Good morning. While investors have been trying hard to look past the situation in the Middle East, it may get more difficult (and dangerous) to do so … as the U.S. claims it will “guide” ships through the Strait of Hormuz while there are unconfirmed Iranian reports that a U.S. warship was targeted and hit. Assuming that the U.S. has been “holding back” on what it can actually unleash, you might think that firing upon a U.S. ship … and a warship, at that … even if not successful … might make whoever was behind that to be an early nominee for a “Darwin Award” … typically given to someone who makes a move so foolish, that they eliminate themselves from the human gene pool. With all this going on so far, an early morning advance on stock futures reversed and indexes tiptoed ever-so-slightly into negative territory. But that hasn’t stopped corporate activity at all … as the Wall Street Journal is reporting that GameStop made an offer to buy Ebay … which, itself is interesting … as GameStop lists an “enterprise value” (according to FactSet) of $7.1 billion … and its “target” … Ebay … has a listed enterprise value of $48 billion. We’ll see how far this goes, but early reports seem to imply some skepticism as to whether or not this actually goes through. Warren Buffet made some comments recently showing concern that some stock trading has turned into “gambling” … with some moving away from long-term discipline and going after quick returns. The reason this comes to mind is a recent report showing that most users of sites such as Predictit, lose money (after the fees) and a recent classroom poll (unscientific, conducted by me) had almost all males in the class admitting that they gamble using Kalshi. So have I, by the way. And yes, I … like many others … am in the loss column. But danger is not limited to stocks as the New York Times reports that an airplane heading into Newark Airport “clipped” a light pole on the New Jersey Turnpike and the tires bounced off a truck (with a scary video from the driver’s viewpoint). This 200-passenger plane luckily avoided disaster and … well … the story is pretty unbelievable. On a final note for this morning, Spirit Airline is no longer. While many hated the airline and their “low fare but we’ll charge you for everything” model its demise reduces competition in the airline industry … and prices on many other carriers might rise as a result. I’m about done for now … as I am starting to bore even myself. Meanwhile, I am golfing later today and pretty excited … as I made some adjustments and feel really confident that it will a great day … … which is how I felt before another round earlier this month … until I reached the 15th hole and threw my putter into the lake. Have a great day, Joseph G. Witthohn, CFA Have any questions? Please contact info@teamemerald.com
|
You are now leaving www.teamemerald.com. Follow the link to learn more about the F/m Emerald Life Sciences Innovation ETF
https://www.emeraldetfs.com/33rd-annual-groundhog-day-exploring-life-sciences-2/ ➜
Call Us: +1 (800) 722-4123 
Back