Headlines -- July 16, 2024

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What a great country. I dropped off several extended family members and friends at DFW airport on way to Montana.

I came home and went swimming -- a nice evening swim; my second swim of the day.

Tracked that flight on FlightRadar24.

CCR, Lana Del Rey, and Blondie on Bluetooth speaker while swimming.

Came home to catch two minutes of Nikki Haley at RNC Convention, ABC coverage. The ABC "analysts" seem flummoxed -- not exactly knowing how to handle the speeches. LOL. There's no way the DNC convention will be more entertaining inside. Outside, perhaps, but not inside. The DNC Convention inside will be Biden, Jill, Shumer, Pelosi, Clooney et al. Booooring. The RNC convention? One big clown show and I say that with sincerity and deep respect for clowns around the world.

After two minutes switched to the All-Star Game. AL wins 5 - 3. Lots of fun.

Not a bit hungry -- hadn't eaten since lunch, hours ago, but after a swim, often not a bit hungry. 

Settled for half-a-summer-sausage sandwich. 

80+°F outside -- our thermostat is set for 80°F also and after a swim, it feels almost "cold" in the house, but my wife won't let me turn the thermsotat up any more.

Now to check the news, the equity futures, and pretty much relax until 1:00 a.m. Have to get another Duolingo Spanish lesson in, both before midnight and after midnight to keep my streak going.

Matt Strahm, West Fargo High School, ND --> to the All-Star Game. Wow! He's thinking the same thing -- what a great country. He's 32 years old. It seems he's played with almost every MLB team (not quite) but now plays with the Phillies. Quite a journey.

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Headlines

NDIC Director's Cut: link here. Oil production down 3.9% m/m.

Bitcoin back over $66,000 today; quite a chart.

AAPL is now outperforming both the NASDAQ 100 (QQQ) and the S&P 500 (SPY) so far in 2024. Dan Nathan, over at CNBC, probably won't mention this.

Elon Musk has had it with California. Will move X and SpaceX headquarters from California to either Florida or Texas. Maybe one to Florida, one to Texas, or better yet, both to Texas. Which would make the most sense. Oh, there it is. He's moving both to Texas! Whoo-hoo! Musk says he has also moved his residence to Texas. Another whoo-hoo! California-to-Texas relocation tracked by clicking here. The full list here. Or go direct.

Charles Schwab says it's time to fix its banking business. Has to do with "cash sorting."

Biden's plans to overhaul the US Supreme Court sounds like the talk of a desperate man. This is so bizarre ...

Trump is no friend of Taiwan ... wow, one thing you can say about Trump .... he wants to make American great again. Screw the rest of the world even if it means Russia and China win a few regional wars. Warren Buffett may have known what he was doing when he dropped his TSM stock like a hot potato after only three months. LOL. After awhile, all Americans may end up liking Trump -- after all it was Hillary and Bill that took the US down the path of "globalism."

Even a cynic has to admit this is pretty remarkable:

Ditto:

The Russell 2000 just had its best day compared to the S&P 500 ... ever.

Tom Lee makes absurd calls over and over and over. And then he's right.

BRK-B: wow, talk about perfect timing. Pivoted back to BRK-B a few days ago; again, see Personal Investing. Rambling below; may be inaccurate; if important to you, go to the source (the IRS). Everything needs to be fact-checked.

No new money is going into my accounts. All new money is going to grandchildren. In addition, gradually moving money from existing personal accounts to grandchildren's accounts, so when I say I pivoted to BRK-B, it means I bought BRK-B with new money for at least one of the grandchildren's accounts. In this case, it was for Sophia. I'm done investing in (adding new money to) my accounts. My accounts are on auto-pilot except for a two self-directed IRAs in which I make trades. 

RMDs, for the most part, are going in to tax-deferred 529s for the five grandchildren. After fifteen years, the 529's can be converted to Roth IRAs. Almost no limit on number of 529s for owner or beneficiary; I guess the limit for any one beneficiary would be 50 or thereabouts. LOL. It's unclear but it sounds like each 529 can be converted to a Roth IRA -- one can do the math. Five grandchildren x $35K = $175,000, just to get started. And one knows, with inflation, Congress will increase that $35,000 limit.