Friday, July 28, 2023

Intel Ericsson -- July 28, 2023

 The link.

Do you remember when you were a kid and spent hours looking at "Can You Find It" in the "Hidden Objects" or whatever it was called in "Highlights Magazine"?

Fast forward.

Do the same thing with this headline:

How many "things" can you find concerning with that announcement?

************************

One. Two failing companies partnering.

My dad always used to tell me, when two companies "merge" one is likely failing.

Two.

5G. "We're" moving onto 6G. Yes, of course, 6G won't be here for awhile, but when talking to your investors, you don't talk about a "mature" industry" or an old technology. One talks about "the next big thing."

Three.

The cloud. LOL. When you think "Cloud" do you think of either INTC (Intel) or Ericcson. LOL. Not me.

Three-b.

Here are just some of the big "Cloud" players with very deep pockets: Amazon, Apple, Google (Alphabet), Meta (Facebook). I'm sure I've missed a few.

Four.

Look at their "ticker-symbol" graphs. Not exactly promising. Except as trading stocks.

Five.

I know nothing about Ericcson except that it's "telephone."

"Telephones" are now a mature industry; no growth. The big companies? Samsung, Apple. Phones are simply their bread and butter now. They all have deep pockets and deep penetration. When was the last time you bought an Ericsson phone?

Six.

On the other hand, Ericsson pays almost 5%. Intel pays 1.4%.

Seven.

On a day the NASDAQ surges, Ericsson is likely to go negative. On a day the NASDAQ surges, INTC goes up over 5%. A great trading stock.


Monday, July 17, 2023

Cleaning Out The In - In Box —July 17, 2023

Ukraine
  • road / rail bridge to Crimean Peninsula taken out?
  • Zelensky changes strategy — taking counteroffensive “slow” — minimizing losses of men.
Apple
  • changing marketing strategy.
  • 3nm chip ready to be marketed in new laptop / surface computers.
Investing:
  • not a bubble
  • nothing like the dot.com bubble in the 1990s.




Saturday, July 8, 2023

Property Taxes -- Rocket Mortgage -- The US: The Greatest Country In The World -- July 8, 2023

July 14, 2023: Everything for TEXAS needs to be updated with this new development

The TEXAS package puts $12.6 billion of the state’s historic budget surplus toward making cuts to school taxes for all property owners, dropping property taxes an average of more than 40% for some 5.7 million Texas homeowners, and offering brand-new tax savings for smaller businesses and other commercial and non-homesteaded properties. The voters would need to approve the package in November for the cuts to take effect this year.

Using the table below: at a 40% cut --

  • the TEXAS real estate tax would go to 1.08% -- #30 on the list below, and about par with that of North Dakota;
  • the TEXAS average of $3,907 would go to an average of $2,344 -- again, about par with that of North Dakota.

North Dakota has also just passed new legislation cutting taxes. Link here.

  • North Dakota's $500 credit = $40 / month savings.
  • at the current $2,138 for North Dakota, a credit of $500 drops that to $1,638 to #15 between Tennessee and California.

Original Post

Link here.

Comments:

  • top to bottom, removing the first two, which were obviously outliers; and the last one, also an outlier;
  • range:  $1,113 - $4,942
    • a difference of $3,829 = $319 / month (coffee and parking in the big city on a daily basis)
    • the folks in the highest-property-tax states need to forgo Starbucks and start taking public transportation, start carpooling, or ask for free parking from their employer.
  • three groupings
    • 23 states: $1,000 - $2,000
    • 11 states: $2,001 - $3,000
    • 14 states: $3,001 - $5,000

In the fourteen "high-property states," there are two outliers, Nebraska ($3,754) and Texas ($3,907)

  • $3,907 / 12 = $325 (compare to the low-property tax states, average, $319
  • OMG: Texas -- $325 / month vs $319 / month in the low-property tax states

In the low-property tax states, there are three definite outliers:

  • DC ($1,221)
  • Delaware ($1,240)
  • California ($1,644)
  • throw out DC and Delaware, and we're left with California
  • we have to eliminate California, also, due to property taxes being artificially low due to Proposition 13, perhaps one of the worst tax laws to befall any state.

Back to Texas: one can also argue we need to throw out Texas due to artificially low house prices reported by Rocket Mortgage because of the really, really low how prices in almost all of Texas, outside the five major urban areas, and especially, along the Mexican border, and out west (except in oil country -- Odessa, Midland).

But that brings me to my second argument with regard to this discussion regarding property taxes.

****************
Other Links

At this link, add the property tax paid and the income tax paid in dollars.

*******************
Three Arguments

1. People have no idea what they pay in property taxes; they know exactly how much they pay in state incomes.

2. People buy the house they can afford; property taxes are just part of the mortgage payment.

3. People can cut their state income tax by reducing their income; folks can cut their property taxes by moving into an abode which has lower property taxes (dollars, not rate).

***************
Other Comments

1. The difference in annual property taxes on a monthly basis is almost inconsequential among all states.

2. Property taxes are quietly paid on a monthly basis -- folks are completely unaware.

3. Whether enough state income taxes are withheld or not, state income taxees must be filed at which time one sees immediately how much one is paying in state income taxes. 

4. Most folks paying property taxes consider that a small fee / tax for the privilege of owning one's own home.

5. Majority of folks paying state income tax seeing no value added considering ten states do not have state income tax, and that as many as 50% of residents in a state don't pay taxes in the first event. 

Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Global Commodities Rout Will Lead To Global Economic Disaster -- CNBC Talking Head -- July 5, 2023

Updates

August 10, 2023: update.

Backstory

This was posted over at the main blog, July 5, 2023. When I saw the CNBC story below, Exhibit A, I did a double take. Not one thing in the past two weeks remotely suggests that a commodities rout will lead to a global recession.

I may be wrong. So I will post this over here at "MDW Backstory" and wait through the end of June, 2024, through the end of 1H24. 

Original Post

Locator: 45902ECON.

Exhibit A

Link here

Exhibit B

WTI, LNG, NG: