Opening Market Headlines -- February 21, 2024

Locator: 46857MARKET.

FANG: hits a new all-time high today. An energy company.

Market opening headlines:

• Cramer: no Fed cuts this year.
• SolarEdge: the bad news -- stock tumbles; the worse news -- the outlook is getting gloomier. Or one could say the forecast for solar is getting cloudier. LOL.
  
• it's interesting to read the social comments -- solar has become a cult
• Apple: bad news. Apple likely to lose its stranglehold on its cash cow, its App Store.
• Apple TV+: another hit on its hands.

Missing a zero? Really. Liz says confidence is at best level since July, 2021 .... for those with poverty-level income, $15K to $25K range. Was this parody?

• EVs: not for me -- and apparently not for many others, either. 
• Phil LeBeau: on CNBC this morning --- remains as disingenuous as ever - said the price cut by Ford for its Mustang E-Mach was due to competition -- 
• yes, Tesla cut its prices recently but no one sees the Mustang (historical) muscle car competing with a family sedan -- buyers simply don't want the EV Mustang (now that early adopters have bought theirs) and they certainly don't want the EV F-150

• McDonalds: among the fast foot restaurants, McDonald's had the best year.
• apparently consumers not upset with $18 Big Macs -- LOL

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California

California budget deficit: probably worse than projected just weeks ago. These are the estimates (please feel free to fact check all of this):

• a year ago: $24 billion
• Newsom, the governor's office, "recently": $38 billion
• LAO, a few months ago: $58 billion
• LAO, most recent, February, 2024: $73 billion
• to put that $73 billion deficit estimate in perspective, the general fund spending for the state of Texas is $144 billion for the biennium (two years) -- California's projected deficit is equal to Texas' general fund spending for one year  -- and Texas has no income tax. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

The tug-of-war between California Governor Gavin Newsom and the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office over the state’s projected budget deficit took a new turn Tuesday, February 20, 2024, when the LAO announced a revised shortfall of $73 billion — $15 billion more than previously forecast, and significantly more than the $38 billion gap that Newsom has estimated.

The LAO reported that recent revenue collection data “reflect even further weakness” for the state’s financial outcome.

“All else equal, this means the budget problem is likely to be higher” when the governor gives his revised projection of the state’s finances in May, 2024, the LAO said in a Tuesday update. 

Enough for now. 

Personal investing: today, sizeable additions to my existing positions in --

• WMT
• ABBV
• CHRD
• MCD
• AVGO
• ENB
  

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.

Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market.