12 Month YoY Performance

NVIDIA	238.47%
Meta Platforms	184.07%
Eli Lilly	139.37%
Builders FirstSource	135.77%
Uber Tech	134.13%
AMD	126.05%
Broadcom	124.38%
Arista Networks	97.49%
PulteGroup	97.31%
Lam Research	94.00%

 

Rich Nation Aging Crunch

Notes today:

Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class A

 $535           in 1982

$610,086     in 2024

 

• $1 in 1982 has the same purchasing power as $3.12 in 2024. Over the 42 years this is a change of $2.12. The average inflation rate of the dollar between 1982 and 2024 was 0.15% per year.
• Berkshire  Shareholder Letters

Problem with these notes: some tend to run up against a deeply rooted feature of human cognition - the desire not to think about anything unpleasant…Sorry about that.

Btw, humans can only think about 4 things at once – according to the research team led by University of Oregon psychology professors Edward Awh and Edward Vogel. So, to help, we limit notes. 😉

Quick Overview is up to date

Can AI Unlock the Secrets of the Ancient World?

Almost 2,000 years ago, a volcano preserved Herculaneum’s vast library of scrolls but left them unreadable. A volunteer army of nerds has been racing to decipher them.

Notes today:

•  How Worried Should You Be About Commercial Real Estate?

 

 

Problem with these notes: some tend to run up against a deeply rooted feature of human cognition - the desire not to think about anything unpleasant…Sorry about that.

Btw, humans can only think about 4 things at once – according to the research team led by University of Oregon psychology professors Edward Awh and Edward Vogel. So, to help, we limit notes. 😉

Notes today: 

 

• Due largely to an unexpected surge in immigration, the U.S. economy will be about $7 trillion larger - & federal revenues about $1T bigger - the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.
• Jeff Stein @JStein_WaPo

• Chinese shares gained after authorities signaled a stronger resolve to stem a $7 trillion rout via a surprise move to replace the head of the country’s securities regulator.

• Morgan Stanley says that India to become world’s 3rd largest economy in 5yrs surpassing Japan & Germany.

• Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Shinichi Uchida said Thursday that the bank is getting closer to sustainably achieving its 2% inflation goal and reviewing its ultraeasy monetary policy.

• The US government on Thursday outlawed robocalls that use voices generated by artificial intelligence, a decision that sends a clear message that exploiting the technology to scam people and mislead voters won’t be tolerated.

Problem with these notes: some tend to run up against a deeply rooted feature of human cognition - the desire not to think about anything unpleasant…Sorry about that.

Btw, humans can only think about 4 things at once – according to the research team led by University of Oregon psychology professors Edward Awh and Edward Vogel. So, to help, we limit notes. 😉

Elon Musk said the first human patient has received a brain implant from Neuralink

Notes today:

• Shrinking population. Record property downturn. Rising trade tensions. And now a $6 trillion stock market wipeout. The list of problems just keeps growing for Xi Jinping’s China. (Bloomberg)

• China's Evergrande Group, the developer at the center of the country's property crisis, is heading for liquidation after a Hong Kong court ordered it to be wound up.

• US President Joe Biden faces intensifying pressure to confront Iran directly after the country’s proxies killed three American soldiers in a drone strike in Jordan over the weekend, risking precisely the wider regionalconflict that he’s trying to avoid.

• “All war is a symptom of man’s failure as a thinking animal.” John Steinbeck

Problem with these notes: some tend to run up against a deeply rooted feature of human cognition - the desire not to think about anything unpleasant…Sorry about that.

Btw, humans can only think about 4 things at once – according to the research team led by University of Oregon psychology professors Edward Awh and Edward Vogel. So, to help, we limit notes. 😉

..the U.S. is a pretty lousy place to die. In an analysis of how well countries around the world deliver end-of-life care, the U.S. was ranked 43rd out of the 81 countries assessed, despite being one of the wealthiest nations. The U.K., whose hospices are generally not-for-profit, took first place.

DJ Trend Earnings (Fed Model) is up to date

• No FEAR!

Notes today:

 

• It's all about big tech next week with Meta, Amazon, Apple, Alphabet & Microsoft among those reporting. 

• Over the past 14 months, China’s gold reserves have risen by 287t.

• U.S. Total outstanding credit card balances – 2008 to now

• North Carolina is cutting off coverage of anti-obesity medications for state employees, citing soaring costs and a lack of agreement on pricing from drugmakers.

•  “Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” Ernest Hemingway

Problem with these notes: some tend to run up against a deeply rooted feature of human cognition - the desire not to think about anything unpleasant…Sorry about that.

Btw, humans can only think about 4 things at once – according to the research team led by University of Oregon psychology professors Edward Awh and Edward Vogel. So, to help, we limit notes. 😉

 

Later

 

Quick Overview is up to date

THE WORLD IS FALLING APART. BLAME THE FLUKES. the noise matters: It’s where the black swans come from.

• The Black Swan: The Impact of the HighlyImprobable 

  
  

Notes today: 

• China Containerized Freight Index 

  

• 
  
  

• What percentage of the S&P 500 is magnificent 7 stocks?

• Add up those components and these seven stocks deliver a full 28 percent of the S&P 500's performance. Meanwhile, the S&P 500's other 490-some stocks deliver the remaining 72 percent. As great as this weighting is, it's even more lopsided in the Nasdaq 100: Apple – 8.945 percent. Jan 12, 2024
• • Amazon.com (AMZN) $155.34 1.84 1.20% ...
  • Apple (AAPL) $191.56 2.93 1.55% ...
  • Alphabet Cl A (GOOGL) $146.38 2.90 2.02% ...
  • Meta Platforms (META) $383.45 7.32 1.95% ...
  • Microsoft (MSFT) $398.67 4.80 1.22% ...
  • NVIDIA (NVDA) $594.91 23.84 4.17% ...
  • Tesla (TSLA) $212.19 0.31 0.15%

  Jan 2, 2024

   

• The cheapest EV sold in China by BYD costs around $12,000, compared with $39,000 for the cheapest Tesla in the U.S.

• Toyota versus Tesla

• 
  
  
  

• A Senator from Florida is warning that the recent expansion of BRICS threatens the SWIFT payment system and America’s ability to arm the dollar. 

• 

• China's population fell in 2023 for the second time in two years.

 

• You may not have heard about it given non-existing press coverage, over 400,000 people converged on DC last weekend to demand an end to the war in Gaza.
• There’s a movement in New Hampshire for Democrats to write-in “Ceasefire” in the primaries on Tuesday. 

Problem with these notes: some tend to run up against a deeply rooted feature of human cognition - the desire not to think about anything unpleasant…Sorry about that.

Btw, humans can only think about 4 things at once – according to the research team led by University of Oregon psychology professors Edward Awh and Edward Vogel. So, to help, we limit notes. 😉

In the year of the soft landing, here’s your guide to the risks — from Houthis to hyperinflation — that should be keeping officials awake at night in 2024

 

S&P 500 Stocks at 52 week highs:

Instrument Name	Close	Symbol
Alphabet Ord Shs Class A	143.48	GOOGL.O
Alphabet Ord Shs Class C	144.99	GOOG.O
Arista Networks Ord Shs	257.56	ANET.K
Boston Scientific Ord Shs	61.05	BSX
Cadence Design Systems Ord Shs	279.01	CDNS.O
Costco Wholesale Ord Shs	687.31	COST.O
Ecolab Ord Shs	200.46	ECL
Fastenal Ord Shs	67.93	FAST.O
Hartford Financial Services Group Ord Shs	82.99	HIG
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Ord Shs	185.71	HLT
Huntington Ingalls Industries Ord Shs	260.19	HII
Ingersoll Rand Ord Shs	78.18	IR
Intuitive Surgical Ord Shs	371.93	ISRG.O
Loews Ord Shs	71.49	L
Marriott International Ord Shs Class A	232.68	MAR.O
Martin Marietta Materials Ord Shs	503	MLM
Mastercard Ord Shs Class A	430.72	MA
McKesson Ord Shs	493	MCK
Meta Platforms Ord Shs Class A	376.13	META.O
Microsoft Ord Shs	393.87	MSFT.O
NVIDIA Ord Shs	571.07	NVDA.O
O Reilly Automotive Ord Shs	1015.53	ORLY.O
Parker-Hannifin Ord Shs	465.7	PH
Progressive Ord Shs	169.91	PGR
Republic Services Ord Shs	167.75	RSG
Salesforce Ord Shs	274.46	CRM
ServiceNow Ord Shs	745.96	NOW
Stryker Ord Shs	314.72	SYK
T Mobile US Ord Shs	164.89	TMUS.O
Trane Technologies Ord Shs	247.33	TT
TransDigm Group Ord Shs	1053	TDG
Travelers Companies Ord Shs	198.35	TRV
Visa Ord Shs Class A	268.14	V
Waste Management Ord Shs	183.51	WM
Western Digital Ord Shs	53.55	WDC.O
WR Berkley Ord Shs	74.38	WRB
WW Grainger Ord Shs	872.2	GWW