Do Option Sellers Have a Trading Edge?

[TskTsk]

The only entity that benefits from the printing of fiat currency is the government who printed it as they are the first to use it in the monetary system. The only thing that would happen if the govt couldnt print money would be that the govt would have to raise taxes or go bankrupt. No more monetizing the debt. Inflation is the tax on savings and capital the life blood of economy.

The reason greece is in trouble is due to their out of control entitlements that they can not monitize. They could raise taxes but who would be able to pay?

I'm not sure what you mean by "first to use". It's not like the fed is buying their groceries at Walmart, so how is that relevant? Also when the govt wants to spend, they most certainly do not start counting tax receipts, nor do they call China or the Treasury. Auctions in the US do not fail by design and there's no shortages for US debt.

Also I think you got the tax-thing backwards. Taxing is a means of destroying money, that means the same thing could be accomplished by reducing the debt issuance in real time. Think about it. I mean, I get what you're trying to say because I've seen these arguments before. But they are purely ideological and not pragmatic. As already said, tying up all your wealth in something that has no intrinsic value is just incredibly stupid from the get-go, so that's your fault for failing to research the matter, not the governments.

As for Greece...well, I visited there once long before the crisis. You had people living on $500 salaries and $300 retirements, with unemployment benefits that were a tiny fraction of previous earnings...they didn't seem very entitled to me, in fact far from it. Germany, France, UK/US, Scandinavia have much more socialism than greece ever had.


Anyhow, this is getting way off topic...

And that was PRECISELY my point when I said that the dollar lost more than 97% of its value (buying power) since the FED came into existence.

Lol wat

Bro, look up purchasing power on the Wiki. You saying people have lost 97% of their purchasing power since the Fed came into existance?

 

[panzerman]

And that was PRECISELY my point when I said that the dollar lost more than 97% of its value (buying power) since the FED came into existence.

Yes, and the weight of human history has said that only gold and silver have held "value".

 

[xelite777]

Bro, look up purchasing power on the Wiki. You saying people have lost 97% of their purchasing power since the Fed came into existance?

I am saying that the US dollar lost 97% of its value since the FED came into existence.

And that means that the FED (this private bank was created to supposedly protect the economy and stabilize it, yeah right! ) has devalued our purchasing power so significantly that you can only buy 3 percent today of the 100% that you could buy in 1913.

 

[sle]

Yes, and the weight of human history has said that only gold and silver have held "value".

Yes, it has. It's unclear, though, how gold or silver (barring industrial applications) is better then beanie babies, aside from it being a longer-term hype.

 

[xelite777]

it's unclear, though, how gold or silver (barring industrial applications) is better than beanie babies, aside from it being a longer-term hype.

You know what, I think you are righ, because I've heard they are thinking about removing all that useless, long-term hype gold from Fort Knox and other places around the globe and replace it with valuable beanie babies.

 

[TskTsk]

I am saying that the US dollar lost 97% of its value since the FED came into existence.

And that means that the FED (an entity that was supposed to protect the economy and stabilize it, yeah right!) has devalued our purchasing power so significantly that you can only buy 3 percent today of the 100% that you could buy in 1913.

You're confusing face value with purchasing power again. The fact that it's face value has decreased has no relevancy to it's purchasing power. Only if you use it as a store of value, would your argument have any merit, and I've been through that many times now.

 

[xelite777]

You're confusing face value with purchasing power again. The fact that it's face value has decreased has no relevancy to it's purchasing power. Only if you use it as a store of value, would your argument have any merit, and I've been through that many times now.

Yeah, sure, the FED is good and protecting our nation's interests, inflation does not exist and everything is fine.

 

[TskTsk]

Yeah, sure, the FED is good and protecting our nation's interests, inflation does not exist and everything is fine.

Way to move the goalpost.

But even if you are being sarcastic, the above is generally correct. Look at the yield on 10-year TIPS, look at the Euribor. Or NGDP vs credit. Or gold even, which is now back to 2010 levels. USD is stable yet equities are increasing. So where is your inflation? Tell me? All I usually see from the hyperinflation alarmists is naked, flailing, unsupported assertions about costs in grocery stores and such. Telling us to buy gold and guns and hide in our bunkers. No thanks. I've been doing more or less the exact opposite of what the doomsday naysayers have been telling people to do and I've never done better for myself. I even contemplated shorting gold at 1700 in June of 12 (or a bit later, it was close to the top anyways), I remember staring at the screen for like 5 hours straight contemplating wheter to short a good amount of futures. Decided not to pull the trigger and am still killing myself over it..

 

[xelite777]

So where is your inflation? Tell me?

Yes you are right again, prices at the supermarket and elsewhere are constantly decreasing.

At this rate, food will be given for free very soon.

And then, at some point in time, retailers will simply PAY US to take their merchandise.

 

[MRBRETTONWOODS]

Yeah, sure, the FED is good and protecting our nation's interests, inflation does not exist and everything is fine.

I find your opinions interesting, and I'm often in concurrence.

I understand you trade FX, do you use IB or what broker do you use, out of curiosity?

The reason I ask is because there aren't many choices if you're a US Citizen these days.