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Eating Facebook’s lunch. The gobal shortage mess. Move bits, not boxes.

Move bits not boxes

I went to my local bank this morning:

This is the front page of yesterday’s New York Times:

This is Savannah, the third biggest port in the country. Your Christmas present is in one of these containers. There are nearly 80,000 containers here — 50% more than usual.

I guess there’s a computer program that finds the container you, as a trucker, have been sent to haul out of there. Pray your container doesn’t have four or five other containers stacked on top of yours.

I’m sure someone will solve this, some time.

Move bits, not boxes. That’s where your opportunity lies.

I’m betting some smaller retailers will have a lousy Christmas 2021. I hear Walmart and others are renting their own boats — if they can find them.

What I’ve learned healthwise

This is insane:

It’s 500 yards from my NYC apartment. They’re still in business. You can imagine the average size of their customers.

Down the Internet Rabbit Hole

A prominent European musician is lobbying to unearth Beethoven (he died in 1827) and run a DNA test on the remains.

His idea is to prove Beethoven was black.

If you feel like wasting your time, Google “Is Beethoven black?”

Have fun.

Covid doesn’t look good in schools.

Kids in grandkids’ classes and cousin family member schools are testing positive.

But CVS is really good about giving you Moderna booster shots. They gave me mine. And on the weekend they also give me an alta kaka flu shot.

Facebook and technology

By the time our government messes with bad actors — like AT&T, Microsoft, IBM  — technology has moved on. And they’re no longer the “threat.”

Try this: First there was three networks, ABC, CBS and NBC. We got all our news from them and a local daily newspaper. Then came cable and satellites. CNN and then Fox came along. Then came cell phones and we got Facebook. And all the newspapers died.

Now half of us get our “news” from social media — of which Facebook and Instagram are the most popular.

But there’s stuff out there that’s about to eat Facebook’s lunch.

That’s for another blog.

Back in New York City for a day or two

Here’s the view from my home office. Positively awesome?

Favorite idiocies

The best ever old people’s story

Dorothy and Edna, two “senior” widows, are talking.

Dorothy: “That nice George Johnson asked me out for a date. I know you went out with him last week, and I wanted to talk with you about him before I give him my answer.”

Edna: “Well, I’ll tell you. He shows up at my apartment punctually at 7:00 pm, dressed like such a gentleman in a fine suit, and he brings me such beautiful flowers! Then he takes me downstairs. And what’s there? A limousine, uniformed chauffeur and all. Then he takes me out for dinner; a marvelous dinner, lobster, champagne, dessert, and after-dinner drinks. Then we go see a show. Let me tell you Dorothy, I enjoyed it so much I could have just died from pleasure! So then we come back to my apartment and he turns into an ANIMAL! Completely crazy! He tears off my expensive new dress and has his way with me three times!”

Dorothy: “Goodness gracious! So are you telling me I shouldn’t go?”

Edna: “No, no, no… I’m just saying: Wear an old dress.”

Latest stock “insights”

I bought some more ENPH, VTI, NVDA, PYPL, and SQ. None of these were inspired. I received a little money from some real estate syndication sales. So I put money into things I felt comfortable with.

There’s one I should explain: VTI is the Vanguard IDX ETF which mirrors the S&P500. I’ve always pushed VGT, which is Vanguard’s technology ETF. But in the last year, VTI has done a little better than VGT. Hence it’s a good idea to have both.

By the way, any typos or spelling mistakes in today’s blog are the fault of Ron Acher.

— See you soon. Harry Newton