Everybody and their uncle sold some Nvidia shares. These figures are for the June quarter.
• Philippe Laffont of Coatue Management (2,937,060 shares)
• Ken Griffin of Citadel Advisors (2,462,716 shares)
• Israel Englander of Millennium Management (720,004 shares)
• Stanley Druckenmiller of Duquesne Family Office (441,551 shares)
• John Overdeck and David Siegel of Two Sigma Investments (420,801 shares)
• David Tepper of Appaloosa Management (348,000 shares)
• Steven Cohen of Point72 Asset Management (304,505 shares)
I’m guessing they sold at a higher price than the shares are now. Nvidia hit $136.33 on June 18. Right now it’s $117.11, down 15%.
I didn’t sell because I’m not that good at timing the market and I’m still not sure what other company offers the future that Nvidia does. It dominates AI. And AI is booming.
I look at this chart. It shows Nvidia compared with other exciting growth stocks — the list is on the chart.
The takeaway is that Nvidia towers above everyone else, despite its gyrations.
For now, I’m holding on to every one of my Nvidia shares. I’ve bought a handful of “new” gambles — ARM, EBAY, INTC, ORCL, Palantir. They’re not doing any good. Shucks. The full list is on my web site. Click here.
The Fed is going for 25 basis point cut
And it’s not going to make any difference to the little bull market we’re having at present. It continues. That’s my unhumble opinion
Latest on hearing aids
Give up on the new Apple AirPods Pro “hearing aids.” Their battery life sucks. It should be all day. But it’s only a couple of hours. What kills the battery life is Bluetooth which the AirPods use for answering and making phone calls.
The hearing aid “feature” won’t be available until November, or whenever — when it comes as a software release. And then you have to fiddle around with an Apple hearing test.
The bottom line is you can’t use a hearing aid with a battery life of two or three hours.
Other than battery life, the main problem is fit. I have one ear that won’t hold the AirPods ear bud securely. I prefer the design of a traditional hearing aid, like this $199 one from Amazon. I wear these most days. And they last all day, including playing tennis with them in.
For these tennis improvers, click here.
Great news from my favorite laptop maker
This Fall, Lenovo is introducing an faster, better, lighter, AI-powered ThinkPad X1 Carbon laptop. I’ll buy one the day it’s available.
For more, click here, here and here.
Scams Galore
My son is in jail in Mexico and needs $25,000 to bail him out – NOW.
I need to wire $1.3 million to buy a new horse – NOW.
The world is rife with sophisticated scams, my long-time investment adviser, Todd Kingsley, tells me.
The crooks get their hands on your social security number, your birthday, your bank account number and your voice – thank you AI.
There are many ways to have your information stolen – including intercepting cell phone calls and emails. No one knows the full extent. But every day there’s a new creative wrinkle on how to get their hands on your money.
And once it’s wired, your money is gone. And it’s not retrievable, no matter how big or powerful your bank or investment firm.
Two factor ID is a good beginning. But so is reading back your wiring instructions for accuracy. So is asking you personal questions like where you were last Christmas, where your children live, who they work for etc.
Todd’s firm now calls back twice to read your wiring instructions back. When the whole transaction seems out of the ordinary – like the son in jail in Mexico – then it’s time for more investigation. Like calling the son and asking him if he’s in a Mexican jail? (Probably not.)
I don’t have an easy answer for this. One of Todd’s clients had his cellphone “fixed” at an AT&T store, removing its ability to be intercepted on the street or in a mall. I’ve never heard of that.
My earliest business motto was CHECK. CHECK. CHECK. Seems to make sense for today’s scary world.
Here are the best of the latest Darwin Awards
Eighth Place
In Detroit, a 41-year-old man got stuck and drowned in two feet of water after squeezing head-first through an 18-inch-wide sewer grate to retrieve his car keys.
Seventh Place
A 49-year-old San Francisco stockbroker, who “totally zoned when he ran”, accidentally jogged off a 100-foot high cliff on his daily run.
Sixth Place
While at the beach, Daniel Jones, 21, dug an 8 foot hole for protection from the wind and had been sitting in a beach chair at the bottom, when it collapsed, burying him beneath 5 feet of sand. People on the beach used their hands and shovels trying to get him out but could not reach him. It took rescue workers using heavy equipment almost an hour to free him. Jones was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Fifth Place
Santiago Alvarado, 24, was killed as he fell through the ceiling of a bicycle shop he was burglarizing. Death was caused when the long flashlight he had placed in his mouth to keep his hands free rammed into the base of his skull as he hit the floor.
Fourth Place
Sylvester Briddell, Jr., 26, was killed as he won a bet with friends who said he would not put a revolver loaded with four bullets into his mouth and pull the trigger.
Third Place
After stepping around a marked police patrol car parked at the front door, a man walked into H&J Leather & Firearms intent on robbing the store. The shop was full of customers and a uniformed officer was standing at the counter. Upon seeing the officer, the would-be robber announced a hold-up and fired a few wild shots from a target pistol. The officer and a clerk promptly returned fire, and several customers also drew their guns and fired. The robber was pronounced dead at the scene by Paramedics. Crime scene investigators located 47 expended cartridge cases in the shop. The subsequent autopsy revealed 23 gunshot wounds. Ballistics identified rounds from 7 different weapons. No one else was hurt.
HONORABLE MENTION
Paul Stiller, 47, and his wife Bonnie, were bored just driving around at 2 A.M., so they lit a quarter stick of dynamite to toss out the window to see what would happen. Apparently, they failed to notice that their car window was closed.
RUNNER UP
Kerry Bingham had been drinking with several friends when one of them said they knew a person who had bungee-jumped from a local bridge in the middle of traffic. The conversation grew more exciting, and at least 10 men trooped along the walkway of the bridge at 4:30 A.M. Upon arrival at the midpoint of the bridge, they discovered that no one had brought a bungee rope. Bingham, who had continued drinking, volunteered and pointed out that a coil of lineman’s cable lay nearby. They secured one end around Bingham’s leg and then tied the other to the bridge. His fall lasted 40 feet before the cable tightened and tore his foot off at the ankle. He miraculously survived his fall into the icy water and was rescued by two nearby fishermen. Bingham’s foot was never located.
AND THE WINNER IS…
Zookeeper, Friedrich Riesfeldt of Paderborn, Germany, fed his constipated elephant 22 doses of animal laxative and more than a bushel of berries, figs and prunes before the plugged-up pachyderm finally got relief. Investigators say ill-fated Friedrich, 46, was attempting to give the ailing elephant an olive oil enema when the relieved beast unloaded. The sheer force of the elephant’s unexpected defecation knocked Mr. Riesfeldt to the ground where he struck his head on a rock as the elephant continued to evacuate 200 pounds of “relief” on top of him. It seems to be just one of those freak accidents that proves, ‘shit does happen’!
*** It is important to thank all of the “Darwin Award” winners mentioned here for removing themselves from the gene pool. As a civilized society, we are eternally grateful
Favorite cartoon
I’m renting a dumpster. Filing it gives boredom a whole new meaning and seems to make zero difference to what’s left and what should still go into the dumpster.
The kids have stuff in my basement from 20 years ago. The good news is they have no idea what they have in my basement.
Oops, sorry , they have no idea what they had in my basement. Guess where it all is now?
My dumpster bathed in glorious afternoon light:
Favorite nonsense
Donald and JD know that the Haitians eating pets in Ohio is nonsense. But it gets them attention and hence free publicity We are living in a reality TV world. For more, read How a Naked Man on a Tropical Island Created Our Current Political Insanity. Click here.
Rules of life
+ My best investing rule: When in doubt, stay out.
+ My best health rule. Don’t do stupid, like fall.
+ My best buying rule: You don’t need it it. Don’t buy it and the kids don’t want it.
— Harry Newton
