Thanks for the kind words, and I will! 🙂

You’re right that there’s always an optimal play, but we don’t always know what it is. Sure, Jace looked like a sure thing, and that obviously worked out, but there have been years past where it didn’t go that way. Lingering Souls and (whatever that enchantment was), for instance, didn’t pan out at all.
As I’ve talked about before, I rarely buy in cash, mostly out of a conservative mindset. I can get plenty of cards in trade throughout the year (and from buying for the store), so I approach it from a slightly different perspective.

That’s why I asked you about the 401k thing, to be honest. The daily highs make it a little less exciting to invest.

Agreed. Our buddy Warren ftw.

Excellent article! I couldn’t agree more with the comment about the “HELP ME MAKE MOAR MONEY!!!” posts on Reddit and elsewhere. The fact that people in the actual finance community get downvoted as hard as they do when they suggest things like patience, diversification (not just between MTG cards, but also “real world” investments), selling into hype, and maintaining liquid assets speaks to the lack of people with actual finance backgrounds in that community. Everyone who ever won an FNM thinks their opinion matters…

I think for the community to really move forward these kinds of articles are incredibly important. In some ways it’s a shame that they’re behind the pay wall, but the quality of the articles are also a solid reason to throw down the cash for a membership. Keep it coming!

– Andrew

I mainly exercise the mindset: be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful. As the market breaks new records, this is a time to be fearful. I’m trimming my RL investment positions to take some profits off the table.

But the “leave 10% on the table for the next guy” doesn’t work in stocks. Depending on the time horizon, 10% can be a spectacular return. But I do try to sell on the way up and buy on the way down, which in essence does mean I leave some profits for someone else. Just not all of them.

Great article. I have maybe 1 year of spec experience so I don’t consider myself an expert, but I have seen some things.

Last year, I was really into diversification and wanted to play it safe, so I invested in a whole slew of things Qspec recommended – aetherlings, Dspheres, obzedats, blood barons, and a few jaces etc all good solid staples with cash. In hindsight, I think the best standard spec with the best ROI was probably Jace when it hit ~$10, and when standard spiked for theros, it went up to 30+, yielding $20 buylist prices.

So now, realizing there is a “best play,” and looking at strong performance indicators (Jace was a star in Dragon’s Maze PT Block), I think now there is a correct spec with the highest ROI where you ignore the opportunity cost of investing in other lower ROI cards (not to say you wouldn’t trade for them), at least from a cash perspective. I’m not saying that I personally don’t diversify as I do, but I think with more experience, you gain more insight and certainty and should move more heavily on certain specs.

Thoughts?

Gracias!

Also a little wary of the stock market right now. Lots of downward pressure in the next several months/years as the Fed tapers and the economy limps along.

Thanks! Glad to hear that.

As for my INN boxes, I am experiencing some disappointment from this investment. I still think I can profit on these in time, but as you know I also invest money in the stock market. The stock market has returned like 23% YTD while my INN boxes are actually down about 10% from where I bought. I should have put more of my money into the stock market, then sold those stocks to buy INN boxes nowish. Opportunity cost came back to bite me here.

But moving forward I would rather be in INN boxes methinks. Diversification is also a thing, and I do consider MTG a diversified aspect of my full portfolio, including “RL Investments”.