Skip to content
 

Don’t buy shares today. Buy shares yesterday.

That’s a silly headline. But you get the message. buy only when they’re on sale.

I don’t know why they went on BIG sale yesterday and why they are going up BIG time today.

Nobody does.

Seventy percent of any day’s trading is automated computer trading. Since computers are dumb they tend to assume if prices open down, they will continue to go down. And vice versa, go up. Hence, the algo computers exacerbate trends.

Don’t get crazy with my simplicity. It’s probably better to buy and sell late in the day.

I made some small changes to the list of stocks I love and own. It’s in the right hand column on the web site. Click here.

My portfolio is up 5.4% today. That’s nice. I measure my “progress” in a weird way — not by the value of my portfolio but by the gross gain as Fidelity lists it. The gross gain is down 53% from its peak in the middle of January, but still up 14.9%. I tend to freak when it’s gets close to losing money. So far, so good.

Last time I freaked was a year ago in February when the Pandemic “arrived” and the market crashed. I panicked and sold too many shares. Hence when it turned around, I was late to get back in. this two year chart of Nasdaq tells all. In short, stay in and tweak. Don’t bail.

The New York Times reports “Over the past six months, at least 35 companies that were founded in the San Francisco Bay Area — including Airbnb, DoorDash and the data warehousing company Snowflake — have gone public for a combined market value of $446 billion, according to a tally by The New York Times. Those companies’ “lockup periods,” which prevent insiders from selling most of their stock soon after an I.P.O., will expire in the coming months, unleashing a wave of wealth.”

This explains what soaked up much of the liquidity in the market, causing shares (especially tech stocks) to fall recently.

As lockups expire in coming months, I’m guessing many of these new companies will see their shares fall. Read more here.

Chomping at the bit to get out

Fully vaccinated people can visit with nearby grandchildren, dine indoors with one another, CDC says. Click here.

We’re all chomping at the bit to get out. Please watch this short clip.

Things I love

 + Fidelity’s Active Trader Pro software.

+ Different thicknesses of socks. One size does not fit all uses.

+ LED light bulbs of 3000K or lower. (Going lower means warmer.)

+ Gold Bond healing hand cream.

+ Reading about myths. For example, today’s New York Times reports “the medical marijuana industry lacks trials than can establish benefits and risks.” Writes the Times:

Yet experts in the many specialties in which medical marijuana is said to be helpful have only rarely been able to demonstrate its purported benefits in well-designed scientific studies. And they caution that what is now being legally sold as medicinal marijuana in dispensaries throughout the country is anything but the safe, pure substance Americans commonly expect when they are treated with licensed medications.

For example, in Oregon, where both recreational and medicinal marijuana can be sold legally, all recreational marijuana must be tested for pesticides and solvents, but such tests are not required for most medical marijuana, an audit by the Secretary of State published in January 2019 showed. The Oregon Health Authority does not require tests for heavy metals and microbes that might sicken users.

For more, read the piece here.

Finally I’m learning

+ Not to think when I play tennis.

Yogi said “You can’t think and hit the ball at the same time.” He’s right.

Fun cartoons

That’s it. My Honeywell thingee has just emailed me. We’re having a flood in the basement.

Yuch. See you tomorrow. — Harry Newton