Hey guys, I am a finance writer that wants opinions about my latest piece.

[Evangelion335]

I had originally planned on submitting my piece on Bitcoin to reddit, but reddit rarely gives CONSTRUCTIVE notes. If I were to post my article on this board would that violate any rules or good manners? I want advice from seasoned traders rather than the group of children on reddit.

[bjl584]

You're not going to be able to post a link until you have a certain number of posts.

Send me a PM.
I'd be willing to take a look at it.

[Evangelion335]

You're not going to be able to post a link until you have a certain number of posts.

Send me a PM.
I'd be willing to take a look at it.

Thanks, I sent you the message. I appreciate the help. This isn't so much me advertising my article as much as I want opinions from traders that have a decade or two in traditional markets. It is getting difficult to find you guys...

[disneysteve]

You’re not going to find seasoned Bitcoin traders here. You’re going to find people who mainly invest traditionally with stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, and real estate. A couple of gold bugs but that’s about as speculative as this group tends to be. If you do a search you’ll probably find a couple of threads about Bitcoin where we weren’t terribly kind to those who get involved in that nonsense.

[Evangelion335]

You’re not going to find seasoned Bitcoin traders here. You’re going to find people who mainly invest traditionally with stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, and real estate. A couple of gold bugs but that’s about as speculative as this group tends to be. If you do a search you’ll probably find a couple of threads about Bitcoin where we weren’t terribly kind to those who get involved in that nonsense.

That's actually why I'm here, I want a traditionalist opinion.

[Scallywag]

I consider myself "experienced" and I could not understand Bitcoin, oil trading, futures & options, leverages (including leveraged ETFs) and other derivative products. I doubt I am a minority. I did try to read up on these "investments" but really couldn't understand how they worked, so I gave up (but not before losing $$$$ trying to trade them). I am in my mid-40s and previously worked in IT so I am not exactly "ancient" or "technically challenged".

The idea of electronic currency scares me, to be frank. I like money in the bank that I can access at any time at any place. Cold hard greenbacks, so to speak, so I'll pass on Bitcoin unless it becomes the default global currency.

I feel far more comfortable investing in land, gold, high quality stocks of companies with healthy almost debt free balance sheets and good growth stock mutual funds. I also recently lost quite a bit of money trading UCO / SCO so yeah I am done!

No leverages, leveraged products, derivatives, commodities or Bitcoin for me.

[disneysteve]

I consider myself "experienced" and I could not understand Bitcoin

Yeah, same here. I read up on it. I think I started a thread here asking about it. I still to this day don't understand it at all. It essentially doesn't exist. It's just a couple of lines of computer code stored on some server somewhere that someone decided had value, though nobody can decide what that value actually is. The value has fluctuated wildly since it was created.

At least gold and silver, absolutely horrid investment vehicles, are tangible solid real things that do have some commercial value. Bitcoin is nothing.

[Petunia 100]

Bitcoin, as far as I can tell, is speculating. IMO, speculating and investing are two entirely different things. Personally, I have no interest in speculating.

[disneysteve]

Bitcoin, as far as I can tell, is speculating. IMO, speculating and investing are two entirely different things. Personally, I have no interest in speculating.

There's nothing fundamentally wrong with speculating as long as you are fully aware of the fact that that's what you're doing and understand the risks involved. If you have a well-diversified portfolio and want to take a small amount, like under 5% of your money, and make a really risky bet on something speculative, go right ahead. But as you said, Petunia, don't ever confuse speculating with investing. Speculation should never be the basis of your financial plan.

[Scallywag]

Day traders invariably tend to lose money.

[Evangelion335]

Petunia 100 - If you would describe how they are different it would help, i personally do not see how you can separate the two.
Scallywag - My article is actually exactly about that and easy ways to understand it (BTC value)
@disneysteve - My article is about bitcoin existing in physical space and how to appreciate that

[Petunia 100]

Petunia 100 - If you would describe how they are different it would help, i personally do not see how you can separate the two.

A corporation carries on some sort of business activity which hopefully results in a profit. Owning a piece of that corporation translates to participating in that profit (or loss).

A bond is a debt instrument. Someone has borrowed money and has promised to repay it with interest. Owning some of that debt translates to receiving some of that interest.

Buying an inanimate object which provides no practical benefit to the owner is just speculating. You are hoping that someone else will pay more than you did. Bitcoin has no practical use. It does not provide a good or service which others need or want, in the way that a business does. It will not accrue any interest in the way that a bond does. It's not going to earn any money; it is just there.