{"id":32897,"date":"2015-11-03T09:42:35","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T14:42:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=32897"},"modified":"2015-11-03T09:42:35","modified_gmt":"2015-11-03T14:42:35","slug":"todays-favorite-promotion-is-uplifting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=32897","title":{"rendered":"Today&#8217;s favorite promotion is uplifting."},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I sold VW again short yesterday. Must have been my brilliant instinct. VLKAY will be down today after announcement of yet another government investigation into yet another alleged VW fraud. I can&#8217;t imagine why this stock won&#8217;t plummet to close to nothing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/VWClosetoNothing.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32905\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/VWClosetoNothing.jpg\" alt=\"VWClosetoNothing\" width=\"646\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/VWClosetoNothing.jpg 646w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/VWClosetoNothing-300x174.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 646px) 100vw, 646px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">But it could also be worth $200 a share like Tesla:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/TeslaYTD.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32906\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/TeslaYTD.jpg\" alt=\"TeslaYTD\" width=\"647\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/TeslaYTD.jpg 647w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/TeslaYTD-300x164.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 647px) 100vw, 647px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">No one ever said there was any relationship between value and stock price. To illustrate this, I give you a chart from a piece in <strong><a title=\"Tesla is way overpriced.\" href=\"http:\/\/seekingalpha.com\/article\/3634036-tesla-motors-the-cold-hard-truth\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Seeking Alpha<\/em> <\/a><\/strong>today arguing that Tesla is\u00a0 way over-priced on the simple metric of price to book &#8212; compared to other, larger car companies.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/PricetoBook.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32909\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/PricetoBook.png\" alt=\"PricetoBook\" width=\"640\" height=\"326\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/PricetoBook.png 640w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/PricetoBook-300x152.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Promotion counts. Which brings me to my favorite promotion today:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">This bra costs $2 million. <\/span><\/strong>It&#8217;s a nice bra, though I prefer the model. I&#8217;m guessing Victoria&#8217;s Secret thinks it will get $2 million of publicity from creating this bra.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/BestBra.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32898\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/BestBra.jpg\" alt=\"Victoria's Secret Fireworks Fantasy Bra\" width=\"450\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/BestBra.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/BestBra-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The bra has 6,500 precious gems, including diamonds, yellow sapphires and blue topaz, and is set in 18-karat gold. It sounds uncomfortable.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">If you can&#8217;t afford the bra, maybe this nice impossible-to-read watch will suffice:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/15-innovation-watch-prize-the-tourbillon-of-tourbillons-by-antoine-preziuso-from-320000-swiss-francs-209600-324400.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/15-innovation-watch-prize-the-tourbillon-of-tourbillons-by-antoine-preziuso-from-320000-swiss-francs-209600-324400.jpg\" alt=\"15-innovation-watch-prize--the-tourbillon-of-tourbillons-by-antoine-preziuso-from-320000-swiss-francs-209600-324400\" width=\"450\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/15-innovation-watch-prize-the-tourbillon-of-tourbillons-by-antoine-preziuso-from-320000-swiss-francs-209600-324400.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/15-innovation-watch-prize-the-tourbillon-of-tourbillons-by-antoine-preziuso-from-320000-swiss-francs-209600-324400-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Only $324,000. It&#8217;s contains not one, but two tourbillons.&#8221; It&#8217;s by Antoine Preziuso. According to Wikipedia, a tourbillon is an addition to the mechanics of a watch <a title=\"Escapement\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Escapement\">escapement<\/a>. Developed around 1795 and patented by the French-Swiss watchmaker <a title=\"Abraham-Louis Breguet\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Abraham-Louis_Breguet\">Abraham-Louis Breguet<\/a> on June 26, 1801, a tourbillon aims to counter the effects of <a title=\"Gravity\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gravity\">gravity<\/a> by mounting the <a title=\"Escapement\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Escapement\">escapement<\/a> and <a title=\"Balance wheel\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Balance_wheel\">balance wheel<\/a> in a rotating cage, to negate the effect of gravity when the timepiece (thus the escapement) is stuck in a certain position. By continuously rotating the entire balance wheel\/escapement assembly at a slow rate (typically about one revolution per minute), positional errors are averaged out. Originally an attempt to improve accuracy, tourbillons are still included in some expensive modern watches as a novelty and demonstration of watchmaking virtuosity. The mechanism is usually exposed on the watch&#8217;s face to show it off. (That&#8217;s why you can&#8217;t read the time. You&#8217;re not meant to.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">If telling time is your concern, this ghastly $13.98 Timex at Walmart is more accurate (and cheaper):<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/TimexWatch.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32903\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/TimexWatch.jpg\" alt=\"TimexWatch\" width=\"336\" height=\"361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/TimexWatch.jpg 336w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/TimexWatch-279x300.jpg 279w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">To buy it (if you really must), click <a title=\"Timex watch at Walmart\" href=\"http:\/\/www.walmart.com\/ip\/38229908?wmlspartner=wlpa&amp;adid=22222222227026950938&amp;wl0=&amp;wl1=g&amp;wl2=c&amp;wl3=43324168472&amp;wl4=&amp;wl5=pla&amp;wl6=82770607952&amp;veh=sem\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>I&#8217;m in favor of customer reviews.<\/strong><\/span> They help me decide what to buy. I especially like this review I found on a Nike site:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Review.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32907\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Review.jpg\" alt=\"Review\" width=\"371\" height=\"182\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Review.jpg 371w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Review-300x147.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 371px) 100vw, 371px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>When lacking jokes, run one old, bad lawyer joke. (<\/strong><\/span>That&#8217;s today&#8217;s mantra.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">If you think lawyers don&#8217;t have hearts, read this. The Salvation Army discovered that it had never received a donation from the city&#8217;s most successful lawyer. So a volunteer SA Officer paid the lawyer a visit in his lavish office.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">The volunteer opened the meeting by saying, &#8216;Our research shows that even though your annual income is over two million dollars, you don&#8217;t give one cent to charity. Wouldn&#8217;t you like to give something back to your community?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">The lawyer thinks for a minute and says, &#8216;First, did your research also show you that my mother is dying after a long painful illness, and she has huge medical bills that are far beyond her ability to pay?&#8217; Embarrassed, the rep mumbles, &#8216;Uh &#8230; No, I didn&#8217;t know that.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">&#8216;Secondly,&#8217; says the lawyer, &#8216;did it show that my brother, a disabled Veteran, is blind and confined to a wheelchair and is unable to support his wife and six children? The stricken rep begins to stammer an apology, but is cut off again<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">&#8216;Thirdly, did your research also show you that my sister&#8217;s husband died in a dreadful car accident, leaving her penniless with a mortgage and three children, one of whom is disabled and another that has learning disabilities requiring an array of private tutors?&#8217;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">The humiliated rep, completely beaten, says, &#8216;I&#8217;m so sorry. I had no idea.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;\">And the lawyer says, &#8216;So, if I didn&#8217;t give any money to them, what makes you think I&#8217;d give any to you?&#8217;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/HarryNewton.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-21218\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/HarryNewton.jpg\" alt=\"HarryNewton\" width=\"200\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/HarryNewton.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/HarryNewton-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nHarry Newton who today is voting in a local election for members of our local town council in Spencertown, NY (or is it Austerlitz?) They didn&#8217;t answer their phones this morning, so I&#8217;m not sure which. My vote will be important. The place is tiny. Interestingly, the Spencertown Fire Department also did not answer its phones this morning. Thank the Lord, we&#8217;re not burning down.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Yesterday the market went up. Today&#8217;s it&#8217;s going down. And so is gold, which remains a really awful hedge:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/GoldYTD.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32912\" src=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/GoldYTD.jpg\" alt=\"GoldYTD\" width=\"651\" height=\"390\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/GoldYTD.jpg 651w, https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/GoldYTD-300x179.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 651px) 100vw, 651px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><script>\/\/ <![CDATA[\n(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){   (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),   m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)   })(window,document,'script','\/\/www.google-analytics.com\/analytics.js','ga');   ga('create', 'UA-45200733-1', 'technologyinvestor.com');   ga('send', 'pageview');\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I sold VW again short yesterday. Must have been my brilliant instinct. VLKAY will be down today after announcement of yet another government investigation into yet another alleged VW fraud. I can&#8217;t imagine why this stock won&#8217;t plummet to close to nothing. But it could also be worth $200 a share like Tesla: No one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32897\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}