Monday, January 29, 2024

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.

  • “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. 😉

Saturday, January 27, 2024

..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. 


  • 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. 😉

Saturday, January 20, 2024

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

Thursday, January 18, 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

 


Notes today:

  • The growing cooperation between Russia and North Korea could "drastically" influence the type of security threats coming from North Korea, said Pranay Vaddi, the White House's senior director for arms control.
  • Container rates going up: many crew are now frightened at the prospect of transit.

  • The scale of climate change can be a bit mind-boggling at times.
  • For example, the Greenland ice sheet has lost over 6 trillion metric tons of ice since 1970 – or more than 700 tonnes lost per person for every person on the planet today:

 

from Zeke Hausfather @hausfath

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. 😉

 

 

Tuesday, January 16, 2024



Friday, January 12, 2024

Notes today:

  • Things we protect: Shipping.
  • Things we don't protect: Children in Gaza. 

Fr Paul

@revpaulwhite

 

 

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. 😉

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Notes today:

  • The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.” - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 
  • The UN’s top court has begun hearing South Africa’s allegation that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. 

  • China was the main driver of global renewable energy growth in 2023, with the country more than doubling its capacity. 

  • The SEC approved  bitcoin ETF. 
  • Argentina's monthly CPI for December 2023 reached  25.5% - an astonishing 211.4% YoY

 

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. 😉

 

 

Tuesday, January 09, 2024

On one key point, however, the IBWA, the WHO, the Columbia team and other scientific sources were in agreement: that bottled water was far from the only source of plastics pollution entering human bodies.

Monday, January 08, 2024

Saturday, January 06, 2024


Notes today:

  • The climate crisis has been previously identified as a threat to coffee and beer, and its impact could now be stretching to another of life’s joys: dessert. 

 


  • Container shipping giant Maersk is diverting all vessels from Red Sea routes around Africa's Cape of Good Hope for the foreseeable future -  warning customers to prepare for significant disruption. 




  • The euro zone’s annual inflation rate rose to 2.9% in December, up from 2.4% in November, ending seven months of slowing price growth. 

 

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. 😉

Thursday, January 04, 2024

Shares of QuantumScape Corp. QS, +43.08% blasted 47.5% higher in very active trading Thursday, after the battery maker’s solid-state cell, viewed as the next big step in battery development, passed the first endurance test, according to Volkswagen AG VWAGY, +1.91% VOW, +1.56% subsidiary PowerCo.





Wednesday, January 03, 2024

Notes today:

  • There is only three ways a smart person can go broke: liquor, ladies and leverage” - Charlie Munger

  • Scientists hail new antibiotic that can kill drug-resistant bacteria
  • Elon Musk defeats bid to be questioned in Tesla fatal crash lawsuit.
  • Elon Musk’s X is now worth less than a third of the price he paid for Twitter, according to Axios. 

  • Panama Canal: hundreds of vessels have been backed up at the critical shipping corridor, which handles $270 billion a year in global trade.
  • A controversial plan to fix the Canal could cost billions if it is even feasible. 

  • The United States does not have any reason to believe that Israel assassinated Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington on Wednesday. Seriously? 

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. 😉