Locator: 48648ARCHIVES.
Not ready for prime time.
First:
- Nifty Fifty.
- Peter Lynch.
- Sixth industrial revolution.
And then there's this: I think a lot of investors are really, really afraid of getting rich.
Nifty fifty: I was way too young; completely missed this.
Peter Lynch: I was just beginning to invest.
I wish I had paid more attention to investing at that time but was way too busy with other things in life. Had I had a good mentor, things might have been much different. My dad was my best financial / investing mentor but I failed to use all he taught me. The biggest thing he taught me was to take a bit of risk. He was not the type of person to invest in mutual funds. Mutual funds were not my biggest investment mistake -- there really wasn't anything else for someone like me at the time -- but they got me started. I vividly remember the evening I understood the difference between "load" and "no-load" funds. Thank goodness for that one evening.
SIR: mainstream media considers this the fourth industrial revolution. Whatever.
There has never been an investment environment like the one we're seeing now. I don't like investment clubs, but one has to wonder if a twelve-member investment group made of three four-person groups wouldn't be an interesting concept:
- a younger group: age 18 - 24
- a middle aged group: 36 - 45
- the over-the-hill gang: > 65
The actual age doesn't really matter. Perhaps a better division:
- a tech-savvy group with little-to-no free cash flow for investing, but eager to get involved; let's call them the Robin Hood group;
- a group of those who have had about ten years of investment experience and eager to learn; and, finally, let's call them the Schwab group;
- a group of those who are near the end of their active investment years, but eager to share resources (time and money) and their investment experiences with the first group; the middle group would be along for the ride. Let's call the third group the Warren Buffett group.
Rambling. Waking up on a Saturday morning with an empty schedule.
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Tip
Two computer screens.
One screen for all the stuff for which you've always used your computer.
The second screen with one prompt: ChatGPT or Grok.
For research: ChatGPT is where you start; Google search is where you fact-check; and YouTube is ancillary, depending on the case.
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YouTube
I'm having trouble coming up with a better all-around term for YouTube other than "social-media video-sharing outlet." I don't know a "term" to describe YouTube but it's truly amazing. And it has really stepped up its game.
TILT: having heard some really, really great music from the Kinks over the years, I never understood why the Kinks didn't do much, much better in the states.
Now I know: the Kinks were banned from touring in the states from 1966 through 1969. Wow, the peak years of the British invasion, the peak years of the Beatles. Touring in the states was critical for these groups to grow. I assume everyone knew this -- about the Kinks being banned in the US -- I did not. Those were exactly my coming of age years, phase 1.
Which brings up something about which I had not previously thought. I used to lump my coming of age years in one long span, maybe 1969 - 1980.
But now, it's the fog is beginning to clear. At least three phases.
Phase 1 -- 1966 - 1969: exactly overlaps my years in high school.
Phase 2 -- Then 1969 - 1973: exactly overlaps my years in college.
Phase 3 -- 1973 - 1977: post grad.
And that was it. I guess I would not include the years 1977 -1980.
I missed the British invasion, too young; music was not "a thing" for me in high school. Way too young, too naive, focused on other stuff.
I did not miss the 1969 - 1973 period -- but just didn't realize at the time what was happening -- this was the transitional period in American music -- from the 60s to the early 70's (and for the most part, I either did not care for the 70s music, or I simply don't recall) -- CCR was the only band, for me, worth mentioning from this period.
I really, really missed the 1973 - 1977 era -- the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac -- I was way too busy with school. Except. One exception. And this may be the biggest fork in my music experience: Willy Nelson released "Red Headed Stranger," May 1, 1975. I don't think I had even heard of Willie Nelson prior to that. I don't know. After May 1, 1975, for me everything changed. Wow.
I got married in 1977, started my USAF career, and my coming-of-age years were over.
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YouTube
From wiki.
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, three former employees of PayPal.
Headquartered in San Bruno, California, it is the second-most-visited website in the world, after Google Search. In January 2024, YouTube had more than 2.7 billion monthly active users, who collectively watched more than one billion hours of videos every day. As of May 2019, videos were being uploaded to the platform at a rate of more than 500 hours of content per minute, and as of mid-2024, there were approximately 14.8 billion videos in total.
On November 13, 2006, YouTube was purchased by Google for $1.65 billion (equivalent to $2.39 billion in 2024). Google expanded YouTube's business model of generating revenue from advertisements alone, to offering paid content such as movies and exclusive content produced by and for YouTube.
It also offers YouTube Premium, a paid subscription option for watching content without ads. YouTube incorporated Google's AdSense program, generating more revenue for both YouTube and approved content creators. In 2023, YouTube's advertising revenue totaled $31.7 billion, a 2% increase from the $31.1 billion reported in 2022. From Q4 2023 to Q3 2024, YouTube's combined revenue from advertising and subscriptions exceeded $50 billion.
Since its purchase by Google, YouTube has expanded beyond the core website into mobile apps, network television, and the ability to link with other platforms. Video categories on YouTube include music videos, video clips, news, short and feature films, songs, documentaries, movie trailers, teasers, TV spots, live streams, vlogs, and more. Most content is generated by individuals, including collaborations between "YouTubers" and corporate sponsors. Established media, news, and entertainment corporations have also created and expanded their visibility to YouTube channels to reach greater audiences.
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Axions
Suggestion for ChatGPT: axions.
