The Long Term Investor

That is an extreme portfolio TireSmoke......with only 2 holdings.....very significant risk. But you seem to handle it ok and seem to appreciate the danger involved. The true definition of....no guts no glory. AND....totally a personal decision....so not for me to second guess.

 

Today....was a significant gain day for me. BIG green in my account today. PLUS...a BIG beat on the SP500 by 1.29%. My ONLY red holding was Nike which was not down much, (-0.23%). My holdings UP over 1% today were......AAPL +2.85%....AMZN +4.14%....NVDA + 8.25%.....and...GOOGL +1.21%.

HOPING for a repeat tomorrow.....I dont know why not.

 

This is a very interesting story. Talk about owning a hard asset. Probably a pretty smart move.

A group of crypto investors is trying to buy a copy of the Constitution — for $40 million

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/18/investing/constitution-auction-sothebys-crypto/index.html

(BOLD) is my opinion OR what I consider important content)

"A group of cryptocurrency investors is taking the notion "We the people" from the US Constitution to the next level. They are actually pooling money to try to buy a rare copy of the document — and they claim to have raised $40 million to do so.

Auction house Sotheby's is planning to sell an early copy of the Constitution Thursday. A group known as Constitution DAO says they want to buy it and will partner with another entity to display it.

"The eventual home must have the expertise to properly house, store, and maintain the artifact," Constitution DAO says on its website.

"Additionally, the community has expressed strong preferences for institutions that are free to the public and willing to cover the costs associated with housing the document," the group added.

In case you're wondering what DAO means, it stands for "decentralized autonomous organization." DAOs are set up using the blockchain, the backbone of bitcoin and other cryptocurrency transactions.

Investors contributing to the Constitution DAO pool have largely been using ethereum, the world's second most valuable cryptocurrency, to pay for their chunk of the offer.

Supporters of Constitution DAO have been touting the bid on Twitter, with one super enthusiastic and patriotic poster writing a nine-tweet thread that featured the Constitution's entire preamble in capital letters.

It's not clear if Constitution DAO will wind up with the winning bid, but the Sotheby's web site lists a current estimated sale price of $15 million to $20 million for the document, which is thought to be one of just thirteen copies remaining from an original printing of 500.

Cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly popular methods of payment in the art world.
Sotheby's, in particular, has embraced bitcoin and ethereum, or ether for short, as a way for collectors to bid on pieces of art and other items.

Earlier this year, Sotheby's said it would accept bitcoin or ether as payment for a work by the popular street artist Banksy.
And just last week Sotheby's announced just last week that it planned to have its auctioneer disclose real-time bid amounts in increments of ether for two other Banksy works going up for sale."

MY COMMENT

This is probably a pretty good way to diversify some CRYPTO. This rare document is an EXTREME collectable. Some of us on here collect comics, art, antiques, baseball cards, etc, etc. This is taking things to a whole new level. I like their style.

 

What a nice solid day for stock and fund investors. We need a repeat tomorrow.

Stock market news live updates: Nasdaq jumps as Amazon, Apple gain while Dow posts back-to-back days of losses

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-market-news-live-updates-november-18-2021-231831751.html

(BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content)

"Stocks were mixed on Thursday as investors weighed a batch of solid corporate earnings results against lingering inflation concerns.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended a choppy session higher. The Dow lagged, led by a drop in shares of Cisco (CSCO). The company posted quarterly results that were dented by components shortages, and the computer networking equipment company posted a disappointing current-quarter forecast. And meanwhile, Alibaba's (BABA) sharply disappointing quarterly report and slashed guidance for the full year raised alarm bells about the pace of growth in China — the world's second-largest economy — as company executives highlighted slowing consumption trends

Nvidia (NVDA) shares jumped, however, after the semiconductor company posted record quarterly revenues and strong full-year guidance. The report suggested it was effectively navigating a lingering global shortage and meeting elevated demand.

The past couple days of equity market volatility have coincided with a mixed set of economic data, with a new print Thursday showing jobless claims ticked down only modestly last week, and a report Wednesday showing a surprise drop in new-home construction last month. Commentary about inflation also mounted and added to investors' concerns over elevated price pressures. Target (TGT) executives flagged rising labor and other input costs during their earnings call on Wednesday and added to a chorus of other company mentions of inflation........

1:32 p.m. ET: 'It's not just an inflation story, it's a growth story': UBS
Investors should take into consideration both rising inflation and improving economic growth in the current macro environment when contemplating investments, Jason Draho, UBS head of asset allocation Americas, noted to Yahoo Finance Live on Thursday.

"The environment right now that's leading to inflation is also tied to a very strong economic recovery in the U.S., but even increasingly globally. Part of that story means, it's not just an inflation story, it's a growth story," Draho said. "So things that you can do in your portfolio and ways to take advantage of it and sort of get the benefit of both aspects, which means buying things tied to what's in demand ... things like commodities, financials, things of that sort. So part of this is a hedge for inflation but part of it is also a play for a longer-term recovery."

Draho also added that some of the factors contributing to present levels of inflation — namely, supply-side disruptions — may soon dissipate.

"I'd say we're at the peak or even probably past the peak," of supply chain bottlenecks, he added. "It's still going to probably take at least a few quarters for things to really sort of be running fully efficiently."

12:30 p.m. ET: Microsoft shares set record intraday high, Amazon's stock jumps to reach highest since July
Big Tech stocks outperformed on Thursday to help pull the S&P 500 and Nasdaq higher, and both shares of Microsoft and Amazon set new milestones.

Microsoft (MSFT) shares rose to a record intraday high, sending the stock's market capitalization further above $2.5 trillion. Amazon (AMZN) shares, meanwhile, jumped to their highest level since July, helping unwind a multi-month drift that still left the stock underperforming against the S&P 500 for the year-to-date.

10:11 a.m. ET: Macy's shares jump more than 18% after topping 3Q results, raising guidance
Macy's (M) became the latest retailer to exceed quarterly estimates this week, suggesting U.S. consumer spending was staying solid and foot traffic to department stores was rebounding more quickly than expected.

Macy's owned plus licensed comparable same-store sales jumped by 35.6%, exceeding the 33.5% growth rate expected, based on Bloomberg consensus data. The company also swung back to a profit, with adjusted earnings coming in at $1.23 per share, following a loss of 19 cents a share in the same quarter last year. Gross margins expanded by about 100 basis points, "driven by stronger regular price selling, fewer markdowns" that offset rising delivery costs, CEO Jeff Gennette said during the company's earnings call.

"On the health of the customer, we definitely see that continuing," Gennette added.

For the full year, Macy's sees adjusted earnings coming in between $4.57 to $4.76 per share, marking a significant increase from its prior outlook for $3.41 to $3.75 a share.

9:50 a.m. ET: Alibaba shares slide after missing earnings estimates, slashing guidance
Alibaba posted September quarter results and guidance that sharply missed estimates, with a slowing economic environment in China and efforts to contain the coronavirus in the region weighing on consumer spending on the e-commerce platform.

"Over the last 6 months, we have observed softer market conditions with slowing consumption growth in China," Alibaba Chief Financial Officer Wei Wu said during the company's earnings call Thursday. "Given slower-than-expected domestic consumption growth, since we provided our revenue guidance in May, we now expect our fiscal '22 revenue growth to be 20-23% year-over-year."

Consensus analysts were expecting full-year sales growth of 27%, based on Bloomberg data.

For Alibaba's latest reported quarter, sales grew by a smaller-than-expected 29% to reach 200.7 billion yuan ($31.4 billion), whereas analysts were looking for 206.2 billion yuan. Adjusted earnings per American depository share were 11.20 yuan, also short of the 12.37 expected. The weakness was mostly contained to Alibaba's core retail business, with its newer cloud computing business posting a 33% rise in revenue during the quarter."

MY COMMENT

The RETAIL WORLD is BOOMING. I had not given this much thought before the recent earnings. This has got to be good news for investors and the economy. A definite indicator of the economy growing and starting to recover. These retail earnings are the foundation of my belief that we are going to see a nice BIG Christmas season this year. Why not.....we deserve it.

The POOR DOW......hit hard today by CISCO. Not that anyone cares much about the DOW anymore. At this point is is just kind of a historical anomaly.

 

You busy tomorrow Emmett? I am going to be gone all day.....so we need you to ride herd on the markets and make us some money. I have to leave before the open so I doubt I will get a post in till some time in the evening.

I continue to be fully invested for the long term as usual.

 

AS USUAL.........HERE is my current PORTFOLIO MODEL.

I am once again posting my PORTFOLIO MODEL. My initial criteria to start the process to consider a business are.......BIG CAP, AMERICAN, DIVIDEND PAYING, GREAT MANAGEMENT, ICONIC PRODUCT, WORLD WIDE LEADER IN THEIR FIELD, LONG TERM HORIZON, etc, etc, etc.

PORTFOLIO MODEL

"Here is my "PORTFOLIO MODEL" for all accounts managed which is the basis for MUCH of my discussion in this thread. I am re-posting this since I often talk in this thread about my portfolio model. My custom in the past on this sort of thread was to re-post my portfolio model every once in a while since I will tend to talk about it once in a while. I "manage" six portfolios for various family including a trust. ALL are set up in this fashion. If I was starting this portfolio today, lets say with $200,000. I would put half the money into the stock side of the portfolio, with an equal amount going into each stock. The other half of the money would go into the fund side of the portfolio, with an equal amount going into each fund. As is my long time custom, I would than let the portfolio run as it wished with NO re-balancing, in other words, I would let the winners run. Over the LONG TERM of investing in this style (at least in my actual portfolios), the stock side seems to reach and settle in at about 55% of the total portfolio and the fund side at about 45% of the total portfolio over time. That is a GOOD THING since it tells me that my stock picks are generally beating the funds over the longer term. AND....since the funds in the account generally meet or beat the SP500, that is a VERY good thing.

As mentioned in a post in this thread, I include the funds in the portfolio as a counter-balance to my investing BIAS and stock picking BIAS and to add a top active management fund that often beats the SP500 (Fidelity Contra Fund) and a SP500 Index Fund to get broad exposure to the best 500 companies in AMERICAN business and economy. The funds also give me broad diversification as a counter-balance to my very concentrated 11 stock portfolio. At the same time the funds double and triple up on my individual stock holdings............that I consider the BEST individual businesses in the WORLD.

STOCKS:

Alphabet Inc
Amazon
Apple
Costco
Home Depot
Honeywell
Microsoft
Nike
Nvidia
Proctor & Gamble
Tesla

MUTUAL FUNDS:

SP500 Index Fund
Fidelity Contra Fund

CAUTION: This is a moderate aggressive to aggressive portfolio on the stock side with the small concentration of stocks and the mix of stocks that I hold and with the concentration of big name tech stocks. Especially for my age group. (72). So for anyone considering this sort of portfolio, be careful and consider your risk tolerance and where you are in your life and financial needs. I am able to do this sort of portfolio since my stock market account is NOT needed for my retirement income AND I have a fairly HIGH RISK TOLERANCE. In addition I am a fully invested, all the time, LONG TERM investor. (LONG TERM meaning many years, 5, 10, 20, years or more)"

MY COMMENT

This portfolio is HIGHLY CONCENTRATED on the big cap side of things. OBVIOUSLY between the funds and my eleven stock holdings there is MUCH doubling and tripling up on the stocks. THAT is INTENTIONAL. I strongly subscribe to the view of Buffett and some others that TOO MUCH diversification kills returns. I do NOT believe in the current diversification FAD that most people seem to now follow.......or think they are following. I DO NOT do bonds and think the current level of bonds held by younger investors.....those under age 50.....is extremely foolish.I DO NOT do market timing or Technical Analysis.

 

LOL.....you caught me RG.

 

Looks like the Crypto guys lost out on buying the Constitution. At this level collecting becomes EXTREME INVESTING. On top of the amount bid there will be a 10-25% buyers premium and depending on the state sales tax. The seller will pay 25% capital gains tax.

A group of crypto enthusiasts lost out on the auction to buy a rare copy of the U.S. Constitution
The group said it raised more than $40 million to bid on one of 13 remaining copies of the document’s first printing

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/11/18/crypto-dao-constitution-auction/

"A group of crypto enthusiasts were unsuccessful in their attempt to buy a historic copy of the U.S. Constitution after raising millions from investors who jumped on board.

The group, called ConstitutionDAO, raised the equivalent of more than $40 million to purchase the document, which Sotheby’s said is one of 13 copies of the first printing of the Constitution. But the group confirmed it did not have the winning bid in a message to members Thursday evening.

“While this wasn’t the outcome we hoped for, we still made history tonight with ConstitutionDAO,” a message from the group organizers said. “We are so incredibly grateful to have done this together with you all and are still in shock that we even got this far.”

In a tweet, Sotheby’s said the document sold for $43.2 million. The buyer is unknown.

More than 17,000 people donated to the DAO group to buy the document, using a cryptocurrency called Ether. In exchange, they would have received governance tokens — or, essentially, a way to vote on where and how the copy of the Constitution should be displayed. On its website, the group said it ideally wanted to find a partner that would display the document free to the public.

“I thought the idea of ‘for the people’ to be bought by the people was kind of funny, and also pretty historic,” said Christian Tirone, a filmmaker and 3-D artist who donated to the project.

The project seemed to be a way not only to make the Constitution more accessible, but also to garner interest and excitement about cryptocurrency and its stated decentralized ideals. A DAO, or decentralized autonomous organization, is a self-governance structure pioneered by crypto users to pursue a project and allow participants to vote on major decisions.

“We have educated an entire cohort of people around the world — from museum curators and art directors to our grandmothers,” the DAO message said.

In a chatroom on the messaging service Discord, more than 18,600 people joined to discuss the upcoming auction earlier on Thursday and send memes back and forth. One user, altryne, made a website compiling messages from members around the world, including thoughts like, “Small amount but we must all do our part. We the People.”

During the auction, crypto enthusiasts took over the live chat on Sotheby’s YouTube stream. “When is the constitution!?!?” one user asked. After the results were announced, they commiserated together on Discord.

As expected, the Discord contains many jokes about the Nicholas Cage movie “National Treasure,” in which the action star stole the Declaration of Independence.

“After [we buy the Constitution], are we going to need to protect it from nic cage theft attempts?” one user, austonst, asked earlier Thursday.

Though Sotheby’s would not have accepted cryptocurrency payment for the Constitution, the auction house did accept bids in Ether for the first time during an auction earlier in the evening for two pieces by the artist Banksy.

The Constitution project has brought in some members who have been curious about DAOs. One, Luke Adler, said he heard about the effort on Twitter and it seemed like an approachable way to dip a toe in the DAO water.

“I wanted a say in what happens to the document if the group was successful,” he said. “My contribution will give me that vote.”

The project hits on some familiar community aspects of the Internet, where people want to come together and have fun — anyone remember Boaty McBoatface? — said Anil Dash, chief executive of Internet company Glitch and an angel investor.

But ultimately, he said he believes it was simply a stunt designed to attract attention and legitimacy to the crypto and DAO communities — as well as to laugh at memes.

“There’s a lot of sincere desire to be taken seriously,” he said."

 

I am out of here for the day. Kick ass today Emmett and Zukodany.

MAKE ME SOME MONEY to end the week