Notes From All Over -- Part 1 -- October 15, 2021

Goldman Sacs: huge beat

• revenue: $13.61 billion vs $11.68 billion
• EPS: $14.92 vs $10.18
• is anyone paying attention? Look at the actual results vs estimated;

Retail sales:

• up 0.7% vs estimated down 0.2%;

Retail sales ex-autos:

• up 0.8% vs up 0.5%

Supply chain shortages:

• when you go out shopping today, notice that the bins are overflowing with pumpkins
• overflowing with pumpkins
• the only way pumpkins make it to the grocery stores: by truck
• mostly by non-Teamster truck drivers
• we'll come back to this later

Apple, Inc: at SeekingAlpha --

• “Unleashed” event to unveil high-end Apple Silicon MacBook Pros.
• Why the M1 was a stealth revolution.
• How the next-generation Apple Silicon Macs will change everything.
• Investor takeaways.

The "Unleashed" event had been widely expected for some time, so it came as virtually no surprise to anyone, yet one senses more excitement than for the iPhone 13 launch. The iPhone 13 series has, in many ways, turned out better than expected, both in performance, as well as sales. But it was still incremental.

The new MacBook Pros, on the other hand, will be truly new. They will feature a complete hardware redesign inside and out. The bodies will be thinned and lightened to take advantage of Apple Silicon's energy efficiency. New screens (in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes) are expected to feature mini-LED backlighting for improved contrast.

Most reports continue to refer to the Apple Silicon chip that will power these new Macs as the M1X. I personally doubt this. It's been nearly a year since the release of the first M1-powered Macs. Apple needs to convey more progress than just an incrementally improved M1, so I think the "M2" designation is likely.

This won't be just a marketing ploy. I expect the new M2 not only to feature more CPU performance cores (8 vs. the 4 of the M1) but a new design for the cores based on the A15 Bionic. From early performance testing of the iPhone 13, it's apparent that the A15 performance cores got a performance bump. As reported by Tom's Guide, the A15 in the iPhone 13 Pro scored over 20% better than the A14 in iPhone 12 Pro in the Geekbench 5 multicore test.

Graphics processing also is expected to improve with at least double the M1's 8 GPU cores. Other features of the A15 will likely be carried over as well, including an improved Neural Processing Unit and Image Signal Processor. The integrated memory, a unique feature of the M1, will likely get a speed bump and larger base configuration (16 GB vs. 8 GB in the M1).

This will be the pattern going forward. iPhone will introduce the latest Apple Silicon designs in a scaled-down chip, with M-series chips building on these designs and scaling them up for Mac use. Apple has to do this in order to make best use of its processor design and engineering resources.

Much more at the link. 

Moderna: investors had an opportunity; maybe two opportunities.

Netflix: absolutely blowing away the competition. 

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.

Bats: it's too bad this disappeared behind a paywall. I was able to read it last night; but now behind a paywall. Great article on bats and corona viruses. Link here.  

Nature has the article, but a bit more "difficult" to read, though this is pretty straightforward, written for an eighth-grader: The discovery of RaTG13 bat coronavirus in China suggested a high probability of a bat origin. 

I guess one can read tweets or read Nature. I know where the Reddit crowd is headed. LOL. Abstract here. 

Tesla and Netflix will be huge this quarter. 

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.

Pumpkins: when you go out shopping today, note the bins are overflowing with pumpkins, In our neighborhood grocery store, overflowing and selling for $5.00 apiece. How do pumpkins get to market?

• Yup: by truck.
• But I thought there was a truck shortage or a truck driver shortage.
• How is that something as "unimportant" to one's existence that pumpkins are getting to market despite the supply chain shortage.
• We'll come back to this later, but there are two huge issues with regard to the supply chain shortage:
• one, a political issue; and,
• two, a logistics issue.
• We'll come back to this later.
• I'll get a lot of pushback on this, also, but I know I'm right on this one, also. LOL. 

Market:

• wow, I'm glad I'm fully invested. I would hate to be buying at the level;
• will wait for pullback;

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.

Norwegian air: no longer requires masked passengers or crews. I wonder if Norwegian air requires their pilots and crews to be vaccinated? 

Dow back above 35,000. 

Personal transportation costs: over at Schwa Nation.

Best business television:

• 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. CT on CNBC: Jim Cramer, David Farber, Carl Quintanilla.
• 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. CT on CNBC. Melissa Lee and panelists; Jim Cramer.

Final word from Jim Cramer this morning:

• Ford can't meet demand for Ford Lincoln in China;
• best-selling luxury car in China: the Ford Lincoln
• profit margin comparable to BMW
• this is where Ford is going to make its profit
• Cramer? incredibly bullish;