I like to point out things in the current investing environment that are the......NEW NORMAL. We tend to think that how things are right now are the way it has always been. NOPE. So.....my favorite....the MEDIA. I contend that is has only been the last 10 years.....and especially the last 5 years..... that we have seen the MEDIA take on the DAILY and CONSTANT role as NEGATIVE HARASSER of the markets and investing.....all day long every single day. This was NOT the norm in the 1980's, 1990's or even into the 2000's. I HATE this new and destructive trend. Unfortunately I have little hope that it will change for the better.
America is objectively getting dumber. Substantially dumber. There has been endless talk of a failing education system as we continue to dumb down our schools. Oregon literally removed the requirement for proficiency in reading, writing, and math in order to graduate from an Oregon school. Speaking of political myopia, Snopes claims this claim is false. Is objectively true with the codified law being published on the web as Oregon Senate Bill 744. I'll post a link to the Oregon Department of Education fluff piece on it. https://www.oregon.gov/ode/rules-and-policies/Documents/SB744_OnePageOverview.docx.pdf You're obviously a brilliant man. I don't just say that because you can finger a guitar like a 14 year old with a fresh stack of stroke mags. You've been a purveyor of wisdom in this thread for years. So... when large groups of people display the judgement and deductive skills of a snarling dog with a sock in it's mouth, what you are looking at is moronism. Stupid arguments. Prioritizing the inane. Preposterous ideas and conclusions. Intellect is objectively on the decline. This should be, I believe I am proving, an opportunity to make money. There is a famous quote I can't find and desperately wish I could to properly attribute. In 2009, an out of work Wall Street person was hired by a somewhat amoral company in a sales position. The Wall Street guy said he didn't know anything about sales. The owner replied, "Find someone dumber than you and take money from them."
We had friends over for a barbecue and he said, "When you lookin', you ain't cookin'." It's a catchy phrase to encourage the sloppy drunk guy with the tongs to keep the lid closed to keep the heat in and reduce cook times. Perhaps we could use a phrase to encourage people to take a more long term view of investing? Something like, "When you tradin', your net worth's degradin'."
Going back to the discussion about the sad state of the market currently: Trump Media pitched $100,000 monthly fee for fastest feed of US president's posts, sources say https://www.reuters.com/business/me...ed-us-presidents-posts-ft-reports-2026-07-17/ By FAR the most corrupt president we have ever seen. Sure the Democrats will pretend to protest, but we all know they will benefit as well since they are all bought and paid for. It's all just so obvious. I have major grift fatigue.
The BIG CAP GIANTS are about to start reporting earnings. If a tree falls in the woods and no one cares....did it really happen. Apologies to whoever wrote the original proverb......"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" (I had to put this up so anyone under 40 had a clue what I was even talking about) Big Tech earnings test tech's big rotation (GOOGL and TSLA) https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/a...tation-what-to-watch-this-week-122359843.html
ANOTHER ONE....bites the dust. Well....not for us here in Texas. Samsung reportedly cuts some U.S. jobs, offers relocations ahead of HQ move https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/19/sam...ers-relocations-ahead-of-hq-move-reuters.html WELCOME to......TEXAS. BUMMER.....New Jersey......and NYC area. ...."It has also joined Tesla, Oracle, and other tech companies in moving headquarters or major operations to Texas, known for lower taxes and business-friendly regulations. The state is already home to Samsung’s chip factories and a mobile hub in Plano.".....
A big week with about 80....SP500 companies reporting this week. That is a BIG percentage of the Index in a single week. We will see the BIG CAP MONSTERS.....TSLA and GOOGL report this week. The markets so far today.......a GREEN open. BUT.....the averages are adjusting down from the open at the moment. AND....the DOW has actually gone RED.
Lets hope so. Can the ‘Magnificent Seven’ save a stock market that might be doomed without them? This week’s Big Tech earnings could be what finally helps push the S&P 500 higher, says analyst https://www.marketwatch.com/story/c...ght-be-doomed-without-them-f88988f3?st=kwYar2
I like this little article. Known worries and unknown unknowns Plus a charted review of the macro crosscurrents https://www.tker.co/p/known-risks-and-unknown-unknowns ....."It may seem counterintuitive. But it’s a positive for investors that there are many things the market is actively worried about. It keeps the market in check and less vulnerable to stomach-churning price swings."..... Thank God we are less vulnerable to......."stomach-churning price swings".......considering what we now routinely see week to week. (he says tongue in cheek)
A good start to the day.....NOW.....we just have to ENDURE the next six hours as well as the rest of the week. AMD, Micron, SK Hynix lead chip stock recovery https://finance.yahoo.com/technolog...hynix-lead-chip-stock-recovery-133110868.html ....."AI chip heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA) rose more than 2%, while AMD (AMD) jumped 4% on analyst price target calls. Broadcom (AVGO) and Intel (INTC) were also poised to gain on Monday. Marvell (MRVL) and Qualcomm (QCOM) rose as well, reversing Friday's losses. Memory and storage leaders Micron Technology (MU) and SK Hynix (SKHY), meanwhile, jumped 5%. Highflier Sandisk (SNDK) gained more than 3%. Among the semiconductor equipment makers, ASML (ASML), Applied Materials (AMAT), and Lam Research (LRCX) edged higher."..... These companies are the GUTS of our modern world and business. They are certainly ON SALE....if you are a long term investor.
The open today. S&P 500 and Nasdaq are higher to start the week as U.S. oil wavers, chipmakers rise https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/19/stock-market-today-live-updates.html
Some TECH news that I like. Alphabet stock pops on report it’s developing a more efficient AI chip https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/20/alphabet-googl-stock-ai-chip-report.html TSMC is accelerating Arizona factory build-out to capitalize on AI ‘megatrend,’ CFO says https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/20/tsmc-arizona-fab-capacity-ai-chip-demand.html
It is a HUGE....high end....real estate BOOM in Florida. California wealth charts a quieter path to Florida as Gulf Coast enters multibillion-dollar boom Naples, Sarasota and Tampa are drawing wealthy transplants who describe the corridor as a smaller, 'safer Beverly Hills' https://www.foxbusiness.com/real-es...a-gulf-coast-enters-multi-billion-dollar-boom In the modern world people have choices where they wish to live....especially people with money. This BIG snowball....rolling downhill.....is NOT going to stop.
Speaking of REAL PROPERTY.....I just got some data on our little neighborhood of 4200 homes this morning. We are in a MILD sellers market. In the last 30 days: 9 new listings. Average price....$1.23MILLION. 12 homes sold. Average is 54 days on market. CURRENTLY.....there are only 30 active listings.....14 homes are pending.......and.....12 homes recently closed and sold.
It is NOT the little retail investors that are DUMPING big tech. It is the USUAL suspects.....operating as a cohesive mass. Goldman Says Hedge Funds Sell US Tech Stocks at Record Pace https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/goldman-says-hedge-funds-sell-131619522.html ....."The cohort was a net seller of the sector in six of the past eight weeks, according to the desk led by Vincent Lin. The cumulative reduction in market value totaled about 10%, marking the largest such retreat from the sector since the data series began more than a decade ago."......
WELL.....I assume I am UP today....since ALL my stocks except for....AAPL and SPCX (micro-holding).....are GREEN right now.
Oh well.......I dont care anyway....but my nice gain earlier has now moderated to a small gain. I see that NVDA is once again in the red....for the moment. It is now at....+7.35%....year to date....after TWO SPECTACULAR earnings reports this year. AND....many over the past 2-3 years. I tend to think that EVERYONE already owns it and there is just....NO MARKET....for the stock.
OK...I made a bit of money today....a medium....small...gain in my stocks. I will take it....any gain is a good gain...they all add up eventually. I also beat the SP500 by....0.51%....today. An ok start to the week.
This market is just afraid of its own shadow. Well actually it is simply short sellers, Hedge Funds acting in concert (see above post), AI headline trading platforms and other speculators.....that are causing the day to day volatility and turmoil. At the same time...the MEDIA...is DUMB enough to think that all the BS they fear monger every day is the truth. Idiocy like AI jitters...and the other "stuff" they spout every day....and...apparently believe.
