The Long Term Investor

We have strong potential for a good day today in the markets. A good open today.

US economy adds 227,000 jobs in November, unemployment rate rises to 4.2% as labor market rebounds

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-e...to-42-as-labor-market-rebounds-133402055.html

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

"The US economy added more jobs than forecast in November while the unemployment rate ticked higher as the labor market rebounded from a month negatively impacted by severe weather and labor strikes.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday showed 227,000 new jobs were created in November, just above the 220,000 expected by economists. The unemployment rate increased to 4.2%.

Hurricanes and a strike by Boeing (BA) workers weighed heavily on the October report, which was revised to show there were 36,000 jobs created last month. The unemployment rate stood at 4.1% in October.

Job growth for September was also revised higher on Friday, with revisions now indicating the US economy added 56,000 more jobs than initially reported over those two months.

RSM chief economist Joe Brusuelas told Yahoo Finance that Friday's report reflects a "remarkably calm labor market" that is at full employment after backing out October's distortions.

Wage growth, an important measure for gauging inflation pressures, rose 0.4% in November, in line with October's increase and higher than the 0.3% rise economists had expected.

Compared to the prior year, wages rose 4% in November, more than than 3.9% that had been forecast.

Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate fell to 62.5% in November, down from 62.6% in October.

In its release, the BLS noted employment in the transportation equipment manufacturing industry rose by 32,000, "reflecting the return of workers who were on strike." Temporary help services employment rose modestly in November but also marked a turnaround from a loss of over 33,000 jobs in this industry the prior month.

The report comes as investors look for clues on whether or not the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates for the third time this year at its Dec. 18 meeting.

Entering the print, markets were widely expecting the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point in December. As of Friday morning, markets are pricing in a nearly 87% chance the Fed cuts rates in December, up from a 66% chance seen a week ago, per the CME FedWatch Tool.

Economists argue that the November jobs report should do little to change that thinking.

"For the Fed, these numbers are going to be right in the spot of what they were looking for, and they're comfortable with, to continue easing policy at least at the December meeting," Citi senior global economist Robert Sockin told Yahoo Finance. "This doesn't change the narrative that likely rates are restrictive and they have to at least come down a bit more at a gradual pace."

Sockin added that while the increase in the unemployment rate could be seen as an early sign of concern that the labor market is weakening, the metric remaining in the low 4% range for the past several months is "sort of the definition of a soft landing."

"When you look over the last several reports, [the Fed will] be fairly comfortable that they're still getting that soft landing," Sockin said. "But there are enough risks that I think they still need to lower rates."

MY COMMENT

Another Goldy-Locks economic report. Even though this is worthless data that will be revised to death.

 

YES.....long live the BULL MARKET.

Consumers Say “Long Live the Bull Market”

https://www.lpl.com/research/blog/consumers-say-long-live-the-bull-market.html

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

"As a result of the record-breaking bull market, Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cuts, and not to mention political clarity following the U.S. election, more optimism has permeated throughout U.S. financial markets lately. While this is common, the nearly continuous rise in consumer sentiment towards the stock market has raised eyebrows.

Each month, the Conference Board issues a consumer confidence survey, a sample from approximately 3,000 households across the United States. The survey asks respondents about their optimism (or pessimism) on topics including, but not limited to, the labor market, inflation, business conditions, and the stock market. In the most recent release from the end of November, the percent of consumers who expect the stock market to increase continued its upward trend to another record high. Following a record high in October, 56.4% of respondents were optimistic about the stock market over the next 12 months, an increase of 4.5% from the previous report.

One Survey of Investor Bullishness Reaches All-Time High

Source: LPL Research, Conference Board, Bloomberg, 12/03/24
Disclosures: Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Lopsided Sentiment

Record highs for major indexes have naturally been welcomed by investors, so broadly positive investor sentiment is not particularly surprising. However, consumers have become more bullish than ever in the history of this Conference Board survey. November survey results indicated that only 21.3% of consumers expect stock prices to decline over the next twelve months. Although this is not an all-time low, the spread between bullish and bearish consumers is at an all-time high. The spread, or the difference between the percent of consumers expecting stocks to increase and those expecting stocks to fall, hit 35.1% last month. This topped the previous all-time high from October, which beat the longstanding record of 28.6% from March 1998. For perspective, the long-term average for this spread is 7.8%, while the long-term average for those expecting prices to increase is just shy of 36%.

The Put/Call Ratio Also Leans Bullish

From a different lens, we can consider put/call ratios for clues on market sentiment. A put/call ratio is the number of puts (the right to sell) divided by the number of calls (the right to buy) for an investment, or in this case, an index. It is often used to gauge how investors feel about the market, based on demand for hedges against stock market declines (puts). The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) U.S. Put/Call Ratio Composite Index currently sits at 0.8, below the long-term average of 0.89 and the five-year average of 0.92. A lower put/call ratio indicates more calls are being bought versus puts, indicating low levels of concern about a potential stock market decline. From a contrarian perspective, more fear would be considered a bullish indicator, and vice versa. While this gauge of sentiment may not be at all-time lows, the last time the index was at the current level was during the post-pandemic rally in 2021 — when the S&P 500 returned 28.7% for the year including dividends, following the Covid-19 sell-off.

Low put-call ratios typically accompany rallies, because it is the bullishness and lack of fear that drives the buying. However, when measures of bullishness or complacency get too stretched, they can be precursors to market selloffs. As sentiment gets more stretched, we get more wary of a short-term sell-off.

Put-Call Ratio Reveals Little Fear of a Market Decline

Source: LPL Research, Conference Board, Bloomberg, 12/03/24

Disclosures: All indexes are unmanaged and cannot be invested in directly. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The ratio of put options to call options reflects market demand for hedges against stock market declines relative to market demand for options to express a positive view of the stock market. A higher ratio reflects more concern about potential market declines.
Any options presented are as a market indicator, not as a product recommendation."

Conclusion

Following the S&P 500’s best month of the year in November, the benchmark equity index has continued to set new record highs. Already elevated consumer optimism towards the stock market has moved even higher since the start of the Fed’s easing cycle and the U.S. election, partly on hopes of lower taxes, deregulation, and strong corporate profits. However, this support for stocks is offset by stretched valuations, excessively bullish sentiment, and the potential for the economy to cool in 2025.

MY COMMENT

Not the sort of data that I use to invest......but....I do believe that the BULL MARKET has a long way to run.

 

The BOEING disaster continues.

Court rejects Boeing plea deal in deadly 737 Max crashes, citing concerns with Justice Department’s DEI policies

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/05/court-rejects-boeing-plea-deal-tied-to-737-max-crashes.html

 

Here are the markets today....pretty obvious.

Stocks gain after better-than-expected jobs report: Live updates

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/05/stock-market-today-live-updates.html

MY COMMENT

The Ten Year Yield is nicely down, consumer sentiment is good, and the SANTA RALLY continues today. We just have to keep it going for another 16 market days to year and and beyond.

We are looking good for another rate cut in mid December. That will be the final BIG PUSH for the markets to close December and into the early part of 2025.

 

I dont see much about this today....so far. Kind of a stealth story. I must say I would be happy to see them go. This site is an OBVIOUS Chinese Communist tool.

US appeals court upholds TikTok law forcing its sale

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-appeals-court-upholds-tiktok-152659041.html

 

The early impact of......"drill baby drill".

Oil Falls to Three-Week Low With Algos Poised for More Selling

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/oil-steady-opec-once-again-000947354.html

MY COMMENT

An early harbinger of inflation.....very early. The price of oil has a huge impact through the entire supply line of our economy. It will take a while....but....this is a good very early indicator of the moderation of inflation over the next year or two.

 

I see that ALL my stocks but....NVDA.....are up nicely today. PLTR is up by over 5% as it continues to be.....on fire.

I see no reason for NVDA to be down today.

Here is the primary "stuff" I am seeing today.....very positive....yet the stock is down. There is some really strange movement in this stock at times....I often dont get it....but I am just along for the ride.

Nvidia may make a game-changing AI chip move
The AI chip goliath is considering a big change to its approach.

https://www.thestreet.com/technology/nvidia-considers-building-blackwell-ai-chips-in-us

Profit Margins Confirmed Nvidia's Under-The-Hood Growth Story

https://www.investors.com/how-to-invest/investors-corner/nvidia-stock-profit-margins/

‘Get Ready for Another Surge,’ Says Top Investor About Nvidia Stock

https://www.tipranks.com/news/artic...er-surge-says-top-investor-about-nvidia-stock

TSMC in Talks To Produce Blackwell AI Chip for Nvidia in Arizona, Report Says

https://www.investopedia.com/tsmc-i...hip-for-nvidia-in-arizona-report-says-8756518

MY COMMENT

This company has proven itself like no other in history. At the same time the stock is constantly disrespected and earnings ignored.

I have NO IDEA why.

 

I like this little article.

Nvidia Remains AWOL, But Palantir Stock Strikes Again — Big Time

https://www.investors.com/etfs-and-...ead-new-buys-by-best-mutual-funds/?src=A00220

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

"While artificial intelligence giant Nvidia (NVDA) fails once again to make this monthly list of new buys by the best mutual funds, top AI stock Palantir (PLTR) makes yet another appearance.

Palantir stock is joined by Meta Platforms (META), Netflix (NFLX), AppLovin (APP), Cintas (CTAS), Salesforce (CRM) and three other companies that each pulled in at least $2 billion from these savvy investors.

And that gives just a hint of where top money managers placed their biggest bets. Scroll down for a link to the entire list.


Palantir Stock Among Top Buys By Best Mutual Funds

Once again Palantir stock makes the latest list of new buys by the best mutual funds. In fact, the AI-fueled intelligence and defense leader has made this screen every month this year except October and June. Nvidia, on the other hand, has been AWOL since June.

The best mutual funds plowed nearly $16 billion into Palantir. That comes after top funds scooped up $7.7 billion worth of shares in November. Boosted by such strong demand, Palantir stock has rocketed to an all-time high with its relative strength line soaring. This week, the AI-fueled company spiked again as the federal government gave it a higher rating for secure cloud computing services.

The links below highlight just a portion of this month's new buys and sells by top funds.

• New Buys By The Best Mutual Funds
• New Sells By The Best Mutual Funds

Click here to see all the stocks on the list.

While Palantir garnered stellar demand, corporate uniform giant Cintas topped the list, raking in over $24 billion.

Others on the screen with an AI theme include AppLovin, ServiceNow (NOW), Meta Platforms and Netflix, which has long used AI for viewing recommendations and more.

Salesforce notched an all-time high after reporting earnings and giving a strong outlook on its AI plans.

Hoka brand shoes maker Deckers (DECK) boldly strode onto the list, taking in just under $15 billion.

Peer-to-peer payments pioneer PayPal (PYPL) also made its mark. PayPal stock continues to rebound from a long slump as Wall Street embraces the strategy of new CEO Alex Chriss.

Palantir Just One Stock Notching All-Time High

In this very bullish market with the recommended market exposure level at the highest-possible 80%-100% range, several names on this screen have joined Palantir stock in hitting record highs.

Meta, Netflix, AppLovin, Deckers, ServiceNow and Salesforce all fit that bill. Cintas also trades right around its all-time high.

Barrage Of Enterprise Software Stocks

Including Palantir, ServiceNow and Salesforce, nine stocks from the enterprise software group earn a spot on the list of new buys by the best mutual funds. The group ranks a strong No. 18 out of the 197 industries IBD tracks.

GoDaddy (GDDY), which topped this list in August, once again registered its name on this screen. Shopify (SHOP), Datadog (DDOG), Docusign (DOCU), Paylocity (PCTY) and Dayforce (DAY) also joined the party."

MY COMMENT

Obviously NVDA is being IGNORED by fund managers. This is one big reason for the weakness and lingering that is going on with this stock and has been the norm for months now.

WHY? I have no idea....perhaps most funds are already way too top-heavy in the stock. Again....I have no idea why fund managers are not buying this company.

BUT....for PLTR....great news.

 

As usual I have ZERO political interest in posting this little article.

From an investing and business standpoint....I am strongly in favor of reduced taxes for business and consumers and regular people. We have a set pot of money in the USA. We can allow business and the people to keep and control that money.....investing it, spending it in the economy, saving it in accounts that are than used to give loans and leverage the money in the economy, energize business and the economy, etc, etc, etc.

OR....we can allow the government to take more and more of the total available money and spend it on the government wish-list.....which usually has nothing to do with anything productive.

AND...in the end the productivity and boost to the economy that comes with lower tax rates....usually....means more tax receipts for government as business and people THRIVE.

President-Elect Donald Trump Wants to Lower the Corporate Tax Rate by 29% -- and There Couldn't Be a Clearer Winner, if Enacted

https://www.fool.com/investing/2024/12/05/donald-trump-lower-corporate-tax-29-clear-winner/

HERE is what I consider the GUTS of this articcle:

"Cutting the corporate tax rate would support a multitrillion investment

On paper, if select businesses are able to hang onto more of the cash they generate from their operations, it can result in an uptick in hiring, an increase in wages for existing workers, more merger and acquisition activity, and additional investment in innovation.

While we've witnessed pockets of increased capital spending in the wake of the TCJA permanently lowering the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, arguably the biggest correlation has been the significant uptick in share repurchase activity.


From 2011 through 2017, the 500 companies that comprise the benchmark S&P 500 cumulatively repurchased between $100 billion and $150 billion of their company's stock per quarter. But since the TCJA became law, buybacks from S&P 500 companies have regularly ranged from $200 billion to $250 billion per quarter, with the exception of a few quarters during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The clear winner of another round of corporate income tax rate cuts would undeniably be publicly traded companies that have prioritized share buybacks.

Buybacks are typically relied on for three reasons:

• Steadily buying back a company's stock can incrementally increase the ownership stakes of existing shareholders and encourage long-term investing. This is one of the big reasons behind Warren Buffett's nearly $78 billion worth of buybacks at Berkshire Hathaway since mid-2018.
• For businesses with steady or growing net income, share repurchases can lead to higher earnings per share (EPS). For instance, Apple has lowered its outstanding share count by more than 42% since 2013, which has had a tangibly positive impact on its EPS.
• Buybacks demonstrate to Wall Street and investors that a company's board and/or management team view their shares as intrinsically cheap.

Although not every company would qualify for Trump's proposed lower corporate income tax rate, it would likely add fuel to the fire for share buybacks."

MY COMMENT

Giving more and more money to government is always simply a WASTE. The less the better for people and the economy. I have seen the positive impact of tax cuts many times in my life.

 

WELL....I ended with a small loss today....thanks to AAPL and NVDA being in the red today. All my other stocks were....green. I also lost out to the SP500 today by.....0.38%.

Another week in the can......we now move on to the final 16 market days of 2024.

ONWARD AND UPWARD.

 

Here is the...week that was.

DOW year to date +18.37%
DOW five days (-0.63%)

SP500 year to date +28.41%
SP500 five days +0.83%

NASDAQ 100 year to date +30.77%
NASDAQ 100 five days +3.03%

NASDAQ year to date +34.50%
NASDAQ five days +3.14%

RUSSELL year to date +19.58%
RUSSELL five days (-1.24%)

As for me I ended this week with my entire portfolio at......+71.80%. Last Friday at this time I was at......+66.84%.

A good week.

 

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE.

Get out there and hit those stores for Holiday shopping....support the economy.

 

I never hold it against a stock...when I buy it new and.....outside or other market events.....impair it in the first months to a year that I hold it. CMG...is a good example. I have nothing bad to say about this stock even though it took a long time to get to the point where all the positions in my various accounts are now green.

I am very patient to get a new stock off the ground.

Here is how CMG is looking. You can see the Rough spot that the stock had with Social Media in the.....SIX MONTH.....return. BUT even that time span is now green. Happy to be at this point where I can really get a good look at the stock over the next year or two.

CMG STOCK:

5 Days +6.27%
1 Month +16.38%
3 Months +23.29%

6 Months +3.84%

YTD +42.94%
1 Year +46.83%

Looking good......nice to be past that little rough spot.

 

Yes.....there actually are....90.

90 Facts from 2024

https://theideafarm.com/p/90-facts-from-2024

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

"We send out a weekly email every Sunday to over 120,000 investors featuring our favorite research, podcast, articles, facts & figures. (it is free)

Here are 90 facts we’ve shared in 2024.

Mutual Funds & ETFs

SpaceX, which accounted for 38% of all mutual fund assets invested in private companies, is responsible for mutual funds’ net gain on their private-company investments. Absent SpaceX, mutual funds have collectively lost about 1.3% on their private positions. Link

In 2021, investors paid almost $90 billion in total fees on about $14 trillion of actively managed mutual funds. Link

There are 50 mutual funds (with over $72 billion in assets) distributing between 14-52% in capital gains this year. Link

“the Refinitiv Lipper database gives the median turnover of a US mutual fund as 39%, implying a holding period of just 2.5 years.” Link

74% of active ETF assets are in the Top 10 issuers. Link

Alternative Investing

Sequoia distributed more than $43 billion to its investors over the past five years, including $10 billion in 2023. Link

Millennium has generated $56 billion in gains for investors after fees since the firm’s inception in 1989. Link

"The world’s largest private capital firms have avoided income taxes on more than $1tn in incentive fees since 2000..."Link

Private capital funds have taken more money from investors than they’ve distributed back to them in gains for six straight years, for a total gap of $1.56 trillion over that period. Link

Last year, U.S. venture firms invested $60 billion more than they collected, the highest such deficit in PitchBook’s 26 years of data. Meanwhile, they returned $26 billion worth of shares back to their investors, the lowest amount since 2011. Link

17% of venture funds larger than $750 million have returned to investors more than 2.5x the total value to paid-in capital, after fees and expenses. Link

Less than 10% of startups in 1995 had a common venture capital firm, compared to over 50% by 2018. Link

Immigrants have started more than half (44 of 87) of America's startup companies valued at $1 billion dollars or more. Link

Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, and Google accounted for 8% of all North American VC dollars in 2023. Link

Vitol, the world's largest independent oil trading company, has made more money in the last 3 years ($32 billion total) than during the past 30 years combined. That's ~$71 million each on average for its 450 trader-shareholders. Link

“Last year, Norway’s $1.5tn sovereign wealth fund revealed that it had lost NKr980mn, roughly $92mn, on an error relating to how it calculated its mandated benchmark.” Link

Investing

"From 1965 through 2023, $100 invested in Berkshire grew to $4,255,516. The same $100 invested in the S&P 500 is only $30,811. That means Berkshire can lose 99.3% and only then just match the index over 59 years." Link

The dollar sum of stock-based compensation rose from $26 billion in 2006 to $290 billion in 2023. Link

Almost 75% of companies paid a dividend in the late 1970s; it declined to 35% in 2021. Link

Stanley Black & Decker has paid a dividend for 147 consecutive years, longer than any other industrial company on the NYSE. Link

Japan’s stock market hit a record high on February 22, 2024 after 34 years of waiting. Link

From 2000 to 2023, public companies in the U.S. issued nearly $10 trillion in equity and retired just over $14 trillion. Link

BlackRock has returned an average of 20.7% per year since its IPO in 1999, outperforming the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100, Amazon and Microsoft. Link

A drawdown larger than 20% only happened three times since 1945 without a recession taking place within 12 months (before or after). Link

The number of custodial accounts at Charles Schwab increased from 120,000 in 2019 to more than 300,000 in 2023. Link

About a third of all S&P 500 trades are now executed in the final 10 minutes of trading, up from 27% in 2021. Link

British funds held just 4.4% of their portfolios in UK stocks, compared with a global average of 10.1% for similar domestic investment — one of the lowest proportions of any significant global pension market, according to a report from New Financial. Link

Over 10% of Fortune 500 company CEOs are Indian immigrants who studied in the US. Link

Almost 20% of S&P 500 CEOs spent part of their careers at either GE or Procter & Gamble. Link

Ex-US Markets

Of the roughly 8,000 listed China-based companies, only about 600 have made an average return on capital of more than 10% over the last five years. Link

The Shanghai Stock Exchange composite rose 105% in one day in 1992. Link

Of the roughly 8,000 listed China-based companies, only about 600 have made an average return on capital of more than 10% over the last five years.Link

3 of the 10 largest economies in the world - China, India and Brazil - are emerging markets and account for almost 25% of global GDP. Link

Since their introduction as an asset class in 1988, EM equities have outperformed developed markets. Link

Sub-Saharan Africa’s population is projected to account for a quarter of the world’s working-age population within a few decades and have more people of working age than China in about 10 years. Link

Almost one fifth of government revenues are now used to service foreign loans in Africa. Link

Companies

In 2023, McDonald's bought 2 billion eggs from agribusiness giant Cargill. Link

There are 33 million Starbucks Rewards members (1/10 American adults). At the end of March 2024, there was $1.9 billion of stored card value on Starbucks’ balance sheet. Link

Amazon has over 17,000 chargers at about 120 warehouses around the US, making it the largest operator of private electrical vehicle charging infrastructure in the country. Link

The R&D spending of Amazon is greater than the R&D spending of all companies and government in France. Link

Between 2017 and 2021, Amazon had more than $25 billion in losses from its devices business (Echos, Fire TV Sticks, video doorbells, Kindles), according to The Wall Street Journal. Link

Apple has created ~$2.7 trillion in wealth from its IPO in 1981 to the end of 2022, more than any other company. During that same time period, Apple suffered three drawdowns of 70% or more. Link

Apple has spent more than $20 billion to produce original TV shows and movies. However, Apple TV+ generates less viewing in one month than Netflix does in one day. Link

Apple’s 2023 revenue (almost $400 billion) makes it about as big as the entire economy of Denmark or the Philippines. Link

Wells Fargo estimates Costco was selling as much as $200 million in gold bars per month in April 2024. Link

Walmart now does $100 billion per year in e-commerce sales. Link

J.P. Morgan has more employees in Texas than Florida. Link

Uber’s advertising run rate is now over $1 billion. Link

Spotify is now the #2 provider of audio books behind Audible. Link

Personal Finance

Americans believe it takes a net worth of $2.5 million to be considered wealthy in 2024, a 14% jump from last year. Link

In 2023, millionaires accounted for 1.5% of the adult population analyzed, and the U.S. had 38% of all millionaires. Link

"When 120 of Cornelius Vanderbilt's descendants gathered at Vanderbilt University in 1973 for the first family reunion, there was not a millionaire among them." Link

Americans throw away up to $68 million in coins a year. Link

As of the end of 2022, there are now more $100 bills than $1 bills in circulation. Link

44% of employer 401(k) contributions accrue to the top 20% of earners. Link

Americans spent $186 billion pets last year, more than was spent on childcare. Link

1 million people now owe more than $200,000 in federal student loans. Link

Roughly 50% college graduates have jobs that don’t use their degrees. Link

“Allen Iverson, who went broke despite earning nearly $200 million in salary and endorsements and is hanging on to reach his 55th birthday seven years from now when he will receive $32 million from Reebok, thanks to a lifetime contract he signed with the shoe company in 2001.” Link

At the end of June, 8.5% of U.S. homes are worth $1 million or more, the highest share of all time. Link

Fraud

Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced to death in Vietnam's largest financial fraud case ever. She was accused of fraud amounting to $12.5 billion - nearly 3% of the country's 2022 GDP. Link

1 in 13 Americans have participated in a multi-level marketing business. Link

Americans lost $5.6 billion in cryptocurrency fraud scams in 2023. Link

Impostor scam losses tripled between 2019 and 2023 to $2.7 billion, according to The Federal Trade Commission. Link

United States

Kentucky has the highest concentration of people with weight-loss drug prescriptions of any state in the US. Link

The US has built more commercial nuclear reactors (two) in the past 25 years than it has major commercial airports (zero). Link

Around 45% of America’s representatives are over the age of 60. That is a higher proportion than any other country in the OECD, where the average is 19%. Link

79 of the 100 most expensive U.S. zip codes in 2023 were in California. Link

The number of bank branches in the U.S. peaked in 2012. Link

Ireland is the largest exporter of pharmaceuticals to the United States. In 2023, the US imported twice as many pharmaceutical products from Ireland as it did from Canada, China, India, and Mexico combined. Link

“While only 4% of the world’s population, the U.S. often accounts for half or more of worldwide revenue for a new drug.” Link

In the first half of 2024, stock pay alone at four major technology companies accounted for almost 10% of the state’s total income tax withholding. Link

Sports

Parlay bets account for 70% of total bets on FanDuel. Link

There are more than one billion Cricket fans in the world, but just 2% of them are in the United States. Link

"There are 17 American men in history who have run under 2:10 in the marathon. There were 32 Kalenjin (an East African tribe) who did it in October of 2011." Link

Nearly 400,000 guests stayed at Airbnbs in Paris for the Olympics, equivalent to 5 Olympic stadiums. Link

Olympians who win a medal took home a real piece of the Eiffel Tower. Each medal includes 18 grams (0.04 pounds) of the Eiffel iron. Link

Innovation

~5% of listed companies at the beginning of 2023 are more than 50 years old. Link

More than 85% of total U.S. employment growth since 1940 has come in entirely new occupations. Link

The horse population declined by almost 90% between 1910 to 1960. Link

20 years after the electric light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison in 1879, just 3% of US households had electricity. Link

Regulatory outlays have doubled in real terms since the 1970’s. Link

The U.S. produced more crude oil than any nation, at any time, for the past six years in a row, according to the International Energy Statistics. Link

The emissions that a modern tractor trailer puts out are 1/75th of what a tractor trailer put out in the 1980's. Link

Over the past 30 years, battery costs have fallen by 99%. Link

Miscellaneous

If you shuffle a deck of cards, most likely that combination has never been shuffled by anyone, in history, ever. Link

The top 20 PINs (out of 10k) constitute 27% of all PIN numbers. Link

Anguilla’s government made $32 million in 2023, more than 10% of its G.D.P., from companies registering web addresses that end in .ai. Link

Workers missed an average of 19.4 days because of illness in Germany in 2023. Link

"only about 7 percent made it through Nobel Prize economist Daniel Kahneman’s magnum opus, Thinking, Fast and Slow." Link"

MY COMMENT

Some interesting data, facts, and trivia in the above. Some of the content regarding money, investing, markets, finance, etc, etc....is interesting and useful to inspire some soul searching and other analysis and thinking about these topics.

 

If I was Homer Simpson I would say.......DUH.

Tech's Santa Claus rally: Analyst sees AI party carrying into 2025

https://finance.yahoo.com/video/techs-santa-claus-rally-analyst-163637958.html

 

This is a pretty detailed discussion of the FED and potential rate cuts in December and beyond.......also....the state of the economic data and the USA economy.

The Fed is on course to cut interest rates in December, but what happens next is anyone’s guess

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/07/the...r-but-what-happens-next-is-anyones-guess.html

 

Not that Powell is anything to write home about......but at this point he is not very relevant......and......this will avoid a DISTRACTION to the markets going forward into 2025.

Trump Says on NBC He Has No Plans to Replace Powell as Fed Chair

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-nbc-no-plans-140056454.html

 

I am so tired of the CONSTANT.....CONTINUOUS.....EVERY WEEK.....release of economic data. It is just exhausting to the markets.......not because it matters that much....but because of the relentless and haranguing financial opinion media coverage.

The BIG DEAL this week will be the CPI data on Wednesday and the PPI data on Thursday.

2 key inflation prints loom ahead of Fed rate cut decision: What to know this week

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/2-ke...ecision-what-to-know-this-week-124924844.html

"In the week ahead, a crucial reading of inflation, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), is slated for release on Wednesday. A reading on wholesale inflation, the Producer Price Index (PPI), will follow on Thursday."

MY COMMENT

The news of the week for me will be the release of the COSTCO earnings on Thursday. The article above is a pretty good one.....for a "week to come" article......but as usual mostly irrelevant short term "stuff".

LOL....COSTCO always has such a weird earnings date.....I am never sure if they are one of the last to report.....or....one of the first to report.

 

AND....a little trip into the crazy world of.....COLLECTING.

'Wizard of Oz' ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland sell for record-breaking $28 million at auction
The famous shoes were stolen by a retired mobster in 2005 and recovered in 2018

https://www.foxbusiness.com/enterta...rland-sell-record-breaking-28-million-auction

I have to say.....I would rather pay this for some Ruby Slippers......compared to a banana duct taped to the wall.