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OT: Stock and Investment Talk

Here is what’s gonna to happen. After the elections, it’s going to get real. You will be told that we are in a recession and it’s the fault of the GOP. After Q1 2023 401k’s will be down another 15%. Most will act surprised. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Stay well.
 
Here is what’s gonna to happen. After the elections, it’s going to get real. You will be told that we are in a recession and it’s the fault of the GOP. After Q1 2023 401k’s will be down another 15%. Most will act surprised. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Stay well.

That GDP number sure did look suspicious. Expecting a big revision after the mid terms.
 
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Here is what’s gonna to happen. After the elections, it’s going to get real. You will be told that we are in a recession and it’s the fault of the GOP. After Q1 2023 401k’s will be down another 15%. Most will act surprised. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Stay well.
Like, wow, man.
That GDP number sure did look suspicious. Expecting a big revision after the mid terms.
Don't encourage this type of behavior.
 
Germany's Verbund BASF (10 square kilometers) in Ludwigshafen shutting down.

Operations cant be scaled down so the operation is closing. New facilities are emerging in China (where Xi just announced China is going full totalitarian with open hostility for US and the West). BASF is world's largest ammonia producer. BASF had gas costs at sites €2.2 billion higher than last year (costs were rising even before Russian/Ukraine business).

For Europe this is like the rivets popping on the Titanic - they are going Rust Belt - worse famines globally.

"BERLIN—German chemicals giant BASF SE BASFY 0.26%increase; green up pointing triangle said it would downsize permanently in Europe, kindling concerns that persistently high energy prices could lead to a deindustrialization of the continent...

'The challenging framework conditions in Europe endanger the international competitiveness of European producers and force us to adapt our cost structures as quickly as possible and also permanently' BASF Chief Executive Martin Brudermüller said Wednesday....'Uncertainties due to the enormous number of regulations planned by the EU are weighing on the chemical industry' ”



Oh and undersea internet cables were cut off coasts of Scotland and France - media seems mostly oblivious
 
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Germany's Verbund BASF (10 square kilometers) in Ludwigshafen shutting down.

Operations cant be scaled down so the operation is closing. New facilities are emerging in China (where Xi just announced China is going full totalitarian with open hostility for US and the West). BASF is world's largest ammonia producer. BASF had gas costs at sites €2.2 billion higher than last year (costs were rising even before Russian/Ukraine business).

For Europe this is like the rivets popping on the Titanic - they are going Rust Belt - worse famines globally.

"BERLIN—German chemicals giant BASF SE BASFY 0.26%increase; green up pointing triangle said it would downsize permanently in Europe, kindling concerns that persistently high energy prices could lead to a deindustrialization of the continent...

'The challenging framework conditions in Europe endanger the international competitiveness of European producers and force us to adapt our cost structures as quickly as possible and also permanently' BASF Chief Executive Martin Brudermüller said Wednesday....'Uncertainties due to the enormous number of regulations planned by the EU are weighing on the chemical industry' ”



Oh and undersea internet cables were cut off coasts of Scotland and France - media seems mostly oblivious

Rust belt is a good call. The whole continent will become the rust belt.

Annual inflation in Germany, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), climbed to 10.4% in October from 10% in September, Germany's Destatis reported on Friday. This reading came in higher than the market expectation of 10.1%.
 
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Rust belt is a good call. The whole continent will become the rust belt.

Toynbee said great Civilizations aren't murdered - they commit suicide. What else could it be when western nations destroy their economies while transferring them to rising totalitarian nations who openly tell you that you're a target?

Rising social tensions will be enormous - they have barbarians inside the gate as well as outside
 
Per Bloomberg, "Federal Reserve officials will maintain their resolutely hawkish stance next week, laying the groundwork for interest rates reaching 5% by March 2023, moves that seem likely to lead to a US and global recession, economists surveyed by Bloomberg said."
 
Per Bloomberg, "Federal Reserve officials will maintain their resolutely hawkish stance next week, laying the groundwork for interest rates reaching 5% by March 2023, moves that seem likely to lead to a US and global recession, economists surveyed by Bloomberg said."
Nice try. The data is clear. Inflation has been flat for the past 3 months with even housing going deflationary. The stupid Fed can't ignore it much longer (whether by their decision or someone else's decision).
 
Nice try. The data is clear. Inflation has been flat for the past 3 months with even housing going deflationary. The stupid Fed can't ignore it much longer (whether by their decision or someone else's decision).
Keep whistling as you walk quickly past the graveyard....

That said, I "think" I'll go with Bloomberg's reporting over your misinterpretation of the data. But, as always, good luck to you per your investment choices. Keep hope alive....
 
Keep whistling as you walk quickly past the graveyard....

That said, I "think" I'll go with Bloomberg's reporting over your misinterpretation of the data. But, as always, good luck to you per your investment choices. Keep hope alive....
My POV always wins in the end and the market figures it out months before the Fed does. Once you learn the math, you'll get it to. Spend some time educating yourself and your investments choices will also improve. Good luck! I'm rooting for you.
 
My POV always wins in the end and the market figures it out months before the Fed does. Once you learn the math, you'll get it to. Spend some time educating yourself and your investments choices will also improve. Good luck! I'm rooting for you.

LOL. At this point I'll just assume you lost your short term memory in an accident. I'm going to start calling you Leonard Shelby from Momento.

images
 
LOL. At this point I'll just assume you lost your short term memory in an accident. I'm going to start calling you Leonard Shelby from Momento.

images
Haven't seen that movie in years! The data is the data. Can't argue with math.
 
Good article on funds/etfs with the most wide-moat stocks.

I’ve owned Vanguard Dividend Growth for decades. I held a modest position while working to avoid the realized income but increased my position significantly when I retired.
 
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I’ve owned Vanguard Dividend Growth for decades. I held a modest position while working to avoid the realized income but increased my position significantly when I retired.
We use VIG in several of our accounts, which is pretty similar. It has outperformed the VOO by 4-5% YTD. In our main brokerage account (E-Trade) we have VIG in a 16% position, just like VTV to form the more conservative portion of the portfolio.
 
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I see Musk is going to try to get out of paying the severance packages to the executives he fired. He claims it was for cause but the contracts state they must have done something criminal or violated company policy to be removed for cause.

Is this another lawsuit he cannot win?
 
I see Musk is going to try to get out of paying the severance packages to the executives he fired. He claims it was for cause but the contracts state they must have done something criminal or violated company policy to be removed for cause.

Is this another lawsuit he cannot win?
Depends on what "company policy" is. That can include lots of things.
 
I see Musk is going to try to get out of paying the severance packages to the executives he fired. He claims it was for cause but the contracts state they must have done something criminal or violated company policy to be removed for cause.

Is this another lawsuit he cannot win?
Yes
 
For those that missed it last week, Powell's favor inflation indicator tanked in Q3:

"There was some good news on the inflation front. The chain-weighted price index, a cost-of-living measure that adjusts for consumer behavior, rose 4.1% for the quarter, well below the Dow Jones estimate for a 5.3% gain. Also, the personal consumption expenditures price index, a key inflation measure for the Federal Reserve, increased 4.2%, down sharply from 7.3% in the prior quarter."

The PCE is still a lagging indicator, but even these BS metrics are starting to tell the truth. Inflation has crashed and in the real world has been flat for 3 months and counting.

 
For those that missed it last week, Powell's favor inflation indicator tanked in Q3:

"There was some good news on the inflation front. The chain-weighted price index, a cost-of-living measure that adjusts for consumer behavior, rose 4.1% for the quarter, well below the Dow Jones estimate for a 5.3% gain. Also, the personal consumption expenditures price index, a key inflation measure for the Federal Reserve, increased 4.2%, down sharply from 7.3% in the prior quarter."

The PCE is still a lagging indicator, but even these BS metrics are starting to tell the truth. Inflation has crashed and in the real world has been flat for 3 months and counting.

Right on cue 😀.
 
Inflation denier. LOL. Keep repeating it, and it will come true, eventually. Until then, we march toward a Fed rate of 5% in early 2023.
 
Inflation denier. LOL. Keep repeating it, and it will come true, eventually. Until then, we march toward a Fed rate of 5% in early 2023.
Sorry for the bad news. Your precious inflation is going down like a stone. It's a mathematical certainty. Funny thing is, even if inflation re-spikes due to COVID coming back or Putin going crazy again, the CPI will keep going down for another 6-9 months due to the lag. LOL!

Government metrics at its finest.
 
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Sorry for the bad news. Your precious inflation is going down like a stone. It's a mathematical certainty. Funny thing is, even if inflation re-spikes due to COVID coming back or Putin going crazy again, the CPI will keep going down for another 6-9 months due to the lag. LOL!

Government metrics at its finest.
My "precious inflation," ay? You spin it as if I want inflation to continue. Not sure how you got that. I call it like I see it though. While I certainly hope inflation is short-lived, I don't see how that'll happen. But you keep calm and carry on....
 
My "precious inflation," ay? You spin it as if I want inflation to continue. Not sure how you got that. I call it like I see it though. While I certainly hope inflation is short-lived, I don't see how that'll happen. But you keep calm and carry on....
Inflation has been flat for 3 months and counting. Learn the math and then call it "like you see it". LOL! Did you know that the last CPI reading included housing data from before March (i.e., when the Fed started raising rates)?

If it wasn't so sad, it would be comical.
 
CPI has not declined versus the prior month in over a year. Therefore, it’s not decelerating at all.

There’s a huge diesel shortage and a potential rail strike that is only going to keep prices elevated.
 
CPI has not declined versus the prior month in over a year. Therefore, it’s not decelerating at all.

There’s a huge diesel shortage and a potential rail strike that is only going to keep prices elevated.
You are confusing terms. CPI MoM has greatly decelerated from well over 1.0% to well under 0.5%. It hasn't gone deflationary yet. However, if you use real-time housing data instead of CPI housing which lags 9-12 month, both headline and core MoM would be negative/deflationary over the past 3 months.
 
In real life I noticed a new round of price increases on many of the things I buy at Shop Rite

We did buy 2 televisions and a new printer/scanner and they seemed inexpensive
 
Not in the investment industry but just for fun I looked back at the Fed rates highest was 19.1 in 1981. My mother had cd's paying somewhere around 17%. One of my customers told me, this was around 1980, that he just secured a business loan at 24% and was happy to have gotten it! 5% would seem tame in comparison.
 
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  • Preliminary data on Monday from Europe’s statistics office showed headline inflation came in at an annual 10.7% this month.
  • This represents the highest ever monthly reading since the euro zone’s formation. The 19-member bloc has faced higher prices, particularly on energy and food, for the past 12 months.
 
In real life I noticed a new round of price increases on many of the things I buy at Shop Rite

We did buy 2 televisions and a new printer/scanner and they seemed inexpensive

Great time for tech and electronics
Retailers have too much inventory and fewer buyers
I just bought a $350 Dell gaming display for $150 new (hopefully no switched innards as Dell can do).
AMD and Intel are both introducing new cpus but sales are down and they still have older cpus that are fast.

Locally the prices rises slowed but a lot of them froze high (not gas)
I've seen a lot of scaled back hours (Chinese takeout closed one day a week and local hardware dropped half day Sundays).

My focus now is derivatives since I found out my bank has 65 trillion in derivatives and if a bank fails derivatives have to be sorted out before any FDIC obligations. Its been my unprofessional opinion that banks, financials, markets etc have probably lost track of a lot of things (See movie "Margin Call" with Stanley Tucci). In 2008 crisis the WSJ reported computer models meant to send "red flags" never sent them because the models were measuring the wrong variables. With so many mergers and acquisitions, along with rising complexity and reliance on electronics (and lying governments) I think things have gone untracked (dispersal of responsibility etc)



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