I will leave that to you Emmett. BUT.....I imagine Powell as being played By Wayne Knight in the same style as NEWMAN in Seinfeld. Let me know when you are ready to start production.
Before I got distracted by important business above....I looked at my account. Amazingly I had a nice gain today with only three stocks in the green.....AAPL, AMZN, and GOOGL. In spite of everything....the force is strong in the markets today.
Or perhaps.......Powell could be played by Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Reubens).......as a big come-back role. I can see it being a big hit for him.
The markets today....at this moment. Stock market news today: Stocks struggle as more Powell testimony comes amid continued jobs strength https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-market-news-live-updates-march-8-2023-124051164.html (BOLD is my opinion OR what i consider important content) "U.S. stocks struggled for direction during the trading session on Wednesday, following two labor prints that showed the labor market remains tight amid sticky inflation. Wall Street heard from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell before the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday morning. "When say we will look at totality of data that will include these next reports. We will carefully analyze. Haven't made a decision on march meeting. Larger point is that we are not on a preset path," said Powell. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) ticked down by 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) down by 0.3%. Contracts on the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) declined near the flatline. Bond yields inched lower alongside a stronger dollar. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note ticked down to 3.92% Wednesday morning. U.S. stocks plummeted Tuesday after Powell said during his Senate Banking Committee testimony that interest rates may rise “higher” than previously expected as the Fed continues a persistent fight against inflation. Powell’s comments on Capitol Hill triggered a 1.5% selloff in equities, according to JP Morgan’s trading desk. Tuesday’s losses saw every sector lower, with financials and real estate logging the biggest declines for the day. Treasury yields were higher, with the 2-year yield tipping above 5%, while the spread between the 10-year and 2-year US Treasury yields inverted for the first time since September 1981. According to strategists at Deutsche Bank, reaching this level signals a recession could be underway or has occurred within a maximum of eight months. “Powell’s speech indicates that the Fed will heavily depend on near-term data for upcoming rates decisions,” Michael Feroli, Chief U.S. Economist at JP Morgan, wrote in a note Wednesday morning. "With January’s macro data mostly printing on the hawkish side, NFP Friday and CPI next Tuesday are the most critical catalysts for Fed’s decision between 25bp and 50bp,” Feroli added. Still, on the economic data side, ADP’s monthly read on private payroll growth rose by 242,000 in February, above consensus expectations for 200,000. ADP also tracked pay growth for those workers who stayed in their position, which decelerated to 7.2% last month, the slowest pace of gains within in the last year. “There is a tradeoff in the labor market right now,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP, wrote in the press release. "We're seeing robust hiring, which is good for the economy and workers, but pay growth is still quite elevated. The modest slowdown in pay increases, on its own, is unlikely to drive down inflation rapidly in the near-term.” Meanwhile, the U.S. monthly international trade deficit increased to $68.3 billion in January, below the consensus deficit of $68.7 billion as imports increased more than exports, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau. Another highlight Wednesday morning was the January’s report on the number of job openings, which fell to 10.82 million, down from the upwardly revised 11.2 million openings in the prior month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Construction, leisure, hospitality and finance industries showed the major pullbacks in job openings. "While the January JOLTS report shows job openings are heading in the right direction for the Fed, the decline is far too modest to convince that labor market conditions are cooling enough to bring down inflation," Matthew Martin, U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, wrote in a statement following the release. February’s jobs report out on Friday will hold more clues about the strength of the economy. Economists expect 215,000 new jobs will be added to the economy, a slower pace from the January’s blowout number of 517,000 job additions. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 3.4%. Another key point from the reading will be wage growth, with a 0.3% month-to-month bump in average hourly earnings anticipated and 4.7% over the last year. In single-stock moves, Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) gained nearly 2% Wednesday morning after a regulatory filing revealed that Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway bought nearly 6 million shares of the oil company in recent days, raising its stake in the company to 200.2 million shares worth $12.2 billion. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (CRWD) shares rose 7% Wednesday after the security software provider reported fourth-quarter earnings that topped analysts expectations and issued stronger guidance for the fiscal first quarter. Shares of Tesla (TSLA) dipped nearly 2% as Berenberg analyst Adrian Yanoshik slashed his rating on the stock from buy to hold, citing "based on misplaced fears of a price war – appears to have been accepted by the market," Yanoshik noted." MY COMMENT A typical FED day today. So nothing matters till the close. Even less new today than yesterday......amazing....considering that there was NOTHING new yesterday. NO....dont ask me how something can be less than...."nothing". I see the market green so far today as being mostly related to the Ten Year Treasury yield today.
Perhaps a bit of a twist at the end could be.....a combination of the above: A caravan of giant black SUV's pulls up with flashing strobe lights. Agents in dark suits and sun glasses.....even though it is nighttime......pile out and open the back door of the middle SUV. Even though I am pined to the sidewalk by a knee to my back....I can see the man in the dark suit exit the SUV.....(WITH HIS BACK TO THE CAMERA)........It is POWELL. He sneers at me as he walks over......."You got something to say to me WXYZ"? I look up, terror contorts my face,......I am gasping in fear and confusion.....I recoil in horror....."no, no, nooooo". The camera slowly pans up at an extreme angle to show Powells face......as he tears off a rubber Mission Impossible style face covering.....it is...... "Newman". Or substitute...."it is......Pee-wee Herman". A final shot of a meticulously polished, Italian dress shoe.....smashing into my face....(from my point of view).....as the screen slowly goes black........with a maniacal, sneering, laugh lingering and stretching....for an extreme, uncomfortable, length of time..... into the black darkness.
Even though it may not last.....I STILL like the fact that the NASDAQ and SP500 are giving Powell the middle finger so far today.
Ok Emmett....here is my final edit and terms....Make it happen....BABY. "A pounding, urgently sinister, knock on the door late at night. I drag myself out of bed, disoriented, and confused. As I head to the door, suddenly a swat team smashes in the door with shouts of......FED, FED, FED. They drag me and my wife out onto the yard not even allowing us to get dressed. "Get down, get down A'holes.....dont move". We were quickly zip tied.....and left laying on the sidewalk surrounded by an army of fully armed agents with AK's and full body armor. Apache helicopters circle overhead, swooping in with searchlights and weapons scanning the ground. (imagine a cross between Robo-Cop, Terminator, and Apocalypse Now) A caravan of giant black SUV's pulls up with flashing strobe lights. Agents in dark suits and sun glasses.....even though it is nighttime......pile out and open the back door of the middle SUV (a Range Rover). Even though I am pined to the sidewalk by a knee to my back....I can see the man in the dark suit exit the SUV.....(WITH HIS BACK TO THE CAMERA)........It is POWELL. He sneers at me as he walks over......."You got something to say to me WXYZ"? I look up, terror contorts my face,......I am gasping in fear and confusion.....I recoil in horror....."no, no, nooooo". The camera slowly pans up at an extreme angle to show Powells face......as he tears off a rubber Mission Impossible style face covering.....it is...... "Newman". Or substitute...."it is......Pee-wee Herman". A final shot of a meticulously polished ($18,000 a pair), Italian dress shoe.....smashing into my face....(from my point of view).....as the screen slowly goes black........with a maniacal, sneering, laugh lingering and stretching....for an extreme, uncomfortable, length of time..... into the black darkness." Ok Emmett. As I said I want to be played by either Johnny Depp or Matthew McConaughey. We can work out the terms....but....I want 25% of all product placement and merchandise. I want 40% of the gross...not the net. I have an 18 page RIDER that will be incorporated into the contract. AND.....this is not negotiable....I dont want a trailer on set......I want a 2400 sqft stick built cottage designed and decorated by Chip and Joanna Gaines.
So I had to take a peek at JP being in front of the House Financial Committee a bit ago. After watching for 10 or so minutes I noticed a couple of things. JP clearly thinks they are idiots. The expression and tone of some of his answers indicate as much without him actually saying it. Secondly, he is right in this assumption. I mean this is the House Financial Committee....and after listening to some of their comments and questions....it is no wonder things are the way they are. Just complete morons. Of course they are using the moment to grand stand their political opinions and agenda. It only confirms my belief about how detached from reality these policy makers are. I finally just could not stand anymore after the 10 or so minutes. It is disheartening and kind of troubling to think how ignorant they can be about fiscal policy and related monetary policy. Of course I did not expect anything different, but after watching it, I realize the folks "representing" the rest of us (supposedly) are way, way, way, worse than I had already resigned myself to believe. I didn't think that could be possible.
Can you tell I dont care about the markets today? This is one of those irrelevant days where the markets are moving based on.....nothing. It will all be forgotten in a few days. That is the problem....it will be forgotten and we will have to relive this Powell stuff...over, and over, and over. We are caught up in a FED driven Groundhog Day situation. I can honestly say.....I have not seen a single bit of Powell's testimony and dont have any plans to watch any of it. Markets are slightly negative now....at least the SP500 and NASDAQ....as I assume Powell continues to answer. A waste of a perfectly good market day.
Here is an excerpt about some of the employee "perks" getting slashed from some of the 'Tech" companies... If accurate (sad we have to add that, but it is the media) reporting it....(Article by Fortune) Meta The parent company of Facebook and Instagram has already laid off 13% of its staff and another round of cuts seems to be imminent. Mark Zuckerberg has labeled 2023 as the company’s “Year of Efficiency." Beyond job cuts, that means several other features are now gone or adjusted. The company’s dinner service time has been pushed back later, and shuttle service has been changed to discourage workers from staying just to get a free meal. To-go containers are also now gone. Free laundry and dry cleaning services have been done away with. Salesforce Beyond 10% of the workforce being shown the door, Salesforce has also eliminated the monthly paid day off it previously offered its workers to focus on their well-being. Also gone? Access to a 75-acre wellness retreat. Twilio The company used to give workers an allowance to spend on wellness and books. That’s been eliminated, as well as a program that let workers apply for a month of paid sabbatical every three years following the company’s dismissal of 1,500 workers, 17% of its workforce, in February—five months after it cut 11% of its workers. Goldman Sachs While it still offers rides to employees that work late in the evening, the bank has done away with free breakfast and lunch, and no longer offers free coffee in the Sky Lobby on the 11th floor of its headquarters. Twitter Elon Musk’s takeover has perhaps resulted in the most aggressive transformation of the workplace culture. Among the perks that were axes were everything to do with “Wellness,” as well as company-wide group activities, the coverage of daycare costs, reimbursement for home internet costs, free food and allowances for food while traveling. Google Forget about a shoulder rub after a hard day. The company’s in-house massage therapists were included in the layoff of 12,000 employees in January. The cuts included 27 therapists in total, 24 at the head office and three across Los Angeles and Irvine.
Say it ain't so COSTCO..... Costco to open its third store in China (Yahoo Finance). Costco (COST) plans to open a new warehouse location in China on Friday. This will be the company's third location there, with plans to open two more units this fiscal year. The bottom line: Costco seems serious about taking on Walmart's Sam's Club, which already has almost 40 stores in China. Costco's new warehouse will be in Shanghai's Pudong, near the Disneyland Resort. Walmart's (WMT) Sam's Club has had a presence in China since 1996. It opened #39 last fall, demonstrating its "commitment to accelerating and deepening its growth throughout China," it said in at statement at the time. CFRA analyst Arun Sundaram thinks there is room for both. "The market is massive. Obviously, the Chinese economy is huge, so I think there's there's room for multiple competitors to be successful in China, so regardless of Sam's Clubs' growth strategy there, I think Costco will do well," he said. Costco launched its first physical location in China back in 2019, which proved successful when approximately 200,000 members signed up in the first few months, surpassing its goal of 100,000. Costco’s second location then opened in 2021in Suzhou, a city west of Shanghai. The location opening this week in Shanghai's Pudong already has more than 80,000 members signed up, according to the Global Times. Now as it opens more locations in China, Costco executives seem aware that membership signups won't be as many as that initial blowout response. "We signed up so many members in those first two warehouses," SVP Bob Nelson said In a call with investors following Costco’s fiscal Q3 2022, which ended March 31, 2022. He said with additional locations, "It's going to change the dynamics a little bit.” Costco's fourth and fifth locations will be in Yinzhou, a district in the city of Ningbo, per its website.
I actually like the above about Costco and China. They are just a retail store and I dont think they have much in the way of business secrets or tech for China to steal. With their business model and the Chinese population....they could make a fortune.....if they bring their customer service to China and focus on fundamental daily necessities that Chinese people buy every month. BUT....they might be hurt by the small size of apartments and houses in China which will limit the ability of people to buy massive quantities of goods. Perhaps the extended Chinese families buying as a unit will allow for bulk buying at Costco. One thing about Costco.....with their extremely smart management.....this could be a HUGE item to them in the future. India also.....I dont think they are there yet.
I had a nice green day in the markets today with my stocks achieving a solid, medium, gain for the day. I had 7 stocks UP for the day.....and....only 3 down. The down stocks were MSFT, HON, and TSLA. I was able to beat the SP500 by 0.47% today by the close. I am STILL hanging in there this year with a year to date GAIN of +8.96% as of the close today. Nearly +9% as of the first week of March is an exceptional year so far especially considering last year. YTD for the SP500 as of the close today....+3.97%. Once the markets start to take off as this stealth BULL MARKET takes hold....I still have a HUGE amount of gains ahead of me for my BIG CAP MONSTER tech stocks as well as my others.
As to the BULL MARKET in the SP500.....here are results from 5 days to 5 years. It is interesting that the dismal results last year barely even show up in these figures. 5 Day +2.03% 1 Month (-2.90%) 3 Month +1.48% 6 Month +0.31% 1 year (-4.28%) 3 year +47.25% 5 year +45.75% Looking at this data I have to say.......did we even have a bad year last year? Obviously we did but the impact is quickly disappearing. The POWER of long term investing and the cumulative smoothing of longer term returns. We are now done with the FED.....time to finish out the week in style.
Nice open today now that Powell is done. All the averages are UP today at about 35 minutes into the day. A long way to go but better than the alternative. Through one of my contacts I was able to get some private photos of Powell. Here is one of him at lunch yesterday during a pause in the hearings: A rare photo of Powell in his private office at the FED: In this little undercover camera photo......we see Powell as he enters the private FED lounge yesterday after his testimony as he declares "looks like we kicked a little ass today". Notice above he has the FED PATCH on his left shoulder with the American Eagle.
