- Peace is not made at the council tables, or by treaties, but in the hearts of men.
- Herbert Hoover
60-Day Ceasefire?
It didn't last one day. Why? Ben Netanyahu. It is clear by now that he uses any excuse to continue the conflict with his Middle-East neighbors. His purpose is to take land. He not only allows illegal settlements, but he encourages it. In any peace deal, he demands a buffer zone to "protect" Israel. Then, he uses this land for new settlements. This aggressive act only emboldens the negative thinking of the groups that hate Israel. Two wrongs don't make a right. It is because of people like him that we realize there has been no peace in this region for a thousand years.
Strange Prices in Oil and Stocks
Although oil is testing its recent low and not to debate if that price is low for consumers, investors appear cautious. Not difficult to understand. Maybe peace or the ceasefire doesn't hold. They do know that oil producers are scaling up and if peace holds, a possible glut?
A study in two outcomes. Western Digital (WDC) was around $40 last August. Last Friday it closed at $746. How about Sandisk (SNDK)? It too was around $40 last August and it closed last Friday at $2184. Are these two a study in parabolic moves? On the flipside, Strategy (MSTR) was $440 last August and last Friday ended at $112. Trade Desk (TTD) was $90 last August and closed Friday at $18.51. We also read where the US Dept. of Justice has charged three leaders in SuperMicroComputer (SMCI) of smuggling billions of dollars in artificial intelligence technology to China. We remind you that these type of sins appear just before the market crashes. However, there is one analyst who calls for the S&P 500 to clear 8300. We'll see says the blind man.
The market dismisses consumer sentiment at a 80-year low. We realize the market is crushing upward with new records, but 40% of its stocks at below their 200-day moving average. When we look at one of the big indicators, King Dollar, we are confused. It closed back over 100 last Friday. I believe this is positioning with the perception that Warsh will hike interest rates. Anyway, this is a tough market.
Space X
We did not seek the IPO, but how could we not follow the debut? Musk generates enthusiasm, but in his soul, if he has one, he disrespects workers and he is anti-union. Too bad. He pushes some good ideas. With his demands for money and control, we wonder about one of his predictions. He stated, "The US will 100% go bankrupt." We sadly see the US facing a financial crisis, but the whole world is in deep doo-doo of debt. We don't know when, but there will be a world financial crisis. Sadly, the people who led us into this predicament will say that they have the answer.
Inflation Report...
...it came in at 4.2%. We say that this figure is short by 6 percentage points. How about this connected aspect? Grown-ups: A new report says that one in three adults under 35 still live with their parents.
Shout Out!
In the world of lying politicians this man deserves a pat on the back. Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehboz Sharif is probably going without sleep as he works to end the conflict between the US/Israel and Iran. You are going a great effort and work?
Meanwhile...
...in the US we read about more firms laying off workers or worse, closing their doors. One of the saddest is from Coca-Cola. They are shutting down a California plant that had been functioning for 114 years. By the way, this is the third bottling plant closed by the soda giant. Long John Silvers is closing 700 locations along with their jobs. Popeye's largest franchise owner is filing for bankruptcy. He will close 20 locations. Giant Eagle Food and Drug announced the closing of multiple grocery stores. An operator of 53 Applebee's is declaring bankruptcy. You can add to the list of stores, Subway and Domino's. High-tech, Cloudflare (NET) is laying off 1,000. Another high-tech, Oracle (ORCL) is dropping 21,000 workers. This is not a typo. The race to AI is expensive and needs a lot of power. High-tech firms in the race are seeking to maintain their stock price as they spend excessively. Something has to give?...Peace.
