Monday, March 18, 2019, T+75 -- Just Another Day In Paradise

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

The market: early morning trading -- my watch list is 100% green except for Dominion, down slightly, and Tesla, down another $4, down 1%, and trading below $273/share.

But, first things first: since the Spurs game (March 13, 2019), the Mavericks have played two more games.

They lost 100 - 99 to the Las Vegas Nuggets; Dirk scored nine points in 19 minutes of play. So, that would have put Dirk 17 points away from moving up the all-time scoring list. Then, yesterday (Saturday), the Mavericks finally won a game, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 121 - 166. Dirk: wow -- 14 points in 29 minutes. It was a home game. That should mean he is one basket from tying Wilt Chamberlain in all-time scoring. Let's check. Wilt Chamberlain, 31,419. Dirk Nowitzki, 31,416. Yes! Three more points. It's a home game, tomorrow (Monday) night -- against the New Orleans Pelicans. Start time: 7:30 p.m. By 8:00 p.m. it "all be over." Tune in late and you will miss the excitement.

Meanwhile, I'm not sure if this is good for US network ratings with regard to the Players PGA tournament: not one of the four leaders at the beginning of the fourth round was an American. In order, a Spaniard; an Englishman; northern Ireland; and, Australia. Anyone in the top 20 from South Korea? I don't think so.

Three years ago, "we" wondered whether Tiger would ever play again.

Two years ago, "we" wondered if Tiger would ever make "the cut" again to play a full tournament.

One year ago,"we" wondered if Tiger would complete a full tournament.

This year, the announcers are excited if Tiger finishes among the "top 20." Right now, in the fourth round, after eight holes, he is tied for 30th, having moved up 13 places in the early fourth round holes. [Final: tied for 30th.]

NASCAR: Is anyone else disturbed that Kyle Busch is allowed to race with the junior varsity? Only in NASCAR, I guess. I'm pretty much tired of it.

Having said that, he was incredible in the Sunday varsity race. Good for him. But he needs to quit racing with the junior varsity.

Shut Down, The Fendertones

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

BKH: I'm not sure how I ended up here. I was looking for something else and ended up looking at Black Hills Corp. At least one reader was invested in BKH at one time. I must have been curious. Wow. Look at this. This is a utility. Utilities are said to be boring, seldom moving much in either direction. But look at this one-year chart: $55/shr a year ago, now trading at $73. Who wudda guessed.

It is "enlightening" to see how BHK has done over a 5-year span and compare both the one-year / five-year charts with MDU. Who wudda guessed?

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FWIW

No good deed goes unpunished:

• Factoid: tax rates went down for everyone; more for some, less for others, but tax rates went down across the board
• Factoid: high earners living in McMansions in some blue states in New England may pay more due to capping of SALT deductions; those affected: tiny minority of all Americans
• Factoid: polls suggest one out of five Americans think they will pay more in taxes for 2018 after tax cuts went into effect
• Conclusion: more Americans than ever are earning more than ever. Make America great.

• Perhaps: it would have been better for President Trump to have increased tax rates for everyone. The criticism would have been no different, but Congress would have had more money to spend. And it would have taken a bit of wind out of the sails of crazy Bernie and the other 75 Democratic candidates who want to raise taxes.

No good deed goes unpunished. Some politicians learned that decades ago.