Time For A Musical Interlude -- December 4, 2024

 Locator: 44494MUSIC.

Link here.

This is so cool. While listening to Cake / "I want a girl" I thought I heard something familiar.

Wow.

Link here.

Lou Reed / The Velvet Underground / "Sweet Jane." 

Or Michael Nesmith, Cruisin' (Sunset Sam): link here.

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Sixth Industrial Revolution

Link here. For those paying attention, this is simply incredible.

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The Sixth Industrial Revolution

See wiki, as currently understood and generally accepted:

• first industrial revolution: 1760 - 1840; ended in the middle of the 19th century; inventions; advancements in textiles; age of inventions;
  
• second industrial revolution: advancements in manufacturing processes; 1870 - 1914 (beginning of WWI); age of mass manufacturing;
  
• third industrial revolution: beginning in 1947, information age; computer coming out of WWII; Colossus, Bletchley Park;
  
• fourth industrial revolution: rapid technological advancement beginning in the late 1990s; the Age of Apple (or the personal computer).
  

Much better:

• first industrial revolution: ended in the middle of the 19th century; age of invention;
  
• second industrial revolution: 1870 - 1914 (beginning of WWI); age of Henry Ford, mass manufacturing;
  
• third industrial revolution: peri-WWI -- the age of conventional manufacturing and logistics; rise of synthetics and the oil and gas industry; age of Standard Oil (or the age of John D Rockefeller);
  
• fourth industrial revolution: beginning in 1947, information age; the computer age (or the age of Turing);
  
• fifth industrial revolution: rapid technological advancement beginning in the late 1990s -- maybe it began in 1984 with the (in)famous Apple commercial; age of Apple (or the age of Steve Jobs)
  

The question is whether "we" have entered the sixth industrial revolution: Nvidia blades; LDCs; a return to nuclear energy to meet energy needs of the information age. If so:

•  sixth industrial revolution: artificial intelligence enters its stride; the "Nvidia revolution."

It's hard for me to accept that the need for nuclear energy to meet the needs of LDCs does not signify a new industrial revolution.

Note: "the Nvidia revolution" is a metonym for the artificial intelligence advancements that began in the early 2020s.  

For an investor, the big question is whether to invest in LNG (Cheniere) or SRE?

See disclaimer.

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Take A Walk On The Wild Side

One wonders how many Supremes remember this song.

Link here.

An NPR essay following Lou Reed's death back in October, 2013. I remember that evening very, very well. I heard "the" NPR essay on/about that evening driving cross country from North Dakota back to Texas. I was just driving out of Oklahoma City when I heard the essay on the radio. 

An aside: amazing. I actually recorded this note in my journal. I was home in Williston to visit my dad. He died in 2018. 

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Memories 

"Piano Man" / Billy Joel.

Which leads me to Harry Chapin / "Taxi." Link here.

And then I'm into a YouTube loop. 

And lots of memories. Boston. 1970s/1980s.

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Investing

GM should be of some concern.  

A huge day on Wall Street today: Dow breaks through 45,000 for the first time ever. Art Cashin, who famously wore a "Dow 24,000" cap back in 2017, and perhaps one of the finest men on Wall Street, died two days ago. He might have something to say about this/that.

GM was down during regular hours and continued to go down after the market closed. 

The thing that would concern me if I were a GM investor, and I'm not, is the abruptness with which the company ended its relationship / stake in the huge Lansing EV battery factory. GM has/had sunk about $1 billion into the venture, but said it expected to recoup its investment. I assume that was said to "appease" GM's more gullible shareholders. It's chump change.

$1 billion. Sounds like a lot of money. Chump change to the tech CEOs and their companies.  Musk is worth $333.6 billion. That's with a "b." If a company like GM is concerned about $1 billion, there's more to the story. There's a short-term story and a long-term story. 

The last five days have been miserable for GM. And longer term? One could have bought GM for $63.37 / share back on June 4, 2021. Today, GM closed at $53.36. Ouch. 

Ford? Back on June 14, 2022, F was trading for $25.19. Today, F closed at $10.74.

See disclaimer. Just some rambling thoughts. Not making a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold.

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Disclaimer
Brief Reminder 

• I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market.
• I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple. 
• See disclaimer. This is not an investment site. 
• 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 something appears wrong, it probably is. Feel free to fact check everything.
  
• 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. 
• Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market.
• I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple. 
• And now, Nvidia, also. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Nvidia.
• Longer version here.