{"id":31709,"date":"2015-08-12T10:07:56","date_gmt":"2015-08-12T14:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=31709"},"modified":"2015-08-12T10:07:56","modified_gmt":"2015-08-12T14:07:56","slug":"china-messes-big-time-with-our-markets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=31709","title":{"rendered":"China messes big-time with our markets"},"content":{"rendered":"

A friend recently sold half his stocks. He’s a successful businessman, with a business he can control. He finds the present market too frustrating, totally out of his control.<\/p>\n

When his broker objected to his blanket, “Sell Half<\/em>,” order, he said “Just do it.” (He’s right, so far.)<\/p>\n

Maybe he should have sold all his stocks? That’s the question I was wrestling with on Monday. Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

I wrote that blog before I learned that China devalued its currency and seriously hurt our markets. (So much for being able to predict anything.)<\/p>\n

Reasons why China devalued:<\/p>\n

1. China’s exports are flagging. Making them cheaper makes them more attractive.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0 The Yuan is allegedly overvalued. Making it cheaper may actually make it more of a world currency.<\/p>\n

3. There are still 600 million Chinese who haven’t benefited by the economic boom of the last 30 or so years. They are a huge potential firestorm, a threat to the present Communist leadership’s hold on power. A “Chinese Spring” would not produce 600 million happy campers. Been there, done that. Didn’t work.<\/p>\n

From MarketWatch<\/em> this morning:<\/p>\n

Deutsche Bank is predicting the yuan (the Chinese currency) is overvalued by around 10%, so if the yuan continues to weaken, things could yet get a lot darker for markets. And stocks aren’t dealing well with the new China reality they’ve seen so far.<\/p>\n

On Monday I wrote\u00a0 that I was mulling selling all my stocks. I didn’t. I sold some.\u00a0 I should have sold more on Monday when it was up strongly.<\/p>\n

Today we have opened with another awful day, down nearly 200 points on the Dow, with Apple leading the charge down. Apple has recently gotten heavy bad press.<\/p>\n

My temptation is to let my stop losses (now set at 10%) take care of selling more stocks.<\/p>\n

The key is to examine each stock carefully.\u00a0 Do I want to hold it long-term? Apple remains the BIG QUESTION. I sold a thousand this morning.<\/p>\n

A friend’s boss used to say, “Be a sailor. Don’t fall in love.”<\/p>\n

I suspect this heavy selling will abate in a day or two, allowing us to sell more stocks at higher prices.<\/p>\n

It’s not a good idea to sell into a sharply declining market. If you do, you often find you sold at a price lower<\/strong> than the stock closed that day at.<\/p>\n

S&P warns on Berkshire Hathaway.<\/strong> S&P<\/span> <\/span>put Berkshire Hathaway on credit watch negative <\/span>after its acquisition of Precision Castparts. S&P said the warning “reflects uncertainty around the funding of the acquisition and how it may affect current cash resources and leverage metrics at the holding-company level.” On Monday, Berkshire acquired Precision for $37.2 billion and the assumption of roughly $5 billion in debt.<\/p>\n

Berkshire has been doing horribly recently. here’s year to date. It’s down strongly this morning.<\/p>\n

\"BerkshireYTD\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Two shorts that make sense. <\/strong>I have great difficulty seeing anything sensible either of these two companies is doing. Dumb. Dumb.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"INtel\"<\/a> \"MicrosoftShort\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Tinder is a dating app for millennials.<\/strong> <\/span>It’s changed dating the way Amazon changed retailing. Read about it in a fascinating piece called “Tinder and the Dawn of the “Dating Apocalypse<\/em>” in this month’s Vanity Fair.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Tinder\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The insanity of medical bills. <\/strong>In the old days my doctor removed my ear wax for $70. That procedure took three minutes.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Now I’m on Medicare, he bills Medicare $910, of which Medicare paid $234.39. And I’m expected to pay $59.80.<\/p>\n

I don’t make this stuff up. I have the bill.<\/p>\n

The wax-cleaning procedure still takes three minutes. And it’s still the best medical procedure I have.<\/p>\n

But $910?<\/p>\n

Favorite recent New Yorker cartoons:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"CorectlyBook\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Burningbush\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Sunset\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"HarryNewton\"<\/a>
\nHarry Newton who doesn’t like watching his net worth decline. How do you make a small fortune? Start with a large one. Not funny! It’s a pleasure being on a fast Internet connection. From http:\/\/www.speakeasy.net\/speedtest\/<\/strong><\/a> this morning:<\/p>\n

\"SpeedTest\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n