Palantir

FirstTimeSolo

What is the general view? I have bought some yesterday and today. Risky but expected to be high returns.

eskbanker

FirstTimeSolo said:

What is the general view? I have bought some yesterday and today. Risky but expected to be high returns.

Expected by who?  Bear in mind that markets work on the basis of there needing to be a seller for every buyer, and they can't both be right....

FirstTimeSolo

Haha its all speculation both ways until it comes to fruition. So I can ask 'not expected by whom'. 

lozzy1965

eskbanker said:

FirstTimeSolo said:

What is the general view? I have bought some yesterday and today. Risky but expected to be high returns.

Expected by who?  Bear in mind that markets work on the basis of there needing to be a seller for every buyer, and they can't both be right....

Depends what "right" is .  If an investment steadily rises, and the seller cashes out when they need the money, either at a profit, or having had sufficient dividend payouts, and the buyer is willing to take the investment on to achieve the same - and that trend continues, one might argue they were indeed, both "right"?

maxsteam

The company is losing lots of money doing what, in my view, is dodgy. Why not invest in some company which is making a profit and which is doing something that can clearly be understood? I would be very surprised if anyone on this forum has ever even encountered a Palantir product.

Steve182

maxsteam said:

The company is losing lots of money doing what, in my view, is dodgy. Why not invest in some company which is making a profit and which is doing something that can clearly be understood? I would be very surprised if anyone on this forum has ever even encountered a Palantir product.

I've no idea if or when this company will ever make a profit.

I will say that I first invested in JD.com at $20 in 2018 before it was profitable and shares are now >$100. I think I did had a basic understanding of what I was investing in and I knew the shares were undervalued for certain non business related reasons. I initially considered it a speculative investment and since I first dipped my toes in the water I've topped up a few times. Now it's my most profitable investment, beating Amazon, Alibaba and Scottish Mortgage.

The point I'm making is that it's OK to take some risk if you have done your research, it's something you are comfortable with and it's only a small part of a reasonably diversified portfolio.

maxsteam

Steve182 said:

The point I'm making is that it's OK to take some risk if you have done your research, it's something you are comfortable with and it's only a small part of a reasonably diversified portfolio.

Indeed. I agree. I would guess that, as you mention Alibaba and JD, you have some trade links with China and have some idea about what those companies do. I would also guess that you were aware that JD was not making a profit when you invested. It alarms me greatly how many people are putting chunks of hard earned money into a foreign company simply because it's being talked up by the "in crowd" on a forum, without even checking whether the company is profitable or not.
I am sure that I will rant again about this. My opinion is that it is fine for someone to put a couple of pounds on a horse simply because the name sounds good and it is fine for someone to take the same attitude when gambling a couple of pounds on an easy-access platform but, even though it is that person's money, it is not right that they should throw investment-sized amounts at a company without discovering a little about what the company does and something about the finances of the company.