Friday, January 24, 2020

Notes From All Over, Part 1 -- January 24, 2020

Wow, I'm in a great mood. Watching a sports documentary on all the snow at Jackson Hole for skiing this year. The skiers say they have never seen so much great powder.

Market: speaking of powder, for those who have keeping their powder dry for a market pullback should have had a great day today. I'm always fully invested but I did find some cash to buy some shares at a very nice price. Good luck to all.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, career, travel, job, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.

Golf: Tiger Woods playing? I don't know. Let's see. Yes, there he is, tied for 18th.

Dividends: there are pros and cons with all investments. But, I suppose, one can argue, with regard to investments, there are worse things than dividends. But for those who enjoy dividends, two sites that are particularly helpful:
USPS prices increasing Sunday.
The price of a first-class stamp isn’t changing, but the prices for flat-rate Priority Mail packages are going up across the board. Those prices will rise by about 1.9 percent overall. The average Priority Mail Express price will increase 3.5 percent, and Priority Mail will increase by 4.1 percent.
Some examples:
  • Small flat-rate box: Up from $7.90 to $8.30.
  • Medium flat-rate box: Up from $14.35 to $15.05.
  • Large flat-rate box: Up from $19.95 to $21.10.
  • APO/FPO large flat-rate box: Up from $18.45 to $19.60.
  • Regular flat-rate envelope: Up from $7.35 to $7.75.
  • Legal flat-rate envelope: Up from $7.65 to $8.05.
  • Padded flat-rate envelope: Up from $8 to $8.40.

4 comments:

  1. My newest notion, given the recent tax law change, is to sell a great stock (when it dips) out of our IRA and re-buy it in our personal account. Partially funded, of course, by the RMD, and the opportunity to again convert future ordinary income into dividends and capital gain rates, as it should be. Pox on those politicians that snookered folk (including me) into putting too much in an IRA!

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    1. I've talked about that on the blog: one of the reasons that this the next decade will be an incredible opportunity for investors. Huge amounts of money will be coming into the market simply with the SECURE ACT tax law. Truly amazing. Commission-free trading -- wow!

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  2. Commission-free trading never got me on the excitement plan... I could always afford the commission; it's the income tax on the sale that usually stuck in my craw. Place a limit order at a fair price, hold forever (and only sell when raiders attack or management spends too much time raking the pot).

    Will Rogers quote: "Don't gamble; take all your savings and buy some good stock and hold it till it goes up, then sell it. If it don't go up, don't buy it."

    Amen!

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    1. I grew up with the hundreds of dollars in commissions charged by Merrill Lynch before Schwab appeared on the scene. I agree that $4.95 commissions were trivial but it is interesting how it has become a big psychological / marketing tool. And apparently some of the brokers are having problems losing that small commission.

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