What I'm Watching - Elon Musk + Twitter Acquisition

 Many that know me will attest that I'm a matter-of-fact person who is stubborn when I feel like I've done my research and feel confident about a point that I'm making. When I'm making a point, I try to come up with my thesis first and then I look for evidence supporting or denying my position. I guess this would be similar to a poker player attempting to determine what hand their opponent has prior to making a betting decision. While human nature lends me (and us all) to usually sticking to our point of view, I tend to seek out articles, videos, and also feedback from my inner circle and my Mansa Musa network to pressure test my point of view. Like traveling through a car wash, pressure testing my thoughts involves me finding viewpoints that may differ from mine and cleaning up my thesis.

Thesis on Twitter

Twitter has been one of those few "investments" you've seen me write about recently. There is nothing magical about my trade except for the fact that I believe Twitter was a valuable position once Elon declared he was interested in purchasing the company. I gained more confidence as I learned about the terms of the investment and how the requests for data were provided to Elon. 

So, let's fast forward to last week as I finally got the news I had originally expected. Last week, Elon Musk's lawyers reached out to Twitter requesting the trail be put on hold and that his investment in the company would proceed as previously communicated. In basic terms, Elon either saw or was advised that the outcome may not be leaning in his favor. I'll keep an eye on Twitter and Elon news as I look forward to Elon finalizing the acquisition. 

Full Disclosure: I own Twitter in both my personal and retirement account portfolios and picked up this position AFTER Elon discussed his interest in purchasing the company. I've traded TWTR before and those positions were small but profitable (but I'll do some research to confirm how profitable). This is a simple arbitrage play. Elon says he was going to purchase the company, so I built a small position banking on closure of this deal. 

#arbitrage #Urbanomics #Twitter #ElonMusk

When to Buy Stocks -- Demand Value | Don't Follow the Crowd

Investing In Yourself – Using Pillars to Build Your Core	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2015/04/urbanomics-pillars-path-set-for.html
Setting Budgets + Saving for Black Swans	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/personal-finance-budget-101-free-credit.html
	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2019/11/hey-henry-high-earner-not-yet-rich.html
How to Open My First Brokerage Account	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2015/04/personal-finance-101-starting.html
Diversify your Life (Mind, Body, Soul, + Investments) HOW TO SEARCH MY BLOG:	Get Updates to Your Email When I Create A New Post:

Coming soon is a post on Health -- The Body. You have to invest and know the data about your body. Like many people of color, I get nervous about hospitals and doctors. Thanks to my corporate job, I was exposed to annual exams and blood tests. Unfortunately, when I made the shift to being an entrepreneur I didn't keep up with my annual exams. And it may be costing me...stay tuned for a future post on Health and how that impacts your Wealth. 

Also Coming Soon - a series on #HowtoInvest. People have been reaching especially after the spikes in Gamestop, AMC, and other stock to learn the basics. I self taught myself how to invest beginning at the age of roughly 18 and have never stopped. To be a good investor and ensure you are not gambling (speculating), I'll cover (hardest parts of investing in RED):

Budgeting 101 - How to Fund Ur Investments?

Why Stocks as an Investment?

What is Ur Investment Profile + Personality?

How to Pick Stocks?

When to Buy Stocks?

How to Enter My Trade?

How Many Stocks Should I Own?

When to Sell Stocks?

Am I Speculating (Gambling)?

When to Buy A Stock

Enough talking -- pictures and videos are worth a thousand words, so I plan to move into the digital age here soon. I'm an old soul in a millennial body with a 9-5 job and a side hustle empowering underrepresented groups to find employment in the technology field (and it's cash flowing almost better than my 9-5 job!). Oh by the way, I own real estate (with tenants) and trying to grow that portfolio. So be patient as I plan to do a video series that will help you invest in yourself and #getthebag. My best asset class is my stock portfolio and yes, it allowed me to semi-retire at 37. I've documented how I've done it here on my blog (mistakes and all) for the last 15+ years. Don't believe people that say it's easy --- Trust But Verify. If they are NOT teaching you how to do it yourself --- Then You Are The Product. #facts

Leading up to my video series, which you've been asking for, here is an example of how I hunt for stocks. Sometimes I rely on my network of friends in my #MansaMusa network. They've helped me build my mini empire and I appreciate all of them as they've support me in different ways. When I got started I had a few #whentobuy rules. Last week, I shared Rule #2 - Follow Da Leader | Whale Watch | Griot Rule. Warren Buffett was great to read about, learn from, and occasionally follow but he is one smart brotha...he often requests and usually get approved the right to withhold some of his biggest trades. Why? So he can slowly build a large position and limit Griot watchers like me from following him. There are federal rules which require Warren to disclose his trades and he doesn't want his stock investments to skyrocket right away (from copycats) before he's built his large stake. I may not be a Griot yet, but like my father I'm a like to preach and teach. So I can't give everything away...I know my worth but I USUALLY try to make investments that align with my goals, risk tolerance, and personality. Two hints at what I mean and then I get to a few stocks on my subscriber list and one reveal.

Wanting Value:

  Hint 1: For years, I've written about the fact that I won't by a candy bar if I can't get it for 50c. For the longest time, that's what a Reese's or Snickers cost growing up. Yes, I believe in inflation but if you don't sell it to me for 50c or a Kings size bar for $1.00...you're not getting my money. Life is full of transactions and negotiations...I choose when I want to participate. 

A Difference of Opinion:

Hint 2: I personally like to go against the grain and as many have said...I like to walk my own path and don't follow the crowd too often. So if I see a stock getting dissed (Ex: Search for my Tesla or Lululemon trades and read my Elon Musk / Kanye West posts from years before), I tend to want to know more about the situation than just go with the crowd. Group think is very dangerous and is a primary reason why racism and oppression is what it is. Human nature is to seek the protection and worthiness from a group or gang...but it can lead to perverse outcomes - like when gangs have no rules and kids get killed, or when people with authority protect the bad apples in their group, or when people claim to have faith in something higher but the angry mob can lynch (skin color) or rape (young woman) because society or the current cultural climate doesn't communicate to them what they are doing is wrong. And then I hear the narrative, don't try and cancel those things people did back because it was a different time. I have one one --- Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You. I don't think in life you can ever "overlook" lynching, hate, rape, bullying ...because everyone was doing it. So When I invest...if most are doing it...I run the other way. Need one last example, we all celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and his approach to non-violence today. But in the 1960s, the FBI had him high on the list of public enemy #1s. How do you square that away...in my book non-violence teaching does not = terrorist (or communist for that matter) but they spent years watching and taping his every moves. So I take the same approach to stocks, if everyone jumps off the bandwagon I BUY:

- Elon Musk is an idiot for $420 tweet -- nice try, I invest in a genius and Tesla

- Kanye West is mentally crazy -- He's not the president, my mentor, impactful to my daily life...but IMO he seems to be savvy at music and business...oh by the way he's now worth over 5-6 Billion after a well executed clothing partnership with Gap. I don't have to agree with him to know he's going to appreciate in value: 

URBANOMICS: TESLA - MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED INVESTMENT

- Lulemon is finished after the then idiot CEO made harsh comments about plus-sized women and leggings -- He's a bum get rid of him and people still will buy ridiculously price leggings, yoga pants and clearly Yeezy's. 

URBANOMICS: Value Investing - Look4Leaders / FollowUrGut

#GettheBag - Premium Subscriber Alerts

Here are a few stocks from this Quarter's Subscriber List Premium Alerts:

• I***** - Beaten down technology company, that may get back up after being knocked back down
• M**** - With everyone jumping on the hot new thing...the old reliable has been thrown away. It may to soon to ask an old star to retire when the team isn't ready for a transition
• A**** - This company stumbled and decided not to IPO. But the SPAC route seemed like an ideal fit. No one's paying attention but the re-opening trade could have us running around like Mad Men
• F**** - Good ole fashion insurance was left out in the cold, but whoa interest rates are rising and everyone is jumping on banks, insurance and other interest rate sensitive stocks. 

Reveal - ViacomCBS (VIAC)

• V**** - Television and Advertising has been left for dead as streaming is the future. A quote taken from Barron's: "An analyst wrote that the recent run-up “doesn’t fully discount risks” from pressure on V****’s own legacy cable-network business, nor the risks to content-licensing revenue from the crumbling of conventional cable channels."

Haters gonna hate. Our Reveal is we own ViacomCBS (VIAC), recently the best performing stock in the S&P 500. Stay tuned for a "Details" writeup...but wondering when did I blog about ViacomCBS, Sept 2020:

URBANOMICS: How Being Risk Focused Allows Me to Play Defense + Offense

If you want to follow the crowd, by all means go ahead. However, I'd rather walk my own path. Reach out if you want to subscribe and monitor the trades I'm making in my portfolio. 

Also, guess the stock and I'll reveal if you're right.

TESLA - MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED INVESTMENT

TESLA #2 IN 2019

Kanye West's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" was named the album of the decade. And being a hip hop head I struggled with this designation until I recently revisited the album. Why did I hesitate to recognize the greatness of this album?  Well considering Mainstream Media gave this designation without consulting me...I did consider the source at some point they missed the target (Kendrick Lamar gets a strong nod for the crown). I think it is because of how polarizing Kanye West has become. It's hard to discuss him without someone having a strong opinion so I've drifted away from his music.  

How does this tie into my blog, investments, and my 2nd best performing stock of 2019 (Note: Symantec's last minute run pushed Tesla out of the #1 spot). Simple, Elon Musk and Tesla remind me of Kanye West.  Elon is one of the most polarizing people on the planet and his technology for a gas guzzling American culture is NOT far behind. I drive a plug-hybrid SUV (600+ miles per fill up) and I think my Midwestern state is purposefully taxing me extra for putting a fuel efficient car on the road through an electric vehicle tax I paid to register the car. Like Kanye, if you get caught up in Elon's antics you forget the greatness of his mind.

This year in March, I witnessed a polarizing discussion around Elon Musk tweeting about Tesla. I had not followed the stock much because it usually trades in a nose-bleed range of $300 to $400 dollars for one share of stock.  The SEC and Musk were going back and forth in the news about how his tweets could impact the stock and Musk was not shy is his feelings about the SEC.  

March 19 2019 - I believe the SEC held Elon in contempt for not having the company pre-approve tweets that could materially move the stock. I know it sounds childish, like Kanye taking the mic from Taylor swift, but this was somewhat serious and putting pressure on the stock. I decided to stake a claim on the side of genius because at the end of the day the electrification of cars is pure genius and actually is a business that can make help improve our planet.

April 2019 - Around the end of April, I have 25th in my notes Tesla was having an annual shareholder's meeting. I had my if it wasn't broke don't fix it moment and invested again. Elon discussed that the issue plaguing Tesla isn't a demand issue (the Media and Analysts were saying demand was waning for Tesla's). In fact, he said noted that orders and sales for the Model S, X, and 3 were ahead of production...which likely means there is a backlog developing (good for business) and an opportunity for them to produce and deliver a new record amount of cars. Kind of like how people keep by Yeezy's I guess.

July 2019 - Around the 11th, Tesla had to report earnings again  I dipped my toe into Tesla waters again as the picture being painted was they were figuring it out. Elon was sleeping on the production floor this year, burnt out but hell bent on figuring out how to produce more cars each week. I remember when they could barely produce 5,000 cars in a week. Earnings was a mixed picture which was in-line with my thesis: I just don't need Tesla to crater.

October 2019 - Yes, I traded Tesla yet again. They have stayed focus and were rewarded with an earnings record. They jumped by the largest amount in 6 years on increased production and better margins. What had analysts been knocking them on...margins. Like Kanye, I don't always agree with many of the things he does but one can argue the music and his drive for fashion is genius.  Tesla I believe is a game-changer as an investment, its good for our planet, and the pressure it's putting on the auto industry. There are a few people not afraid to compliment the strangeness of this company like my buddy Ron Baron and a lady that I occasionally hear on CNBC. When I remember her name I will add it here.  With the #2 spot, thanks Elon, the SEC, and the pioneers who plop down a deposit on one of the models. 

Let's Have a Toast to the...

Hope you enjoy My Beautiful Dark Twisted Investing Mind!