BUSINESS, CULTURE, Editor's Choice, EDITOR'S DESK, GREEDY CREEP, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, Reader's Choice, THINKING NOW

You–the Real Retail Target

FEBRUARY 20, 2021. Retail investing means dancing with the big money. The subject is money and the object is to get it–from us. It’s always worked that way, until Reddit traders turned the tables and nearly squashed Melvin Capital. What does that mean? That for the first time in history the retail investor flipped the game on the predacious big money gangs. How was this Reddit move described? A “flash mob.” Retail investors have been the strategic target of stunningly-sophisticated “firms” forever. How?
Think account management fees, account maintenance fees, trading fees, commissions, the 2/20 hedge fund structure, and private equity’s short selling schemes, a practice that works, and profits, against every long retail investor. “You–the Real Retail Target.”

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BUSINESS, Editor's Choice, GREEDY CREEP, MEDIA, MONEY, THE AMERICAN DREAM, THINKING NOW

Auto Insurance. Your Best Rate Awaits. It’s So Easy.

JANUARY 18, 2020. Let’s face it. Life isn’t a leafy lane a lot of the time. Life is challenging. Yet, once we accept that premise, it becomes easier. Often only a fine line lies between us and more–really. Car insurance is a prime example. You need it. They want an arm for it. We just saw through it, to a 29% lower premium, from a higher rated company, for the exact same coverage. Fact. You have as much say in the price you pay as they do. How? We made a choice, had an insight, took an action. That can change things. Did for us.
Turn the tables on how you think about auto insurance. Competition is alive and well. But the real competition is between quoting agents, regardless of the company or other price-carving details. The agent’s the end of the pipe. We exercise as much say over our premium as companies do, if we’re willing to walk. No one’s chained us to any particular agent, policy, or company. Switching’s not a sin. It’s called business.
A better rate and probably a better agent are out there ready to meet your motoring coverage needs. We found both, again, saving us 29% or $360.00 a year without bundling. Fact. And it was so easy. All it takes is a bit of time, a telephone, and an internet connection. “Auto Insurance. Your Best Rate Awaits. It’s So Easy.”

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BUSINESS, EDITOR'S DESK, EDITORIAL, Reader's Choice

Do We Have A Witness? GE.

AUGUST 18, 2019. The shocking is often unbelievable until it’s believed. Does a historic track record of truth matter? Not really. It’s more fun to simply scoff and savage the messenger. There’s always time to act like you were a professional from the start.
Harry Markopolos has a track record. You’ve heard of Madoff. Harry made that call, four times. The SEC slid his 30 page Madoff Ponzi scheme road map into the trash and split for lunch. They treated him like some mad urban shepherd spouting stories of invisible monsters.
On Thursday Markopolos made another call, this time on GE. He was promptly encircled and ripped on by smug CNBC “hosts.” Aren’t they paid to shed light? No apologies for stark professional failure will be forthcoming. That’s how arrogance works.
Never mind that the man clearly stated his expertise is forensic accounting, and that he and his team worked for seven months investigating. Providing a bullet-point breakdown went nowhere. That’s also how arrogance works.
Charges are just that, until proved. Skepticism is human and healthy. Brute contempt upon first hearing is known as arrogance. “Do We Have a Witness? GE.”

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BUSINESS, EDITOR'S DESK, EDITORIAL, INVESTING, MONEY, Reader's Choice

Blind Investing by Fidelity. It’s More Fun Without Those Pesky Facts.

JULY 18, 2019. Someone wants your help with their Fidelity retirement account you say? Nice. Fidelity’s literally got that covered. Their “Limited trading authority’s” darkly ingenious. Just close your eyes and select.
Who doesn’t enjoy a blindfold for a car rite, or while investing? Handcuffs and half-facts too. Relax, it’s only your nest egg. All mutual finds smell different over the phone. Besides, investing research grows dull when you can actually see the facts.
Admit it. Everybody loves game show-style retirement navigating. Details muck everything up. Fidelity’s unique Zero-View format is for anyone attempting to help a participant in any of the retirement plans they manage. How? Fidelity snaps off the lights and instructs you to ask questions, over the phone. Two ways past this bat-mad lunacy. “Blind Investing by Fidelity.”

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BUSINESS, FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, MEDIA, STOCKS, TECHNICALS

Bewitched Night at the Nuclear

MARCH 20, 2019. Our skies run thick with speculation, and hesitation. When will Boeing’s phenomenal new workhorse move? Outside Las Vegas sits the Nuclear Motor Lodge. Us also. Peace brings with it perspective. We’re gaining some. Meanwhile in Renton Washington fresh copies of the 737 Max pile up on the moist tarmac. Shares of BA are piled up also, between the EMAs.
BA will fly Max 8s again, and pretty soon. Count on it. Bet on it. STOCKjAW continues to. We also lucked into a talk with a top level Boeing insider–no kidding. Life’s weird that way.
Some say BA’s a “battle ground.” Thanks Cramer. But that’s indeed true. And then, so what? Wasn’t Target a battle ground in the fugly sprawling aftermath of it’s mammoth data breach? And everybody who pounced on that ick got paid.
Modern living can prove a bitch at times, but then what isn’t? Modern motor lodge living makes that a bit better, particularly mid-week. By then all crowds have fled leaving a quiet elite grace to unfurl. Listen Woody. Amid the utter cool of a turquoise pool, you may just notice Amazon busily busting a major move. We did, and now we share it with you. Check our mega-fresh charts. Get here, and get square on the facts.

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BUSINESS, INVESTING, STOCKS, TECHNICALS, THINKING NOW

TELADIVE. Thriving Teladoc’s 20% Dive.

MARCH 2, 2019. Teladoc’s been beaming the doctor and a big future to you for years. Then came a Teladive from the 20th floor for Q4. TDOC beat top and bottom lines, and posted a killer FY2018 79% revenue growth rate. How can that be ugly? It instantly produced a 20% hit to the share price. Or something did. Fugly. Simply stand back. No one catches that knife. Or do they? We did. There’s no trick to it.
The SEC mandates that companies report, but it doesn’t tell them what to say. Nor do they mandate that you tune in. You have to do that yourself. The Teladive began with a humble press release–they always do. We missed htat.
Oops. Nonetheless STOCKjAW not only survived, but thrived that pure fugly Teladive. What did we do?
Here’s a hint. Be there when your company reports, while the market’s yet open. Those edge sessions are where many of the magical moves you’re looking for happen.

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BUSINESS, CULTURE, FUNDAMENTALS, MARKETS/ECONOMY, MONEY, THE AMERICAN DREAM, THINKING NOW

Black Ops. “Retail This.”

FEBRUARY 27, 2019. Money is three-sided. We earn it on the front side, invest it in-between, and spend it on the back. Many ways exist to handle each. Standing tough on the front end is only a piece of the puzzle. Investing is an entire stand alone story. Leveraging it on the retail back side is a saga loved by all. Who doesn’t relish retail war stories?
Using simple brute dollar power is crap. Great news. Investors have special powers, powers about which others are clueless. No? Yes. Retailers do not exist in a vacuum. Any investor knows that. But what do you do about it? Use it to get more. You can, and your working dollar deserves the support. But we are responsible to learn those available angles.
Active investors know both markets and economic conditions. Example. Retail is struggling to meet the tricky brick-and-mortar and online balance. For many, it’s the physical store that’s suffering. Amazon’s a big part of that. When retailers struggle, you can win. It’s called business. It’s what they do to you–use it back. Here’s how to leverage slow sales using a BBBY example.

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BUSINESS, FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, STOCKS, TECHNICALS, THE AMERICAN DREAM

Angelic ETSY. Think Creatively.

FEBRUARY 23, 2019. Each passing day seems to say that the old bull’s dead–probably. The rocket-fueled momentum that once ruled, now looks like a greasy pool.
Amazon’s glory now reads in at a sickening single year 9.8% poke. Who calls that growth? For god’s sake, a four year old can run faster than that. So now Bezos is taking pictures and the market’s standing still–like a picture. But wait.
Etsy’s here. “Hand-made goods” you ask? Zip-tied twigs and finger paint? Hold up. Who’s growing their revenue at a 5 year annualized 42.7%? No one? Wrong–almost no one. Who has a 69% gross margin? Hum hum. Who keeps laughing at the consensus estimates–and then beating them like some blind goat? Right.
Etsy reports on Monday. Last November they reported their Q3. They monkey-stomped the estimate by 110%.
D’ya see their 6.86% move yesterday? Well, that terra-stomping move was in anticipation of Monday’s Q4 report, and perhaps another savage consensus estimate beat-down.
People love making things with their hands, as well as making money. We love that. ETSY knows all that, and much more.
Thus they built a place to make creativity pay. It can pay for you too. S&P 500 1 year return 3.28%. ETSY, 1 year share price growth 169.4%. No one’s laughing now–except us.

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BUSINESS, CREDIT CARDS, CULTURE, Editor's Choice, EDITOR'S DESK, FUNDAMENTALS, MONEY, Reader's Choice

Here Comes The Good Stuff. 4K More Than Before.

FEBRUARY 16, 2019. Habits create your reality. That tidal power is always at play. What do yours say? Do they pay? They can.
Find your way into your own pay line. Be there every time. No hand of heaven will reach down to slip you in. It’s on you–always has been. It’s your money, unless you deal it out. There’s no secret here, only choice. This one you can definitely do, now. It will dramatically transform your life. We live in a different world now. And so can you. Here’s what our new world looks like, and how to get there.

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