baba, only by shorting yhoo. That is what you ran into. Also inept yhoo management. Recently sold off a stake in baba at low price then sold shares in initial offering at 68. Yhoo should rebound when shorts cover but given their history would not bet on yhoo long term

 

[Lump]

Softbank of Japan owns 34% of BABA, its one of the greatest investment of all time, 14 years ago Masayoshi Son invested $20 million into BABA & today that stake is worth over $50 Billion., YHOO & SFTBY are troubled company's but I would go with SFTBY if I wasn't going to purchase BABA direct.
SoftBanks Alibaba Alchemy: How to Turn $20 Million Into $50 Billion - Digits - WSJ

 

[TSLAopt]

Seeing all these people buying up all of these expensive IPOs makes me feel like we are in a macro stock market bubble...
TSLA is one thing because I study it so carefully (over 1000 hours in past 2-3 years) and feel confident in the long run it will I dominate, but these other new IPOs and other stocks mentioned on here I'm not sure about because I haven't studied them carefully enough. Perhaps others of you have though so I do not want to prejudge.

however, does anyone on here have any 'short' ideas? Or are we all bulls on just about every tech stock and new IPO out there, this is what makes me nervous.

 

[AudubonB]

Ask me tomorrow what company's product I'm fed up with, as I'll be selling all our shares after a glorious run. But I don't think I'll recommend shorting it.
One company I truly despise - as owner of a service business - is Groupon. Here in AK, there is an astonishingly close correlation between low-quality operators and those who use Groupon...and the subsequent dissatisfaction of tourists who thought they were snagging A Great Deal when the opposite is the case. But I do not know how is the situation in the lesser-48, or abroad, with GRPN.

I absolutely agree that to the extent "we're all bulls on every tech stock" should give all of us the willies/heebie-jeebies.

 

[Thora]

People invested (stocks/options) in Yahoo prior to the BABA opening because we small retail investors could not get in on the IPO pricing easily. So, if one's thesis was that BABA would soar to say $100+ quickly it was a way to get IPO pricing and the run up through an investment in YAHOO. It worked well for J16 LEAPS:biggrin: I bought about 6 weeks or so ago and sold (half before/half day of IPO) but not so well for some Oct calls that I am still sitting on:scared:

Thanks now it makes sense

 

[Auzie]

One company I truly despise - as owner of a service business - is Groupon. Here in AK, there is an astonishingly close correlation between low-quality operators and those who use Groupon...and the subsequent dissatisfaction of tourists who thought they were snagging A Great Deal when the opposite is the case. But I do not know how is the situation in the lesser-48, or abroad, with GRPN.

I absolutely agree that to the extent "we're all bulls on every tech stock" should give all of us the willies/heebie-jeebies.

Agree with you regarding selling services through Groupon. I use Groupon to buy some discounted low value goods but not services.

I considered investing in Groupon a year ago and now I am glad that I ruled it out as just another internet site.

 

[anticitizen13.7]

Seeing all these people buying up all of these expensive IPOs makes me feel like we are in a macro stock market bubble...
TSLA is one thing because I study it so carefully (over 1000 hours in past 2-3 years) and feel confident in the long run it will I dominate, but these other new IPOs and other stocks mentioned on here I'm not sure about because I haven't studied them carefully enough.

It's tough to study and keep up with multiple companies. I followed the automobile industry for many years prior to Tesla because of my interest in transportation, and when Tesla drove onto the industry scene, it was only natural for me to study it because the company was such an outlier in an industry dominated by old companies.

I don't really have time to keep up with Yahoo or GoPro or Alibaba, though I did skim some news articles on Alibaba, its successes, and its legal oddities.

Basically I ask myself (1) Do I understand this company and its industry? (2) Do I have confidence in the company's vision and leadership? (3) How difficult is this company's business model to replicate? Only if I am confident in my answers to these questions would I consider investment. Where Alibaba is concerned, I can't satisfactorily answer these 3 questions... so it's a no go for me.

 

[FluxCap]

Like the title of his article, this guy may actually be off his rocker, but I can't say some of his points don't ring true. This Alibaba IPO feeding frenzy has me spooked. Feels a bit like 1998/99 to me.

They Do Ring A Bell At The Top: Alibaba Proves Wall Street Is Off Its Rocker | David Stockmans Contra Corner

- - - Updated - - -

Seeing all these people buying up all of these expensive IPOs makes me feel like we are in a macro stock market bubble...
TSLA is one thing because I study it so carefully (over 1000 hours in past 2-3 years) and feel confident in the long run it will I dominate, but these other new IPOs and other stocks mentioned on here I'm not sure about because I haven't studied them carefully enough. Perhaps others of you have though so I do not want to prejudge.

however, does anyone on here have any 'short' ideas? Or are we all bulls on just about every tech stock and new IPO out there, this is what makes me nervous.

I share your concerns man. Tesla is a once in a lifetime company that will survive and thrive even through adversity, but the rest of the market looks precariously like a casino right now.

 

[Auzie]

BABA is not an underdog

This Alibaba IPO feeding frenzy has me spooked. Feels a bit like 1998/99 to me.

They Do Ring A Bell At The Top: Alibaba Proves Wall Street Is Off Its Rocker | David Stockmans Contra Corner

I share your concerns man. Tesla is a once in a lifetime company that will survive and thrive even through adversity, but the rest of the market looks precariously like a casino right now.

For a very brief time I considered BABA as a potential investment. It's main strength seems to be its main weakness as well - it is Chinese business, so sheer numbers of potential customers are hard to match. On the other side, Chinese businesses are on totally different maturity levels and risks due to low maturity far outweigh any business potential, at least for me.

The other significant factor that pushed me against investing was the frenzy and hype around BABA IPO. If all the crowd is chasing it then it is most likely overpriced.

Last but not the least, it is just another website based business, low barriers to entry. Plenty of competition. I failed to see anything new that BABA as a business is bringing to the table. I could be wrong.

BABA might do well but not my cup of tea.

Underdogs like Tesla are far better bet. Tesla is still an underdog in some ways as they have so many stakeholders stacked against their business - long odds to beat. But the longer the odds the sweeter it is!!!

 

[AudubonB]

Have any of you ever actually tried to use Alibaba? Unbeknownst to me - until we discussed the IPO - my wife had had the identical experience that I had undergone. Both of us had the feeling of "eewww...no way would I place an order for any of that...and now I gotta go disinfect my computer" after babasearching. Now, this probably is an Americentric response, and to be weighed against the obvious success Alibaba has had in China. I think it does, however, suggest the company has quite a ways to go before providing competition to, for example, Amazon or the well-entrenched western world's on-line retailers like Costco.com and so forth.

 

[dalalsid]

Have any of you ever actually tried to use Alibaba? Unbeknownst to me - until we discussed the IPO - my wife had had the identical experience that I had undergone. Both of us had the feeling of "eewww...no way would I place an order for any of that...and now I gotta go disinfect my computer" after babasearching. Now, this probably is an Americentric response, and to be weighed against the obvious success Alibaba has had in China. I think it does, however, suggest the company has quite a ways to go before providing competition to, for example, Amazon or the well-entrenched western world's on-line retailers like Costco.com and so forth.

The retail site for alibaba is aliexpress and I haven't bought from there but wouldn't mind doing so. I've bought a couple of things from amazon/ebay that were shipped from China and I would think aliexpress would be a similar experience.

 

[Chris TX]

Did anyone else pick up some Bitcoin when it dropped recently to ~$375? I have a good sized ASIC scrypt mining operation that pays out in BTC, but it was too good to pass up on the USD/BTC exchange rate.

 

[clmason]

Ask me tomorrow what company's product I'm fed up with, as I'll be selling all our shares after a glorious run. But I don't think I'll recommend shorting it.
One company I truly despise - as owner of a service business - is Groupon. Here in AK, there is an astonishingly close correlation between low-quality operators and those who use Groupon...and the subsequent dissatisfaction of tourists who thought they were snagging A Great Deal when the opposite is the case. But I do not know how is the situation in the lesser-48, or abroad, with GRPN.

I absolutely agree that to the extent "we're all bulls on every tech stock" should give all of us the willies/heebie-jeebies.

What company did you sell? or was it Groupon? not sure how to decipher you post