Is it possible to trade on NATURAL DISASTERS?

Discussion in 'Trading' started by tradertt, Dec 29, 2004.

  1. Just wondering,

    Is it possible to trade on Natural Disasters?

    For example, we could group companies in NASDAQ by their exposures to certain countries (say Asia, Europe etc etc...)

    and when we get a Natural Disaster happening in Asia, we will immediately short that stock once we get news of it ...

    Is that possible?
     
  2. TRS

    TRS

    Hard to immediately short a stock when a natural disaster occurs on a week end.

    Why not group your own stocks?

    As mentioned, when these disasters occur and money is made from their occurrence,donations greatly help those you are (in)directly profiting from....and do wonders for your Karma.

    TRS.
     
  3. Another dick.
     
  4. What is wrong with this? Dick? oh yeh - Why don't you just think that everytime you are making money someone is losing his on the other end

    Are you a dick too?
     
  5. You're the one that is gonna have to live with yourself.
    I might bet on everything, even on BinLadden's capture date (never), but not on over a hundred thousand deads. I can make money elsewhere.
     
  6. Seriously speaking without any bad intent - I can live perfectlly well with myself trading over such news

    I do not cause such disasters
    I do not hope for such disasters
    What I do here do NOT affect those over there :)

    Do you know how close I am to the disaster spot? Do you think we people here in Singapore do not contribute to any funds to help those in need?

    :) This is just business.
     
  7. jnash

    jnash

    One word: ghoulish

    Why not just go piss on a corpse while you are at it?
     
  8. Well, I also thought you're a dick first, but then I gave it a thought. Remembered the remark from Wall Street, that Gordon Gekko shorted NASA stocks some 20 seconds after Challenger exploded.

    As long as you donate part of the profits you make with the money you make from shorts, I think it's O.K.
    I think this catastrophe must offer several long-opportunities as well: try to gain a view over the major construction or battered tourist companies. If you go long in a company that'll profit from rebuilding the infrastructure, I think you can help almost as much as by directly donating to some charity where a part of the donations find their ways into some local individual's pockets.

    Oh, and regarding your original question: a few years ago, I saw something on the tellie about so called 'catastrophe bonds' Munich Rueck (big German reinsurance player) planned. Their intention was to bundle individual local insurance risks into bigger bonds kinda ABS-style. Don't know whether they issued them, but they weren't intended for retail investors anywas, AFAIK.

    What's wrong with making money out of disasters? Insurances make it every day and, on a side note, modern capitalism started right after the pestilence in the 13th century, when there was a surplus of farms and agricultural machines, and a shortage of workers, so that the landlords were forced for the first time to pay their workers high salaries.

    Read my signature.
     
  9. JDE13158

    JDE13158

    I don't see how it's bad. It's not going to hurt anyone by trading because of a natural disaster. As long as you aren't the one causing the giant wave for your own benifit, there's no harm done.
     
  10. I don't necessarily disagree with those against trading on disaster, tragedy and mayhem. Just one little question:

    Do you trade phillip morris and any cigarette stock, pumping liquidity into an industry that creates perpetual death, mayhem, and Tsunami like family tragedies?...just measuring your consistency to hypocrisy ratio.

    Ross
     
    #10     Dec 29, 2004