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WSJ: Are you ready to buy stocks from your grocery store?
I actually am very happy with this as I think it will make it much easier than other current options to buy someone getting started a little of a particular stock.
Scott....good point which I hadn't considered. They could make nice "stocking stuffers" for Christmas.
Exactly, and there's actually a very nice selection of stocks, including things like Liberty Media (LMCA).
Plus, in terms of stocking stuffers:
"What if the recipient is under 18? Kids and teens can own stock by having an adult on the account with them. This kind of account is called a custodial account. The minor (referred to as the beneficiary) owns the stock, while the adult (the custodian) has legal responsibility over the account until the minor turns 18.
The minor can receive his own log-in credentials (separate from the adult’s) so he can see how his stocks are doing anytime on his own. In addition, young people can place stock trades with the adult’s consent. For example, if a 15 year old wants to buy $20 of Facebook stock, he sets up the transaction, which is routed by email to mom for approval. If mom approves, an order to purchase $20 of Facebook stock is placed and executes. Otherwise, no order is placed."
I can see it now....the nieces and nephews will complain about the stocks I would buy for them. Instead of "it's the wrong size/color/brand, it will now be "It's the wrong sector".
@PRESSmUP Oh, you're the worst! (and then, within "like" 24 hrs, you would be ---the horror--- unfriended, and thereafter referred to, in their chatrooms, as Uncle Dick)
DSPPs are out there already, for a great many companies. Find one of the better ones, and the manufactured-by-fiat fees are paid by the company you're investing in. I pay .06 cents per share. In order to SELL, it's .12 cents, plus transaction fee. Different for limit orders or market orders, etc. ...Buy at the supermarket? OK, sure...
Not too much chance of that happening heezsafe, as I am probably the only person to have ever worked in the technology industry who didn't open a facebook account.
No, there's at least two of us. And just yesterday my wife informed me that a building here in SF, known almost all my life as "The Furniture Mart", is now "The Twitter Building". A Twitter building??
a $25 dollar gift card will cost $4.95!! it's a 20% commission for a partial share! C'mon... it's cute, but not reasonable.
It's not good, but it is far better than the almost insane amount that services like giveashare are charging. There are a number of services like that where they are selling paper certificates and the end price is nuts. Abbott is about a $40 stock. The cheapest option on giveashare - registered share of Abbott in a paper frame - is $81.
"Buying through a one-share site is generally more expensive for customers than buying through a broker. Both GiveAShare.com and OneShare.com charge a $39 fee for their services, which include buying the share and procuring the paper stock certificate."
So, while this isn't without issue, I think it's a far more appealing option than what already exists in terms of the "gift a share" services.
I believe there are some venture capital firms who are letting individual investors invest in private companies for a fee. This is like shadow trading if you think about it.
What Bitcoin doing to traditional currencies, this shadow trading in illiquid private companies is doing to the stock market. Taken to the extreme, companies do not have to go public. Effectively they are now like a CEF with fixed number of shareholders.
Just like with a currency - especially today when everything is by fiat - it is all about confidence. If 10 venture capitalists feel comfortable trading a companies "equity" amongst themselves, who's to stop them? If the company founders get the necessary capital they need and keep share of profits, that's all that matters.
Comments
Plus, in terms of stocking stuffers:
"What if the recipient is under 18?
Kids and teens can own stock by having an adult on the account with them. This kind of account is called a custodial account. The minor (referred to as the beneficiary) owns the stock, while the adult (the custodian) has legal responsibility over the account until the minor turns 18.
The minor can receive his own log-in credentials (separate from the adult’s) so he can see how his stocks are doing anytime on his own. In addition, young people can place stock trades with the adult’s consent. For example, if a 15 year old wants to buy $20 of Facebook stock, he sets up the transaction, which is routed by email to mom for approval. If mom approves, an order to purchase $20 of Facebook stock is placed and executes. Otherwise, no order is placed."
I want some of that $25 B-H stock. Is that partial shares or do I have to add my own money to buy the gift?
http://gizmodo.com/5910225/buying-one-share-of-facebook-stock-is-a-total-rip-off
"Buying through a one-share site is generally more expensive for customers than buying through a broker. Both GiveAShare.com and OneShare.com charge a $39 fee for their services, which include buying the share and procuring the paper stock certificate."
So, while this isn't without issue, I think it's a far more appealing option than what already exists in terms of the "gift a share" services.
What Bitcoin doing to traditional currencies, this shadow trading in illiquid private companies is doing to the stock market. Taken to the extreme, companies do not have to go public. Effectively they are now like a CEF with fixed number of shareholders.
Just like with a currency - especially today when everything is by fiat - it is all about confidence. If 10 venture capitalists feel comfortable trading a companies "equity" amongst themselves, who's to stop them? If the company founders get the necessary capital they need and keep share of profits, that's all that matters.