My Favorite Companies -- Not Investing -- January 9, 2024 -- IN PROGRESS

Locator: 46506COMMENTARY.

Not ready for prime time. Still being written / edited. 

This has nothing to do with investing. This is simply some rambling about the quality of life in America for a very well-off older white male living in suburban America in a temperate climate. Six months out of the year the weather is perfect; three months of the year the weather is fantastic; three months of the year, the weather reminds me how nice the other nine months are.

Three of my favorite companies are Amazon, Hulu, and Apple. As I go along, I will probably think of more. I just did.

Four of my favorite companies are Amazon, Apple, Hulu, and Walmart.

Okay, add one more: Amazon, Apple, Hulu, Schwab, and Walmart.

Four of my favorite activities are biking, blogging, reading, and swimming. 

I love technology, but don't know much about it and probably only experience 1% (maybe less) of the technology that is currently available to the average American. Whatever "average" is.

I truly admire the airline industry but hate flying. Counterintuitive. I marvel at the fact that the airline industry functions as well as it does serving so many people in a very challenging environment on so many levels.  

But let's get back to the companies I love. Amazon, Apple, Hulu, Schwab, and Walmart.

I can't say enough about Apple products. And that's all I'm going to say right now.

Walmart. "Our" Walmart is probably of the biggest size (footprint) Walmart has, and is probably one of the busiest Walmarts in the United States. Our Walmart never seems to run out of the things I need and I never, never, never wait in line to check out. Our Walmart must have some kind of record for the number of self-check-out lanes and the number of full-service check out lanes. It's hard to find any other retailer with lower prices than Walmart on a day-in, day-out basis.

Walmart. Delivery. Right now, Target, Walmart, and Amazon are going to "duke" it out with one hour / same day delivery. It was just announced that Target will cover 75% of the DFW area (north Texas, Dallas / Fort Worth) with drones this next year. It will be fascinating to watch. My hunch: it will be expensive and won't match Amazon's logistics system. I might be wrong; we'll see. The big problem: availability of product. Amazon is by far the biggest, then Walmart. I can't imagine Target comes close to either of those two. 

Hulu. Incredible. I understand YouTube TV is just as good, probably better, but regardless, Hulu is amazing. I stream Hulu on no less than four different Apple products (27" desktop; laptop (small/large); iPad (small/large), and three "smart" non-Apple monitors (they used to be called televisions, but now they are flat-screen monitors). And we live in a small, one-bedroom apartment with a bat cave.

Schwab. My understanding is that Fidelity is every bit as good as Schwab. I don't know. All I know is Schwab is incredible. 

Finally, Amazon. I won't invest in Amazon. I don't think Jeff Bezos cares about his shareholders. Jeff Bezos seems only to care about his customers. He keeps adding more "product" and seldom raises prices. Some of his "products" are a la carte and cost extra, and if his prices / subscriptions ever get too high, one can start cutting back on some of the extras. Prime Video is awesome. Comes with the basic subscription. A music subscription costs a bit extra. Alexa is awesome though I don't ask her much. Amazon now charges a bit if one wants to watch Amazon Prime Video without ads. For me that was a no-brainer. I forget the cost, a couple of dollars a month and no commercials. Thursday Night Football (NFL) and Amazon introduced technology not used by the networks to watch the games. Pharmacy. Whole Foods.

Amazon. The customer service on delivery is incredible. Knock on wood, we have never, ever missed / lost a delivery. I don't even track deliveries any more. If something doesn't come I won't care. I'm very serious about that. I'll simply re-order. Inexpensive orders are dropped off at the door 14/7 -- between eight a.m. and ten p.m. every day of the week. If I order a high-value item, it is delivered to a locker about a mile down the road. 

Amazon. I have a number of non-perishable items delivered on a regular "subscription" basis, like K-cups (Starbuck coffee), generic Rogaine, anchovies. I will start adding more items like paper products. Every time a "subscription" item is ready to ship, Amazon asks if I still want the delivery. A simple one-click keeps the delivery as requested, or "skips" it.

Amazon. Yesterday, I went to order a book on Amazon. It turns out the book won't be published / released until August 14, 2024, or something like that. But if I pre-order it, which I did, Amazon guarantees the lowest price. Right now, the publisher says the book will be priced somewhere between $19.99 and $49.99. Quite a spread. I assume it will come out at $29.99 or $39.99 at a brick-and-mortar store (Barnes and Noble) or $19.99 at Amazon. If it comes out higher than $19.99, I still get it at the price I paid yesterday ($19.99) and if the price is lower upon publication, I will be refunded the difference. 

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Others

Restaurants

McDonald's

Starbucks

Retail

Walgreen's for photos: always look for coupons 

Home Goods: need to visit the store at least once weekly; turnover is so fast; new products every day, it seems. 

Belk: incredible quality and selection.

Dollar Tree: for "Hot Tamales"