That's why the Bitcoin boom is so upsetting, because Bitcoin actually is like what Ellie is saying, it's like Dutch tulip bulbs, expensive only for being expensive without actually producing anything
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Replying to @arthur_affect @chton and
And the fact that investors jumped on Bitcoin and made it into a bubble is a sign we may be in a bubble economy generally
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I agree on this, but that's sort of the point, too. The difference between bitcoin and stock isn't that big, they're both pure speculation markets, and unrestricted speculation leads to bubble and pop cycles.
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Replying to @chton @arthur_affect and
Even beyond Arthur's point about how stocks are supposed to pay dividends over time, they're also worth something more concrete than bitcoin - namely, some infinitesimal fraction of the company's assets, which are physical objects for many companies
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Replying to @LizardOrman @arthur_affect and
That's true, but that's the part that's impossible to cash out on. A share represents ownership, but ownership can't be exchanged for those goods so the worth isn't defined by that. The worth is defined by "how much money would people give to be the owner of a bit of Amazon".
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Replying to @chton @LizardOrman and
I remember learning about futures and how frustrated I was when I learned that they don't get your address and where to put the shares of soybeans should your futures mature before you sell them
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Replying to @BootlegGirl @chton and
AFAIK you can actually buy futures contracts that "settle by delivery" (as opposed to settle by cash) you just generally don't because 1) it's impractical for the day traders, and 2) a single contract is usually for enormous quantities of commodity, e.g. 500 tons of iron ore
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Replying to @LizardOrman @BootlegGirl and
AIUI even for those there's a central exchange that they deliver to... I remember reading someone pointing that out in debunking the "oops i accidentally had a barge of coal delivered to the office" urban legend.
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Replying to @Random832 @LizardOrman and
Here's an article about someone who accidentally ordered 1.3 million eggs. http://web.archive.org/web/20090925022603/www.minyanville.com/articles/futures-contracts-expiration-soybeans-eggs-oil-crude-chicago-trade-mercantile/index/a/24547 …
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Replying to @Random832 @LizardOrman and
I saw someone posted and deleted a tweet about the coal thing - I did find the article, along with the skeptical reactions in the comments... here it is so people can read it and judge for themselves:https://thedailywtf.com/articles/Special-Delivery …
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Yeah I remember reading a fanciful children's book about a savant kid who becomes an investor under a fake adult identity to get some return on his summer job income and becomes a secret millionaire
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Replying to @arthur_affect @Random832 and
Only to make a minor error and get caught when trucks deliver 20,000 bushels of wheat to his address that pile up in his yard
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