Black Friday -- Re-Posting -- Another Source -- Same Data -- November 25, 2023

Locator: 46171ECON.

As mentioned earlier, I had to quit watching CNBC early last week -- the talking heads were simply too negative about Black Friday and I knew they were going to be so wrong.

So, how did it turn out?

Charlie Munger says we're in a recession. Maybe we are; maybe we aren't. But it certainly doesn't feel like a recession to me. 

It's an unusual recession -- consumers smashing spending records.

From the linked article:

Americans set a new record for Thanksgiving online shopping, signaling robust economic activity despite inflation concerns, according to new data from Adobe Analytics. Adobe Analytics reported $5.6 billion in online sales during the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, marking a 5.5 percent increase from last year. The figure shatters previous records, and represents a near doubling of the $2.87 billion spent in 2017. Mobile sales took the lions share, accounting for $3.3 billion or 59 percent of total online sales.

Next week and a quarter from now we'll see the numbers updated. 

Ticker BRK-B -- 

My delay in pivoting from BRK-B to Microsoft cost me a lot of money.

A lot of investors don't understand P/Es.

I learned that from an analyst this past weekend. Never thought about it until now.

P/E:

• BRK-B: 10
• MSFT: 37

"They" say AAPL's P/E is too "rich":

• AAPL: 31
  

Over 30 years, my investment in energy (oil) has been one of my worst investments. I wasn't paying attention. 

Having said that, it doesn't bother me a bit. For me, it was all about the dividends.

After all these years, the dividend payouts have pushed my cost basis in energy to zero.

And now I'm getting a nice cash flow.

And all these years, that almost guaranteed cash flow from dividends allowed me to invest in other non-energy companies, resulting in a pretty nice portfolio.  

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Lego 

Black Friday deals likely to extend through Monday.

I don't know.

My new Lego interest: Speed Champions. I bought the NASCAR stock car --

I won't get it, but something to consider: Lego train set, Hogwarts Express -- Collector's Edition, down from $499.99 to $399.99.

Lego city road plates, "must have," down 20%, from $20 to $16.