Is this a sign to be worried about?

[engineerdoe]

fortune.com/2024/02/26/walmart-walton-family-sells-1-5-billion-stock/
"Members of Walmart’s Walton family sell $1.5 billion worth of stock as shares near record high"

fortune.com/2024/02/23/bezos-amazon-stock-jpmorgan-dimon-sold/
"After Jeff Bezos unloaded $4 billion in Amazon stock, Jamie Dimon sold $150 million in JPMorgan shares..."

[Tiny]

Can you be more specific about what the "worry/worries"  should be?   


I can think of a couple of worries: 
The uber wealthy just got wealthier
The uber wealthy may now have additional money to inject into politics/the ability to enforce their own views on vast numbers of other humans.



But, aren't both of these planned events?  As in part of their long term "business plans"?   As opposed to a quick decision to sell high? 

I think the astonishing part of this is the dollar amounts involved.  They sound big but in comparison to the total values - probably aren't all that much.  


I have to wonder how out of touch the people with Big Bucks  (and all the people around them/who they associate with  who most likely also have Big Bucks)  with the daily concerns of everyone else (the 97% of people who inhabit the earth).     I'm assuming the 3% at the top are all equally out of touch because they most likely have a lot of things in common in their everyday lives when it comes to what they own/have and how they live their lives. 

[djAdvocate]

if you are talking about the stock market peaking as a worry, i don't currently hold that as a worry. the US is doing extremely well.

this is probably just rich people reallocating resources. there are better investments out there than WMT.

[engineerdoe]

Feb 29, 2024 13:25:28 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Can you be more specific about what the "worry/worries"  should be?   


I can think of a couple of worries: 
The uber wealthy just got wealthier
The uber wealthy may now have additional money to inject into politics/the ability to enforce their own views on vast numbers of other humans.



But, aren't both of these planned events?  As in part of their long term "business plans"?   As opposed to a quick decision to sell high? 

I think the astonishing part of this is the dollar amounts involved.  They sound big but in comparison to the total values - probably aren't all that much.  


I have to wonder how out of touch the people with Big Bucks  (and all the people around them/who they associate with  who most likely also have Big Bucks)  with the daily concerns of everyone else (the 97% of people who inhabit the earth).     I'm assuming the 3% at the top are all equally out of touch because they most likely have a lot of things in common in their everyday lives when it comes to what they own/have and how they live their lives. 

It may just be a reallocation of assests but yes maybe it is part of their business plan.  I guess I wonder, what are they seeing that they felt the need to sell their stocks?

[engineerdoe]

Feb 29, 2024 14:11:48 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

if you are talking about the stock market peaking as a worry, i don't currently hold that as a worry. the US is doing extremely well.

this is probably just rich people reallocating resources. there are better investments out there than WMT.

No I get that peaks and valleys are the norm and as a whole growth is happening.

I hope it is just reallocating resources.

[djAdvocate]

we will certainly get to see! that is the fun of investing.

[haapai]

Do quarterly tax filing deadlines and schedules affect the timing of these big stock sales?  Specifically, do big guys tend to take big gains early in the year in order to get as much interest as possible on the money that they will have to hand over to the IRS in quarterly payments? 

[billisonboard]

Totally ignorant I will admit.

If I want to sell something, there has to be someone willing to buy it. So who is buying all that Walmart and Amazon stock? Or does it work differently for stocks?

[djAdvocate]

i think most people run off a calendar year. so transacting something on January 2nd will win you a year to pay for that transaction. i don't know of any better way to game it than that.

[tallguy]

Feb 29, 2024 19:55:14 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Totally ignorant I will admit.

If I want to sell something, there has to be someone willing to buy it. So who is buying all that Walmart and Amazon stock? Or does it work differently for stocks?

If someone wants to sell a large block of stock, it does not necessarily go to a single buyer.  Selling that block could theoretically fill a thousand or more buy orders from just as many different people.  It is also not necessarily true that all of those orders will be filled at the same price.  Additionally, there are entities known as market makers who buy or sell to ensure liquidity by ensuring trades get made.

[billisonboard]

Feb 29, 2024 21:38:42 GMT -5 tallguy said:

Feb 29, 2024 19:55:14 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Totally ignorant I will admit.

If I want to sell something, there has to be someone willing to buy it. So who is buying all that Walmart and Amazon stock? Or does it work differently for stocks?

If someone wants to sell a large block of stock, it does not necessarily go to a single buyer.  Selling that block could theoretically fill a thousand or more buy orders from just as many different people.  It is also not necessarily true that all of those orders will be filled at the same price.  Additionally, there are entities known as market makers who buy or sell to ensure liquidity by ensuring trades get made.

I guess if you spread it out over a whole lot of people over time.

[tallguy]

Feb 29, 2024 22:29:40 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Feb 29, 2024 21:38:42 GMT -5 tallguy said:

If someone wants to sell a large block of stock, it does not necessarily go to a single buyer.  Selling that block could theoretically fill a thousand or more buy orders from just as many different people.  It is also not necessarily true that all of those orders will be filled at the same price.  Additionally, there are entities known as market makers who buy or sell to ensure liquidity by ensuring trades get made.

I guess if you spread it out over a whole lot of people over time.

Or depending on the market makers.  From Investopedia:

Market Maker

Market makers are typically large banks or financial institutions. They help to ensure there's enough liquidity in the markets, meaning there's enough volume of trading so trades can be done seamlessly. Without market makers, there would likely be little liquidity. In other words, investors who want to sell securities would be unable to unwind their positions due to a lack of buyers in the market.

Market makers help keep the market functioning, meaning if you want to sell a bond, they are there to buy it. Similarly, if you want to buy a stock, they are there to have that stock available to sell to you.

Market makers are useful because they are always ready to buy and sell as long as the investor is willing to pay a specific price. Market makers essentially act as wholesalers by buying and selling securities to satisfy the market—the prices they set reflect market supply and demand. When the demand for a security is low, and supply is high, the price of the security will be low. If the demand is high and supply is low, the price of the security will be high. Market makers are obligated to sell and buy at the price and size they have quoted.

Sometimes a market maker is also a broker, which can create an incentive for a broker to recommend securities for which the firm also makes a market. Investors should thus perform due diligence to make sure that there is a clear separation between a broker and a market maker.

Some examples of the bigger market makers in the industry include BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, and UBS.

If there are offers to sell, they will step in and buy those securities.  If there are offers to buy, they will sell what they hold.  It makes sure that there is a market and that people can buy and sell when they wish. 

As far as orders being partially filled, I had that happen a few weeks ago.  I was going to rearrange the holdings in my Roth IRAs.  I sold over $200,000 and bought different stocks or ETFs with it.  One of the ETFs had an order for 101 shares.  I had put in a limit order at a certain price.  Just before closing, the trade was partially executed.  15 shares were bought when the limit price was hit, and the order for the other 86 sat until the next day because the price rose again.  The limit price hit again in the morning and the other 86 shares were purchased.  The order was partially executed because there were not enough sellers at that time and at that price to fill the whole order.  It happens.  First time for me....    

[djAdvocate]

happens to me all the time. i buy a lot of thinly traded issues, though. i have had trades take up to a week.

[countrygirl2]

Buffett is sitting on $168 B in cash, what does he know?

[tallguy]

Mar 2, 2024 2:00:34 GMT -5 countrygirl2 said:

Buffett is sitting on $168 B in cash, what does he know?

He just hasn't found any companies he thinks are worth buying with it.  He buys companies, not just stocks.  And he buys at prices he wants to pay.  He's doing okay, by the way.  I bought Berkshire in my taxable account six weeks ago.  It's up over 13% since then.

[countrygirl2]

I read its over $600,000 a share so great for you. I was kind of wondering if he is accumulating it waiting to see if trump gets in. But I did read that he didn't think a lot were worth buying. Yes, I know he buys companies, most do it to liquidate them.

We have money invested short term right now, as we re planning on moving and will require a lot. Will look again once we are moved and things settled.But now the move has been changed around because of hubs health. It's kind of a have to case. As we need to be near our son so he can take over guardianship of DD once we can no longer do it for one reason or another and perhaps help with paperwork and such as we age. But it's interesting to read what others are doing.

[ken a.k.a OMK]

You can buy fractional shares of Berkshire for as little as $5.

[tallguy]

The Berkshire A shares are well over $600,000 per share.  Instead of splitting the stock they created new ones which are called Berkshire B shares.  Those are 1/1500 of an A share, so around $411 per share currently.  I bought them in my taxable account specifically because they don't pay dividends, so don't screw up my tax planning.  No, all of my Berkshire put together does not equal an A share.