Shorting seems like one of those games that can just screw anyone. Doesn't matter how sure you are that any asset will go down eventually, if it shoots up in the short term (and there are a million reasons it could), you've got to be able to afford that. And unlike a traditional asset shooting down, where your loss limit is just what you initially laid out, shorting means you have no upper limit to losses.

StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears

This week I began separation proceedings. Frankly, I want to play around a lot more, as I did as a hot young portfolio manager, spraying my attention far and wide across the world, keen to jump on anything that seemed even halfway attractive

faithful online broker simply doesn’t offer me the variety of funds or securities I need.

 Not only do I find this frustrating as an investor given my view on asset prices, but I have a column that needs to interest readers for years to come.

I want to go short the gold price, which I think is ridiculously high. In other words, I want to own something that will rise in value if the price of the yellow metal declines. [...] $5,000 per ounce is 24-carat madness.

Can't just "short" gold... the ETFs have 

Before jumping in, however, readers need to know there is a catch with ETFs such as these. It’s not as easy as purchasing a negative three-times short fund and tripling your investment when the gold price falls. [...] they are specifically created for day traders — not for the likes of me who reckon gold will decline but haven’t the foggiest by how much and more importantly over what period.

Over long periods this leads to what is known as volatility decay. Even if you are right about the general direction in prices, it is still possible to lose money as falls are not compensated by gains due to the daily rebalancing of the fund. The bigger the volatility, the stronger this effect becomes.

https://archive.md/doCMb

econ

> This week I began separation proceedings. Frankly, I want to play around a lot more, as I did as a hot young portfolio manager, spraying my attention far and wide across the world, keen to jump on anything that seemed even halfway attractive
> My **faithful online broker simply doesn’t offer me the variety of funds or securities I need.** Not only do I find this frustrating as an investor given my view on asset prices, but I have a column that needs to interest readers for years to come.

Yeah, I know... https://stacker.news/items/1081555/r/denlillaapan


![](https://m.stacker.news/130050)

> I want to go short the gold price, which I think is ridiculously high. In other words, I want to own something that will rise in value if the price of the yellow metal declines. [...] $5,000 per ounce is 24-carat madness.


Can't just "short" gold... the ETFs have _decaaay_: 
>	Before jumping in, however, readers need to know there is a catch with ETFs such as these. It’s not as easy as purchasing a negative three-times short fund and tripling your investment when the gold price falls. [...] they are specifically created for day traders — not for the likes of me who reckon gold will decline but haven’t the foggiest by how much and more importantly over what period.
> Over long periods this leads to what is known as volatility decay. Even if you are right about the general direction in prices, it is still possible to lose money as falls are not compensated by gains due to the daily rebalancing of the fund. The bigger the volatility, the stronger this effect becomes.


Mr. Kirk is doing _great_, too, in his investment portfolio


![](https://m.stacker.news/130064)

I don't know why I bother _reading these people_, honestly. 

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archive: https://archive.md/doCMb