Locator: 44576I.
Wow, wow, wow -- in the pool tonight I had a long discussion with high-level executive in charge of US operations for large Brazilian company. He talked to me about the importance of WhatsApp in Brazil. That was about 7:00 p.m. CT, one hour ago. Now I come across this gem:
My first thought: Apple FinTech to include Apple Savings.
Truly amazing the CNBC folks did not catch this yesterday when dissecting Apple's Jan - Mar quarterly earnings.
Locator: 44575I.
Locator: 44574I.
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Tech
From social media:
Top story:
Top international non-energy story:
Top international energy story:
Top national non-energy story:
Top national energy story:
Focus on fracking: most recent edition.Top North Dakota non-energy story:
Top North Dakota energy story:
Geoff Simon's top North Dakota energy stories:
Bakken economy:
Commentary:
Locator: 44573B.
TGIF -- Only in Texas: local high school student ministry will host the "beer garden" event at Chicken N Pickle. I know, growing up in Williston, ND, First Lutheran Church, we never hosted a beer event. Maybe lutefisk, but not beer. LOL.
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Pricing
Keystone: 15 cans -- $9.99.
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Transition
To spend more time with family:
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Back to the Bakken
Active rigs: 39.
WTI: $71.51.
Natural gas: $2.109.
No new permits.
Two permits canceled:
Locator: 44572AAPL.
Why did Apple take such an interest in "banking"? Tim Cook saw this. Look at the margins. Apple's "services" margins: 71%. Product margins: 37%. Apple gets it.
Not only that, but the surge in services comes at a time when product innovation among all tech companies is waning.
Locator: 44571ECON.
Goldilocks economy? Doubt me? See Hong Kong way down below.
Why did the Dow jump 550 points today?
First two facts, the sundae:Cherry on top of that sundae:
At some point we're going to start hearing commentary along this line:
Inflation is not due to government spending (don't take that out of context):
The second cherry on that sundae:
So, if you are an investor, think about this:
Result:
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Hong Kong
Locator: 44570BOOKS.
Books I need to read or recommend to others:
I was unhappy with the "bookstores" that were listed in the Ten Best Indie Bookstores. It appears for a bookstore to have made the list, the indie bookstore must be aesthetically pleasing, relatively small, and a bit "frumpy." Powell Book Store in Portland, OR, did not make the list. Powell Book Store would not have photographed well.
Very little good literature came out of the Vietnam War. Less than what came out of WWII. The conflict from which we have the best literature and poetry is WWI.
Florence Nightingale. One of my favorite historical figures. Now a closer look is in order.
PTO. Wow. Who would have thought?
The Stanwyck book looks absolutely dreadful -- but I've become a bigger fan of Stanwyck over the years, thanks too TCM.
The storming of Caesars Palace. I completely missed this story. Time to read about it.
Locator: 445703TECH.
I wish I had time to discuss each of these. I don't. Maybe later this evening, poolside. Forecast to be 90°F later this evening here in DFW / north Texas.
So, we'll just post the graphics with minimal comments.
Updates
Later, 1:36 p.m. CT: BLS.
Later, 1:33 p.m. CT: simply incredible.
Later, 12:20 p.m. CT: the original note's reference to 2027 was "tongue-in-cheek," of course, but it appears not as far in as one might think. Bloomberg agrees. Let's not forget: by now it's clearly the Biden economy. I'm not saying that because I like / dislike / endorse Biden / endorse Trump, it's because with this economy -- at least for some of us -- MAGA is growing thin.
Anyone looking for signs of an imminent downturn for the US economy won’t find it in the latest employment data.
That’s the takeaway from the monthly jobs numbers out Friday, which showed an acceleration in hiring and pay gains in April as working-age Americans continued streaming back into the labor market.
The combination of rising employment and wages is helping to underpin consumer spending even as banking turmoil is raising recession fears. [Banking fears were greatly relieved Friday, May 5, 2023. Greatly relieved.]
While faster pay growth will keep the Federal Reserve uneasy about inflationary pressures, it likely won’t be enough to spur the US central bank back into action after signaling earlier this week that its tightening cycle will probably pause for now.
“Labor market momentum is decelerating from a high level, but I don’t see signs here that it’s rolling over or that a recession is imminent,” said Blerina Uruci, chief US economist at T. Rowe Price. “But I do think the rapid tightening in monetary policy and the recent shock to credit conditions are eventually going to drive the US economy into some kind of a contraction.”
Original Post
Likelihood of recession pushed to the right by at least another six months, bringing likelihood of recession out to 2027, but we'll hear talking heads talk about that recession occurring later this year, but to save face, they will call it a soft landing.
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The Downfall Of Trump
By the way, I never did get back to the four stories over at Drudge this week that -- at some point -- reach a tipping point:
Agree 1000% these are all political hit pieces and I can even be accused of trolling (nolo contendere) but those are the headlines and at some point ...
This doesn't mean Trump won't get the GOP nomination but ... these stories don't play well in my household ...
... one word: Bill.
How bad could the rape story be. One example: the NYT puts "every" story behind a paywall. Not this one.
Locator: 445701AAPL.
Updates
May 7, 2023: Apple Services. Apple gets it.
Original Post
Holy mackerel! Those investors paying attention are finally seeing what I'm seeing. CNBC contributors, analysts, and anchors completely missed this yesterday -- the long game, margins, and services.
If one wants more good news with regard to AAPL, this is it: Apple appears to be getting out of the EV business -- not EV services, but EV hardware as in a four-wheel-margin-killing-9,000-lb-monstrosity. This is a big, big deal.
AAPL within $3 / share of it's 52-week high.
15,000 million shares outstanding.
Up $7 / share in early trading. Market cap up $100 billion today? $2.74 trillion.
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.
All my posts are done quickly:
there will be content and typographical errors. If anything on any of
my posts is important to you, go to the source. If/when I find
typographical / content errors, I will correct them.
Again, all my posts are done quickly. There will be typographical and content errors in all my posts. If any of my posts are important to you, go to the source.
Locator: 44570CAL
They will need these homes when Title 42 border rule ends on May 11, 2023.
Perspective: 200,000 per month now; 300,000 per month, starting next month. A million new "Americans" every quarter. They will disperse -- the great Hispanic diaspora -- but most will remain in Texas, California, and then New Mexico and Arizona.
Now:
Company needs to donate cases of "Ritas" to every bar along the southern border to celebrate the end of Title 42 border rules. Instituted in 2020 by President Trump, the Biden administration ends this rule.
It's too bad the Biden administration didn't lift the rule today, Cinco de Mayo. Does Once de Mayo sound as good?
Changes in latitude --> changes in attitude.
Locator: 44569AAPL.
Spend some time on this graphic.
First, a digression with regard to the long game.
I first bought XOM in 1984. Cost basis today, about $5.00 / share. Share price today: about $110.
Dividends now, about $4 / share.
I made a huge investment in XOM at that time and never, never, never bought more except for DRIP -- and now XOM, not only one of my biggest holdings, but the revenue stream is remarkable. I no longer DRIP and will start to unload XOM in line with ICE bans in California.
Now, back to AAPL.
The long game:
Margins:
The long game:
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.
All my posts are done quickly:
there will be content and typographical errors. If anything on any of
my posts is important to you, go to the source. If/when I find
typographical / content errors, I will correct them.
Again, all my posts are done quickly. There will be typographical and content errors in all my posts. If any of my posts are important to you, go to the source.
On a percentage basis, which nation will be the biggest user of Apple financial services? India.
Locator: 44568JOBS.
April: up 235,000 vs forecast of 180,000. Thesis still holds up. Folks continue to miss the big story. More folks will need to upgrade their phones.
AAPL:
WBD: ouch. Link here.
PacWest: this is reassuring.
Clearly a stock-picker's market. Whoo-hoo.
Locator: 44567WTI.
This was May 3, 2023, the day before yesterday, when oil was in the mid-60s:
Today:
Locator: 44566AAPL.
One has to remember all the headwinds going into 1Q23; all the negativity regarding iPhones by analysts prior to the report; and the huge disappointment by Qualcom earlier in the week and then we get this:
Now, the second biggest Apple story folks are starting to note: services.
Also, noteworthy, and not mentioned once anywhere I can find it in the earnings report(s): Apple has just one retail store in India, and that store just opened up this past year.
Oh, I guess as long as I'm pumping AAPL, AAPL's margins also increased. From 44.1% to 44.3%. In other words, Apple does not have to cut prices to sell hardware.
Locator: 44565UnmitigatedDisaster.
Links everywhere.
Paramount just slashed its dividend from 24 cents to five cents. Say what?
Hunch: won't come up during the BRK annual meeting.
Second link: milliondollarway.
Third link: millliondollarway.
Fourth link: shares.
