Wow. Tech stocks are suddenly not for the faint at heart. Here’s the last five days. Positively roller-coaster and mostly down, especially today.
Gives new meaning to “How to make a small fortune?” Start with a large one.
The big news is Gamestop (GME) exploding. Here’s its stock over the last five days.
GameStop is a retail chain that was selling packaged games. But then along came games downloaded over the Internet. GameStop’s business evaporated. So all the hedgies shorted the stock. But private investors figured the hedgies were ripe to be squeezed. They talked amongst themselves on a forum on Reddit and bought shares and options in GME. The hedgies had to cover their bets and….bingo, GME skyrocketed and many small investors made millions off the hedgies. .
The Internet is full of GameStop stories. Click here and here and here and here.
How did Jeffrey Epstein earn a living?
He helped rich people pay less in taxes. He was an expert in something called grantor retained annuity trusts — GRATs.
From the New York Times today:
GRATs are a form of sophisticated trust … that permit a person to keep collecting income from assets of all kinds — including stocks, real estate and art — and then hand them off to family members without paying the large gift or estate taxes normally associated with such transfers.
GRATs are trusts that are packed with assets expected to rise sharply in value over time.
You can read about them here.
Covid winners?
+ Moderna. MRNA. It’s cranking up covid vaccine production and is using its technology to make drugs/vaccines/cures for around 50 other diseases.
+ Johnson & Johnson. JNJ. It has a covid vaccine that can be stored at room temperature. But it hasn’t been FDA approved, yet.
+ Vaxart Inc. VXRT. It is the first oral tablet vaccine for covid to reach human clinical trials. We should hear results soon.
I own shares in all three. Susan and I have had our first shot (Moderna). We’ll get our second on February 16. We anticipate getting a booster shot every year, just like we get our flu shot. How much our shots will change our hermit life style remains to be seen. We’re still fearful of covid lung and long-covid.
So how do you feel about this week’s gyrations?
From a reader who used to work at Intel.
“I was once doing my business at an adjacent urinal to Bob Noyce (one of Intel’s founders). So in a lame attempt to make small talk I asked him how the stock was doing today.”
“Barry,” he said, “I really don’t pay close attention. It’s too stressful to think about gaining or losing a million bucks every time you take a leak.”
Maintenance and being a hermit. That’s what I do these days
Here’s the little I’ve learned:
+ Important you upgrade your iPhone and iPad to the latest 14.4 version. Could save you being hacked.
+ This is the best webcam for Zoom. It’s the Logitech C925-e.
I like that it lets you adjust focus and brightness. It’s $93. Click here.
+ If you need a ladder, swap out all the lights, even the ones that haven’t blown. LED bulbs are the best replacements. Make sure you buy 3000K or lower. The higher Kelvin the more they look like car lights and are bright and hideous (for a house).
+ Dirt is the big evil. The dishwashers were playing up. I cleaned the filters. Now they’re working fine.
+ We have two of these Black and Deckers. They’re a great hand vacuum cleaner. Click here.
But they also need cleaning with soap and water. They also need new filters. Click here.
Moronic cartoons
Apt after today.
Actually Fiji has some really pretty beaches:
Feast on that picture, not on your portfolio’s declining value.
This says it all. It’s called at my funeral.
If you can’t see the picture in your email, go to my web site and watch the clip there. Click here.
I’m posting this at 3:11. The market is on a roll — down. Yuch.
I guess all the good news has been baked in — new president, recovering economy, big housing boom, vaccines being administered, a big stimulus coming… what else? I guess my new cross-court forehand doesn’t count?
See you tomorrow. Harry Newton.
