Recent content by Sparohok

Just another update on this thread... 2 years later. The Hussman Fund outperformed the S&P 500 by 34 percentage points since the beginning of 2007... -4.9% for HSGFX versus -38.6% for the S&P 500. On Morningstar, the Hussman fund is beating the S&P 500 on every trailing period. Martin

I'm glad to see that you are conceding the point that the Ultra ETFs contain embedded options. As to the amount of time decay, a one year 50% OTM call on XLF will cost you several percent. As you correctly point out, dynamic hedging adds to that cost. Ultra ETFs are not pure delta. Martin

Did I say that?? No I didn't, did I? But, nice try. What they do have is swaps that are somewhat like synthetic shorts, but have asymmetric return characteristics relative to a true short position. Whereas a short position can lose more than its position size, the swaps that ProShares short...

So what do you imagine that ultrashort ETFs are actually composed of? Keeping in mind that the SEC does not permit ETFs to borrow money or shares. Careful lest you be hoisted by your own fucktard... Martin

Just noticed Arnie's reply to my post. Sorry about the hang time. Every little bit helps, I agree. I have always supported opening the OCS, ANWR and the like to responsible oil exploration. That doesn't change the fact that the Republicans are both wrong and dirty in maligning Obama's tire...

Since Obama's tire inflation comment became an object of Republican ridicule, I thought I'd look at some actual data (a step Krauthammer obviously skipped). EIA estimates no more than 200,000 barrels per day of incremental production from Outer Continental Shelf areas currently off limits...

Gnome, that is correct. The power supply has a single 12v regulator generating the total capacity of the power supply, but it is split into multiple current-limited outputs in order to protect the wiring from the power supply to the rest of the computer from overheating. Your graphics card...

Close, but no cigar. The thinking that got us into this mess was the lenders who forgot that housing prices can go down as well as up, and recklessly abandoned the proven underwriting standards that would have protected their investment. The fact that mortgages are collateralized only by...

<i> All this rancor for the banks, and not a word about the lowlife trailer trash that won't pay their bills.</i> The "lowlife trailer trash" are exercising their contractual rights to walk away from the loan. To try to take away that right ex post facto is anticapitalist and un-American...

That's not analysis, nor even opinion, that's just blind optimism. FRE needs to raise 5.5 billion in capital just to meet current regulatory requirements, ignoring any future losses. However, its market cap is only 5.8 billion. That means they are going to have to dilute current shareholders...

Interactive Brokers has a page here with a good description and examples. http://individuals.interactivebrokers.com/en/accounts/fees/interestMethods.php?ib_entity=llc This page also addresses the issue of how cash balances change when the value of the underlying short position changes...

jeb9999 is correct. Just to elaborate a bit: When you short $10,000 worth of XYZ, your account is <i>credited</i> with $10,000 worth of cash known as "proceeds from short sale." You have <i>borrowed</i> the 100 shares of XYZ which shows up as a negative number of shares in your account. It...

Wow, that is retarded. Buffet will pay estate taxes on his estate. He's not dodging taxes. The money he is giving away no longer belongs to him or to his estate or to his heirs. That's what "giving away" means. By what possible moral or legal imperative should Warren Buffet owe taxes on other...

The total amount of crude oil "tied up" and "taken off the market" in commodity futures is just a few weeks' supply. Those arguing that futures markets are driving spot prices seem to be completely ignorant of the vast scale of the spot market. Futures are a drop in the bucket. In any case...

The futures market participants getting blamed for high commodity prices here are commodity index funds. They really are long-only, they never short and only sell to roll over into the next month. I don't think anyone is blaming the true speculators, who are still subject to position limits and...