OlDawg

I’m not a ‘trust the process’ guy. We were both a little off based on current numbers. Looks like 75% have access to a defined plan of some type. The attachment breaks it down (latest data) by different categories, regions, etc. [Hidden Content]

Gains in the stock market benefit anyone contributing to a 401k. Over 80% of employees in the U.S. have access to an employer sponsored 401k. If they don’t contribute, they’re missing out on the best investment chance offered in America today. Especially if it’s employer matched of some amount/type. Those who say they can’t afford it don’t know that the tax savings on their regular paycheck almost negates their contribution in most cases. Many employees find their actual take home pay very close to the same whether they contribute or not because of the pre-tax aspect of 401k’s ‘lowering’ their taxable paycheck.

If I were a paranoid person, I'd begin to think someone was reading my posts. lol The Oil Business Is Shifting From Hormuz to Houston. The Iran War May Have Made It Permanent - National Security Journal

Lufkin, WB & PAM all have one historically tough opponent, and one opponent that's usually a little easier. Lufkin has their major rivalry game with the Lobos. La Porte has 2 quality opponents with their major rivalry game in the Border Battle, and then Ft. Bend Crawford. So, I'll have to go with La Porte right now. I think Ft. Bend Crawford is going to be a solid team again this year with their returning superstars on O. La Porte could easily start out 0-2. Breaking in some new players on the lines may take a few games.

Yep. Like I said previously, I'd expect Brent to hang around upper $70's for the foreseeable future. I don't envision going back into the $60's again. $70's are actually a good number that allows for a balance between fuel costs & margins that allow for maintenance and investments by the energy companies. I haven't heard of any major T/A's in a long time. Usually, that's a yearly, staggered process between refiners. T/A's are a critical function, and the refiners have to have the margins and capacities to enable the down times. In the past, we were around $80/bbl. But, efficiencies and fracking have enabled a lot lower cost structure need. This is a solid link to keep bookmarked for those interested. It doesn't give all the data I receive. But, it's pretty informative for the overview.

Let me consult Carnac.

IPO two days ago. Market cap now higher than Amazon, and it hasn't released a single fundamental to back up the share price. What could possibly go wrong? lol Gut tells me a whole lot of folks are going to be left holding the bag when institutions and hedge funds take massive profits before the little guys can get out. They're going to have to be disciplined enough to ride out the storm, and pray there's not a single launch issue.

Waffle House is the hurricane indicator. You know it’s really bad if Waffle House is closed. 😆

To me, one of the best things to happen out of this—besides no nuclear weapons for Iran if that actually gets done—is the realignment of energy across the globe. The Strait won’t be allowed to have as much impact in the future. Producers will find other outlets. Plus, the U.S. has been established as a reliable energy source without the headaches of the Middle East. We should now become one of—if not the—dominant energy producer/s in the world. Our supply lines are safe. Insurers will take note. Length of travel will not be as big an impediment if regularly scheduled shipments are undertaken by clients. This should bode well for energy investments, manufacturing, engineering, crafts and skills, and related high-paying jobs. Not to mention a boon to our resurgent steel industry.

Nope. Even if allowed—which the stock purchase contract may not allow in this case—you’d be selling short term. Meaning, you’d pay capital gains tax at your ‘normal’ tax rate. I’m assuming somewhere in the 20% effective tax rate range. Probably higher if you’re single with no dependents, and a decent banking job. That doesn’t count your buying fees. I don’t know your situation enough to know if you’d incur AMT. But, you’d take a loss. You need to sit on it and ride for at least one year to get it treated as a long-term capital gain, and get the lowest tax rate. Sorry to burst your bubble. You still bought a good, long-term investment. Just be prepared for a bumpy ride for a year or two until the first few reports come out, and serious investors can get a better handle on the numbers. The Starlink portion of the business is the profit-making side. Not the rockets. Right now, many are investing in the hype & Musk himself. If Musk were to suddenly not be in the picture, would you have bought the stock? I doubt if many investors would… That’s a scary proposition if you actually wanted to purchase more than just a few shares. The institutional buyers can dump a lot quicker than you can.

Even if not a soccer fan, the U.S. play on Friday was uplifting. Reading comments from foreign tourists about America is definitely a ‘feel-good’ mentality. The most poignant news take I read from a World Cup fan/tourist was something close to “If you follow the news, you hate America. If you travel around America, you love Americans.” The MOU with Iran is a positive, even though the deal isn’t finalized, and verification is paramount. The final deal may be tougher than the conflict itself. We’ll see. But, I sense a more upbeat feeling this morning. I ran to the store real quick for some milk before all the rain really hit hard. People seemed a lot more positive, and were smiling and talkative.

A week in the Middle East is an eternity. Let's be hopeful. But, not giddy. The Devil will be in the details. Those won't be finalized for another 60 days at minimum. You can rest assured Iran will delay as long as they're allowed, and still probably say they cant retrieve nuclear material because "it's buried." Iran has promised they weren't enriching for the last 40+ years. But, we know that was a lie.

I don't like using absolutes because they're typically wrong. But, I don't see oil going back down to pre-conflict levels again in the near--or ever--future. The climate change disaster hoax has been proven to be just that, by the UN Climate Committee of all groups, and the critical nature of oil has been shown to the entire world. Futures are showing a range in the high 70's long-term, and no lower. Every $10/bbl basically means $.25/gal for gasoline at the pump. Going by this, you can expect a settled gasoline range in the $3.20-$3.50 range in most States for the foreseeable future--AFTER a few months--as the currently loaded supplies reach the world's refineries. At this same time, countries will still be bidding against each other to refill their strategic reserves. So, the price won't drop like a rock. But, we should see less than $4.00 for the most part everywhere. A definite improvement.

Can smell 'em comin' a mile away. lol

Fail This guy also appears to be a real tool.

My bet would be that many--if not most--of the workers who became 'stock millionaires' overnight have no clue what happens if they decide to cash out within a year. Can anyone spell Capital Gains and/or AMT to the max? Elon would show how good of a boss he really was if he were to offer financial planning services as part of his employee bennies. THAT would really show his character. On a sidenote, I'd be curious how many of the employees who became stock millionaires are still willing to vote for AOC or Harris?

I think I’ll increase my holdings in P&G (Rolaids) and trade some of my Merck for Pfizer (Xanax). I should see a good bump for the next year or two.

Elizabeth Warren is having a coronary.

Sure am glad Core measurement strips out food prices because El Nino years are heck on food price inflation, and this is expected to be one of the worst El Nino years on record. The energy situation won't be sorted out for at least 6 months to a year, and food prices may be in jeopardy as well. The Fed isn't going to cut rates which means the economy won't get a boost (except maybe from AI), and the Fed may want a higher inflation level anyway as it helps with the debt. This is more than likely what Trump was referring to with his comment about inflation that people didn't think through what he was meaning, and he didn't explain. I think I'll stick to my personal thoughts on possible sticky inflation instead of listening to a political hack for my financial advice. [Hidden Content]

Good Luck! You bought at a multiple of 150. Theoretically, it will take you over a century to break even. I like Musk's creativity and marketing. I like his pure drive. I wouldn't bet against him. I just can't see paying that kind of multiple for an unprofitable company. Definitely not what I'd consider 'buying low.' I'll just take the small sliver that will be allocated in some of my funds, and hope it's successful.

Personal belief is that—similar to ALL Administrations—POTUS receives briefing highlights, and no single person can have knowledge of everything. I would bet he’s aware of the general status. But, I doubt he’s aware of what it will take to replenish, and the details.

Why? Updates are good. I saw many stations around here at $3.29 yesterday. I'm just pointing out the bigger picture. We'll pay the price down the road. SPR will have to be refilled with our tax dollars at some point. With payment on our debt now at over $130 Billion/mo. as of May--up from $80 Billion--I'm not sure where all this money is going to come from... No way I see the Fed raising interest rates with that debt payment, which means sticky inflation for a while. We may well be in an era of 4% inflation being 'normal.' Hope not. But, we may be there. Beginning to wonder if it might be a good time to look at I Bonds again. They're already at a decent 4.26% until October. Safe money for 6 months.

The Strategic Oil Reserve is now down to 243 MM barrels. This is the lowest level since 1982. The SPR is supposed to be an insurance policy, It's not meant to be used for price controls, or election politics. For context, the U.S. consumes about 20MM barrels/day. Basically, our 30 day insurance policy is now down to 10. Refilling SPR to capacity at the highest fill rate of 785,000 BBLs/day means it would take until at least 2031 to refill if it were being filled at maximum rates--which is next to impossible given the age and condition of the infrastructure.

Yeah... I don't see much of the summary happening--especially not the withdrawal of troops from the region. Nuclear ambitions weren't even mentioned. Someone's still not on the same page, the propaganda machine is still working overtime, or both.