Sunday, July 17, 2022

US Tax Credits For EVs Run Out For Toyota; Joins Tesla And GM -- July 17, 2022

Link here.


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Presidential Politics

Link here.

July 17, 2022

Chance

One word association

Initial thoughts

Joe Biden

0%

Jill


Donald Trump

0%

Donald


Ron DeSantis

50%



Kamala Harris

0%

Ensalada


Pete Buttigieg

0%

Poster boy


Mike Pence

0%

Delusional


JB Pritzker

0%



Ted Cruz

0%

Crazy

Steve Forbes but dumber

Gretchen Whitmer

0%

Witless


Glenn Youngkin

0%



Gavin Newsom

20%

Televangelical

Nuttier than a fruitcake

Tom Cotton

20%


Could be the dark horse, as they say

Bernie Sanders

0%

Bernie


Rick Scott

0%



Kristi Noem

0%

 Palin

I can see the Bakken from my back door

Tim Scott

0%

Herman II


Chris Christie

0%


Wouldn’t carry his own state

Mike Pompeo

0%

Pompeii 

And we know how that turned out.

Nikki Haley

0%

Comet

May or may not be visible in 2024

Texas Weather -- July 17, 2022

The high in our zip code today will be 105°F. 

But tomorrow, the temperature is expected to hit 109°F.

  • Record high in Texas: 120°F on June 28, 1994.
  • we've been here before, see below; 
  • record DFW high:
  • 113° -- June 27, 1980 -- well before "the era" of global warming
  • 113° -- June 26, 1980

Okay, so that's the record high in Texas. 

North Dakota has a higher high record than Texas. LOL!

Wiki entry. 

In order, record highs:

  • California (Death Valley): 134°
  • Arizona: 128°
  • Nevada: 125°
  • New Mexico: 122°
  • Kansas: 121°
  • North Dakota (Steele -- July 6, 1936): 121°
  • Williston's record high: 108° -- July 27, 1988
  • Arkansas: 120°
  • Oklahoma: 120°
  • South Dakota: 120°
  • Texas: 120°
  • Washington: 120°
  • Oregon: 119°

At same link, record lows:

  • Alaska: -80°;
  • Montana: -70°; mountain state
  • Utah: -69°; mountain state
  • Wyoming: -63°; mountain state
  • Colorado: -61°; mountain state
  • Idaho: -60°; mountain state
  • Minnesota: -60°;
  • North Dakota: -60°; Parshall, ND, also in 1936 -- February 15, 1936
  • South Dakota

Investing -- Rambling -- July 17, 2022

To "close the loop" on this, the other day I mentioned my percent allocations for investing:

  • 50% -- Buffett-like, blue chip companies
  • 30% -- technology
  • 20% -- energy (oil and gas)

A reader suggested:

Berkshire Hathaway top 5 holdings. Here’s your 50%.

  • AAPL
  • Bank of America
  • American Express
  • Chevron
  • Coca Cola

Comments:

  • knowledge of Berkshire Hathaway's top five holdings are helpful but not as helpful as Buffett's current interests
  • there is actually another one to add to that list of five: BRK-B itself; Buffett does a lot of buybacks
  • I'm already over-weighted in AAPL. I believe it's my biggest holding by far. I never thought I would be able to buy more but with the market being the way it is, I was able to add to my AAPL holdings.
  • AAPL has moved from second bucket ("tech") to my first bucket ("value")
  • I have had one bank for decades, but not Bank of America. I don't like banks, and won't add any.
  • American Express and Coca Cola are "legacy" positions for Warren Buffett; they don't work for most investors today as a new position
  • Chevron: I've held decades; I've told the story many, many times how I "lucked" into this -- one of my largest holdings, and like AAPL, I had an opportunity to buy more these past few months, although I did not (add to my CVX holdings); and, if I had, it would have been in the third bucket, the "energy bucket."
  • I may re-name my third bucket ("energy"): "Permian."
  • I had planned to completely end all energy allocation starting in 2021, but the opportunities were too great, so I kept the allocation at 20%

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Silver Coins

One does not buy silver coins as an investment. If so, one of the worst investments possible. 

I buy them for the "fun of it" to pass on to my grandchildren.

I did not buy any silver coins last year due to outrageous prices.

I went to first coin show in over a year yesterday: the Grapevine, TX, coin show. I assume it's one of the largest in the state and thus, also one of the largest in the US. Even so, it's not all that large.

"Impossible" to find 2021 US silver eagles. 

Will have to order them on-line. Huge price differences in these 2021 US silver eagles. A lot of folks probably paid $45 for "BU" 2021 US silver eagles last year and coins this year are being sold for $35. On-line it looks like some sellers are trying to hold their losses on the 2021 coins while others are simply selling at a loss for some reason. 

WASHINGTON – The United States Mint (Mint) 2022 American Eagle One Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin produced at the West Point Mint will be released on June 1 at noon EDT. Due to overwhelming demand, all inventory for this coin is reserved for enrollments. May 27, 2022
 
The 2022 US silver eagles are advertised as Type 1 and Type 2. Type 2 will become the "standard."
 
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.

With regard to coins: I am a rank amateur and don't understand silver eagles at all. I buy them because they look pretty. 
 
Because I couldn't find the silver eagles for which I was looking, I bought:
  • Koalas: 2022
  • Kookaburra: 2022
  • Pandas: 2022

I  have Pandas going back to 2010. I was unable to find any 2021 Pandas. Something tells me this is going to be very costly to complete this collection.

Sunday Morning -- July 17, 2022

Answer to "pop quiz" from yesterday:

  • Quick: name the top story that did not come out of the Biden meeting with Saudi Arabia.
  • Answer: no early comment on any new arms sales

The Fed's balance sheet, Jay Powell -- some mansplaining?

Oh-oh:

Go woke, go broke: Starbucks looking to offload its UK operations? Link here. 

Terrible maps, link here, just in time for those vacationing in national parks this summer:


The Open -- Final Round -- July 17, 2022

Wow, wow, wow. Cam Smith has an incredible fourth round. Sets all-time record for lowest round. Rory needs to hole out with a wedge shot to take it to a playoff. Another huge disappointment for Rory. Another tournament that got away from Rory. Cam Smith, Australia, wins.

Dustin Johnson: first hole at 8:30 a.m. CT. Will start with a par; remains at ten under; six off the lead.

Bryson: NBC actually showed Bryson DeChambeau. That was at 7:34 a.m CT, Sunday morning.

Previous posts on this year's Open: