Ye Yeah, I hear you. I’m not overly worried about it and maybe the new stuff will just draw those folks to it. It’s all designed for a particular audience and I’m just not part of that circle. There is nothing that really applies to my plan or how I manage it. The hoopla of silly media articles, the stock tickers changing by the minute or every few hours, it’s up, it’s down, this analyst says this or that, or betting on some whim. It just doesn’t fit for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting it doesn’t exist. I just choose a different outlook and concern myself with what I can control.
I am the same way. I keep up on chip stocks, because I am a computer nerd, but I have long since stopped caring about the day to day action. I just keep my ear to the ground for companies making huge progress in important tech areas and go from there. I will say that W's thoughts on earnings becoming almost meaningless is a fair assessment. Nobody seems to care unless it can be manipulated in some way. But from a bird's eye view, yeah, I am not worried in the slightest for the foreseeable future, because, like you, I do not care about all that media garbage. Good companies will always outperform bad ones. And as far as where else I would park my money, there's only stocks and real estate, and I do not really want to deal with all the drama of the latter.
Amen RTN. You’ve always came across as an investor that is very comfortable in your own skin and plan management style. That is a very important trait for any long term investor. It keeps you focused and grounded in your purpose. I am glad you are part of the thread.
Thanks for the kind words. I may not post as much as I like, but I always enjoy reading your posts. You are positive, humble, and easygoing - a great asset to any group.
We are certainly there as of the open today. A BEAR market for chip stocks......and many others. Unfortunately right on time....we are now on track to SQUANDER yet another AMAZING earnings season. The DISMAL short term market. big tech, AI, chips,....many of the largest and most successful companies in the world.....are being treated like CHUMP CHANGE. None of us as LONG TERM INVESTORS have any control over this type of market. Trading is not an option. Jumping around to try to capture some momentum is simply a losing game and will CHURN your account. My long term strategy....HUNKER DOWN....and do nothing. Wait it out. In fact the worse it gets....the more I WISH I had some money to invest. The $3.3 trillion chip sell-off is nearing a bear market: Chart of the Day https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/a...a-bear-market-chart-of-the-day-100000286.html
The market open today........worse than WORTHLESS. Nasdaq hammered by chips sell-off, Dow and S&P 500 fall after Netflix whiff https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/l...iday-july-17-dow-sp-500-nasdaq-092345307.html
My timing buying MU was PERFECT. I am sure my shares are now in BEAR market territory. Of course....I will do nothing. Why the ugly semiconductor rout could get uglier https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/a...onductor-rout-could-get-uglier-132320715.html NEGATIVE MOMENTUM is massive right now. My view is that many investors are starting to sell positions that have big gains.....a little bit of controlled panic. Combine this with the USUAL short term AI and other trading based on news and momentum.....and you have the current market. ....."The bottom line: Step in front of this slow-motion chip trainwreck at your own risk!"... Especially if you do not have the GUTS to wait this IRRATIONAL market out....longer term. As usual I see NOTHING.....to justify what is happening to highly successful companies in the markets now.
I mentioned this yesterday....part of the DROP today. Netflix stock falls 10% as earnings forecast disappoints, company says it will give fewer engagement updates https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/16/netflix-nflx-earnings-q2-2026.html
AMAZING....we are in a HUGE market drop at the open today......and....other than Netflix earnings (which were actually not bad).....there is NOTHING to justify the market activity today. I see NO news, NO reports, NO economic data, NO earnings data.....to justify the markets. In other words there is ZERO FUNDAMENTAL basis for what the markets are doing this summer. This is the great danger of the SHORT TERM. Run away negativity. Generalities that are meaningless but impact the markets. AI is a bubble.......AI jitters........the markets are a bubble.......companies are spending too much money to invest in their futures.....it is another dot-com crash....etc, etc, etc. Bottom line.....MEDIA driven baloney......BUT......the impact on the short term markets is obvious. I will call it a...FLASH BEAR MARKET. For those with time.....take heart. THIS TOO SHALL PASS.
I am actually AMAZED that I have two stocks in the GREEN right now.....MU and COST. Talk about a strange pair to be green on a day like this. The markets are just too CRAZY. That is my technical term.......an investment term of art.....for the current markets......CRAZY
A little bit of good news.....the opening losses have moderated substantially. The DOW is now pushing to try to turn green. The NASDAQ has now significantly cut it's opening losses.
Why not? NVDA earnings have counted for NOTHING over the past year or more. Apple dethrones Nvidia as world’s most valuable company, ending the chipmaker’s long run at the top https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/17/apple-nvidia-aapl-nvda-market-cap.html ......"Shares of Nvidia dropped more than 3% and its market value dipped to $4.84 trillion in early morning trading. Apple last traded at a $4.88 trillion market value. The two companies have had very different fortunes in 2026, with the iPhone maker surging 22% this year, while Nvidia has gained about 7%."....
I am not going to waste my time or mental health on the markets today. There is NOTHING to talk about that has any relevance to a long term investor. What we are seeing is a market bogged down in the summer doldrums. What we are seeing is a short term market that is caught up in a very nasty negative feedback loop......a negative self fulfilling prophesy loop. It is a....short term, rotating, selective....BEAR MARKET......happening in the middle of a significant BULL MARKET. I will simply accuse the current markets of........MASS PSYCHOSIS. Why not.....it is as good of an explanation as anything else.
Speaking of MASS PSYCHOSIS......the DOW has now turned.....GREEN. AND.....the SP500 and NASDAQ continue to improve.
For....."ME".....I am so glad that my retirement income has NOTHING to do with the markets. NONE of my retirement income has anything to do with the markets. Same for my sister....her income in retirement is based on a moderate government pension, interest from family mortgages, and some income annuities. A perfect recipe for.....PEACE OF MIND. AND.....as a result we have the ability to be fully invested in the markets for the long term with our stock market money.
I ended today with a medium....big loss. It could have been worse. I had a single green stock....AAPL. I also got beat by the SP500 in my stocks today by.......0.53%. TGIF. Another WASTED week in a glorious fundamental environment for stocks.
I like this little article. Missing the Best & Worst Days in the Stock Market https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2026/07/missing-the-best-worst-days-in-the-stock-market/
The market today. S&P 500 closes lower, Nasdaq falls more than 1% as chip stocks suffer https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/16/stock-market-today-live-updates.html ......"The major stock benchmarks notched weekly losses, with the S&P 500 off 1.6%, while the Nasdaq slid 2.9%. The Dow fell 0.9% on the week."......
We are in the middle of a GOLDEN era of earnings...right now. This time around will be the same as the recent past......GREAT EARNINGS BEATS. At the same time the MEDIA will mostly IGNORE it all and usually come up with some reason.....nit-picking.....why great earnings are a negative. I always go into earnings with BIG expectations for their impact on stocks. "MY"....expectations are high for this earnings period. I am like Charlie Brown having the football pulled away by Lucy. I always have HOPE and big expectations for earnings to drive my stocks......but....lately, NOTHING. OH WELL.....hope springs eternal. The S&P 500 is breaking the earnings playbook: Chart of the Day https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/a...ings-playbook-chart-of-the-day-115602014.html ....."Wall Street's forecast for S&P 500 profits over the next year has climbed to about $373 per share, up roughly 32% from a year ago. That is a rare number"....... ......"The current boom is not confined to one tiny pocket of the market. All 11 S&P 500 sectors have positive forward earnings growth, and eight are growing at double-digit rates."......
WOW.....this is a HUGE issue.....for prediction market GAMBLERS. How interesting it will be if the Commodity Futures Trading Commission supported prediction markets are taxed as......GAMBLING. Of course.....that is what they are.....even though it is marketed and sold as......a market, trading and even investing. How are prediction markets taxed? The IRS hasn’t provided guidance yet https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/18/how...axed-the-irs-hasnt-provided-guidance-yet.html ......"Winnings from prediction markets could fit into several categories, tax experts said: gambling income, capital gains or treatment under a Section 1256 contract.".....
