I write this blog to teach myself about investing, life and family. See if you can figure if I’ve learned anything. Take investing:
+ There’s nothing better than your own business, which you control and make successful by innovating, e.g.
Whoever thought of blue snowballs? Good on you.
+ There’ s nothing worse than having a portfolio of stocks which you can only control by selling the bad ones. Meantime, watching your day-by-day gyrations in wealth is not good for my fragile psyche.
Take Peloton. I sold my PTON at $102.0114. I should have sold it earlier, when it was higher. That was stupid. But I did sell higher than where it is now. That is smart.
Now, maybe it’s cheap enough to buy back? Am I smart enough to do that? I should have really sold PTON when it went parabolic — about $160.
Take Moderna. It’s up and down like a whore’s drawers (Australian expression). Seems like a good strategy: Buy it around $130 and sell it for $10 or $20 more as it bounces up. As Steven, my brilliant day-trader friend would say, “That’s a solid steady living.”
What all of us have to figure out: What is our real day job? If it’s not staring at screens all day — but actually doing something useful for society — then we should opt for a broad, diversified portfolio. Add to it when you hear something that makes sense. For example, TSM and MGA have made huge sense lately. TSM makes the best semi-conductors in the world. It beats Intel, hands down. MGA makes things for cars — an amazing assortment – and it’s really good at making car car things. (You can find more technical explanation on their web site.) Their stock is doing well.
It’s best to go with your own thinking and instincts. Cathie Wood of ARK did well last year when her “Disruption philosophy” was running hot. But this year it’s run a little cold.
Remember, most people appear on BubbleVision (CNBC) because they want to sell you something.
I actually believe Cramer is more honest since he chooses the people to interview because he likes what they do. He’s not always right. But he seems to be more right than wrong.
The keys in all of this are:
+ Figure how much time you want to spend to managing your fortune. But, no matter how little time you allocate, you shouldn’t give your money to someone else. If in doubt, go with VGT, Vanguard’s technology ETF.
+ Figure all the areas you know nothing about and stay away. For me they include bitcoin, pharma, biotech, energy, mining, cannabis and China. I’m getting antsy about crypto currencies., however. They’re getting a lot ink. I need to figure out how…
+ Learn to handle the gyrations. I will admit to not being able to. The market now affects my psyche more than losing at tennis (probably because I lose regularly at tennis).
Overcoming distance anxiety
Distance anxiety is running out of electricity 200 yards before you reach your destination.
Fortunately Triple A (or like) has a solution:
There is another solution. Read this:
TESLA CHARGING: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CHARGING AT HOME, IN PUBLIC AND AUTONOMOUSLY
Click here.
Weekend reading
THE RISE AND FALL OF BITCOIN BILLIONAIRE ARTHUR HAYES
The BitMEX cofounder created a cryptocurrency exchange that has traded trillions. Now he’s wanted by U.S. authorities, and insiders wonder whether he and his partners are villains—or victims of a two-tiered justice system that favors big banks over brash outsiders.
This beautifully written story is from Vanity Fair. All the juicy parts of being rich beyond your wildest dreams. And what happens inside bitcoin. You’ll love it. Click here.
More weekend reading from Quora.
I love reading Quora. Here’s a piece I enjoyed:
What are the 5 main habits of a narcissist?
+ Lying: A narcissist lies to you from the first day you met them. They will constantly lie to the extent of you losing your mind. They have been to the University of lying and got a doctorate degree. A liar would also be very good at manipulating and narcissists knows how to manipulate very well which makes them a pathological liar. They usually need to lie in order to manipulate you. Generally, narcissists lie about everything!
+ Entitlement: Narcissists are users. They feel entitled to everything you have. Your car, savings, everything . A narcissist does not make any demand with sympathy. Why? Because it is your obligation to provide them with everything they need in life. Although you give because of your generosity, but then narcissists would turn this to extortion. They are toddlers!
+ Arrogant: Arrogance and Ignorance go together. You dare not tell a narcissist what to do, they know it all. They are very arrogant people. Try to listen to them attentively during conversations, they usually compare themselves to other people and use any opportunity to belittle the other person.
+ Gaslighting: Have you ever been in a situation in which you start asking yourself if you are still a sane person? Gaslighting is a very important tool for the narcissist. They use this to rob their targets of their joy and give them pain, sorrow, agony in return.
+ Control and Command: These two also go together. Narcissists control and command their victims because they now feel superior after the honeymoon phase has ended. They control and command their clients for nothing more than to boost their ego. I used ‘’client” because there is nothing like a relationship anytime a narcissist is involved. No doubt, they only want to use people for their own personal gain and that’s it.
Here’s another one from Quora:
Who got hurt in Trump’s six bankruptcies?
As is always the case in a bankruptcy proceeding, it is the creditors who get hurt. Unfortunately there are different types of creditors, with different privileges.
Of course the bank loans that Trump accessed, often by fraudulent means, would have been secured by assets and those institutions would have brought the full legal recourse to bear to get first pickings of any available funds.
Trump was famous for “stiffing” small companies and individuals who provided services to his companies. Even if the enterprise was solvent, he would refuse to pay their invoices, offer them a lower amount and threaten to see them in court if they didn’t accept his terms.
This was hard enough during the times when the company was solvent. When a bankruptcy took place these smaller companies and individuals would have no leverage and more often than not they would end up with nothing.
Trump conducted his affairs in a way that many consider to be criminal, and indeed he may well be facing criminal charges for fraudulently using the same assets to secure numerous loans from different financial institutions. Long before he became President he was considered a pariah by most of the World’s banks. It is rumored that he resorted to borrowing from Russian oligarchs, which they were happy tp engage in as a method of laundering their ill-gotten gains.
In many ways, achieving the Presidency gave Trump four years of respite but now it appears he is the subject of widespread investigations and is teetering on the brink of total bankruptcy.
Getting closeups of the kids is like pulling teeth
This is Eleanor missing one tooth:
This is Sophie (on right) missing two. (That’s Zoe on the left, missing none, so far).
I updated my list of stocks. I nibbled also at a few of the stocks Bill and Melinda apparently own. Click here.
My daughter and her husband got a bit sick from their second Moderna shot. They’re on the mend. Getting a bit sick proves the vaccine is working, I’m told.
There’s shortages of everything — from semiconductors to tennis balls. Worse, the tennis balls you can get today are 30% more expensive. Inflation is coming.
The trees are flowering. Our Robins are growing. Amazing how fast. This morning:
We are now living on a dirt driveway off a dirt country road– about 400 yards from the main road. Hard to get deliveries up here unless you motivate the delivery people. Yesterday I motivated them with a tip that was larger than the value of what they delivered. Gave new meaning to being hoisted on my own petard.
Such is life in the country, 127 miles from our New York City apartment. We have deer, turkeys, squirrels, chipmunks, baby birds and quiet. No horns, no traffic, no garbage trucks at 2 in the morning. Total bliss.
Borowitz reports that “millions” are telling Facebook that the Trump ban doesn’t go far enough. They would like Facebook to ban their relatives.
Life is fun — when the market is going up. See you Monday. — Harry Newton
