Bitcoin....

[500mag]

Could you explain this to me? I believe you and am not being smartassed.

With stocks, commodities, or bonds, you can "short" them, which has the same effect as selling, it brings the price down - not so with bitcoin. You can only buy and sell what you have bought - you cannot place bets that it will go down by selling shares that you do not actually own (short selling).

 

[Two Foot Groups]

With stocks, commodities, or bonds, you can "short" them, which has the same effect as selling, it brings the price down - not so with bitcoin. You can only buy and sell what you have bought - you cannot place bets that it will go down by selling shares that you do not actually own (short selling).

I guess I don't quite understand why short interest, which is only potential sales, would prop up a commodity. For short contracts to be exercised, the commodity has to fall first, right? Otherwise the contracts just expire unexercised. No big deal; i'm not a buyer or a seller and do not understand options well enough to fool with them.

 

[spencer60]

Just like stocks and Vegas.... don't play with money you can't afford to lose and at worst you'll get a education in statistics or how financial markets work.

 

[jcountry]

I guess I don't quite understand why short interest, which is only potential sales, would prop up a commodity. For short contracts to be exercised, the commodity has to fall first, right? Otherwise the contracts just expire unexercised. No big deal; i'm not a buyer or a seller and do not understand options well enough to fool with them.

Not really.

A short sale is a way to make money from "borrowed" stock....

It's a strange concept at first, but is just as effective at making money on a stock's decline as "long" would be on the way up.

Some guys made an assload off the recession by shorting all kinds of stuff. Not only stocks, but really esoteric stuff I don't claim to understand at all.

Here is a good explanation:

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/shortselling.asp

*Keep in mind that shorting is just as good a way to lose money. If the stock actually goes up, you must pay more to replace those borrowed shares (and the guy who loaned them makes money.)

 

[eightnsand]

If you can't hold it and there's no intrinsic value it has no real value.
Think gold and guns! Currency will always be manipulated whether by central banks or smart folks creating cryptocurrency .

 

[sovietak474u]

Just like stocks and Vegas.... don't play with money you can't afford to lose and at worst you'll get a education in statistics or how financial markets work.

Best advice anyone can get . Many people don't follow this simple rule. It gets them in trouble quickly

 

[Zeake]

What are the current thoughts on bitcoins?

 

[Chase1904]

What are the current thoughts on bitcoins?

I haven't bought any since I cashed out two years ago. There was some change left over in my account which has now grown to about $45. Really regretting that one, but I still doubled my investment. I've mostly been buying Litecoin and Ethereum over the past few months and hoping they make the jump that Bitcoin initially had (over even better, go up like it has in the past year).

 

[Zeake]

I'm thinking about mining something

 

[jcountry]

I'm thinking about mining something

Don't get into mining.

The difficulty of the hash operation is scaled to increase as more are minted. It requires a room full of very, very expensive hardware and a ****load of electricity. You have to really know your stuff and lay out some serious bucks.