OT: Liquid Investments

[Hedge Collector]

I'm just curious if anyone has knowledge of investments that are liquid (ie. takes at MOST a few weeks to liquidate) and outside the realm of finances (ie. not currencies/coins, metals, bank CD's, stocks, etc).

 

No doubt ultra high grade comics have now (?) become a respectable form of investment.

 

Anything else out there that one can plunk $30k a shot on, is liquid, and not financial related?

[PokerKid]

Crack

[collector_bill]

Showcase 22

[MR.COMICBOOK]

About a year ago I would say Nintendo Wii`s. You buy them, then flip for more money on Ebay,Amazon and Craigslist. This lasted about a good 2 years.

[Reno McCoy]

I make a liquid investment into Captain Morgans and Coke nearly every night. Does that count?

[dekeuk]

I'm just curious if anyone has knowledge of investments that are liquid (ie. takes at MOST a few weeks to liquidate) and outside the realm of finances (ie. not currencies/coins, metals, bank CD's, stocks, etc).

 

No doubt ultra high grade comics have now (?) become a respectable form of investment.

 

Anything else out there that one can plunk $30k a shot on, is liquid, and not financial related?

 

Anything can be LIQUIDATED if you are willing to take pennies on the dollar for it ........... houses, boats, cars, etc.

 

The trick is to get FULL VALUE or close to it quickly.

 

The best will always be financial instruments like big cap stocks, gold, etc.

 

In the collecting world, I would say anything of "auction house quality".

 

Whether it is comics, coins, stamps, paintings, toy robots, original art, etc.

 

You want to be able to pick up the phone and call Sothebys, Christies, Heritage, etc. And have them really want your stuff. That is the type of collectible that you can easily sell at close to full value.

 

 

[paperheart]

Crack

 

[Hedge Collector]

Sorry, it's gotta be street legal.

[kimik]

Showcase 22

 

Don't you mean AF #15 or FF #1?

[MedicAR]

[slym2none]

:hail:

 

 

 

-slym

[seank]

 

[fantastic_four]

I'm just curious if anyone has knowledge of investments that are liquid (ie. takes at MOST a few weeks to liquidate) and outside the realm of finances (ie. not currencies/coins, metals, bank CD's, stocks, etc).

 

No doubt ultra high grade comics have now (?) become a respectable form of investment.

 

You can't consistently count on ultra high grade comics being sold for their full market value within at most a few weeks. By your definition, this means that comics aren't a great liquid investment, as you've got to reasonably expect that sometimes a nosebleed book could take a few months, or maybe even a few years, to sell. Top copies haven't always sold as well as they are right now, and they're not likely to continue selling so well once people start shifting their money away from hard assets and back into stocks and funds. We seem to have a handful of newish completionist collectors dropping a lot of money into top copies right now, but people like them haven't always been there and they're not likely to be there indefinitely from now on.

 

You're safest to look at any given comic as a medium-term investment at minimum that will take you a few months at least to sell. Some of them are more long-term. That Showcase 4 CGC 9.6 from the last Heritage auction should've had a reserve and been looked at as a longer-term investment, as the price it went for seemed lower than they likely could have gotten had the book been offered a bit longer or a few more times over the next few years.

[Hedge Collector]

You can't consistently count on ultra high grade comics being sold for their full market value within at most a few weeks. By your definition, this means that comics aren't a great liquid investment, as you've got to reasonably expect that sometimes a nosebleed book could take a few months, or maybe even a few years, to sell.

 

You miss my point a bit. I'm not talking about return.

 

I am just talking about being able to get market value for an investment with at MOST a few weeks is my definition of liquid. Return on investment is not a factor. When it comes time to liquidate, you may or may not have a gain, but you will be able to get the money back fairly quickly from the investment albeit at a loss.

 

I do think comics, at the PRESENT time, are fairly liquid. Now that you have Ebay and all the other consignment houses, you can unload any book you want for market price within less than a few weeks. Price it less than market price and you can have it sold within a few days. That's liquid to me.

 

 

[PokerKid]

Several collectibles - especially professionally graded ones - can fall into this category. The professionally graded part helps ensure both parties can agree on the quality of the item easier and then it is just a matter of price. Baseball cards being a strong example.

 

I don't know if autographs or movie props are as easy to move, seem possible. However, I would say if liquidity is a strong factor, coins are consistently the best liquid investment for collectors. Large collectors base and established prices.

 

(Or crack ... just sayin.)

[DawgPhan]

We were just talking about this on valiantfans.com

 

So far it seems that anything pre-1970 in a graded form is a solid asset. Superhero comics in GA and SA, HOF and rookie cards for baseball cards.

 

Grading allows you easier access to your capital and helps track it more as a commodity.

 

I dont think that comic art has the same liquidity and I dont think that copper/modern is going to a good bet to reserving your capital. You may have some items as speculative plays from copper/modern, but I wouldnt put all my eggs in that basket.

[Bruce1971]

You can't consistently count on ultra high grade comics being sold for their full market value within at most a few weeks. By your definition, this means that comics aren't a great liquid investment, as you've got to reasonably expect that sometimes a nosebleed book could take a few months, or maybe even a few years, to sell.

 

You miss my point a bit. I'm not talking about return.

 

I am just talking about being able to get market value for an investment with at MOST a few weeks is my definition of liquid. Return on investment is not a factor. When it comes time to liquidate, you may or may not have a gain, but you will be able to get the money back fairly quickly from the investment albeit at a loss.

 

I do think comics, at the PRESENT time, are fairly liquid. Now that you have Ebay and all the other consignment houses, you can unload any book you want for market price within less than a few weeks. Price it less than market price and you can have it sold within a few days. That's liquid to me.

 

 

I think you missed his point. If you buy expensive books and you need to move them within a month you may take a loss on your initial capital outlay, let alone a profit. The problem with the books you can move instantly is that you will have to pay top dollar for them and again might not be able to get that top dollar if rushed to sell.

 

Bruce

 

Bruce

[Hedge Collector]

You can't consistently count on ultra high grade comics being sold for their full market value within at most a few weeks. By your definition, this means that comics aren't a great liquid investment, as you've got to reasonably expect that sometimes a nosebleed book could take a few months, or maybe even a few years, to sell.

 

You miss my point a bit. I'm not talking about return.

 

I am just talking about being able to get market value for an investment with at MOST a few weeks is my definition of liquid. Return on investment is not a factor. When it comes time to liquidate, you may or may not have a gain, but you will be able to get the money back fairly quickly from the investment albeit at a loss.

 

I do think comics, at the PRESENT time, are fairly liquid. Now that you have Ebay and all the other consignment houses, you can unload any book you want for market price within less than a few weeks. Price it less than market price and you can have it sold within a few days. That's liquid to me.

 

 

I think you missed his point. If you buy expensive books and you need to move them within a month you may take a loss on your initial capital outlay, let alone a profit. The problem with the books you can move instantly is that you will have to pay top dollar for them and again might not be able to get that top dollar if rushed to sell.

 

Bruce

 

Bruce

 

I understood what he was saying very clearly. But as the TITLE of the thread says, my concern was one of liquidity not return on capital.

 

And this was not because I intend to "flip" the investment, but rather because I want it to be reasonably quick to change it for dollars whenever I want.

[DawgPhan]

You can't consistently count on ultra high grade comics being sold for their full market value within at most a few weeks. By your definition, this means that comics aren't a great liquid investment, as you've got to reasonably expect that sometimes a nosebleed book could take a few months, or maybe even a few years, to sell.

 

You miss my point a bit. I'm not talking about return.

 

I am just talking about being able to get market value for an investment with at MOST a few weeks is my definition of liquid. Return on investment is not a factor. When it comes time to liquidate, you may or may not have a gain, but you will be able to get the money back fairly quickly from the investment albeit at a loss.

 

I do think comics, at the PRESENT time, are fairly liquid. Now that you have Ebay and all the other consignment houses, you can unload any book you want for market price within less than a few weeks. Price it less than market price and you can have it sold within a few days. That's liquid to me.

 

 

I think you missed his point. If you buy expensive books and you need to move them within a month you may take a loss on your initial capital outlay, let alone a profit. The problem with the books you can move instantly is that you will have to pay top dollar for them and again might not be able to get that top dollar if rushed to sell.

 

Bruce

 

Bruce

 

I understood what he was saying very clearly. But as the TITLE of the thread says, my concern was one of liquidity not return on capital.

 

And this was not because I intend to "flip" the investment, but rather because I want it to be reasonably quick to change it for dollars whenever I want.

 

I would say that you are missing a pretty big part of the picture if you are not concerned with capital preservation. Anything is liquid if you take pennies on the dollar. If you buy a $30k comic and need to move it in a day, you can but you might only get $1000 for it. It was very liquid, but you would have been better off throwing money out the window. If you take a couple of months to sell it you can get closer to your investment back.

[fantastic_four]

I would say that you are missing a pretty big part of the picture if you are not concerned with capital preservation. Anything is liquid if you take pennies on the dollar. If you buy a $30k comic and need to move it in a day, you can but you might only get $1000 for it. It was very liquid, but you would have been better off throwing money out the window. If you take a couple of months to sell it you can get closer to your investment back.

 

I think the confusion is simple--Hedge_Collector is talking simply about "assets" but he used the word "investment". I think investment implies a return, but he's just trying to identify things you can sell quickly ignoring gain or loss. I agree that comics are a great liquid asset. I hope that continues throughout my lifetime. I doubt it will be in the case 30 to 50 years from now though as the generations who grew up with comics readily available to them have passed on.