A fun little article. What A World (A few Stories) https://collabfund.com/blog/what-a-world/ (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "A few short stories: The CEO of Bronco Wine – which sells the Charles Shaw “Two Buck Chuck” wine at Trader Joe’s – was once asked how he’s able to sell wine for less than the cost of bottled water. He replied: “They’re overcharging you for the water. Don’t you get it?” Franklin Roosevelt looked around the room and chuckled when his presidential library opened in 1941. A reporter asked why he was so cheerful. “I’m thinking of all the historians who will come here thinking they’ll find the answers to their questions,” he said. Everything we know about history is limited to what’s been written down, shared publicly, or spoken into a camera. The stuff that’s been kept secret, in someone’s head, taken to the grave, must be – I don’t know – 1,000 times as large and more interesting. Years before the Wright Brothers flew, scores of other entrepreneurs attempted to build an airplane, tinkering with different models to see what might work. One was a German inventor named Otto Lilienthal. On one flight in August 1896, Lilienthal’s glider was 50 feet in the air when it suddenly dropped to the ground like a stone. Otto broke his neck. He died the next day, just after uttering his final words, a dedication to the progress of his field: “Sacrifices must be made.” Gabby Gingras was born unable to feel pain. She has a full sense of touch. But a rare genetic condition left her completely unable to sense physical pain. You might think this is a superpower, or an incredible gift. But her life is dreadful. The inability to feel pain left Gabby unable to distinguish right from wrong in the physical world. One profile summarized a fraction of it: As Gabby’s baby teeth came in, she mutilated the inside of her mouth. Gabby was unaware of the damage she was causing because she didn’t feel the pain that would tell her to stop. Her parents watch helplessly. “She would chew her fingers bloody, she would chew on her tongue like it was bubble gum,” Steve Gingras, Gabby’s father, explained. “She ended up in the hospital for 10 days because her tongue was so swelled up she couldn’t drink.” Pain also keeps babies from putting their fingers in their eyes. Without pain to stop her, Gabby scratched her eyes so badly doctors temporarily sewed them shut. Today she is legally blind because of self-inflicted childhood injuries. Pain is miserable. Life without pain is a disaster. The night before the D-Day Invasion, Franklin Roosevelt asked his wife Eleanor how she felt about not knowing what would happen next. “To be nearly sixty years old and still rebel at uncertainty is ridiculous isn’t it?” she said. The original Ford Model T had more than 100 square feet of wood in it. Multiplied by millions of cars, it was a tremendous amount of lumber and produced a tremendous amount of scrap wood and sawdust. Henry Ford, ever the entrepreneur, wondered what he could do with the scraps. He settled on turning it into charcoal. Thus began the Kingsford Charcoal company, which today – 110 years later – has an 80% market share in the barbeque market. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink once told a story about having dinner with the manager of one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds. The fund’s objectives, the manager said, were generational. “So how do you measure performance?” Fink asked. “Quarterly,” said the manager. The gap between ideals and reality. Robin Williams was a genius who understood how the world works better than most. He was also a terrible student. Sometimes those traits appeared together. During a macroeconomic class at College of Marin, Williams’ final paper contained a single sentence to his professor: “I really don’t know, sir.” He failed the class. But if you ask me, his answer is the highest level of economic wisdom. Michael Lewis published his first book, Liar’s Poker, in 1989. It was a huge hit. But his next book didn’t come for another decade. He later explained his hiatuses and why he fills his time with hobbies: Writers can get in this mindset where they feel they have to write another book … the publisher’s on you afterwards and they’re ready to get you going again. And I just always feel that the book is going to be better if I start all over again, start completely fresh as if I’ve never written a book before and give myself at least the option of not writing books. The best ideas happen when you wait patiently for them to come, which isn’t something you or your boss can schedule. JFK and Jackie Kennedy didn’t have a great marriage. In 1955, two years after their marriage, Jack told his father, Joe Kennedy, he wanted a divorce. Joe responded: “You’re out of your mind. You’re going to be president someday. This would ruin everything. Divorce is impossible.” Jack reiterated that he and Jackie weren’t happy. His father shot back: “Can’t you get it into your head that it’s not important what you really are? The only important thing is what people think you are!” The first cars started showing up in American cities in the late 1800s. Not everyone was thrilled. In 1896, Washington DC banned cars on the grounds that they threatened the livelihoods of horses. The Washington Post reported: The commissioners of the District of Columbia are determined that the horse whose occupation has so largely been taken away by reason of the use of bicycles shall not further be displaced by horseless carriage. Change is hard. Part of the Armistice that ended World War I forced the dismantling of Germany’s military. Six million rifles, 38 million projectiles, half a billion rounds of ammunition, 17 million grenades, 16,000 airplanes, 450 ships, and millions of tons of other war equipment were destroyed or stripped from Germany’s possession. But 20 years later, Germany had the most sophisticated army in the world. It had the fastest tanks. The strongest air force. The most powerful artillery. The most sophisticated communication equipment, and the first missiles. A catastrophic irony is that this advancement took place not in spite of, but because of, its disarmament. George Marshall, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, noted: After the [first] World War practically everything was taken away from Germany. So when it rearmed, it was necessary to produce a complete set of materiel for the troops. As a result, Germany has an army equipped with the most modern weapons that could be turned out. That is a situation that has never occurred before in the history of the world. There’s a set of advantages that come from being endowed with resources. There’s another set of advantages that come from starting from scratch. The latter can be sneakingly powerful. Ulysses S. Grant’s wife, Julia, did not like Abraham Lincoln’s wife, Mary. When President Lincoln asked Grant to accompany him and the First Lady to Ford’s Theater on April 15th, 1865, Grant declined, joking with the president that it was a command from his wife that he stay home. Lincoln responded: “Of course, General, you have been long from home, fighting in the field, and Mrs. Grant’s instincts should be considered before my request. I am very sorry, however, for the people would only be too glad to see you.” Lincoln was shot hours later. Historian Ron Chernow writes: Grant would long wonder if his presence at Ford’s Theatre might have altered things and whether Julia’s dislike of Mary Lincoln had inadvertently modified the direction of American history. Would Grant, with his acute battlefield instincts, have sensed the assassin’s tread? Would he have been more attentive to security concerns and brought his own security guard? Would the omnipresent [aide] Beckwith have sat outside the box, buffering his boss from harm? So much important history hangs by a thread. The Chris Rock I see on Netflix is hilarious, flawless. The Chris Rock that performs in dozens of small clubs each year is just OK. No one is so good at comedy that every joke they write is funny. So every big comedian tests their material in small clubs before using it in big venues. Rock explained: When I start a tour, it’s not like I start out in arenas. Before this last tour I performed in this place in New Brunswick called the Stress Factory. I did about 40 or 50 shows getting ready for the tour. One newspaper described Rock at the Stress Factory fumbling with material to an indifferent audience. “I’m going to have to cut some of these jokes,” he says mid-skit. That isn’t bad; he’s still a genius. But all success is like an iceberg: what most of us see is a fraction of what happened. And it’s stripped of all the hard parts. President Clinton noted in his January 2000 State of the Union speech: We begin the new century with over 20 million new jobs; the fastest economic growth in more than 30 years; the lowest unemployment rates in 30 years; the lowest poverty rates in 20 years; the lowest African-American and Hispanic unemployment rates on record; the first back-to-back surpluses in 42 years; and next month, America will achieve the longest period of economic growth in our entire history. That wasn’t an exaggeration. But it marked the beginning of the worst decade for the stock market in modern times. In January 2010, President Obama noted in his State of the Union speech: One in 10 Americans still cannot find work. Many businesses have shuttered. Home values have declined. Small towns and rural communities have been hit especially hard. And for those who’d already known poverty, life has become that much harder. That wasn’t an exaggeration. But it marked the beginning of one of the best periods for the stock market in modern times. Gallup has been asking Americans for more than four decades, “Are you satisfied with the way things are going in the U.S. right now?” The average percent of Americans answering “no” since 1969 is 63%. What’s interesting is that Gallup asks a follow-up question: “Are you satisfied with the way things are going in your own life right now?” There, the average “no” response is just 15.8%. People tend to be optimistic about themselves but pessimistic about others. Social media probably supercharges that. Benedict Evans says, “The more the Internet exposes people to new points of view, the angrier people get that different views exist.”" MY COMMENT These are NOT investing stories but there is a lot in the lessons above that apply to investing.
Your......"OLD MAN"....was very smart....RG. As are you. Good to have you on this site. It is nice to have your outside the USA view.
DUH...... Fed's Daly: Fed will likely need to lower rates in coming months as job market has slowed https://finance.yahoo.com/news/feds...onths-as-job-market-has-slowed-204601577.html This is another voice to add to the recent TWO dissents. ......."Fed governors Chris Waller and Michelle Bowman dissented at last week's policy meeting, preferring to cut rates by 25 basis points rather than hold rates steady. Both are more concerned about the job market than the impact of tariffs on inflation".......
Going Long on my position even with the drop... Few know this about $NVO Hidden in a Danish forest, Novo Nordisk runs the world’s largest insulin factory — producing 50% of world’s insulin.
Thank you W for your kind words, I appreciate. That expression "never bet against America" was present in a Warren Buffet letter from 2021, becomming known since then. You all can read it here: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/27/rea...etter-to-berkshire-hathaway-shareholders.html He also wrote this incredible, but true, expression...“In its brief 232 years of existence ... there has been no incubator for unleashing human potential like America”
It is nice to see the USA in....."business mode". It is amazing what a difference it makes. We now have at least....TEN TRILLION.....dollars in investment in business and the economy in the USA lined up. Some reports have it as high at....SEVENTEEN TRILLION. AND......this money is coming from private business and other countries......NOT....our government. This will be one of many factors to drive the markets for long term investors over the next 2-3 years.
The economic data of the day....I will get it out of the way early today.....since I dont particularly care much about it. The flip side of this little article and this data is that......PRODUCTIVITY is UP. A key and very important concept for business. Continuing claims for unemployment benefits hit highest level since November 2021 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cont...hest-level-since-november-2021-125849669.html (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "Americans filing for unemployment insurance on an ongoing basis reached the highest level since November 2021 at the end of July. In the week ending July 26, 1.974 million continuing claims were filed, up from 1.936 million the week prior and the highest level seen since November 2021, according to data from the Department of Labor released Thursday morning. Economists see an increase in continuing claims as a sign that those out of work are taking longer to find new jobs. Meanwhile, weekly filings for unemployment benefits increased to 226,000 in the week ending Aug. 2, up from 221,000 the week prior. Oxford Economics lead economist Nancy Vanden Houten wrote in a note following the release that the level of weekly jobless claims is "consistent with a low pace of layoffs. Thursday's data comes less than a week after the July jobs report showed hiring in the US labor market has slowed more than initially expected. The July jobs report showed the US economy added 73,000 jobs while the unemployment rate moved higher to 4.2%. But the portion of the release that sent markets stumbling was "larger than normal" revisions to previous reports, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Changes to May's and June's reports showed more than a quarter million fewer jobs were added to the economy over those months. May's job gains were revised down to 19,000 from 144,000, while June's additions were cut to just 14,000 from the 147,000 initially reported. "The rise in continued claims since April — a sign that unemployed persons are finding it tough to find new jobs — makes even more sense after the sharp downward revisions to job growth in May and June," Vanden Houten wrote Thursday. Following recent labor market data, the probability of a September interest rate cut from the Fed has surged to 91%, up from just 38% a week prior, per the CME FedWatch Tool." MY COMMENT There you go.....FED. YOU are basically siting and sabotaging the economy with your refusal to do anything. The good side of this data....an increase in productivity. this is a big PLUS for the economy. Why Is Productivity Important in Economics? https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/040615/why-productivity-important-concept-economics.asp
HERE is what I am talking about. U.S. Worker Productivity Rebounds in Q2, Jobless Claims Rise Unexpectedly https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mar...ectedly/ar-AA1K5HVa?ocid=finance-verthp-feeds "The productivity of American workers bounced back in the second quarter of 2025, showing strong gains after a sluggish start to the year, according to preliminary figures published by the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday. Productivity, which measures output per hour worked, increased by 2.4% between April and June. This marks a sharp turnaround from the revised 1.8% decline recorded in the first quarter. Analysts had forecast a slightly stronger rebound of 2.5%, but the latest figure still points to improved efficiency in the U.S. workforce." The report also highlighted a slowdown in the growth of unit labor costs, which rose by 1.6% in Q2. This follows a significantly steeper, upwardly revised jump of 6.9% in the prior quarter. Economists had anticipated a 1.5% increase in labor costs, which reflects the amount businesses pay workers to produce one unit of output." MY COMMENT This data was released this morning by the US Labor department along with the unemployment data. Of course in their usual fashion......MOST.....so called journalists IGNORED the productivity side of the story......which is a positive. I wonder why? In any event as a long term investor I dont care much....I dont invest based on economic data.
OK....now that the above is out of the way......how about those markets. We are seeing green across the board in the big averages. Looks like a continuation of yesterday. Same as yesterday we need to see this strength hold on for the entire day and not FADE.
GEE.....who would have ever guessed. DUH. ONE STRONG QUARTER SHOWS CONSUMERS ARE IGNORING TARIFFS Shopify’s blowout quarter showed consumers are buying through the trade war https://finance.yahoo.com/news/shop...e-buying-through-the-trade-war-100047737.html "Companies are eating tariffs, but consumers are too." "Wednesday offered the latest example of a retail-focused business thriving amid a protracted trade conflict. Shopify's (SHOP) latest results shattered profit expectations, leading to a nearly 21% surge in the stock, which is now flirting with pandemic-era highs."...... ".....what is clear is that the story from many companies is that consumers are simply adding to cart and checking out through it"..... MY COMMENT It is amazing how much and how often the media fear mongering topics are simply out of touch with reality. We see it time and again....over and over and over. Short term BS......put out there for clicks. No thinking or analysis or investigation involved....simply off the cuff DUMB opinion content that passes for modern journalism. Add in a good dose of.....media peer pressure and.........."going along with the crowd".....and you have basic.....(I hate to use the term because it now has political undertones but it is the most accurate term I can think of)......FAKE NEWS. This "stuff" is a big danger to any investor. It drives EMOTION which is the killer of investing returns if someone acts on them. BEWARE. Focus....focus...focus....on the long term and basic business fundamental data....that is the long term key.
To continue the above....if we are going to have people talking about the negativity of tariffs....lets have some talk about the positive side. Basic accounting. US expects $50 billion a month in tariff revenues, Lutnick says https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-expects-50-billion-month-131734396.html
The markets so far today. Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq rise as Trump hints at chip tariff carveout https://finance.yahoo.com/news/live...-hints-at-chip-tariff-carveout-230246482.html (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "US stocks edged higher on Thursday as President Trump's sweeping tariffs hit dozens of US trade partners after his self-imposed deadline for countries to strike deals expired. At the same time, Trump's hint of a carveout for coming duties on semiconductors boosted tech for a second consecutive day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained 0.6%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 0.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) rose 0.8%. Trump's deadline for trade deals landed at 12:01 a.m. ET on Thursday. Imports from nearly 200 countries now face duties ranging from 10% to 50%, and the overall average effective tariff rate is projected to jump to 18.3%. Apple (AAPL) shares climbed Thursday in premarket trading as Trump and CEO Tim Cook announced the company would make a $100 billion investment in the US. As part of the deal, Apple will manufacture the cover glasses for iPhones and Apple Watches in Kentucky. The president also revealed at the press conference that he plans to eventually set a 100% tariff on semiconductors. Companies like Apple that commit to building in the US, however, will be exempt from the tariff, he said. Airbnb (ABNB), DoorDash (DASH), and Lyft (LYFT) reported earnings after the bell. DoorDash shares jumped premarket on an upbeat forecast driven by resilient delivery demand. Airbnb and Lyft, meanwhile, fell on disappointing guidance. Also on Thursday, 1.974 million continuing claims for unemployment benefits were filed, reaching their highest level since November 2021. The state of the labor market is in high focus following a disappointing July jobs report and downbeat revisions to the May and June jobs reports." MY COMMENT ANOTHER mild hard-news day. Not much really going on so the markets are FORCED to actually consider earnings.....which are in my mind historic to the positive side. YES......the bull market is totally......ALIVE and WELL.
I am not going to put up an article for poor INTEL. This company is a......PLUMMETING....falling knife. You know what they say about trying to catch a falling knife. I rarely even think about this old and tired company anymore. It is a shame for their workers how this company has been allowed to deteriorate. A long and sad history of.....BAD MANAGEMENT.
I will give everyone an early HEADS UP. I will go missing next week. I will be doing some traveling and will miss the entire market week. Sometimes....you know....I have to take care of business outside of these boards. After all....this stuff is not my job. I will be able to follow the markets.....but when I travel I NEVER log into my accounts. Anyone that is inclined is welcome to take over and post some content next week. It would be a good time for anyone that has never posted to come in and introduce yourself and make your first post. ANY AND ALL.....are welcome to post on here regardless of personal opinions or investing style.
Right now I can see from the ticker that I have seven of nine stocks in the GREEN. COST is up nicely as are NVDA, AAPL, AMZN, and PLTR. It is a BOOMER of a day for me....so far. My two RED stocks....MSFT, and little position WMT. A very similar day to yesterday. Of course....we are ONLY one hour into the market day.
BUMMER for the DOW. It is now down by about 135 points. I "hear" that much of that loss is due to CAT. I dont follow this stock but apparently it had an earnings miss and was seeing some downgrades today.
BIG WOW......another mid-day all time high for me. What is even more amazing is that the stock side of my portfolio NOW represents.....77%....of my portfolio. This is also an all time high. I remember when the stock side usually was in the 63% to 66% range of my entire portfolio. This is NOT due to adding money....it is due to stock gains and appreciation compared to the portion of my account that is in the SP500 Index fund and the Fidelity Contra Fund. My nine stock "picks" are kicking ass. Plus it is not like the funds are lagging.....they are also booming since their largest holdings include all of my stocks in the top 20. I triple up on my nine stocks in the funds that I hold. I do consider myself aggressively diversified.....with my non-tech stocks and my funds. Obviously i do NOT follow the theory of very broad diversification that many people recommend or follow. I believe in general that over-diversification kills returns. i believe Warren Buffett believed the same. This is what I mean when I talk about.....RIDING THE WAVE...and...LETTING WINNERS RUN.
OK LORI......how you doing...over there in England. I am sure you are at yet another all time high. Is anyone you know starting to notice? Is anyone else you know starting to consider investing in BIG CAP USA GROWTH stocks? If you are willing.....what is your current portfolio?
I see that we have now lost much of the earlier gains....as the market has FADED. too bad...it is a shame since there is really NOTHING negative going on. Perhaps some profit taking as the markets and many individual stocks push toward all time highs. Basically as a long term investor.....not my problem.
