Today my friends are day-trading a small handful of volatile tech stocks. They buy on dips and sell on bounces. The overall trend may be down. But along the way there are ups and down.
Some people can play this better than others (like me — I’m hopeless). On some days my friend makes $50,000. On other calmer days, he stays out and attends to his day job.
I’m a panic merchant. But I’m learning to close my eyes, grit my teeth, stay calm and don’t sell at the very lowest point of the day.
Been there. done that. And often, too.
This morning, all my stocks showed heavy red — except for Ladder Capital (LADR).
I waxed enthusiastically about these guys yesterday, because the stock yields 9%. For yesterday’s blog, click here.
Last night they blew away their first quarter earnings. Highlights:
+ Earnings were up 78% over the first quarter of 2017.
+ Earnings of 55 cents a share easily cover their dividend of 31.5 cents a share. It’s 1.75 times coverage. Impressive.
+ The dividend yield today is 9.14% — but the conference call talked about the possibility of an increase later in the year.
+ Management and individual directors own 12% of the shares outstanding. No one has sold any of their shares in the last few months.
I own shares in Ladder. I like the yield.
Don’t do stupid, again
Everyone and their uncle has called about my car accident. Many said,
“I’ve also fallen asleep driving.”
Some people caution against listening to books on tape while driving. They can put you to sleep.
I prefer Clive Cussler and Tom Clancy. They have a heart-pounding crises at every corner of the road. They keep me awake.
My feeling today:
More than an hour of driving will put you into a tree or a cold river.
Best to pull over, nap or change drivers.
You either believe in Tesla. Or you don’t.
Today it’s down by 8% after a “contentious” earnings call.
Here are the words:
Tesla’s first quarter earnings call transcript: Click here.
I have a small Tesla holding — on which I’m losing money.
Elon is a genius. In my 21 years of investing, I’ve invested with many geniuses (genii?). The ride has always been fun, The profits not so — except for Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. Those three geniuses have more than made up for the losses on all my other dumber geniuses.
The job interview.
This is a spoof. It’s funny — clean and not political. Enjoy.
Wonderful joke (a.k.a. a parody)
An unusual tax return.
A woman walks into her accountant’s office and tells him she needs to file her taxes.
The accountant says, “Before we begin, I’ll need to ask you a few questions.”
He gets her name, address etc. And then asks,”What’s your occupation?”
“I’m a pro*titute.”
The accountant is taken aback and says, “Let’s try to re phrase that.”
The woman says, “OK, I’m a high-end call girl.”
“No, that still won’t work. Try again.”
They both think for a minute; then the woman says, “I’m an elite poultry farmer.”
The accountant asks, “What does poultry farming have to do with being a pro*titute?”
“Well, I raised a thousand c*cks last year.”
“Poultry Farmer it is.”
Harry Newton. Friday night at 10 is an hour with Warren Buffett on CNBC. All Saturday is Berkshire’s annual meeting streamed on Finance.Yahoo.
Overheard some people talking about your blog at the Berkshire meeting. You’re becoming well known.
Harry—–Just thought I’d let you know that Mueller and Rosenstein both belong to Trump and have since the beginning.
……have a nice weekend asshole