HERE are the markets today. S&P 500 trades higher after light inflation data, but gain held in check by IBM drop, oil jump https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/13/stock-market-today-live-updates.html
A typical sit and watch day today. ALL the big averages are green. BUT...considering the news of the day it is a MILD open....especially for the DOW.....which is being killed by IBM. I have a bunch of errands that I have to do this morning. That is a good thing....since there is NOTHING exciting going on for me in the markets or in my stocks right now. I may as well do something....productive.
NICE.....I got back from my errands and....BINGO.....I have a big gain in my stocks. Only four are green...but they count big in my portfolio.....MU, NVDA, PLTR, and GOOGL. NOW......lets get to work on some of my red stocks and get them green by the close today.
YEAH......IBM SUCKS.....as usual. This company used to be totally dominant. They were the BIG DOG of tech and office equipment. When I did a little $50,000 order for two Display Writer Systems....the sales person could hardly give us the time of day. They were ultimately killed by their.....ARROGANCE......and....BAD MANAGEMENT. Their arrogant management made the DISASTROUS mistake of giving away the operating system business to a little meaningless company......MICROSOFT. One of the greatest corporate strategic BLUNDERS of all time. IBM stock plummets more than 25% on Q2 earnings warning IBM stock on track for worst day ever https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ibm-stock-plummets-more-than-25-on-q2-earnings-warning-150605880.html
OK....here I go....I am going to TANK the markets. I am looking very good so far as we enter the last hour. My big gain in my stocks is now......larger. The markets especially the SP500 and NASDAQ are on a tear today. I still have the same four stocks green as earlier.....NVDA, PLTR, GOOGL, and MU.....but my red stock losses have moderated a bit. I just need to ride this little wave for another 50 minutes. AND....just to be sure I TANK the markets....I ill say: SHOW ME THE MONEY
OH NO......BUMMER. Social Security cost-of-living adjustment estimate for 2027 falls as inflation cools https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/14/social-security-cola-in-2027-cooling-inflation-lowers-estimate.html "Cooling inflation has also chilled some experts’ expectations for the 2027 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, which may be between 3.7% and 3.8%, according to new estimates. The Social Security COLA may be 3.7% in 2027, estimates Mary Johnson, an independent Social Security and Medicare analyst. That figure is 1 full percentage point below the 4.7% COLA for 2027 Johnson estimated last month."..... I will be very HAPPY if we get 3.7%. That would be a HUGE raise.
WELL....a good day for my stocks.....NVDA, PLTR, MU, GOOGL and at the end of the day....AMZN....all in the green today. I nice BIG gain. Also a nice beat of the SP500 by my stocks today by......1.55%. ONWARD AND UPWARD.
The market today. Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq rise as Fed rate-hike bets ease, chip stocks rally https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/l...sday-july-14-dow-sp-500-nasdaq-070833816.html
I am now at a......high....for the last 2-3 weeks. Better....than nothing. Although not near a new all time high.
I have an......"item"......in an upcoming auction in a few weeks. We were at an estate sale about a month or two ago that had some great "stuff". There was one item that I was interested in......as a FLIP. But the price was too high. At the end of the last day it was still there and I got it for a 66% discount. It is not a super high item but I got it for about $250. I have it in an auction in a couple of weeks and hope to get in the range of.....$1500 to $3000. As long as I get at least $250...I am good. Today I noticed that it already has a bid. A good sign. It is not a painting...but we also collect antiques and a few other items....so I know a bit about prices for items like this. I have no idea why it was not snapped up earlier in the estate sale. Also on our collecting journey....we have a couple of medium size paintings that will arrive about September and one larger painting that will come between about September and the end of the year. We are watching a few paintings in an auction that will happen in October......the key consideration will be price. Our top on any of these auction paintings will probably be about $2000 to $3000 each for the medium items. The larger painting by a very sought after Western Artist is a commission that will be 30 X 40......(unframed) It will be about $35,000. And, if sold....which we will not do....would probably immediately sell for more than we are paying. In spite of the above....we are making an conscious effort to NOT buy as much art going forward. Our walls are just about full.....and....there is a limit to how much money we want to have tied up in ART.....at our ages. PLUS.....hanging a new painting is a nightmare. The last new piece we got triggered us having to move 13 paintings around to hang it in a good place.
I went to high school from 1998-2002. No AC. Summer months SUCKED. All we could do was open the two doors and hope for the best. We have spent a few summers in Eastern France in Airbnb homes. None of them have window AC. None of them have mosquito screens in the windows. When the first heatwave hits in June, all fans are sold out. People die every summer. It's beyond me how they could not get a window AC unit for those few weeks of misery and huddle in one room during the day. They are just... stubborn.
I often have a general thought such as this. Did retirement accounts ultimately create a pyramid scheme? If the jig is ever up, it mostly should only affect stock price and not so much the business end. Maybe we’d get huge dividends to offset the stock price drop? hmmmm
OK....we are now open. Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq extend gains as ASML buoys AI trade, earnings roll in https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/l...ednesday-july-15-dow-sp-nasdaq-091813320.html "US stocks edged higher as chipmaking equipment producer ASML (ASML) sent a bullish signal on AI demand and a softer-than-expected wholesale inflation reading followed Tuesday's cool consumer price report.".....
We see this same "stuff" every time there is a new product at NVDA. Same old fear-mongering......same old stories based on nothing, no sources cited. The company ALWAYS disputes them and the products flow. BUT....the short term damage is done. Nvidia’s Huang Declares Vera Rubin on Track Despite Delay Talk https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/nvidia-huang-declares-vera-rubin-091105893.html "Nvidia Corp. founder Jensen Huang stressed that the US company's next-generation AI accelerator systems were in production and on track for delivery to customers, responding to reports that manufacturing snags may delay its rollout.".....
HERE is a significant WARNING for young people and others that have NO CLUE. Warren Buffett on the market today: ‘It’s tough to find values when everybody is preferring gambling’ https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/war...es-when-everybody-is-preferring-gambling.html "Warren Buffett was critical of a stock market that he said is increasingly driven by speculative trading, as opposed to investing for the long term. “It’s tough to find values when everybody is preferring gambling,"......
The BIG story of the day......but.....does anyone really care? Wholesale prices unexpectedly declined 0.3% in June on big drop in gasoline https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/wholesale-inflation-june-2026-.html All I can say is......DUH.
As to the collectables market.....still BOOMING in many categories. T. rex sells for $50 million, becoming the most expensive dinosaur fossil ever auctioned https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/14/trex-fossil-auction-sothebys.html ....."Dinosaur fossils have become one of the fastest growing segments of the collectibles market, as the wealthy search for rare stores of long-term value and auction houses look to categories beyond art to diversify their sales. A T. rex named “Stan” sold at Christie’s in 2020 for $31.8 million."....... YES.....I totally agree that this BOOM is driven by high end....high net worth....individuals chasing hard assets that are a store of of value. It is also driven by a desire to hold HARD ASSETS.....as diversification. I think of my art and other items the same way.
My stocks are doing OK today....not great but....OK. I have seven of nine holdings green....but....my largest holding NVDA.....is in the RED....slightly......as is MU. Little gains here and there add up over time. Bit by bit...is where we are right now.....as for some reason.....the most successful companies can NEVER seem to satisfy the markets. What a STRANGE investing environment it is. At least EARNINGS are starting off with a.....BIG BANG.
NOTHING going on today.....other than a GOLDEN MARKET ENVIRONMENT. Earnings are going to be AMAZING. Inflation is in the "normal" historic range and is going lower. Business is booming. Profits and cash are flowing in the big cap dominant companies. AND.....a big positive sign....we continue to climb a MASSIVE wall of worry. The relentless....BS based MEDIA..... continues to fear-monger anything and everything for clicks.....but what else is new. I find it amazing that you NEVER hear the media saying much about all the speculative "trading".....actually GAMBLING.....that is sweeping the world. It is CONSTANT ATTACK MODE....toward real companies and real business. BUT.....the gambling products.....hardly a negative word. Of course the prediction sites are a constant source of story lines for the media.
We are STILL all green in the big averages....but the gains have slipped some. Seems about NORMAL in the current short term market environment. The best news at the moment....MANY....ICONIC companies are still ON SALE. If you believe in fundamentals and long term investing.....there are many good stocks available at attractive prices.
