Notes From All Over -- Pre-Market Edition -- November 16, 2020

NYC: I haven't watched CNBC in months, but when I last watched, I noted, and have said many times on the blog, the one story CNBC is not reporting is the "mass" migration out of NYC. My hunch: CNBC is still not reporting that story. But the story doesn't die. I would have thought, that by now, this story was pretty much done, but apparently not. A google search proves me wrong. The very first hit is a CNBC story: "Leaving NYC: high earners in finance and tech explain why they left the "world's greatest city." 

Wow, LOL. I've never been there but my hunch, the world's greatest city is probably Singapore, or Hong Kong. Or perhaps Tokyo, which I have visited.

[London] Daily Mail]: more than 300,000 New Yorkers have fled the Big Apple in the last eight months -- one day ago -- link here. One of the world's greatest newspapers. Many great memories of running down to the local village store on Sunday mornings, buying three newspapers, real bacon, fresh bread, and running back up to Pateley Bridge to enjoy a long Sunday morning reading. I still remember how "significant" the English pound felt in my hand. It had the feeling of really being worth something. But I digress.

Forbes, three weeks ago: is NYC's real estate market really tanking? I asked three experts for the "brutal truth." Link here. I did not read this: as soon as I saw "experts" in the headline, I lost interest. I've learned that "experts" in business magazines "talk their book," as they say.

WSJ, two weeks ago: parents pulling more children out of NYC public schools. Link here.  Families moving children to private schools, Hamptons seek less confusion and more in-person learning. For two working parents, that only makes sense.

[NYC] Globe Street, two weeks ago: New York rents fall 15.3% since March (2020). Link here.

Business Insider, three weeks ago: low rents in Manhattan and San Francisco spotlight urban exodus trend. Link here. 

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Zero Hedge

These are the Zero Hedge stories that caught my interest today. 

Too much time to link them individually, so I will link ZeroHedge and the reader can scroll through the headline stories.  

PNC buys BBVA's US arm for $12 billion; 2nd biggest banking deal since collapse of Lehman. And, yes, this is a big, big deal. WSJ link here. BBVA is Spanish owned.

Syria exit in progress? US convoys seen withdrawing from northeast Syria to Iraq. If accurate, it means Syria is now under Russian control, but I've long lost the bubble on this Mideast chess game. Or would "Twister" be a better analogy?

Germany wants to avoid "yo-yo shutdown. Wants to destroy economy once and for all. Planning for six-month "severe lockdown." Yeah, like that will work. When they all come out of their bomb shelters, the virus will still be there and the vaccine won't.

Wow, I hope Trump does declassify the whole portfolio. What is John Brennan so worried about?

Most exciting and this is just one reason the Biden presidency will be huge -- the admirals and generals will be back in charge. US Navy pushes ahead with 500-ship plan to "counter China and Russia" now that Esper has been fired. The Pentagon will run circles around the Big Man.

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Could "We" See 30,000 This Week?

Vaccine:

• 94.5% effective -- isn't that, like, 100% effective? That's historic.
• results far exceed expectations
• now, where did I put that bottle of champagne?

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

30,000: guaranteed, if:

• vaccine announced:
• $4 trillion stimulus bill in play

When reality hits, get out of the way. We might just see one of the biggest corrections ever. 

But for now, enjoy the ride to the top.

Pre-market:

• Dow up a staggering 523 points -- Dow futures at 29,933.
• NASDAQ:up 10 points
• S&P 500, already at a new record, now up another 45 points

Fully invested? And to think Warren Buffett couldn't find anything to buy last month.

Of interest:

• AAPL: down $.44 (this is the bellwether ticker today: if AAPL turns positive today, it's going to be a huge market for the bulls)
  
• SRE:
• T: up slightly; still below $30
• JNJ: up 1.3%; trading at $151.86
• DFS: up 2.5%; trading at $78,5
• UNP: up 1.5%; up $3.00; back to $206.42, just short of its all-time high;
• ENB: finally, seeing some love; up 1.5%; still under $30
• EPD: wow, completely unexpected, up2.6%; trading at $19
• BRK-B: up 1.34%; up $3; trading at $230;
• BA: up 4.4%; up over $8/share
• BK: up 2.3%; up almost a buck
• WMT; to hit an all-time high today
  

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Cable Television Is Expensive

But wow, bang for buck, I'm really, really impressed with Spectrum television. 

On every Apple device in the apartment -- desktop, laptop, iPad, iPhone -- all seamlessly work with Spectrum.

And now that I no longer go to Starbucks, the money I save there, helps cover the cost of Spectrum. Not going to restaurants pays for the rest of Spectrum.

Meanwhile, so far, I'm not impressed with Apple TV+ but that's just me.