How to Find Value? -- Start with Stocks Down Quarter 1 2024

   

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
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How to Find Value? -- Start with Stocks Down Quarter 1 2024

Sometimes I like to find value in stocks that are a bit down and out. They all have their own stories for why their stock prices are down. It can be a good starting point, if you like to do a bit of research to see if there is some value there. Take a look at this list and tell me, are you a buyer?

Here is a quick list of stocks down in Q1 2024:

Stock Name	Ticker	Quarter to Date % Decline
TESLA	TSLA	-28%
BOEING	BA	-26%
MARKETAXESS	MKTX	-25%
CHARTER COMM	CHTR	-24%
NIKE	NKE	-13%
INTEL	INTL	-13%
APPLE	AAPL	-10%

Invest in Your Health Pt. 1 | Prism - Esusu | Prism - Nas, KD and Coinbase

  

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:

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)?

Investing in Your Health

I miscalculated and dropped the ball on one of my most important pillars, the "Health" pillar. First is accountability, so I ultimately blame myself. I'll be honest, my calculation was I'm young...I can rip and run the mean streets of Corporate America and gracefully exit the rat race around the age of 35. I tell people in life there are always trade-offs and opportunity costs and I gambled that a former 3 sport H.S. athlete, gym rat, college recreation gym user, and even early adult life YMCA member would be able to stave off my "Corporate 15". That's my take on the Freshman 15 you gain in college. I travelled as a consultant for many years and our typical lifestyle was eating out daily and back to the hotel. Back then not every hotel had a gym and to make matters worse, we worked hard. I often traded relaxing, meditating, exercising for working, drinking, and eating out with coworkers. When I came home, I lived in a fancy apartment complex that had an indoor basketball court/gym, well populated exercise room, and an indoor movie theater. But I was rarely home. As a consultant I once got the designation of being a road warrior --- on the road for over a 100 days within the year. 

Then came life in the office. Being a person a color, I adopted the model of getting into the office early and staying late. I was even chastised by fellow co-workers for delaying my participation in their weekly basketball games...I didn't want the boss to think I was a slacker. So I rarely left early but I participated to manage the image of me not wanting to be a team player. My solution I joined the weekly game but came into work early so I could leave on-time to make the games even though my peers rarely changed their schedules. Back then I lived by the office, which instead of being located in the great city of Chicago was out a good ways in the suburbs. Closer to some of the swankiest and highest priced zip codes in the Chicagoland area. This was another of those secrets we deal with in Corporate America. Many office parks are near where the well heeled live and rarely reside in the our city centers and hardly ever near communities of color. To put it in perspective, we had a good swatch of our workers who commuted from Wisconsin...yep you heard me right. But head down, work hard, I'm a team player and long trips to the city on the weekends to live it up or as my pals in the United Kingdom say to get some culture. My apartment had a room  sparsely populated with a machine or two and I wasn't much of an outside walker or runner. To hit my financial goals, I made a trade-off and didn't join the big gym clubs popular in the suburbs a little over a decade ago. I used the tiny workout room in my budget apartment and drove everywhere I went...classic suburban living.  But stop, who's to blame...ME. I am big on accountability and this is a good example of trade-offs and I needed more balance. Notice one thing that I didn't deploy in my toolkit that should have been...a "MINIMUM BASELINE". In cybersecurity we use this minimum baseline to set a security standard for all of the information systems under our control and by not consistently working out and getting annual physicals --- I didn't know my own baseline. 

More to come on Investing in Your Health in Pt 2. 

How to Buy Stocks

So knowing when to sell stocks OR anything in life is arguably the hardest thing to do. When should you sell your house, stocks, car?? The second hardest question to answer is how should I find stocks to buy. So let me take you back in the day, I used learned the following things when I first got started: 

1) I read everything I could about Warren Buffett and realize to invest you need to know your investing personality. More to come on this but I often find your real life personality mirrors your investing.

High Risk/Reward personalities might like the flash of buying stocks like Ferrari (RACE), Tesla (TSLA), Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH), or trading high flyers, day trading, and high risk high reward penny stocks.

Techy personalities may migrate to FAANG stocks. Facebook (FB), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX), and Alphabet (GOOG) - parent company of Google...the G in FAANG.

Corporate personalities may like Ford (F), Goldman Sachs (GS), Procter & Gamble (PG), Microsoft (MS), Caterpillar (CAT) --- companies many of my peers wanted to work for when coming out school.

Cost Conscious personalities may migrate to companies meet analytical thresholds. We call that value investing. Sometimes the names are boring but they are steady and pay a dividend (which is the equivalent of getting a stimulus check every quarter): General Electric (GE), Real Estate Companies, Oil Companies, and Utilities like electric, cable, phone, and retail companies.

Loner personalities may gravitate to companies that don't get a lot of hype, quirky, are getting bullied, etc. What comes to mind here are clothing company Skechers (SKX), weed company Tilray, and Collectors Universe (CLCT) a collectibles company that grades things like baseball cards.  Then there a bullied companies (often for good reason) which fall out of favor on Wall Street for messing up: 

Tesla - because Elon Musk was being targeted for his tweeting and 420 comments, 

Lululemon - when their stock got beat up because their CEO appeared to mock curvy women

Gamestop - attacked by short sellers

I believe most people will gravitate to one or two categories. Take me for example, I resonated with Warren Buffett and have read tons of books and articles about the man. He comes across as a cost conscious value oriented guy and that defined me -- simple, no frills, no gimmicks, give me value type of style. But I also am a contrarian and tend to go against the crowd. So when I'm not looking for value stocks, I often look for reasons why the carbon industry was so against Tesla, redemption in Lululemon (after getting rid of their CEO), Gamestop providing a need for many communities that may not always have internet to download games, Disney and other retail companies getting beat down during COVID-19 lockdowns. I like the quintessential story of the getting knocked down and getting back up. That story of opportunity was my family's story. My father and mother, hard working immigrants, came to America worked some of the least flashy jobs but got it done. My father mocked for his West African accent and Ph.D degree and being told you're overqualified. I often look to where cancel culture strikes in the stock market and I bet that if at first you don't succeed, dust yourself off and try again. 

Prism - A look at African + African American Investing

1) Esusu - A company with African co-founders makes me proud: 

Why I'm Watching: 

I like to challenge myself. When I cut the cord, I lost the ability to watch CNBC. So I challenged myself to simply listen to the broadcast on Tune-In Radio. When I heard them announce a company called Esusu, my head turned. I had heard this termed used so many times in my African community. It means to pool money together and usually each week or so the group shares the pool money with one member. So it creates the lottery feeling of getting a big payment once every "x" month once it's finally your turn to receive the payout. Well I listened to Abbey Wemimo, co-founder of Esusu, talk about how he helped to start the firm. I even reached out on LinkedIn looking to connect and as an accredited investor I hope to invest and fund companies like his in the future.

2) The Coinbase Remix - How African-American Rappers and Athletes are Diversifying 

Why I'm Reading: 

For those of us that follow the markets, we were BLOWN away by the opening day value of Coinbase a digital exchange where you can buy, sell, and securely store cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. They became a public company recently and for us regular folk that is similar to baby being born. They were a private company and once they became public the baby popped out and but this baby was valued @ roughly $100 Billion dollars. So I know that many investors were dancing because they cashed in big time. Some of those investors I was proud to say were African-Americans like rapper Nas (Nasir Jones) who you all know I have in my Top 5 rappers of all time and National Basketball player Kevin Durant. Nas reported earned a $100 Million payout from this investment word on the street is KD cleaned up big time as well. I am happy to see these entertainers diversifying their investments...you will not rap and play ball forever. Very proud of these young brothers.

Nas and Kevin Durant Invest in Coinbase

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.

Is the Stock Market "Weak"? or should you be "Right Here" (SWV Mix)

I get so weak in the knees I can hardly speak.

I lose all control and something takes over me.

In a daze and it's so amazing, it's not a phase.

I want you to stay with me, by my side.

I swallow my pride, your love is so sweet.

It knocks me right off of my feet.

I can't explain why your loving makes me weak.

    ~ Artist: SWV     Song: "Weak " 

I was jamming to some classics and decided I needed the help of SWV to describe how I and many others feel about the economy, stocks, and life right now. Yes, only the classic hits of SWV and that soulful rhythm and blues (R+B) sound of the 90s can really assist in what this market is doing and how it's making people feel. I won't spend much time on the backdrop but if you need a reminder I tried to signal what was to come back in March. Remember it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the impacts of COVID-19 were going to be devastating. These simple facts were in front of us at the time:

- China and the Asia Pacific region had been shut down since early January and even Chinese New Year was canceled (something reported on each day from Beijing by Eunice Yoon and others)

- The market prior to COVID-19 was already near record levels. We hit those levels in my opinion around 2017 when I changed my investment style to ensure I wasn't holding stocks too long (which is contrary to what I believe in). While the market IMO wasn't overvalued, we were in the longest bull market ever recorded (if history serves me correct). Since then, the market continued to melt-up and made us weak in the knees that we could hardly speak. Truss 2019 was a great year, remember: Tesla, Okta, Sprint, Symantec Norton Lifelock, Audentes, Celgene. How good, I got rid of Tesla and Okta way to early. At the time, I was riding great gains, however; they continued to skyrocket further. I feel weak. To put things further into perspective Tesla and Okta aside...the remaining companies I named above ALL got bought out easily making 2019 one of my best years on record investment wise (and the worst personally as I lost my father).

- Finally, I was concerned about the US response to COVID-19. If you flip back to my March posts, I highlighted scenarios that are now playing out when there isn't much of a plan and poor tone at the top leadership --- I said you will get to a situation where US states would start to draw lines in the sand and say citizens from other states cannot cross state lines without strict conditions. Recently, the state of New York told people from 31 states you must quarantine for 14 days (IMO a statement basically saying don't bother coming). I was concerned about the US Lil Nas X culture of "Can't Nobody Tell Me Nothing" to an airborne respiratory disease... who knew that would seriously lead to daily fights about whether masks should be mandated.

So if the market is so SWV "Weak", why is the Nasdaq hitting highs everyday and my portfolio and your retirement plan feeling so good. Well that's where SWV "Right Here" comes in. The Federal Reserve and even Congress has been right here with STIMULUS. I don't have a running total but over $7 Trillion with a T has been pumped into the economy after it began tanking in March.  

Lately, there seems to be

Some insecurities

About the way I feel

Where I wanna be

Boy, you know it's with you

No one can do

The things you do to me

                                                                    ~ Artist: SWV     Song: "Right Here" 

haha The Federal Reserve came out swinging boy. Go back and look at the March lows and damn there were some insecurity about the way we felt. The things you do to us...well here is a list:

- Unemployment + $600

- Federal Moratorium on Foreclosures

- Stimulus Check

- Loans to Small Businesses (PPP)

- Economic Disaster Loans

- Purchasing Company Bonds

- $25 Billion Dollar Bailout to the Airlines

Was this response unexpected. Hell No, just look back to the Federal Reserve did back in the 2008 Financial Crisis. I wrote about it here and it even got its own name: the Tepper rally, for my dawg Billionaire David Tepper who laid out the investment thesis --- You DO NOT fight the Federal Reserve when they come in the big guns...they can print money longer than you can stay liquid (if you were betting the market would fall). And that's exactly what happened...they came in with helicopter money, making it rain.  Don't knock my hustle, read here how a strategy from a decade ago prepared us for what to expect:  Tepper - Don't Fight The Fed Reminder

I hope this wasn't complicated but I think you now get how to position yourself going into the end of year and 2021. As my friend said it best after reading my posts, the Federal Reserve and others won't let the machine fail (and this is capitalism👌).  Fast forward to today, the extra $600 unemployment boost IS NOT being renewed. A second stimulus check is coming but smaller and I believe going out to less people. The Federal Moratorium on foreclosures has been extended but what are you going to do if you are a renter...sign up for paying 1 year of back rent once you finally get a job?? This new stimulus package comes in at roughly $1Trillion which will put the government easily over $8 Trillion in newly printed debt...AND after this round I don't feel there is any appetite for more. With 2 new states recently surpassing New York in COVID cases (California, Florida) and states like Texas and Georgia never really shutting down and cases rising...I'm positioning myself for when the Federal Reserve stops pumping the economy full of steroids (whips I mean stimulus).  Delta and American have announced 25K + layoffs after their stimulus ends October 1st and I'm afraid many announcements like this will be coming if we cannot get the cases under control (basically a vaccine). I'll continue to ride the wave and not fight the Federal Reserve but I'll be sleeping with one eye open. Most of my retirement funds are in cash and I'm riding the wave from my personal investment account where I willing to take the risk. Don't get greedy.

My Free Trade Reveal: The stocks that haven't performed well in my portfolio. Notice the theme RETAIL:

COTY - Purchased @ $10  

AMC - Purchased @ $11

Foot Locker - Purchased @ $59

Kohls - Purchased @ 57

Tapestry (formerly Coach) - Purchased @ $30

Red Robin - Purchased @ $20

I was up at one time in all these positions except I believe Foot Locker and Kohls and decided to be aggressive. Lesson(s): manage risk, don't get greedy, and don't believe the hype. Restaurants and Retail are not doing well, bankruptcies are rising and I am working to get out of these positions.  Peace Out

2019 Year In Review - Mask On...Mask Off

Thank you Future - Mask On...Mask Off. Represent...I Gotta Represent

Mask Off - I am currently closing the books for 2019 and reflecting on a year of ups and downs.  Personally, I was rocked to my core this year as I lost my father. It was a deafening experience because he was an amazing father, husband, educator, community and spiritual leader. When it happened, many of us were stunned, discombobulated and grasping for balance.  

I use the word numb because I arguably experienced my best personal year I have ever had…and didn’t care.  I was very fortunate from a very early age my father taught me how to be strong, independent, and prepared to lead the family when that time came. So that is what I – what we all have tried to do, with him in mind.  Finally, this year marked my second daughter and 3 nephews being introduced to the world and my family and they are a big source of joy as we recover from our loss. 

Mask On - I get my strength from my family and push on to make a difference in this short life we are given.  I keep my eye on the prize and financial independence, being spiritually guided, and mentally woke is a powerful combination that NOBODY can touch.  So mask on and back to the lecture at hand: I ran the numbers and I turned in a pretty solid year. At roughly 23%, my personal portfolio that I manage did fairly well and IMO I didn't take on a ton of risk as I targeted value stocks.  Some are discarded gems, others I did detailed research and just saw a different story and narrative than many others.  I kind of like going against the grain...following the herd is NOT in my DNA ask Kendrick Lamar. .

Remember you all can do this. Need proof, the broader market turned in a similar performance and an event better performance was found in a technology based strategy like simply buying the NASDAQ index this year (to the tune of roughly 35% this year). I've got big goals this upcoming year and I will introduce them later but here are the remainder of the best picks I uncovered for 2019:

• Symantec / NortonLifeLock (SYMC)- Value Play; Part of the Business was bought out gave us a nice pop 
• Telsa (TLSA) - Value Play Doubled in 2019 
• Sprint (S) - Played options very well (now letting the profits ride on T-Mobile deal approval will be biggest gain if hits)
• Okta (Okta) - Cybersecurity trade that I sold too early but you live and learn
• Allergan (AGN) - A beaten down value play that finally payed off; This company make BOTOX and will be bought out by Abbvie
• Arconic (ARNC) - Pickup up some shares about the $19-21 range; value play that was dogged by litigation from a high-rise fire in London; Sold to early but it's all good
• Humana (HUM) - This stock ran up after a few big issues failed to damper healthcare stocks: 1) the Trump administration came down lightly on fines for not disclosing their negotiated rates ( a supposed game changer to bring down drug prices) and 2) Elizabeth Warren scaling back her Medicare for all plans
• Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (RRGB) - Pleasant Surprise; Stumbled on to an under performing value stock that is under pressure to change CEOs and deliver better results
• Cronos (CRON) - Surprised to see this one was so profitable; traded the Marijuana stock a few times. I have big hopes and so does the alcoholic beverage industry as they took a major stake in this company. One of the few companies I still hold a stake in
• CrowdStrike (CRWD) - Cybersecurity IPO stock that focuses on protecting your devices; They got absolutely crushed after a bag earnings and I was nimble and played this stock very well. I will be back in CrowdStrike this year
• JD. COM (JD) - My patience was rewarded; I calculated that America and China need each other. Trump removing the China tariffs caused this stock to take off from the mid 20s and now its in the mid 30s. This is a core holding for the future 

I want to wish you a very Happy New Years. Many blessings to you all and don't be afraid to dream but do it rationally, help others, take prudent risk, and take care of those who are good to you.

Here is my gift to you the rest of the best:

• VIX Index - I traded in and out of the VIXY; I'm waiting for volatility to return in 2020
• Zscaler - Plagued by earning's misses; I traded ZS in 2019 and expect to be more active in ZS and the Cyber stocks in 2020 as expectations and acquisitions are ripe for the picking
• Kohls - Between dividends and a small profitable trade, Kohls made my list but then turned into my achilles heel; I fell for their splashy venture with Amazon which was probably to cover for a bad earnings call to come. They got crushed and will need to bounce back  
• Century Link - No big notes here. They stabilized around the $10 range and it was a nice win
• Ceasar's - A good example winning and lose. I bet on Ceasars in 2018. Was happy when a deal was announced and thought I won big. No deal came and my trade blew up. I put the trade back on and benefited when El Dorado decided to buy Ceasars...so only a small gain comes from all this work.
• AVEO Pharmaceuticals - I had a small win but AVEO continues to have disappointing drug trials  
• RedHat - bought out by IBM wish I had a bigger position
• Novagold - Gold is back and being helped by Brexit and the recent attacks in the Mid East
• Anadarko - Bought out by Occidental Petroleum; I beat my buddy Buffet to this trade as he funded Occidental's purchase
• Facebook - Hard to fight the beast. They known everything and are selling it...ohh marketing it to anyone with cash
• Foot Locker - Hurt by the China issues, severely under-performed but Nike's resurgence may bode well for them in 2020
• Newell Brands - A value play that I think has bottomed. Let's see if we can trade this stock on the way up 

Clearly 2019's song of the year is HOT by Young Thug featuring Gunna and Travis Scott...

 my job is to keep it HOT in 2020...look out

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!

 

Easier Said Than Done...

“It’s been a long time, shouldn’t have left you without a dope beat to step too…”  As you know I have a love for music, especially hip-hop, so when I am thinking a song will often pop into my head.  Here, I am thinking of how long it’s been since I’ve written something to the readers out there.  I admit work, life, and stuff happens but I shouldn’t have left you without a nice article to think about.

I would like to start off by simply just being honest!  One of the primary reasons I have not written anything is that in REALITY there is not that much going on in the investment world.  Maybe I should say it different, the markets have been steadily going UP and there hasn’t been much else.  If you remember, there have been a few moments in the last year or so where I wrote that the stock market indicators lead me to believe that stocks and the overall market were headed higher for the foreseeable future.  If I were a TV personality, I can say “We Predicted This Would Happen!” but the reality is it took months and months of reading, researching, and keeping my eyes and ears open to rationalize where things were logically headed.  The goal while investing is to navigate through ALL of the NOISE (family, friends, and TV people telling you how to invest) and for you to logically conclude about where things like are headed.  Once you get a good idea about that then you can determine what and how much to invest in.  I am here to simply share my thoughts on how I navigate through the noise so that I can share those with you and I can learn from the past by coming back and reading my own writings.  This is helpful in life, because you must navigate through the noise (when choosing a house, car, job, etc.) and really get down to making a sound decision.

Here I am always looking to make a sound investment and I’m going to present 1 topic to assist you on your investment journey:

Easier Said Than Done…