Facebook IPO thread (1 Viewer)

[Sinn Fein]

wow what a nice rally. Loving the volatility on this stock (been able to buy and sell to get good averaging). I still think people are grossly under-estimating the profit potential of a website with 700M+ user accounts. They could become the Streaming giant overnight (or similar). Buying Face.com (Face recognition software) Instagram (pics) and a host of other powerful companies. In 2 years, these prices are going to look EXTREMELY cheap.

I think the problem is that there isn't anything close to 700 million user accounts.Between duplicate accounts and spam accounts, I'd say at LEAST half of the accounts are fake.

It not that, exactly. Even if half are not real, that is still a large database of users, and their habits.But, what they are finding (I think) is that the amount of traffic through FB, is not translating to quality leads on the advertising. People see the adds, but don't act on them. Without quality leads, advertisers will shy away from FB. Its about the clicks, not the views.When you go to google - you are typically looking for information from a third-party source. When you go to FB, you are going there to read about friends & family, or post your own updates (or whatever else folks do on FB). It does not appear to be a place where you are likely to go to click on Ads - even if the ads were tailored to your habits. I say this as one of those folks who has a FB account, but rarely (once every couple of months) signs in. So, I could be wrong here, but this feels like a big disconnect between viewers and advertisers. In some ways, very similar to the battle for network TV - viewers ff through commercials on a dvr.

 

[Slapdash]

Apple is not helping them either. Still no true facebook app they will sign on to.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-57446522-501465/apples-tim-cook-hints-at-facebook-ios-integration/

I still fail to see what would be in it for Apple to go this route. They lose ecosystem control at the top level which up to this point they've done everything in their power to lock down. They have more money than god, and their users would be better for it to not have FB integration (but they likely don't know this).

Apple's #1 fanboy on FB integration

How did this guy defeat Goonsquad? iPhone jousting?

 

[tommyGunZ]

wow what a nice rally. Loving the volatility on this stock (been able to buy and sell to get good averaging). I still think people are grossly under-estimating the profit potential of a website with 700M+ user accounts. They could become the Streaming giant overnight (or similar). Buying Face.com (Face recognition software) Instagram (pics) and a host of other powerful companies. In 2 years, these prices are going to look EXTREMELY cheap.

I think the problem is that there isn't anything close to 700 million user accounts.Between duplicate accounts and spam accounts, I'd say at LEAST half of the accounts are fake.

It not that, exactly. Even if half are not real, that is still a large database of users, and their habits.But, what they are finding (I think) is that the amount of traffic through FB, is not translating to quality leads on the advertising. People see the adds, but don't act on them. Without quality leads, advertisers will shy away from FB. Its about the clicks, not the views.When you go to google - you are typically looking for information from a third-party source. When you go to FB, you are going there to read about friends & family, or post your own updates (or whatever else folks do on FB). It does not appear to be a place where you are likely to go to click on Ads - even if the ads were tailored to your habits. I say this as one of those folks who has a FB account, but rarely (once every couple of months) signs in. So, I could be wrong here, but this feels like a big disconnect between viewers and advertisers. In some ways, very similar to the battle for network TV - viewers ff through commercials on a dvr.

Yeah, eyeballs on content as a result of search would seem to be significantly more valuable than a random ad on the side of your FB screen. That being said, FB is the closest thing to "TV" on the web is so much as people spend more time there than any other site. And eyeballs on ads = $$$$$

 

[lumpy19]

In for 100 $25 puts w. 6/15 expiry for $44

Can you explain how that works? I always struggle to understand puts and short selling.

He paid 44 dollars for the right to sell 100 shares of FB at 25 dollars somewhere between now and 6/15.

I need to learn more about the stock market, this sounds awesome

 

[tommyGunZ]

Apple is not helping them either. Still no true facebook app they will sign on to.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-57446522-501465/apples-tim-cook-hints-at-facebook-ios-integration/

I still fail to see what would be in it for Apple to go this route. They lose ecosystem control at the top level which up to this point they've done everything in their power to lock down. They have more money than god, and their users would be better for it to not have FB integration (but they likely don't know this).

Apple's #1 fanboy on FB integration

How did this guy defeat Goonsquad? iPhone jousting?

 

[Slapdash]

In for 100 $25 puts w. 6/15 expiry for $44

Can you explain how that works? I always struggle to understand puts and short selling.

He paid 44 dollars for the right to sell 100 shares of FB at 25 dollars somewhere between now and 6/15.

I need to learn more about the stock market, this sounds awesome

Derivatives are very awesome.

 

[optionmaven]

In for 100 $25 puts w. 6/15 expiry for $44

Can you explain how that works? I always struggle to understand puts and short selling.

He paid 44 dollars for the right to sell 100 shares of FB at 25 dollars somewhere between now and 6/15.

I need to learn more about the stock market, this sounds awesome

Do it!! So much sweeter than sports gambling too. Read and practice, it all pays off in the end. I've made posts imploring and begging people to learn about options. They seem complicated, and you can make them that way too, but they really aren't. Individual investors who don't take advanage of what they offer, miss out on alot. Too big of a tool not to be utilized in your arsenal, even if you are a slow growth, low risk sort of guy. I know you're not that type, but those that are should take heed.

 

[Maelstrom]

wow what a nice rally. Loving the volatility on this stock (been able to buy and sell to get good averaging). I still think people are grossly under-estimating the profit potential of a website with 700M+ user accounts. They could become the Streaming giant overnight (or similar). Buying Face.com (Face recognition software) Instagram (pics) and a host of other powerful companies. In 2 years, these prices are going to look EXTREMELY cheap.

I think the problem is that there isn't anything close to 700 million user accounts.Between duplicate accounts and spam accounts, I'd say at LEAST half of the accounts are fake.

I've always argued this. Don't forget the people who signed up one time to appease a friend or a relative only to never log on again.

And on what are you basing those figures? Half of all Facebook accounts are either spam or duplicates? While I won't go so far as to say Facebook wouldn't lie, particularly coming up to the IPO, the way they calculate their user numbers means no where near half of all accounts could be spam or duplicates. They calculate them based on monthly activity. That means that unless people with duplicate accounts are logging those accounts on regularly (unlikely) and spammer accounts are never deleted (they are), they would not be counted towards the total number of accounts. It also means those that don't use Facebook, aren't counted. I believe there is a certain amount of duplication or spam accounts there, but nothing that would be considered significant. Facebook has actually been accused of undercounting users in the past.

Statistics901 million monthly active users at the end of March 2012.Approximately 80% of our monthly active users are outside the U.S. and Canada.526 million daily active users on average in March 2012.488 million monthly active users who used Facebook mobile products in March 2012, and more than 500 million mobile monthly active users as of April 20, 2012.During March 2012, on average 398 million users were active with Facebook on at least six out of the last seven days.

More that 2/3rds of their users are outside the US. I have no reason to believe they are lying when they publish the above stats.

 

[RUSF18]

Broke thru $26 for the first time about 45 mins ago.

 

[culdeus]

wow what a nice rally. Loving the volatility on this stock (been able to buy and sell to get good averaging). I still think people are grossly under-estimating the profit potential of a website with 700M+ user accounts. They could become the Streaming giant overnight (or similar). Buying Face.com (Face recognition software) Instagram (pics) and a host of other powerful companies. In 2 years, these prices are going to look EXTREMELY cheap.

I think the problem is that there isn't anything close to 700 million user accounts.Between duplicate accounts and spam accounts, I'd say at LEAST half of the accounts are fake.

I've always argued this. Don't forget the people who signed up one time to appease a friend or a relative only to never log on again.

And on what are you basing those figures? Half of all Facebook accounts are either spam or duplicates? While I won't go so far as to say Facebook wouldn't lie, particularly coming up to the IPO, the way they calculate their user numbers means no where near half of all accounts could be spam or duplicates. They calculate them based on monthly activity. That means that unless people with duplicate accounts are logging those accounts on regularly (unlikely) and spammer accounts are never deleted (they are), they would not be counted towards the total number of accounts. It also means those that don't use Facebook, aren't counted. I believe there is a certain amount of duplication or spam accounts there, but nothing that would be considered significant. Facebook has actually been accused of undercounting users in the past.

Statistics901 million monthly active users at the end of March 2012.Approximately 80% of our monthly active users are outside the U.S. and Canada.526 million daily active users on average in March 2012.488 million monthly active users who used Facebook mobile products in March 2012, and more than 500 million mobile monthly active users as of April 20, 2012.During March 2012, on average 398 million users were active with Facebook on at least six out of the last seven days.

More that 2/3rds of their users are outside the US. I have no reason to believe they are lying when they publish the above stats.

This thing is pretty skewed. Google got lampooned when they said that they had user rates that high for G+ as they were counting on people using periphrial products. Now when FB does it it's ok. All these people now use Facebook Connect to login to sites, many of which poll your account daily on phones. You don't even have to see facebook to get a count in that system, and as far as I know FB gets no revenue from connect. (yes?)

 

[Evilgrin 72]

Where's the buying point? 20? 18? 15?

 

[Sarnoff]

Where's the buying point? 20? 18? 15?

I posted somewhere earlier that a "fair market" value is about $12. So if you're looking for profit, I'd wait until single digits.

 

[Sinn Fein]

Where's the buying point? 20? 18? 15?

I think the 25-26 range is where a lot of folks had the value pegged prior to the IPO. I would expect to see a bit of a bounce tomorrow as institutional buyers get back in. Who knows though - feels like a lot of emotional trading right now.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

In for 100 $25 puts w. 6/15 expiry for $44

Can you explain how that works? I always struggle to understand puts and short selling.

He paid 44 dollars for the right to sell 100 shares of FB at 25 dollars somewhere between now and 6/15.

I need to learn more about the stock market, this sounds awesome

Do it!! So much sweeter than sports gambling too. Read and practice, it all pays off in the end. I've made posts imploring and begging people to learn about options. They seem complicated, and you can make them that way too, but they really aren't. Individual investors who don't take advanage of what they offer, miss out on alot. Too big of a tool not to be utilized in your arsenal, even if you are a slow growth, low risk sort of guy. I know you're not that type, but those that are should take heed.

Options traders are the first guys to jump out the window when the market bombs on them

 

[shader]

In for 100 $25 puts w. 6/15 expiry for $44

Can you explain how that works? I always struggle to understand puts and short selling.

He paid 44 dollars for the right to sell 100 shares of FB at 25 dollars somewhere between now and 6/15.

I need to learn more about the stock market, this sounds awesome

Options are definitely an awesome way to lose money fast.

 

[shader]

In for 100 $25 puts w. 6/15 expiry for $44

Can you explain how that works? I always struggle to understand puts and short selling.

He paid 44 dollars for the right to sell 100 shares of FB at 25 dollars somewhere between now and 6/15.

I need to learn more about the stock market, this sounds awesome

Do it!! So much sweeter than sports gambling too. Read and practice, it all pays off in the end. I've made posts imploring and begging people to learn about options. They seem complicated, and you can make them that way too, but they really aren't. Individual investors who don't take advanage of what they offer, miss out on alot. Too big of a tool not to be utilized in your arsenal, even if you are a slow growth, low risk sort of guy. I know you're not that type, but those that are should take heed.

Options traders are the first guys to jump out the window when the market bombs on them

Buying options is gambling, no question about it. Can you be successful? Yes. But you can also lose it all and lose it fast.If I'm buying a stock, I care about one thing. Will it go up? If I am reasonably confident that the stock will rise, all I have to do is buy it and wait for it to rise.With options you have to get two things right:1. Direction2. TimingSo not only do you have to know that a stock is going up, you have to have it start moving in that direction very quickly. If I think a stock will go up, and I buy a call option, my option will get decimated if it begins moving south. You can be right in direction and STILL lose money if it doesn't move your way in the right time frame.Very, very risky.That being said, there is a ton of money to be made if you time things right. If you buy put options right before a market crash, you can make loads of money.

 

[Evilgrin 72]

Where's the buying point? 20? 18? 15?

I posted somewhere earlier that a "fair market" value is about $12. So if you're looking for profit, I'd wait until single digits.

I don't think there's a fart's chance in a duststorm that it ever gets that low, at least not in the foreseeable future. Too ubiquitous a brand.

 

[Slapdash]

In for 100 $25 puts w. 6/15 expiry for $44

Can you explain how that works? I always struggle to understand puts and short selling.

He paid 44 dollars for the right to sell 100 shares of FB at 25 dollars somewhere between now and 6/15.

I need to learn more about the stock market, this sounds awesome

Do it!! So much sweeter than sports gambling too. Read and practice, it all pays off in the end. I've made posts imploring and begging people to learn about options. They seem complicated, and you can make them that way too, but they really aren't. Individual investors who don't take advanage of what they offer, miss out on alot. Too big of a tool not to be utilized in your arsenal, even if you are a slow growth, low risk sort of guy. I know you're not that type, but those that are should take heed.

Options traders are the first guys to jump out the window when the market bombs on them

Buying options is gambling, no question about it. Can you be successful? Yes. But you can also lose it all and lose it fast.If I'm buying a stock, I care about one thing. Will it go up? If I am reasonably confident that the stock will rise, all I have to do is buy it and wait for it to rise.With options you have to get two things right:1. Direction2. TimingSo not only do you have to know that a stock is going up, you have to have it start moving in that direction very quickly. If I think a stock will go up, and I buy a call option, my option will get decimated if it begins moving south. You can be right in direction and STILL lose money if it doesn't move your way in the right time frame.Very, very risky.That being said, there is a ton of money to be made if you time things right. If you buy put options right before a market crash, you can make loads of money.

Opitions aren't just about nakedly speculating on a security like you have described. When properly used, an option strategy can be a very safe method of investment. The world is a lot broader than you let on here.

 

[Slapdash]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/47674474. Reads like a buy signal.

 

[moderated]

I thought Facebook was grossly over-valued at the IPO price. Currently it is tempting, it's basically a bet on whether they can monetize all the information they have on people.

There are tons of attention whores who love sharing everything about their lives and interests, i dont see that changing, now it's time for Facebook to make real money off these suckers giving up all their privacy voluntarily on a silver platter.

I think a 50 billion market cap is pretty fair value due to the potential, but it's still a major gamble. I love the below bill gates quote about information and its potential value. Can Facebook use all the information they have and win? That's the golden question.

"The most meaningful way to differentiate your company from your competitors, the best way to put distance between you and the crowd is to do an outstanding job with information. How you gather, manage and use information will determine whether you win or lose."

 

[culdeus]

So there are already stories out there about how the demand for shorting FB is so large that the orders will be nearly impossible to fill. The float on this thing is not stable enough to fufill them. Lol that the low float will prop this thing up.

What is the shorting date again?

 

[Maelstrom]

wow what a nice rally. Loving the volatility on this stock (been able to buy and sell to get good averaging). I still think people are grossly under-estimating the profit potential of a website with 700M+ user accounts. They could become the Streaming giant overnight (or similar). Buying Face.com (Face recognition software) Instagram (pics) and a host of other powerful companies. In 2 years, these prices are going to look EXTREMELY cheap.

I think the problem is that there isn't anything close to 700 million user accounts.Between duplicate accounts and spam accounts, I'd say at LEAST half of the accounts are fake.

I've always argued this. Don't forget the people who signed up one time to appease a friend or a relative only to never log on again.

And on what are you basing those figures? Half of all Facebook accounts are either spam or duplicates? While I won't go so far as to say Facebook wouldn't lie, particularly coming up to the IPO, the way they calculate their user numbers means no where near half of all accounts could be spam or duplicates. They calculate them based on monthly activity. That means that unless people with duplicate accounts are logging those accounts on regularly (unlikely) and spammer accounts are never deleted (they are), they would not be counted towards the total number of accounts. It also means those that don't use Facebook, aren't counted. I believe there is a certain amount of duplication or spam accounts there, but nothing that would be considered significant. Facebook has actually been accused of undercounting users in the past.

Statistics901 million monthly active users at the end of March 2012.Approximately 80% of our monthly active users are outside the U.S. and Canada.526 million daily active users on average in March 2012.488 million monthly active users who used Facebook mobile products in March 2012, and more than 500 million mobile monthly active users as of April 20, 2012.During March 2012, on average 398 million users were active with Facebook on at least six out of the last seven days.

More that 2/3rds of their users are outside the US. I have no reason to believe they are lying when they publish the above stats.

This thing is pretty skewed. Google got lampooned when they said that they had user rates that high for G+ as they were counting on people using periphrial products. Now when FB does it it's ok. All these people now use Facebook Connect to login to sites, many of which poll your account daily on phones. You don't even have to see facebook to get a count in that system, and as far as I know FB gets no revenue from connect. (yes?)

Yes, they don't currently get any direct revenue from connect. But that integration increases the numbers of businesses using Facebook, and businesses buy ads on Facebook.There is one other big reason (well, besides higher usage numbers) to count off-Facebook usage. If they are going to introduce Facebook Adsense (for lack of a better name), those users all of a sudden become really important. Plus, that is another way to monetize their users. My thoughts on Facebook are this. They could go the way of Google and Yahoo as the CNBC article states. But if that is the "low end" result, that really isn't all that bad. And regardless of how you count the number of Facebook users, it is still a lot of people, and that means there are a lot of different ways to monetize the business. I don't think Facebook ads on their website is the only way, or even the best way, to monetize their website.

 

[optionmaven]

In for 100 $25 puts w. 6/15 expiry for $44

Can you explain how that works? I always struggle to understand puts and short selling.

He paid 44 dollars for the right to sell 100 shares of FB at 25 dollars somewhere between now and 6/15.

I need to learn more about the stock market, this sounds awesome

Do it!! So much sweeter than sports gambling too. Read and practice, it all pays off in the end. I've made posts imploring and begging people to learn about options. They seem complicated, and you can make them that way too, but they really aren't. Individual investors who don't take advanage of what they offer, miss out on alot. Too big of a tool not to be utilized in your arsenal, even if you are a slow growth, low risk sort of guy. I know you're not that type, but those that are should take heed.

Options traders are the first guys to jump out the window when the market bombs on them

Buying options is gambling, no question about it. Can you be successful? Yes. But you can also lose it all and lose it fast.If I'm buying a stock, I care about one thing. Will it go up? If I am reasonably confident that the stock will rise, all I have to do is buy it and wait for it to rise.With options you have to get two things right:1. Direction2. TimingSo not only do you have to know that a stock is going up, you have to have it start moving in that direction very quickly. If I think a stock will go up, and I buy a call option, my option will get decimated if it begins moving south. You can be right in direction and STILL lose money if it doesn't move your way in the right time frame.Very, very risky.That being said, there is a ton of money to be made if you time things right. If you buy put options right before a market crash, you can make loads of money.

Opitions aren't just about nakedly speculating on a security like you have described. When properly used, an option strategy can be a very safe method of investment. The world is a lot broader than you let on here.

Thank you Slap. I guess people just don't understand. Say I own 200 shares of xyz stock at 25. I also get a 4 % yield with a smal divvy. I read IBD and see market under pressure and buy a couple of puts to protect my position. Nothing fundamentally changed at company but macro environment unstable. Stock drops and I'm protected. Now say, I'm in xyx pharma stock and i'm hammered, buying at 12 and current price 9. I sell 12 long calls collecting a premium and if stock rallies i give it back at prices i bought at. Anyway, I could go on and on about how valuable they are. If you can't see that, i'm speechless.

 

[Fennis]

Where's the buying point? 20? 18? 15?

45

 

[humpback]

Opitions aren't just about nakedly speculating on a security like you have described. When properly used, an option strategy can be a very safe method of investment. The world is a lot broader than you let on here.

Thank you Slap. I guess people just don't understand. Say I own 200 shares of xyz stock at 25. I also get a 4 % yield with a smal divvy. I read IBD and see market under pressure and buy a couple of puts to protect my position. Nothing fundamentally changed at company but macro environment unstable. Stock drops and I'm protected. Now say, I'm in xyx pharma stock and i'm hammered, buying at 12 and current price 9. I sell 12 long calls collecting a premium and if stock rallies i give it back at prices i bought at. Anyway, I could go on and on about how valuable they are. If you can't see that, i'm speechless.

I agree that most people don't understand options, but I disagree that most people should try them out. They aren't as complicated as most people assume, but they aren't quite as simple as your hypotheticals above either. There are many other possible scenarios where your options would diminish your returns, not enhance or protect them.Most people don't have the know-how to properly manage their 401K's and IRA's, so they probably shouldn't be dabbling in options. Intermediate investors should look into them, but proceed with caution.

 

[FavreCo]

This thing is one ginormous POS.

 

[goonsquad]

In for 100 $25 puts w. 6/15 expiry for $44

Can you explain how that works? I always struggle to understand puts and short selling.

He paid 44 dollars for the right to sell 100 shares of FB at 25 dollars somewhere between now and 6/15.

I need to learn more about the stock market, this sounds awesome

Do it!! So much sweeter than sports gambling too. Read and practice, it all pays off in the end. I've made posts imploring and begging people to learn about options. They seem complicated, and you can make them that way too, but they really aren't. Individual investors who don't take advanage of what they offer, miss out on alot. Too big of a tool not to be utilized in your arsenal, even if you are a slow growth, low risk sort of guy. I know you're not that type, but those that are should take heed.

Options traders are the first guys to jump out the window when the market bombs on them

Buying options is gambling, no question about it. Can you be successful? Yes. But you can also lose it all and lose it fast.If I'm buying a stock, I care about one thing. Will it go up? If I am reasonably confident that the stock will rise, all I have to do is buy it and wait for it to rise.With options you have to get two things right:1. Direction2. TimingSo not only do you have to know that a stock is going up, you have to have it start moving in that direction very quickly. If I think a stock will go up, and I buy a call option, my option will get decimated if it begins moving south. You can be right in direction and STILL lose money if it doesn't move your way in the right time frame.Very, very risky.That being said, there is a ton of money to be made if you time things right. If you buy put options right before a market crash, you can make loads of money.

Opitions aren't just about nakedly speculating on a security like you have described. When properly used, an option strategy can be a very safe method of investment. The world is a lot broader than you let on here.

Thank you Slap. I guess people just don't understand. Say I own 200 shares of xyz stock at 25. I also get a 4 % yield with a smal divvy. I read IBD and see market under pressure and buy a couple of puts to protect my position. Nothing fundamentally changed at company but macro environment unstable. Stock drops and I'm protected. Now say, I'm in xyx pharma stock and i'm hammered, buying at 12 and current price 9. I sell 12 long calls collecting a premium and if stock rallies i give it back at prices i bought at. Anyway, I could go on and on about how valuable they are. If you can't see that, i'm speechless.

Options are a great way to hedge your bets.

 

[Evilgrin 72]

In for 100 $25 puts w. 6/15 expiry for $44

Can you explain how that works? I always struggle to understand puts and short selling.

He paid 44 dollars for the right to sell 100 shares of FB at 25 dollars somewhere between now and 6/15.

I need to learn more about the stock market, this sounds awesome

Do it!! So much sweeter than sports gambling too. Read and practice, it all pays off in the end. I've made posts imploring and begging people to learn about options. They seem complicated, and you can make them that way too, but they really aren't. Individual investors who don't take advanage of what they offer, miss out on alot. Too big of a tool not to be utilized in your arsenal, even if you are a slow growth, low risk sort of guy. I know you're not that type, but those that are should take heed.

Options traders are the first guys to jump out the window when the market bombs on them

Buying options is gambling, no question about it. Can you be successful? Yes. But you can also lose it all and lose it fast.If I'm buying a stock, I care about one thing. Will it go up? If I am reasonably confident that the stock will rise, all I have to do is buy it and wait for it to rise.With options you have to get two things right:1. Direction2. TimingSo not only do you have to know that a stock is going up, you have to have it start moving in that direction very quickly. If I think a stock will go up, and I buy a call option, my option will get decimated if it begins moving south. You can be right in direction and STILL lose money if it doesn't move your way in the right time frame.Very, very risky.That being said, there is a ton of money to be made if you time things right. If you buy put options right before a market crash, you can make loads of money.

Opitions aren't just about nakedly speculating on a security like you have described. When properly used, an option strategy can be a very safe method of investment. The world is a lot broader than you let on here.

Thank you Slap. I guess people just don't understand. Say I own 200 shares of xyz stock at 25. I also get a 4 % yield with a smal divvy. I read IBD and see market under pressure and buy a couple of puts to protect my position. Nothing fundamentally changed at company but macro environment unstable. Stock drops and I'm protected. Now say, I'm in xyx pharma stock and i'm hammered, buying at 12 and current price 9. I sell 12 long calls collecting a premium and if stock rallies i give it back at prices i bought at. Anyway, I could go on and on about how valuable they are. If you can't see that, i'm speechless.

If I still remember correctly from my series 7 class about 11 years ago, this is called a "hedging strategy."

 

[urbanhack]

FWIW

 

[Premier]

This thing is one ginormous POS.

Are you going to make this same post daily?

 

[FavreCo]

This thing is one ginormous POS.

Are you going to make this same post daily?

I think I will. What did you do? Buy this POS?

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

This thing is one ginormous POS.

Are you going to make this same post daily?

I think I will. What did you do? Buy this POS?

LOOK AT ME!!!! I DIDNT BUY FB!!!!!!!!1111

 

[Premier]

This thing is one ginormous POS.

Are you going to make this same post daily?

I think I will. What did you do? Buy this POS?

Haven't spent 10 cents on it. Just not sure what your brain dead posts are adding.

 

[urbanhack]

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1009109

 

[Short Corner]

In for 100 $25 puts w. 6/15 expiry for $44

Can you explain how that works? I always struggle to understand puts and short selling.

He paid 44 dollars for the right to sell 100 shares of FB at 25 dollars somewhere between now and 6/15.

I need to learn more about the stock market, this sounds awesome

Do it!! So much sweeter than sports gambling too. Read and practice, it all pays off in the end. I've made posts imploring and begging people to learn about options. They seem complicated, and you can make them that way too, but they really aren't. Individual investors who don't take advanage of what they offer, miss out on alot. Too big of a tool not to be utilized in your arsenal, even if you are a slow growth, low risk sort of guy. I know you're not that type, but those that are should take heed.

Options traders are the first guys to jump out the window when the market bombs on them

Buying options is gambling, no question about it. Can you be successful? Yes. But you can also lose it all and lose it fast.If I'm buying a stock, I care about one thing. Will it go up? If I am reasonably confident that the stock will rise, all I have to do is buy it and wait for it to rise.With options you have to get two things right:1. Direction2. TimingSo not only do you have to know that a stock is going up, you have to have it start moving in that direction very quickly. If I think a stock will go up, and I buy a call option, my option will get decimated if it begins moving south. You can be right in direction and STILL lose money if it doesn't move your way in the right time frame.Very, very risky.That being said, there is a ton of money to be made if you time things right. If you buy put options right before a market crash, you can make loads of money.

Opitions aren't just about nakedly speculating on a security like you have described. When properly used, an option strategy can be a very safe method of investment. The world is a lot broader than you let on here.

Thank you Slap. I guess people just don't understand. Say I own 200 shares of xyz stock at 25. I also get a 4 % yield with a smal divvy. I read IBD and see market under pressure and buy a couple of puts to protect my position. Nothing fundamentally changed at company but macro environment unstable. Stock drops and I'm protected. Now say, I'm in xyx pharma stock and i'm hammered, buying at 12 and current price 9. I sell 12 long calls collecting a premium and if stock rallies i give it back at prices i bought at. Anyway, I could go on and on about how valuable they are. If you can't see that, i'm speechless.

Been making money off of covered puts with STX every time it hits high 20s low 30s. Contemplating selling calls next time around

 

[eoMMan]

Almost at $30....

 

[urbanhack]

#### Facebook. They are screwing over the small businesses now by not allowing a post or an update to reach all of the people who "like" their page. Only 15 to 20% of a business fan page audience is getting updates. But now FB has a "promoted" option where you can pay to reach all of your fans.

Lot's of outrage over this. It's bull####.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

#### Facebook. They are screwing over the small businesses now by not allowing a post or an update to reach all of the people who "like" their page. Only 15 to 20% of a business fan page audience is getting updates.

People shouldn't think that's new. It's been like that for a long time — since way before the "promoted" option. (And it's not just business fan pages. Nobody's posts are seen by 100% of their friends. It's usually between 10% and 20%, but can be over 50% in rare cases where a post generates a lot of likes and comments.)If you want to see 100% of the posts in your feed, check the little ticker in the upper right hand corner. I think that displays 100% of them. Most people don't want their main newsfeed to look like that, though. (I do think that facebook should provide an easy option for those who do, however.)

 

[urbanhack]

#### Facebook. They are screwing over the small businesses now by not allowing a post or an update to reach all of the people who "like" their page. Only 15 to 20% of a business fan page audience is getting updates.

People shouldn't think that's new. It's been like that for a long time — since way before the "promoted" option. (And it's not just business fan pages. Nobody's posts are seen by 100% of their friends. It's usually between 10% and 20%, but can be over 50% in rare cases where a post generates a lot of likes and comments.)If you want to see 100% of the posts in your feed, check the little ticker in the upper right hand corner. I think that displays 100% of them. Most people don't want their main newsfeed to look like that, though. (I do think that facebook should provide an easy option for those who do, however.)

Agreed. I know it's been that way for a while, but they've hidden it pretty well up till now. I'm talking about this purely from a marketers perspective. We've been told over and over again to leverage FB and to build up our fan base only to learn that 10 to 20% ever seen the updates.Oh well.

 

[Maelstrom]

#### Facebook. They are screwing over the small businesses now by not allowing a post or an update to reach all of the people who "like" their page. Only 15 to 20% of a business fan page audience is getting updates.

People shouldn't think that's new. It's been like that for a long time — since way before the "promoted" option. (And it's not just business fan pages. Nobody's posts are seen by 100% of their friends. It's usually between 10% and 20%, but can be over 50% in rare cases where a post generates a lot of likes and comments.)If you want to see 100% of the posts in your feed, check the little ticker in the upper right hand corner. I think that displays 100% of them. Most people don't want their main newsfeed to look like that, though. (I do think that facebook should provide an easy option for those who do, however.)

Agreed. I know it's been that way for a while, but they've hidden it pretty well up till now. I'm talking about this purely from a marketers perspective. We've been told over and over again to leverage FB and to build up our fan base only to learn that 10 to 20% ever seen the updates.Oh well.

Good posting by Maurile, and I don't think they've hidden it. A little bit of tracking, which should be done on any Internet advertising, can show what kind of engagement the ads/posts get. While Facebook isn't going around touting the fact that brands don't reach most of their fans, a basic understanding of EdgeRank (how Facebook decides what goes on a person's wall) should give a decent indication that many, if not most, "fans" aren't going to see a brand's posts.The only reason it is a "big deal" right now is because a few websites ran some tests with/without promoted posts, and then made a story out of the difference in stats. Basically, the "without" stats have been the same all along, so IMO this is a good thing because now a brand has the option to do something that WILL get seen by most of their followers. That option didn't exist until recently.When I read some of those stories it made me stop and think, "wait, weren't people already tracking their posts and realizing that the engagement rate was generally extremely low for the number of fans?" I felt like it was a bunch of manufactured stories to pile onto the love to hate Facebook bandwagon. Facebook is what it is, and I don't think they've been hiding anything, people just need to take the time to look into things. Plus, Facebook offer's the ability to have a custom brand page and post stories for free, and some brand pages create a ton of engaged fans, and well exceed the 10-20% of fans mark BTW, the way to get the percentage of people seeing your posts up is to get people to engage with your posts, like them, comment on them, etc. and more people will see them and future posts. Facebook WANTS people to interact with brands and with the site, and so posts by brands that are creating content that people interact with will get shown more.(I tried to keep this non-personal, Urbanhack, not aiming this at you personally.)

 

[toadstool]

I am now in the green in my 4000 shares of facebook. As of yesterday's close I was up about a whopping $750 for my 4000 shares. A nice 1/2 of a percent gain so far ;-)

Again I am here for the long run and am hoping these 4000 shares pay off looking out about 12 - 18 months.

 

[tommyGunZ]

I am now in the green in my 4000 shares of facebook. As of yesterday's close I was up about a whopping $750 for my 4000 shares. A nice 1/2 of a percent gain so far ;-)Again I am here for the long run and am hoping these 4000 shares pay off looking out about 12 - 18 months.

 

[Short Corner]

I am now in the green in my 4000 shares of facebook. As of yesterday's close I was up about a whopping $750 for my 4000 shares. A nice 1/2 of a percent gain so far ;-)Again I am here for the long run and am hoping these 4000 shares pay off looking out about 12 - 18 months.

In the green?

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

Again I am here for the long run and am hoping these 4000 shares pay off looking out about 12 - 18 months.

A year and a half is the long haul now? Kids. When I was your age, it was at least ten years.

 

[Sinn Fein]

I am now in the green in my 4000 shares of facebook. As of yesterday's close I was up about a whopping $750 for my 4000 shares. A nice 1/2 of a percent gain so far ;-)Again I am here for the long run and am hoping these 4000 shares pay off looking out about 12 - 18 months.

In the green?

Toadspeak

 

[urbanhack]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/story/2012-06-20/facebook-teens/55723500/1

 

[RUSF18]

I am now in the green in my 4000 shares of facebook. As of yesterday's close I was up about a whopping $750 for my 4000 shares. A nice 1/2 of a percent gain so far ;-)Again I am here for the long run and am hoping these 4000 shares pay off looking out about 12 - 18 months.

Last time you said your goal was to have 3000 shares. Why the increase?

 

[eoMMan]

It will be interesting to see what happens August 16th when the 90 day period is up and a buttload of investors can sell for the first time.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Waaaiiittt a second. Updates on a facebook fan pages don't go into the feed of everyone that liked the page? I had no idea. I always thought that it not reaching all the fans was just a matter of people not being on facebook when I posted an update and their new feed updates pushing it too far down their page by the next time they logged on. So when the "reach" says that it got to 11% or whatever, that's just people who's page it actually showed on, not just the people who actually "saw" it before it moved off the front page of their feed?

Wow, I have a fan page w/ 1,000,000+ fans and I never knew this.

I'm not sure if they've changed things recently, but my user interaction is way down since timeline went into play. I used to post a link to an article on the page and it would get 30,000 views from facebook, not it's lucky to get 1,000.

 

[toadstool]

I am now in the green in my 4000 shares of facebook. As of yesterday's close I was up about a whopping $750 for my 4000 shares. A nice 1/2 of a percent gain so far ;-)Again I am here for the long run and am hoping these 4000 shares pay off looking out about 12 - 18 months.

Last time you said your goal was to have 3000 shares. Why the increase?

Actually my goal was to spend $100K on fb. So yes I did increase to about $120K mostly on a dare from a friend.