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FAANNG is being whacked today. It’s a temporary thing. Sit tight.

Facebook is being whacked today —  the first trading day since it suspended the firm Cambridge Analytica for user data violations. The firm had ties to the 2016 Trump campaign. Cambridge  clearly abused Facebook’s data.

Wait a little. Pick up some Facebook at bargain prices. It’s already down by 6.4% today. That’s a big drop.

Facebook is the best online marketing vehicle. As Google is to product marketing, so Facebook is to demographic marketing. Which is why it appealed to Cambridge Analytica.

Sell Boeing. 

Here’s my simple logic: It’s gone up a lot. Here’s the last two years.

BATwoYears

It’s bearing the brunt of our trade war.  In the last month it’s down 12% from its high.

BAOneMonth

It looks precarious.

Why you should never invest in biotech.
For one. It just takes too long. Steve Turner, erstwhile CEO and founder, put his life savings and 12+ years of his life into Protea Biosciences. He was always “up” when I spoke to him over the years. Yet when the company went broke last December, he never called or emailed. Embarrassed I guess.
Last week, I got a notice from the bankrjptcy court. Did Protea owe me any money?
I called Steve, his landline, his cell phone and his email have been disconnected.
Sad, but common to biotechs. Far more of them fail than ever make it.
With biotechs it’s easy to lose 100% of your investment. I just did.
After all these years of messing with biotechs, I’ve concluded I simply don’t have the skills to figure which one is going to make it — and neither do you, or anyone else.
There are too many  “gotchas” in biotech — not the least of which is all those years of patient testing and the FDA’s irrationality.
Protea was different. It made equipment to help others discover the breakthroughs. But it still didn’t make it.
Steve, I know you’re out there somewhere and feeling just plain awful. Call me. I’ll cheer you up. We’re still alive. The sun is shining and the kids are doing well.

Reminder: Freeze these five accounts

 + Chex Systems. Click here. 

 + Experian. Click here.

+ TransUnion. Click here.

+ Equifax. Click here.

+ Innovis. Click here. 

Freezing these will save your account being hacked — like what happened with Equifax.

There are two downsides to freezing your credit reporting:

First, you ‘ll have to unfreeze them if you want to sign up for yet another credit card you don’t need.

Second, some online companies (e.g. Uniqlo) may not honor your credit cards. Hence, use PayPal when you buy from them.

Don’t do stupid

Don’t do something you haven’t done in eons — like ride a bicycle.

You’ll fall off your bicycle, wreck your back, break an arm etc. It won’t be pretty.

I have friends who did.

Useful stuff

+ To quickly cool a drink, wrap a wet paper towel around it and put it in the freezer for a few minutes.

+ If you buy an emergency generator to back up your electricity, run the generator at least once a week. Check that it has fuel. Check that the fuel is new, or has an additive that keeps it new, and useable. Solar and batteries may prove an alternative. It’s getting cheaper and payback is getting shorter.

This is Whitney

Whitney
On Friday, she delivered three Amazon boxes to us. She doesn’t work for UPS, USPS or FedEx. She works for Whitney. She delivers freelance for Amazon. When she needs more money, she drives for Uber. She’s part of the new freelance economy. Also called “sharing” economy, viz Uber and Airbnb.

I have no idea how our Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) keeps up with people like her.

Cellphone stuff

+ Your cellphone will work better if you reboot it every time you get off a plane in a new city.

Do that by turning the power off, waiting 20 seconds, then turning it back on. You can also turn on airplane mode, wait, then turn it off.

+ Your cell phone will work better if you turn on Wi-Fi Calling. Go to Settings/Phone/Wi-Fi Calling. Turn it on and follow the bouncing ball.

Travel Stuff

+ 8 U.S. National Parks You Need to See in Your Lifetime. Click here. 

+ 20 Best Things to do in Sydney, Australia. Click here. 

HarryNewton
Harry Newton, who’s not excited about today’s market. FAANNG is taking it on the chin. FAANNG is Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Nvidia and Google.

Cramer is right: The two key investing themes today are on-line (FB, GOOGL, AMZN) and the cloud (AMZN, GOOGL, Netflix). On-line and cloud fundamentals remain ultra-strong, though not today. Yuch.

   

2 Comments

  1. TomFromVa says:

    Since no one is going to run their generator every week, here is a more practical plan – when you are done using your generator, pour / siphon as much gas out as possible then let it run til it uses all the remaining gas. OR buy a Honda – the one at our camp has started on the first pull every time after sitting for years.

  2. Dman says:

    Harry you say “Cambridge clearly abused Facebook’s data”

    You do not have a scintilla of evidence to prove that. As a matter of fact Rush Limbaugh dedicated a good portion of his show today explaining exactly what happen. Guess what? All of this is just more Fake News to lather up you evil leftists.

    Tell me Harry, is Cambridge Analytics responsible for the democrat party being the party of Pedophelia and Child Trafficking? You evil fuck.