Free oil and trader education

Never thought I’d ever say that I'm happy to have a sunburn but here I am. Did a bit of yoga on my roof this morning as a way to switch up my typical programming of runs and prison workouts. It was the first time I truly enjoyed yoga much although some of that may have been aided by the sun.

On to the next…

Yesterday was a historic day in the annals of the stock market. The price of oil dropped to negative for the first time in history. As commodities require delivery upon settlement of the contract, people were literally paying others to take the oil off their hands.

It was a bizarre day and largely amusing for most people. The fintech memes delivered and were great as usual. Fintwit was live and well. Of course this was probably not as amusing to oil and gas traders as well as those who acted on tips to buy oil last month during the Saudi/Russian oil war.

I recall a few friends talking about “buying the dip” on oil recently. Needless to say, I haven’t heard much from them in regards to their investments in oil. That also reminds me, it’s been awhile since I heard my friends talk about all the money they’ve made on shorting the market also.

Apps like Robinhood that allow pretty much anyone to start trading is a blessing and a curse for most people. I love the idea of democratizing access and allowing everyone to learn and start investing. On the flip side, this is real money at stake and people make really stupid and piss poor decisions without really knowing what they are doing.

I’m not sure what my solution for this is. By no means am I advocating that people need licenses to trade stock or invest and perhaps individuals need to get burned a couple times to truly learn. It’s almost a rite of passage in the world of investing.