MAY 27, 2020 Often the technicals are a mixed bag. Other times not. When the long-term chart displays the “Moment of Truth,” yet another retest of long-term support, it may be time to take some money off the table. When the chart does so following a doubling of the shared price, it may be time to sell it all. “TDOCed”
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FEBRUARY 28, 2020. Fear is a feeling rather than a circumstance. Investing money calls for a longer-term perspective, and only those who show up will win. The game’s not over. Thursday was the largest single point drop in market history. But that was yesterday. What now?
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NOVEMBER 29, 2019. Investing’s bone-simple. Leverage assets over time. A pair of active ingredients are required. An asset and time. Now this sweet little goodie kit’s all tied up in a big bow for you. Nice. All you do is make it pay. That’s why we’re talking about it. Example one.
This bustling holiday season consider Amazon. The site. Besides shopping from home, they’ll give you 2% just for having a heartbeat. (Correction–this original statement is inaccurate. We attempted to track this back down. with Amazon staff. No 2%–our mistake). We did however get a tidy $10 buck kicker just for loading $100 on to an Amazon gift card. And? And bring that together with a card.
Think credit cards. If you sign up for JPM’s “Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature” card, they’ll pay you 5% cash back for using everything you buy at Amazon. Amazon offers over 200 million items. Walmart offers 2 million. Yet there’s even more fun with cards. Big fun.
Still thinking cards. Got student debt, a car loan, a mortgage, or interest-bearing credit card debt? Wonderful. You can kill some of that. Or instead, you could create some fall-back liquidity, or even a sparkling new appreciating asset. How about a chunk of 5% dividend-paying stock? And you can do so for nothing but being smart. “From 0 to More. What 0% Means for You.”
NOVEMBER 3, 2019. Mashing your numbers is a terrible and embarrassing thing. We did that yesterday and we’re mopping up now. Apple is truly wonderful and amazing. Apple TV launched last week and already an analyst has suggested the service is a reason to buy the stock. That’s sweet.
Opinion is fine but accuracy shines brighter, like superior programing. Apple might be offering some of that, but not much. When Tim Cook announced Apple’s quad package of services last summer everyone heard that Apple TV had 24 shows lined up. Apple TV+ has precisely 9 shows now. Nine.
Last week HBO launched HBO Max., and NBC slipped-in the notion of offering their ad-supported “Peacock” streaming service for “free,” if you can stand the ads. Peacock is “on-demand,” but with those goddamn ads. Let’s just say the arena Apple’s entered with TV+ is exceedingly crowded, add they’re very late to the battle. Here’s our hi-def on-demand “Apple TV. 4Ked.”
NOVEMBER 2, 2019. Apple TV finally launched on Friday. How many years have they been working on that? It’s funny really. When a company does something awe-inspiring and spectacular, many simply stop questioning them when the company rolls out what’s next.
We know. You’re thinking “Apple’s wonderful.” Well, yes, of course. Just look at your phone. They do make the most amazing devices, ones that don’t catch fire while you’re flying home for the holidays. Apple’s indeed the biggest and the best. Yet keep looking. How many Apple Music subscribers are there? Do you know? Ever heard of the Apple Newton, or the Apple Pippin? The tiny core of “Apple TV. Big Show?”
SEPTEMBER 28, 2019. Investing offers up plenty of material for cynics. Volkswagen can’t be honest about what’s issuing from its’ rear. AT&T’s turned billing into a shell game, and 4G into 5G just by simply saying so. Is GE an “Enron-sized fraud?” How ’bout online education? Jesus. Admittedly, it i’s entertaining.
Now it’s the interactive media company Match Group’s turn. The FTC has now rammed a probe into their emissions. The Dallas-based owner of dating websites now walks weird as a result of the FTC’s firmly inserted probe.
CEO Mandy Ginsberg is out of the Wharton MBA program and still smiling. But the probing’s still fresh, and still civil, sort of. Nonetheless, copulating with the fed’s is never a sign of over-arching wisdom. And the actions Match Group is charged with are indeed over-arching, blatant, and unwise. Enjoy the fun. “Lookin’ For Love or Fraud. Match Group.”
AUGUST 24, 2019. Following Friday this trade war’s about as much fun as a 15-watt light bulb. The pressure’s enough to pop about any bulb. The experience for investors is like either a slow motion explosion or high-speed rust. Yet another bomb hisses and blows every other day and absolutely no one has a program to check for the next.
Meanwhile the market’s a psychotic marvel with no map. The best are beaten with the rest. The simple hope of most–buy low sell high–reads like a joke sought by a fool written by a sadist. America’s been knifed in the neck for decades by China, and China wants it like that. Smart people say there will be no winner, while the losers are plain to see. Where we’re at now and what we’re doing about it, when China’s “Dying to be a Star.”(Photo. Shanghai skyline.)
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.”
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.”
JUNE 30, 2019. Social media got it wrong. The real quote is “If it’s not on TV it didn’t happen.” Investing talk happens on TV. A lot of other things are going on at the same time, on the same exact channel. As Americans we could package a totaled dump truck with the most delicate diamond ring, and both would arrive “all good.” Same same with financial TV. Enjoy.
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