The Long Term Investor

I am waiting for a new pastry cloth to come from Amazon today. For years now.....since my mom died.....our entire family has been without her amazing sugar cookies. Somehow she could roll the dough about 1/16 of an inch thick. They were amazing.....light, crisp, buttery sugar cookies. I have tried to duplicate them many times and drastically FAILED every time. My kids and others have also tried and FAILED. We have her recipe....but no one can do it.

Where we fail is in getting them down to 1/16 of an inch. We can all make them thicker.....but no one has ever been able to get close to how thin she could do it.....and....that is the key to the flavor and texture of her amazing cookies.

I got close a couple of times by using parchment paper and rolling the dough between two sheets......but....it was impossible to get the cookies off the paper in any sort of recognizable form.

I am making one last attempt tonight. I got my moms rolling pin with the cloth cover from my sister and I am going to use a pastry cloth. My moms 60-70 year old pastry cloth could not be found. I figure I might have a chance with the MAGIC rolling pin.

I am not normally a baker....but I am willing to make one last attempt to figure out the secret of the...... Christmas Sugar Cookies.

 

WELL.....I am done with my cookies. What a job. The first 20-25 turned out well. I was able to get the thinness and the flavor and texture. The pastry cloth and cloth covered rolling pin worked well. The second and third round did not do so well.....still thin but overcooked and tougher from manipulating the dough for the second and third time.

Way too much work. Plus the cleanup was bad too. I think I know the tricks to do them now but the amount of work is way out of line with what you get in the end. Perhaps in a year I will feel up to trying them again.

Makes me appreciate my mom and all the other 1940's,1950's, and 1960's era women that cooked everything from scratch.

NOT....exactly how we cook......we eat out nearly every day. We have a FANCY stove that once in a while we might use to cook some hot dogs. At least it (the burners) gets some use for holiday meals. I think we have used the stove oven a couple of times since we got it seven years ago. (we have a couple of wall ovens that we use more often). We use it more for looks than cooking......we like the custom color in our kitchen.

 

HERE is the extent of the MUSK Tesla sales.

Elon Musk’s share-selling spree tops $15 billion
Tesla’s CEO has now exercised almost all the vested stock options due to expire in August

https://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/elon-musks-share-selling-spree-tops-15-billion

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

"Elon Musk on Wednesday unloaded more Tesla Inc. stock, bringing the total value of his share sales to more than $15 billion since the billionaire last month began a string of such transactions.

The sales came as Mr. Musk exercised more than 2.1 million Tesla stock options, according to regulatory filings late Wednesday. He sold more than 934,000 of the shares in the company he runs, valued at around $928.6 million, to cover tax withholdings, the disclosures state.

The latest transactions are part of a plan Mr. Musk set on Sept. 14 to exercise options and sell shares. The options he’s exercised are part of a tranche of around 23 million vested stock options set to expire in August 2022. He has exercised about 21.3 million of those options.

Mr. Musk said Wednesday on Twitter before the filings became public, "There are still a few tranches left, but almost done."

After setting the stock plan, Mr. Musk last month polled Twitter users about whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock; those who voted on the social-media platform endorsed the idea. The chief executive began exercising Tesla stock options and selling shares in the company on Nov. 8.

Mr. Musk held around 170.5 million Tesla shares when he posted the Twitter poll and pledged to sell 10% of those holdings. He has sold around 14.8 million shares so far, leaving him at least a little more than $2 million in stock sales short to meet his commitment. The precise number depends on how he defines his ownership stake.

Exercising Tesla stock options has netted Mr. Musk more shares than he held at the time of the Twitter poll. His Tesla stock holdings now top 177 million shares.

Mr. Musk has a net worth of around $261 billion, making him the richest person on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He also has sold some stock over recent weeks not related to the stock options.

Tesla’s shares slumped after Mr. Musk began his selling last month. The stock, which closed up 7.49% on Wednesday at $1,008.87, is down more than 17% from the day Mr. Musk took the Twitter poll."

MY COMMENT

So glad that this is finally nearly done. This has to have impacted the price of Tesla stock.

 

Not a bad open today. Looks like a good chance for.....three in a row. A MINI Santa Claus RALLY. If this keeps up there is potential for me to hit my all time high by year end.......and.....perhaps hit a new all time high. That would be a really nice way to end a STERLING year for investors.

 

With people starting to look ahead to 2022......I like this little article.

Wrapping Up 2021 Financial Planning
A friendly reminder on required minimum distributions, potential capital gains distributions and charitable giving to close out the year.

https://www.fisherinvestments.com/en-us/marketminder/wrapping-up-2021-financial-planning

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

"Financial planning may be far from mind heading into the most festive part of the year, but as we close the books on this one, there is little time left to tick off any incomplete items on your to-do list. Here are a few things to consider before you pop the champagne to toast the New Year!

Tying up loose (RMD) ends. Congress suspended required minimum distributions—RMDs—from retirement accounts in 2020 for some relief that year, but they are back on in 2021, with the rule changes in 2019’s SECURE Act fully phased in. Your 2021 RMD is your ending retirement account balance from 2020 divided by the typical life expectancy for someone of your age, according to the IRS. Note: Roth IRAs (funded with after-tax dollars) aren’t subject to RMDs, but Roth 401(k)s are. One thing to look forward to: The IRS will use new tables next year reflecting lengthening life expectancies—and reducing RMDs, which should give more of retirees’ savings longer to grow.

In any event, if you are age 72 or older and you haven’t taken your RMD yet, don’t forget! You could be in for a hefty penalty—50% of the RMD amount—if you don’t take it by December 31. Unless you turned 72 this year, that is, in which case you have until April 1, 2022 to take your 2021 RMD—a bit of a reprieve. But if you go that route, remember you will also need to take 2022’s RMD (using the new life expectancy table) before yearend—2 in ’22. Also note, if you inherited an IRA or 401(k) from an owner who died after 2019, non-spousal beneficiaries must take RMDs from it—even if younger than 72—and withdraw the full amount within 10 years, although the timing is up to you. This includes inherited Roth IRAs (but if the owner had it for at least five years, you won’t owe taxes on withdrawals).

A lesson in mutual (fund) appreciation. 2021 highlights some potential tax headaches you should probably be aware of if you own mutual funds in taxable accounts. After a strong year, many mutual fund investors redeemed their shares for a profit. Great for them! But not so much for the remaining fund holders, if the fund manager had to sell appreciated holdings to meet redemption requests. Whenever a fund realizes gains, it is required to distribute the proceeds among all shareholders, reducing the fund’s net asset value by the distributions’ amount. If you aren’t among those who sold the fund, these aren’t gains you realized, but a return of your money from the fund—that you nevertheless have to pay capital gains taxes on.

The lesson: For larger investors, there may be more tax-friendly ways to construct a well-diversified portfolio. Namely, with sufficient funds, you can buy stocks and own them directly, allowing you much greater control over when you realize capital gains—while still maintaining adequate diversification. Direct ownership also allows strategies like tax-loss harvesting—selling securities at a loss to offset realized gains from other positions—to minimize the tax consequences. We think this flexibility lets you redeploy funds to meet your individual financial goals and circumstances much more effectively.

The (tax) gift of giving. Speaking of lessening the sting come tax time, one pandemic tax break remains in effect until December 31: a deduction on cash donations to charities. Usually charitable tax breaks are available only to people who itemize their deductions rather than take the standard deduction (a lot of people nowadays, since 2017’s tax overhaul about doubled it). But Congress extended a 2020 CARES Act provision to 2021, allowing filers who claim the standard deduction to deduct charitable cash donations.

The deduction isn’t big: $300 for single-filers and $600 for joint. But it is easy to take advantage of—and help a charity of your choice. If interested, check out the IRS’s website to see which charitable organizations are eligible. Also, keep a record of your donation. If the receiving organization doesn’t send you written acknowledgement, ask for a receipt. For those who do itemize, the IRS offers another charitable tax break just for this year. If you are inclined to make a cash donation that is 100% of your adjusted gross income, the IRS allows a full deduction. Normally, it is limited to 60%. Time is running out, though, so if this seems like it makes sense for your situation, you may want to consult a tax professional sooner rather than later.

With that, in the spirit of giving, we wish you very happy holidays!"

MY COMMENT

I am all set up for 2022. I have my budget all updated and ready to go.

For anyone that can give something to charity......please donate. We have had a GREAT year this year as investors.......and.....it is nice to give something back. We made a cash donation to TUNNEL TO TOWERS this year. You dont have to give much......it all adds up for a charity. PLUS......you get a tax deduction. (see above)

 

HERE is the daily economic news....that no one will care about.

Jobless claims: Another 205,000 individuals filed new claims last week

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/weekly-unemployment-claims-week-ended-dec-18-2021-232812196.html

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

"New weekly jobless claims held below pre-pandemic levels last week, further underscoring still-solid demand for labor heading into the new year.

The Labor Department released its latest weekly jobless claims report Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Here were the main metrics from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

• Initial jobless claims, week ended Dec. 18: 205,000 vs. 205,000 expected and a downwardly revised 205,000 during prior week
  
• Continuing claims, week ended Dec. 11: 1.859 million vs. 1.835 million expected and an upwardly revised 1.867 million during prior week
  

This week's new jobless claims report coincides with the survey week for the December monthly jobs report from the Labor Department, offering an early indication of the relative strength expected in that print due for release in early January.

At 205,000, initial unemployment claims were expected to come in below even pre-pandemic levels yet again, with jobless claims having averaged around 220,000 per week throughout 2019. Earlier this month, first-time unemployment filings fell sharply to 188,000, or the lowest level since 1969. And based on the latest report, the four-week moving average for new claims was near its lowest in 52 years, ticking up by 2,750 week-over-week to reach 206,250.

Continuing claims have also come down sharply from pandemic-era highs, albeit while remaining slightly above the 2019 average of about 1.7 million. This metric, which counts the total number of individuals claiming benefits across regular state programs, came in below 2 million for a fourth straight week and reached the lowest level since March 2020.

"The claims data indicate strong demand for workers and a reluctance by businesses to lay off workers," Rubeela Farooqi, chief economist for High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note. "However, disruptions around Omicron and Delta could be a headwind if businesses have to close for health-related reasons."

"Overall, the direction in the labor market recovery remains positive, with demand still strong," she added. "Labor shortages are persisting, preventing a stronger recovery, although these appeared to ease somewhat in November."

And indeed, policymakers have also taken note of the improving labor market situation. In a press conference last week, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell maintained, "Amid improving labor market conditions and very strong demand for workers, the economy has been making rapid progress toward maximum employment." And at the close of the Federal Open Market Committee's latest policy-setting meeting, officials decided to speed their rate of asset-purchase tapering, paring back some crisis-era support in the economy as the recovery progressed.

Many Americans have also cited solid labor market conditions, especially as job openings hold at historically high levels. In the Conference Board's latest Consumer Confidence report for December, 55.1% of consumers surveyed said jobs were "plentiful." While this rate was down slightly from November's 55.5%, it still represented a "historically strong reading," according to the Conference Board. "

MY COMMENT

Ok news.......not particularly relevant. I dont pay much attention to this and other jobs and employment data. I dont trust any of it. The labor and employment markets are so SCREWED UP it is hard to believe that any of this data is accurate. In addition......as an investor it is not generally important to me.

 

Here is what is going on today......same old, same old. BUT....that is a good thing........known issues are irrelevant issues......for the long term.

Stock market news live updates: Markets charge higher as investors shrug off worries over Omicron's economic impact

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-market-news-live-updates-december-23-2021-233647896.html

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

"All three major indexes were up Thursday morning, building on back-to-back sessions of gains as fears the Omicron variant would derail economic growth cooled among investors who sold-off risky assets at the start of the week on reports of swelling case numbers.

The Nasdaq briefly jumped 180 points, while the Dow Industrial Average and S&P 500 also edged higher.

Investors are weighing a trove of economic releases this morning. The Labor Department reported that initial jobless claimstotaled 205,000, sustaining a downward trend from the highs of their pandemic peak and reflecting labor market tightness brought on by a demand for workers heading into the new year. The latest print brings the four-week moving average for new claims to its lowest in 52 years, ticking up by 2,750 week-over-week to reach 206,250.

U.S. durable goods orders rose by 2.5% in November, up from the prior month, boosted by a sharp rise in aircraft orders.

Meanwhile, U.S. consumer prices accelerated at the fastest pace in nearly four decades as shoppers confront rising inflation levels ahead of the holidays.

Merck (MRK) received authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its at-home COVID-19 drug, just one day after Pfizer (PFE) was also approved for use of its own treatment.

The pill developed by Merck in conjunction with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, called molnupiravir, was shown to reduce hospitalizations and deaths by around 30% in clinical trial data. Pfizer's pill was reported to be 90% effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients.

Shares of Merck were down 0.54% in early trading at $75.75 a piece, while Pfizer's stock was $59.50 per share, down 0.08%.

In Wednesday's trading session, investors weighed an upbeat print on consumer confidence levels and the release of an upwardly revised estimate for domestic GDP, placing all three major averages in the green after a mixed open.

The Conference Board reported consumer confidence increased by a greater-than-expected margin in December, with the headline index at 115.8 during the month and higher than Bloomberg’s consensus estimates of 111.0. In November, the index had a reading of 111.9, revised from an initial report of 109.5. Meanwhile, the nation’s gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 2.3% in the third quarter in the final estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis after the initial report of 2.1%.

“We’ve been saying that this is definitely a buy the dip sort of market because we expect more earnings upgrades to come,” Anik Sen, PineBridge Investments global head of equities told Yahoo Finance Live. “We think that the real debate should be about the length and strength of the economic cycle ahead.”

The clock is also ticking on a year-end Santa Claus Rally — one in which stocks climb higher in the final seven trading sessions of a year, plus the first two trading days of the new year. Starting tomorrow, traders will see whether 92 years of data uphold.

For reasons unclear, over the past 92 years, the S&P 500 gained 77% of the time during the year-end rally period, according to data from Sundial Capital Research. The average gain in this nine-day trading period tallied 2.66%.

Separately, Oppenheimer chief investment strategist John Stoltzfus disclosed the most bullish price target on the S&P 500, forecasting a 14% climb to 5,330 by the end of 2022. The 38-year Wall Street veteran’s estimate beats even the most optimistic of his peers, BMO Capital Markets’s Brian Belski, who projected S&P 500 5,300.

9:07 a.m. ET: Consumer prices accelerate, while spending slows
U.S. consumer prices accelerated at the fastest pace in nearly four decades. The Commerce Department reported an increase of 5.7% over the past 12 months, reflecting the fastest gain in 39 years as shoppers confront rising inflation levels ahead of the holidays.

Meanwhile, personal spending rose 0.6% in November, a slowdown from last month’s print of 1.4%. The figure, which accounts for 70% of economic activity, comes amid the latest wave of COVID-19 cases, hinting at the possibility of a broader economic slowdown.

Personal incomes rose 0.4% in November, down slightly from the 0.5% increase in October.

8:42 a.m. ET: Durable goods orders beat expectations
U.S. durable goods orders rose by 2.5% in November, up from the prior month, boosted by a sharp rise in aircraft orders.

Core capital goods orders, a measure of business investment in equipment that excludes aircraft and military hardware, fell 0.1% after an upwardly revised 0.9% increase in October, according to Bloomberg.

The median Bloomberg estimates projected a 0.7% increase in core capital goods orders and a 1.8% rise in total durables bookings.

8:30 a.m. ET: First-time unemployment filings remain at pre-pandemic levels
Initial jobless claimsremained at pre-pandemic lows, sustaining a downward trend from the highs of their coronavirus peak and reflecting labor market tightness brought on by a demand for workers heading into the new year.

The Labor Department reported on Thursday that new initial jobless claims totaled 205,000 for the week ending December 18, on par with consensus estimates. The latest print brings the four-week moving average for new claims to its lowest in 52 years, ticking up by 2,750 week-over-week to reach 206,250.

"The direction in the labor market recovery remains positive, with demand still strong," Rubeela Farooqi, chief economist for High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note. "Labor shortages are persisting, preventing a stronger recovery, although these appeared to ease somewhat in November.""

MY COMMENT

LOOKING GOOD. I like the talk about earnings upgrades......although I never bought in to the media line that earnings would slow significantly. As to MOST of the other data.....employment, inflation, etc, etc, many are using a DISRUPTED time period for comparison....so i dont give much credit to this data. In any event.....the data is looking generally good.

NOTHING new going on. That is a good thing. EVERYTHING is known and fully baked in. If we continue to face the same old, same old.....stocks and funds should do just fine in 2022.

 

TODAY....is the last market day this week. The markets will be closed for CHRISTMAS tomorrow.

SO......after today we are down to the last FIVE market days of 2021. So far today....the markets are hanging in there as we head toward the mid morning time. A dangerous time of the day when we have often seen contrary market action lately.

BUT......I have HOPE for the markets today. What I like about this time of the year is the fact that ALL the so called "professionals" are off and on vacation and as a result......what you see in the markets is simply the RETAIL INVESTORS. In other words the REAL market action without the disruptions of the short term Wall Street people. AND......my view is that the little retail investor is much more POSITIVE and much more tied in to long term market reality than the....."professionals".

 

I am STILL working with my ART.....as usual. I will have a small art budget for next year. We RAIDED part of our 2022 art budget for an antique auction that had an item that we were interested in about a month ago. As a result.....we might have enough in our 2022 budget for one painting.....in the medium price range.

The art and antique markets continue to be very strong......although.....QUALITY continues to be the key criteria as usual. It seems like most of the collecting categories are STILL strong.....comics, cards, etc, etc. I know we used to have some card collectors on here......give us your report on the card markets if you can. Zukodany.......are the comics as HOT as I think they are?

I try to PROACTIVELY work the PR for my art. If I can get a piece in some book or some exhibition that is a good thing. I recently submitted seven of our paintings to an upcoming 2022 exhibition. I should know by about the first of the year if any of them are accepted for the exhibition. I believe there is an obligation by art owners to SHARE their art with the public......and....at the same time any PR for a particular painting has the potential to increase value.

 

No I did not actually use an apron.......yes.....I was fully dressed. I did have flour spread all over the kitchen......and myself.

 

Perhaps we should expand on the calendar idea and produce one of......."The Posters of Stockaholics".

 

AND......to change the subject.....here is a little article on some German Christmas terror......kind of like the apron image.

How Krampus, the German Christmas Demon, Took Over America

https://www.insidehook.com/article/arts-entertainment/krampus-america-mainstream

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

"Here in America, we traditionally think of Christmas as being a sweet, cozy holiday full of niceties: brightly wrapped presents, twinkling lights, a genteel old man in a red suit who appears to give you presents, visions of sugar plums, that sort of thing. Sure, there’s the threat of a lump of coal in a stocking, used to keep naughty children in check, but that’s still pretty tame compared to the horned, anthropomorphic goat demon with an affinity for schnapps who shows up to whip misbehaving children with a bundle of birch branches, toss them into a large sack and — depending on which variation of the legend you subscribe to — either eat them or drag them to hell.

We’re talking, of course, about Krampus, the Christmas villain from German and Austrian folklore who serves as a malevolent foil to Saint Nicholas. As the story goes, every Dec. 5 on a night dubbed Krampusnacht (or “Krampus Night”), St. Nicholas and Krampus go from home to home; St. Nick distributes oranges, dried fruit and chocolate to the good children, while Krampus unleashes his wrath upon the bad ones. Though his exact origins are unclear and believed to date back to pre-Christian Alpine traditions, anthropologists generally believe he’s been terrorizing European children since the 17th Century.

Go to any German or Austrian Christmas market today, and you’ll find plenty of Krampus masks. You may even find a man dressed as Krampus, like a twisted version of our mall Santas for parents to use to spook their children. There’s also the Krampuslauf (“Krampus Run”), an event in which revelers get drunk, dress as Krampus and run through the streets like some cursed cross between SantaCon and the Running of the Bulls. And yet, up until the last decade or so, Krampus remained largely unknown in America. Take, for instance, the audience reaction to actor Christoph Waltz — who grew up in Vienna — in his 2014 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon as he describes Krampus. Their shocked laughter indicates most of them had never heard of such an insane creature before, and at multiple times throughout the segment, Fallon interrupts to clarify that “This is real.”

Since then, however, we’ve gone Krampus-crazy. There are Krampus-related events (including traditional Krampuslaufs as well as more simple bar crawls) in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Dallas and New Orleans, and there have been at least 10 Krampus-themed horror movies released in North America thus far. (The most mainstream example of these is 2015’s Krampus, a horror comedy starring Adam Scott and Toni Collette that developed a strong cult following and grossed $61 million worldwide.) In 2012, The League aired an episode called “A Krampus Carol,” and in 2013, NBC’s fantasy series Grimm put out its “Twelve Days of Krampus” episode. A 2013 episode of the animated series American Dad! called “Minstrel Krampus” featured Danny Glover as the voice of the holiday demon, along with soul singer Charles Bradley as his singing voice. A 2016 episode of ABC’s American Housewife about the so-called “War on Christmas” was titled “Krampus Katie,” and in 2018 Netflix’s supernatural Chilling Adventures of Sabrina featured Krampus in “A Midwinter’s Tale.”

There are Krampus-themed graphic novels, Krampus-themed songs, even Krampus-themed booze. Southern Tier, Strange Fellows Brewing, The Black Abbey Brewing Company, Angry Chair Brewing, Revolution Brewing and Southern Star Brewing all have beers that bear the Krampus name. Even the craft beers named after Santa often have a Krampus connection. Rogue Ales’ official website describes this year’s edition of its Santa’s Private Reserve thusly: “When Santa caught Krampus stealing his beloved rum balls, he offered Krampus a choice: either give them back, or wrestle for ’em. Krampus, blinded by the allure of the delicious sweets, chose to face Santa in the ring. A poor choice, as not even a full minute into the fight, Santa knocked Krampus down and landed a devastating elbow drop. Krampus, writhing in pain, conceded the match and handed over the rum balls. The elbow drop, forever known as the Kringle Krusher, and Santa’s love for the confection are the inspiration for this year’s Santa’s Private Reserve.”

But how did we get here? What is it, exactly, about a mythical horned demon meant to intimidate kids into obedience that has resonated so deeply with us here in the States all of a sudden?

There is, of course, the humor and absurdity of it all. Everything about Krampus is so hilariously, stereotypically German. (If you couldn’t tell from my last name in my byline, I’m allowed to say that.) Of course a country we often associate with stoicism and authoritarianism would turn a holiday that’s supposed to be about joy and magic into one in which children are tormented with the threat of being transported to hell by a goat-man if they step out of line. It flies in the face of everything we’ve been taught about Christmas in such an over-the-top way that we can’t help but laugh. Even the name “Krampus” sounds cartoonishly evil. It’s perfect.

But when you really think about it, Krampus isn’t that far off from how we do Christmas in America. All of the best Christmas songs are sad ones. Our most beloved holiday movies — the ones that air on repeat every December — feature Christmases that are nearly (or completely) threatened by chaos and despair. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, for example, features Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) doing his best to grin and bear it as his family is faced with one disaster after another. Even It’s a Wonderful Life, which boasts perhaps the most heartwarming ending of all time, makes us earn it by watching a suicidal George Bailey unravel under the pressures of financial ruin, exploding at his wife and children on Christmas Eve and getting drunk and belligerent before he’s pulled from the icy waters he’d leapt into by his guardian angel.

We need the bad to appreciate the good. The message of Christmas Vacation and It’s a Wonderful Life isn’t some BS about “the magic of Christmas” bringing us a happy ending; it’s a reminder that sometimes, things don’t go as planned, and all we can do is surround ourselves with people we love and find a little solace in knowing that they’ve got our backs. The nightmarish Christmases — even the ones that may not have a happy ending like the movies — make us appreciate the better ones, and they ensure that we don’t take the people who show up to help us pick up the pieces for granted. We need the dark, frigid cold outside to help us feel warm and cozy inside. Maybe that’s why we’ve fallen in love with Krampus. He’s the anti-Santa, and every hero needs a villain; what would they be without each other? But beyond that, as we steel ourselves for the second pandemic Christmas in a row, there’s something comforting about a reminder that the holidays don’t always have to be perfect. Sometimes you get what you’ve been dreaming of, and sometimes you get carted off to hell by a beast with cloven hooves, but either way, it’s Christmas. What’s not to love about that?"

MY COMMENT

That last line............"Sometimes you get what you’ve been dreaming of, and sometimes you get carted off to hell by a beast with cloven hooves"........kind of reminds me of investing.

Like everything in the world....there is a balance between the good and the bad. Some times we have to go through the bad in order to come out the other side into the light. You just have to keep TRUDGING forward.

 

At least for today......we are basking in the LIGHT of a great market day. The third in a row. Just when it seemed like the markets were getting SLAMMED and overwhelmed......BAM.....we get most of the losses back in only three days. In fact......it seems like the markets are gaining into the close.

I guess the past three days qualifies as a Santa Claus Rally. I dont see any reason why we would end here......lets continue this three day trend into and for all of next week. After all......the economic reports and other "stuff" are done for the year. We have a wide open runway for stocks next week. All the......so called...."professionals" will STILL be on vacation.....so us retail investors can.....RUN WILD. Actually.....seems like another calendar topic......."Investors Gone Wild".

 

Yet another nice day for myself and investors. Bit by bit....day by day.....it adds up to real money and the long term.

I had a nice medium GREEN day today. I got slightly beat by the SP500.....0.08%. EVERY one of my stock was in the green today. With Honeywell....+1.67% and Tesla.....+5.76% being outstanding. A PERFECT way to go into the three day Christmas Weekend.

"Santa came down the chimney,
About half past three,
Left all of these presents that you,
See down here before me."