Wall Street will open higher today, says BubbleVision, because Trump dumped his meeting with Kim Jong-un.
I don’t know why he dumped the meeting or why dumping is a catalyst for markets going higher (or even if they really will).
But I know why the market is going up.
Earnings are good. The economy is bubbling along. And the Federal Reserve is happy (based on their latest month’s comments.)
Hence I’m sticking with my heavily-tech weighted portfolio. See list of my stocks in the right hand column here.
Lithium will replace gas
All cars will soon all run on electricity, not gas.
Cars that run on electricity are loaded with lithium batteries — 10,000 times as much as an iPhone.
Therefore buy the lithium miners. There are four:
Look at their miserable 10-year price charts:
To its credit, FMC is mostly agriculture, not lithium. But its stock price seems affected by lithium.
My feelings about mining and oil stocks: Stay away. Here’s why:
When the price of the commodity rises, they mine more of the stuff and the price falls.
Then they stop mining and the price of the commodity rises.
One day you make a lot of money. The next day you don’t. I want consistent growth. Not roller coaster rides.
None of their charts look as joyful as Nasdaq over the past ten years (up nearly four times):
or the S&P 500 which went up 2.3 times:
In short, I wouldn’t touch any of the lithium miners with a ten foot pole.
The wonderful world of technology
These are two hard drives I pulled out of my two drowned laptops. The drives survived. The laptops didn’t.
The left one is a couple of years older than the one on the right. The one on the right is three inches long. They’re both 512 GB — enough space to hold 10.2 million bits of paper. Read that again: 10.2 million bits of PDF paper. Amazon is selling a fast M2 drive — the one on the right — for $200. Click here.
Why would anyone consider filing paper in metal filing cabinets when you can have this cheap, reliable storage you can access in seconds? All you need is the Fujitsu scanner I wrote about a couple of days ago. Click here.
Ask all your partners, syndicators, banks and credit cards to send you everything electronically.
It’s time to dump paper.
If I sound a little “Gee Whiz,” it’s because I am.
Dumping all my paperwork is a great relief.
Government investigation into bitcoin, et al
The US has reportedly opened a criminal probe into market manipulation of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The US Justice Department and the CFTC are investigating spoofing and wash trading in cryptocurrency markets, according to Bloomberg. These are forms of market manipulation designed to influence the price of assets. They are illegal in mainstream financial markets. A Business Insider investigation last year found “pump and dump” scams — where groups falsely ramp up the price of assets for profit — are rife in cryptocurrency markets.
The investigation is said to focus on “spoofing” — where false orders are placed on exchanges and then withdrawn to manipulate prices — in an attempt to lure other people into buying or selling and “wash trading,” where market participants trade with themselves to create the illusion of market activity.
Ron’s travel tips
+ I saved $1,000 on the exact same flights by booking through Austrian Airlines instead of United — but only by calling them.
+ For complex multi-city trips, calling the airline works better than the Internet.
+ Don’t use travel aggregators like Expedia or Travelocity. You will have no status with your traveling airline.
+ For business class deals, American Express cards work best. The better the Amex card, the better your deal.
+ For complex trips, Harry prefers his favorite travel agent, Barbara Freedman.
+ Pick your seats on Seatguru.com.
The worst puns
+ I lost my job at the bank on my very first day. A woman asked me to check her balance, so I pushed her over.
+ I went for a job interview today and the manager said, “We’re looking for someone who is responsible.”
“Well, I’m your man.” I replied, “In my last job, whenever anything went wrong, they said I was responsible.”
+ I tried to sue the airport for misplacing my luggage. I lost my case.
+ My ceiling isn’t the best. But it’s up there!!!
+ My doctor called me fat. I told him I wanted a second opinion. He replied “OK, you’re ugly too.”
+ I’m doing a charity bungee jump for local disableds. Its called spastics on elastics. (This one is going to get me in trouble.)
Harry Newton.
This weekend we’re replacing the car we dumped into the creek.
Finding a replacement is a story of spending days and days searching for a responsive salesperson to find and sell us the exact car we want — a safety-loaded Mercedes E400 wagon.
Finally, I found a great salesman. But all the others. You guys forgotten to call or email your customers?
Just out of curiousity, which lithium stock is your personal fav harry?
Don’t like any.
Cars that run on electricity are loaded with lithium batteries — 10,000 times as much as an iPhone.
Does that mean they will blow 10,000 times higher when they explode like some of the new phones and laptops? I think I will stick with my gas buggy.
Hey Lucky, I think you are looking at the safety completely wrong way. Batteries don’t blow from a physical impact -especially the way they are packed in EV cars-, they pose danger when the current driven in/out becomes excessive, they heat and can cause fire. And those cases of “explosions” Samsung S7 and Sony Laptops did that because manufacturers tried excessive current on batteries. There are more than 100K electric cars, and I own one, and they have been on the road since 2010 in mass production. There is nothing wrong sticking to your gas buddy, as long as you will pay more to operate one. Every new technology is scary at first: just like gasoline engine was in 1900s. Now you think it is the safest thing.
Harry, If you liked the Subaru, but want something the size of an E400, have you considered a Volvo? Ron
Our old Mercedes 2004 E500 wagon survived a major crash. I don’t care what a new one costs. We’re alive because of that old Mercedes. I should try something new? Experiment with my family’s lives?
As an engineer I can assure you Mercedes is a safe car. So are BMWs, Volvo’s, Cadillac, anything with some mass. But what is the most safe. No one knows. E400 safest because an old E500 did well in a particular crash? Maybe. Not likely. One crash is not enough data points. I’ve met crash survivors who drove Suburus, BMWs, Volvos and more. I’m glad your ok. But don’t get religious about a particular brand.
This has nothing with statistics or data points. This has to do with a personal experience and my wife’s preferences. End of story.
Safest vehicles are the Dodge Dart and Ford Focus.