How to Use CNBC to Your Best Advantage

How to Use CNBC to Your Best Advantage

NOTE TO READERS: For some reason Google has changed blogger.  I can no longer download pictures.  I put the pictures in to make this blog more interesting.  I know learning about stocks and economics is boring to some.  Sorry I will not use the picture program from Google until fixed no pictures. 

In review you now have 7 stocks and 1 ETF.  Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED) or another utility, Kraft Foods Inc. (KRFT) or another food stock, Eaton Corp (ETN) or another industrial stock, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Inc. (POT) fertilizer, and U.S. Bancorp (USB) or some other financial (Bank) stock of choice, an oil or gas stock my recommendation was Chevron Corp (CVX).  Copper ore Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) but any metal mining sector stock would do.  Last picked was a tech stock Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).  Remember you can own any stock in the sector not the one I recommend.  I like the SPDR Gold Shares Trust GLD ETF. 

 

Jim Cramer

 

I have recommended you watch CNBC.  Things to remember when watching Jim Cramer on Cramer’s Mad Money. 

Cramer is very concerned with your capital preservation.  He doesn’t want to loose you money.  This is a good thing!  He will not jump on a stock on the bottom since it is risky.  This protects your money, but looses your gains.  So what happens is when a stock is at the bottom Cramer is hesitant to recommend that stock, remember his first concern he does not want to loose you money.  So you miss 65 percent of the climb before he jumps on board.  Same is true at the tippy top, he says take some off but not all so when he says emphatically to sell you have ridden it down 50 to 60 percent down too.  When he jumps on a stock to sell it many times he is jumpping on at the bottom take First Solar, Inc. as an example his sell, sell, sell was at rock bottom.  It is up now.

 

If you have convictions you need to follow your convictions.  When there are two good stocks you are just as likely to be right.  Cramer liked Walgreen Co. (WAG), I liked CVS Caremark Corp. (CVS) better.  Cramer liked Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW) where I liked Home Depot Inc. (HD).  I proved correct in both instances.  Cramer changed and agreed with me.  (Cramer does tell you when he is wrong and changes his mind, which I think is good.)  I never liked the drugstore space, but I did buy HD in the mid 20’s and rode it up.  Never, Never buy or sell anything based on the lighting round.  And, I do believe you should read his books.  I have purchased all and read all but one. 

 

The best thing you can learn from Jim is disvercation.  Learn it well it will help your portfolio.  The second will be dividends.  50% of the gains in the S&P 500 are reinvested dividends.  Be sure to get your automatic dividend reinvestment feature turned on with your broker if it is not already.

 

I don’t care what Crmer or Fast Money say a share buyback is not good for stockowners.  It is good for hedge funds, and the CEO of the company.  So when you see or hear of big buybacks it is a warning sign, not a good thing, the people who mililupate the stock market are mililupating your stock.  For the big guys who trade around stock it is good they can sell some, and buy it back latter if it goes down but keep the shares they trade around.  For the CEO it is a way to milipuate the stocks price so he gets a bonus at year end.  For you it is the company throwing away its money.  Dividends is the only thing that will work for you. 

Fast Money

 

I like Fast Money; it is on TV just before Mad Money, and is for after you understand everything you hear from Jim Cramer on Mad Money.  If you can’t understand Jim then skip Fast Money until you do.  It is on just before Mad Money.  It is also on at the halftime of the open market and called the Fast Money Halftime Report during the day, noon New York time.

 

I find the advice given on Fast Money just as helpful as Mad Money.  I have made the most money with three of the contributors.  I advise you to listen to them closely.  Their are some new advisors on now that come on infrequently.  Karen Finerman is a value investor.  Just by following her recommendations you cannot really go wrong.  Sometimes she is wrong but has a more right than wrong track record.  So of her recommended stocks are slow to come in. 

 

A Value Investor is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_investing  “it generally involves buying securities whose shares appear underpriced by some form of fundamental analysis”.  Warren Buffett, has argued that the essence of value investing is buying stocks at less than their intrinsic value. Karen’s advice is long term a year or longer years.

 

Karen recommended Microsoft Corporation, MSFT and Bank of America, BAC.  I bought the second and wish I had the first when she recommended it.  Both when up by 50%. 

 

Pete Najarian is an options trader and I learned how to invest in options by listening to him and studying.  He and his brother have made me a lot of money.  If you are not using options you are leaving money on the table.  Pete is not on as much as he used to be and he doesn’t do as much advice on options since Options Action started airing on Friday’s.  I recommend you start reading about and learning options.  Cramer on Mad Money doesn’t like options, since in a whoosh up you lose the underlying stock.  That can happen, but you are leaving money on the table.   His brother also comes on Fast Money occasionally.  They are good and when they have given specific options advice I have always made money, selling covered calls, or buy this stock and sell this call covered on top of it (Known as a Buy Right by the industry and sometimes they use that term and expect you to know what it means.)  Pete’s advice is short a week, or months at most. 

 

Guy Adami is good at pointing out the cliff on the side of the road you are driving on.  His recommendations are good and the best ones are the recommendations he gives over and over again.  He sometimes says we have talked about X stock forever.  Some of his advice goes for years like Karen’s.  He liked US Bancorp, USB and Church & Dwight Company, CHD.  I bought the first and wish I had bought the other.  Listen to what he has to say. 

 

Options Action

 

A half hour show only on Friday’s.  This is for the advanced investor.  You can learn about options.  I recommend you watch it but not play with options at first except for selling puts on stocks you want to purchase and covered calls on stocks you own; until you really understand options. 

 

The only problem is now on CNBC the options advice is of a higher level than it was at first when CNBC first started teaching about options.  I make a lot of return on my money selling puts to buy stock and selling covered calls on the stocks I own. 

 

The Other CNBC Shows

 

I don’t invest in currency or futures yet so have no recommendations yet.

 

T3Live on YouTube

 

http://www.youtube.com/?hl=en&authuser=0&tab=w1

These guys are good for the daily drift on the markets.  Usually outdated a day or two later.  You can watch them on U Tube.  They will teach you charting.  Charting is used on Wall Street.  Leonardo de Pisa (Fibonacci (pronounced fib-o-nawch-ee)).  With Fibonacci Wave theory they product the stocks advance and decline.  Look this one up on the internet if you are interested.  There are books written about it and others know way more than I do, and it actually does work in real life. 

10 Reasons you should have voted for President Obama!

A friend of mine after reading this blog said he wanted reasons he should have voted for President Obama.  I gave good reasons not to vote for the GOP and instead to vote for your class.  I am not 100% sure why people are not looking at what the candidate stands for and not just believing the hate propaganda? 

 

1)  Healthcare is reason number one you should have voted for President Obama instead of Mitt.  Alan Kooi Simpson who is so GOP he tried to block efforts by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. to preserve Grand Teton National Park for the entire country just for the sake of a few rich ranchers.  (Remember the GOP represents the 10% richest Americans only, not you and not me.)  He was chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.  Alan Simpson said if we had France’s National Healthcare plan and costs we would not have a deficit.  Let me repeat we would not have a deficit at all if we were following the French model on healthcare not the GOP model and we would live longer and have better healthcare.

 

On the front page of 11-24-12 paper “Insurance Fight Left Cancer Victim On Brink” “Woman’s battle for lifesaving treatment all too common”.  The GOP would leave this 31 year old woman on the steps of a church (per the GOP debate these are not my words but theirs check the GOP primary).  Who pays for her after she is left at church, the church takes her to the emergency room and we all do from our taxes.  So we don’t save taxes by not having a public option, what in fact we are doing is passing money to already rich companies and we are paying for the most expensive healthcare from tax revenues.  The whole healthcare debate is just keeping some rich companies and CEO’s making money not lowering taxes.  We pay the taxes on healthcare anyway. 

 

America is not using more healthcare, as the numbers above show. But the price we pay keeps going up, as the healthcare industry in America increasingly makes itself a private industry sector fantastically less efficient than any Government run program. There's not even been an increase in the intensity of the care we are given or quality of care we are being given we live shorter lives than people who live in countries paying half as much.  Like France, no wonder George W wanted you to hate the French. 

 

My friend has Government healthcare so doesn’t understand.  Three times in my life this has happened to me, an employer stopped paying the premiums so we get letters and calls by doctors, but that same employer does not stop making healthcare deductions from our paychecks.

 

2)  FEMA and Hurricane Sandy, Mitt with his marching orders from the GOP was going to privatize FEMA or move it to the states.  Really?  My incompetent Governor or a privatized FEMA businessman comes to my aid in a natural disaster.

 

Compare Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Katrina.  Sandy we have the President Obama on the spot Katrina the GOP President fly’s over three days later after reluctantly cutting short one of his many vacations.  Sandy FEMA on site and working on day 1.   Katrina’s FEMA director came on line and complained that FEMA should have waited until we knew how many dead were floating in the streets before we helped New Yorkers.  Explaining why Michael “Heckuva Job” Brown, responded so late to Kartrina.  Don’t want to help those people and waste tax dollars.

 

http://radio.foxnews.com/2012/10/30/brownie-obama-responded-too-quickly-to-hurricane-sandy/  Mitt pretended he did not hear reporters ask him if he was still getting rid of FEMA considering Hurricane Sandy.  http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/10/30/1110901/bush-fema-director-katrina-hits-obama-sandy/?mobile=nc  Sad but true, at church we were told to pray for our presidential candidate, considering those saying that they wanted Mitt to win.  Later when complaining about the election I pointed out they got an answer to their prayers God sent a hurricane.  Clearly showing us the difference between the GOP and President Obama.  “However, Brown’s comments carry a special irony due to the role he played during the Hurricane Katrina debacle in 2005. As director of FEMA during the legendarily botched response, Brown, famously dubbed “Brownie” by President Bush, was in the center of criticism from both sides of the aisle that the Bush administration was too slow to respond. An internal review by the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector-General following the disaster concluded, “Much of the criticism is warranted.””  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lssbAwu-OtE

                                                                                                      

3)  Global Warming is reason number three you should have voted for President Obama instead of the GOP.  Look at the ridicule Mitt Romney gave global warming at the GOP national convention.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZENtH3psXl4 Really? 

Global Warming causes this to happen in the oceans.  Lower taxes on the ultra-rich vs. global warming?  How about the real choice lower taxes on the people of New York City and New Jersey vs. the ultra-rich.  http://news.yahoo.com/york-jersey-put-71-billion-price-tag-sandy-002134256--sector.html  The people of New York City and New Jersey have just gotten at least a 71 billion dollar tax bill, plus the lost lives and business destroyed.  Global Warming is changing the weather pattern.  Now 100 year events in weather are happening every few years.  Lets see higher taxes on Mitt and George who already have enough or hidden taxes like Sandy and Katrina on everyone else?  I pick President Obama over Mitt Romney, why didn’t you?

 

At some point, I have heard two degrees I am not sure, we will be growing less food.  Less food means war.  People will not lay down and die.  The less food I have read is we will have 2 to 4 billion less people supported on earth. 

 

4) Grover Glenn Norquist (born October 19, 1956) is an American lobbyist, and a huge reason to vote no on all GOP candidates  who support him.  If you vote against Grover you are voting for prosperity and the American Dream.

Everyone else besides Norquist including Republicans, Democrats, and economists agrees that tax credits and deductions are actually "tax expenditures," or spending through the tax code.  His primary objective is to protect his donors.  The Koch brothers, big tobacco, (disclosure I own MO) Steve Bechtel of Bechtel Corporation and Steve Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group, Paul Singer, the "vulture" hedge-fund king who benefits enormously from tax strategies like the carried interest loophole.  The consequences Norquist promises are attack ads and money for challengers to the GOP members who break his promise.  In our country 1 percent of society owns 40% of the wealth those 1percent have their pet lobbyist.  Vote for President Obama for this point alone!  The GOP is on the take.

 

It is too bad that just like in 1897 and William McKinley even the presidency is being bought by the richest men in America.  Why is the GOP allowing themselves to be purchased.  Is our country and freedom for sale to the highest bidder?  Just say no to the GOP as they lose elections they will change if they see the public will not vote for Norquist and his billionaire friends.

 

5) President Obama is honest and tells us what he wants to do Mitt Romney is dishonest!  I spent years in accounting.  There is only one reason I know of that a man puts his money in the Cayman Islands, he is cheating on his taxes or has broken laws in the United States and wants his money safe if he has to flee.  Is it any surprise that in November George W Bush was speaking about avoiding taxes in the Cayman Islands?

 

And abortion Mitt you cannot be both for abortion and against abortion on the same day!  What exactly did Mitt ever say that we can identify he is for all the time?  Lower taxes on the wealthy, what else?  He does not like those people, the poor.  Anything else?  I am not sure he said things people wanted to hear, seems he liked healthcare but only for people in Massachusetts.

 

I think the real Mitt came out in his fundraising video.  The “I don’t care” Mitt.  Fifth reason to vote for President Obama he cares about more than a circle of rich friends and he is more honest than the GOP.

 

6)  The sixth reason you should have voted for President Obama is supply side trickle-down economics does not work.  There have been numerous bipartisan studies that point out Grover Norquist, trickle-down economics, hate the poor, pity the billionaire, shift the wealth to the ultra-rich, and cut their taxes economics is destroying our economy and we were better off when we taxed the rich and had a stronger middle class.  President Obama is trying to shift the wealth curve back to where it was, Mitt is out to cut his own taxes.  You made a huge mistake voting for the GOP if you did.  Review my old posts for the graphs and links I am not going to put them in again.  http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/why-warren-buffett-raising-taxes-rich-144852573.html

 

 

7)  You should have voted for President Obama because he believes in Science and Math.  Mitt and the GOP do not believe in Math and Science if the math or science disagrees with them they believe in Pseudoscience.  Examples listed below:

 

1.  Global Warming

 

2.  Some women will die without an abortion.

 

3.  Statistics, my statistics teacher at the University told the class that statistics won WWII.  The election was predicted weeks in advance, the GOP was lost in their world of Pseudoscience and witchcraft.  They believed their own propaganda.

 

4.  Economics, it was a GOP senator who turned a Great Recession into the Great Depression read about senator Smoot.  Smoot was a co-sponsor of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff in 1930, which raised U.S. import tariffs on over 20,000 dutiable items to record levels and arguably exacerbated the Great Depression. U.S. President Herbert Hoover signed the act into law on June 17, 1930. 

 

In 1930, a petition was signed by 1,028 economists asks the U.S. asking President Hoover to veto the legislation.  Henry Ford spent an evening at the White House trying to convince Hoover to veto the bill, calling it "an economic stupidity." J. P. Morgan's chief executive Thomas W. Lamont said he "almost went down on his knees to beg Herbert Hoover to veto the asinine Hawley-Smoot tariff."

 

Hoover opposed the bill however, in spite of his opposition, Hoover yielded to influence from his own party and business leaders and signed the bill.

 

So as in 1930 we are back to the Pseudoscience of cutting taxes on the rich and trickle-down economics.  Now instead of stimulating the economy we have been wasting time for 2 years worried about a budget defecate that wasn’t a GOP concern under George W. Bush.  http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tax-cuts-rich-dont-spur-151649273.html

 

5.  Math 1 + 1 = 2 http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/romneys-budget-math-become-even-more-confusing-after-ryan-pick.php

 

8) Medical science, a woman can get pregnant if raped.  A woman can die without an abortion.  Why were these stupid men saying it can never happen?

 

So reason eight is vote for logic and science not witchcraft and hyperbole, you should have voted for President Obama. 

 

You should have voted for President Obama because like 89% of the country he supports some abortions.  http://www.kpax.com/news/husband-refuses-to-cooperate-in-ireland-abortion-case-inquiry/

31-year-old Savita, who was 17 weeks pregnant, was found to be miscarrying and wanted an abortion. But the doctors declined saying theirs is a Catholic country and they cannot abort a fetus, two days later she died of septicemia.

 

Only 11% of Americans support the GOP view of never.  Yet for some reason the GOP cannot represent the 89%.  I think there are too many abortions, I am not sure of the correct action, but if my daughter was at risk I would sell everything I owned and send her to Sweden to get an abortion.  Savita’s case is an example of personhood as supported by the GOP and Mitt Romney.  Is this what you want?  Well I guess if you are in the 11% it is, if not and you are in the 89% of American’s like I am why did you vote for Mitt?

 

9)  Corporations on Government Welfare Part I:  Mitt and the GOP are in favor of corporate welfare programs, example one tax breaks to oil companies.  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-29/senate-fails-to-advance-bill-repealing-oil-tax-breaks-correct-.html 

The most profitable companies in the history of the world and they need a tax break?  Shifting from oil to natural gas will lower the price at the pump, not drilling more and tax breaks for these cash rich companies.  Remember my view that is Mitt supports the rich and no one else, like these companies.

 

10) Corporations on Government Welfare Part II:  We all pay taxes that cover food stamps and healthcare for employees who work at the Chinese box stores, Wal-Mart and Target, or at the fast food places that hurt our health Burger King and MacDonald’s.   These 4 companies and many others work their employees for 30 hours a week to avoid giving them benefits, playing low wages. ($8 dollars an hour) So these are the working poor, remember Regan and shifting us to a service economy?  Yet your tax dollars support these types of employers because their employees are on food stamps and Medicare.  This is Reaganomics or trickle-down economics by the correct name, do you really think a service economy is the answer?  I don’t. http://www.winningwordsproject.com/walmart_is_the_largest_food_stamp_recipient_in_the_country 

 

11)  Clean coal is the next reason you should have voted for President Obama, "clean coal" technology is a figment of an coal industry advertisers' imagination.  Clean coal is an oxymoron and contradictory to reality.  Burning coal hurts the health of millions of Americans and is another GOP hidden tax.  People with any kind of lung disorder are especially at risk.  Another hidden tax we all pay and Mitt likes coal.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D4yk4Vivvg

 

12)  You should have voted for Obama because of Osama bin Laden!  Loyal American soldiers had Osama bin Laden trapped in a cave system in Afghanistan, President Bush moved the American troops out and moved in mercenary Afghan troops.  I cannot picture a Bush or Romney taking out Osama. 

 

13)  I disagree with the way you vote!  But I would defend to the death your right to vote that way!  Why is the GOP blocking and deigning the right to vote to Americans?  This reason alone is a reason you should have voted for Obama.  If Romney was worthy to be president he would have objected!  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-12/pennsylvania-is-key-to-republican-vote-blocking.html and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoYWgGY4ADY (Pennsylvania) http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/13/michael-tomasky-on-how-the-gop-plans-to-block-the-black-vote.html      and http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/opinion/blocking-the-vote.html (Florida) Fox news has a clip of a GOP voter register in Colorado doing the same thing.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k_WNPW7QEo and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUJhkCD26F4 (Wisconsin)

The GOP does not support democracy how can you support them?

 

14) Diplomacy would have you vote for President Obama for a second term if you had been watching the world news.  You would have noticed that Mitt Romney could not even say something nice on an easy diplomatic trip.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romneys-olympic-stumbles-in-london/2012/07/27/gJQAiMZKEX_story.html  My wife says I am not diplomatic but even I could have said you did a good job with the Olympics, very impressive.  Do we really need another buffoon in Diplomacy like George W. Bush was?

 

“Cameron, responding to the candidate with a note of irritation, said that “of course it’s easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere,” an apparent reference to Salt Lake City. That city held the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, which Romney organized. The prime minister and the mayor are conservatives, making their scolding all the more embarrassing for the candidate, an otherwise sympathetic ideological ally.”

15) You really need to vote your class without a strong health middle class we will never have a strong health economy, President Obama supports the middle class.

 

There is zero proof that cutting taxes on the wealthy creates jobs or stimulates the economy.  Trickle-down economics or Reaganomics show that for the upper 5% income and net worth went up, but under the GOP presidents during that period cutting taxes for rich did not give us an increase in jobs or wealth for all.  It has done what it is designed to do shift wealth.   

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/08/22/the-lost-decade-of-the-middle-class/

 

Oops I got 15 reasons you voted for the wrong guy.  I could have 15 more but don’t want to waste the time.  You are not looking at the facts.  Just for numbers13 and 4 you should vote against all GOP candidates if you are a patriotic loyal American supporting democracy. 

 

16)  Vote for Obama because some people will never be able to take care of themselves.  We just put them on the street?  I have a cousin who will never take care of herself.  We had a friend in California whose son (40 years old now) is retarded, deaf and blind.  We have a neighbor here whose brother Mom cannot take step Dad said no, she cannot take him she has little children and brother is a full time job.  I have met her brother.  Why as the richest, most able nation on earth can’t we take care of those who can’t take care of themselves?  The GOP resents tax dollars spent on them.  Do you care?  If you don’t why not and why is Stephen Alan Wynn’s tax bill matter to you?  It matters to the GOP senators you voted for.

 

Update Prior Posts

Update on Stock Pick 2 and Stock Pick 7

In review you now have 7 stocks and 1 ETF.  Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED) or another utility, Kraft Foods Inc. (KRFT) or another food stock, Eaton Corp (ETN) or another industrial stock, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Inc. (POT) fertilizer, and U.S. Bancorp (USB) or some other financial (Bank) stock of choice, an oil or gas stock my recommendation was Chevron Corp (CVX).  Copper ore Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) but any metal mining sector stock would do.  Last picked was a tech stock Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).  Remember you can own any stock in the sector not the one I recommend.  I like the SPDR Gold Shares Trust GLD ETF. 

Pick 2

Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) has split into two companies.  If you had purchased this you when I posted it you would have made some fast money and kept your dividend.  With what the Federal Resurve Bank has announced dividend stocks are the only way you will make any return on your savings.  As those who have T-Bills or CD’s should be painfully aware of .  Kraft (new symbol KRFT) and Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ).  I don’t know which one is the better of the two, but I kept them both. Jim Cramer likes MDLZ.

 Pick 7

Technology stocks update.  The whisper on the markets is the desktop and possibly the laptop IBM combabitable computer market is dying.  This is a huge problem for Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Intel Corp. (INTC) both of which are married to the desktop devices.  Handheld devices smart phones devices made by Apple Inc. (AAPL) are cannibalizing the desktop market.  I am not going to give up my desktop for a handheld.  My phone bill is currently $100 a month; with 3 smartphones it would go up to $400 a month.  Will Apple take over the world?  Again I am not sure.  Apple makes gadgets.  The history of gadget companies is they go out of favor, examples are Motorola and Palm (the dying and dead).  How long will Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and AT&T Inc. (T) subsidize sales of the IPhone?

Google Inc. (GOOG) stock is a substitute if you trust the management.  With 2 classes of stock I don’t trust them far.  International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) is even more interesting.  I know I recommended Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and I think it is safe for now.  Oracle Corp. (ORCL) would be an interesting substitute for Microsoft except for the dividend and I do plan to give more consideration on replacing Microsoft with IBM in a future post.

With all the above stay away from Dell Inc. (DELL) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) both give every appearance of going the way of Motorola and Palm.  The first is well managed but will not sell itself or merge with Hewlett-Packard Co. and the latter is poorly managed and the entire board of directors should pay the company to sit on the board and not the other way around. 

I like boring Industrials and Consumer Staple stocks, tech companies are run like fiefdoms by less than ethical über-rich with huge egos.  So you are investing in one man’s brain and one product, plus the management and marketing abilities of one company.  Jerry Yang lost billions for the shareholders in Yahoo because he hated Bill Gates and Microsoft, and Bill and Microsoft are nothing but a vicious monopolist and a malicious monopoly.  As a contrast in an Industrial you are investing in electronic engineers and electric motors or the production of steel.  In Consumer Staples you are investing in chemists and Oreo cookies or Camel cigarettes.  I find cookies and cigarettes easier to understand than source code and computer chips.

The Art of the BIG Lie

The Big Lie
 

The best thing you can do is vote with your social income class.  For 90% of America that is vote for anyone but the GOP.  The GOP has gotten the big lie to an art form.  Propaganda in its purest form.  http://news.yahoo.com/romney-interview-says-tax-rate-fair-033140287.html  Mitt thinks his tax rate is fair, but it should be lower.  http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-does-romney-want-start-another-war-middle-014855301--election.html  Mitt would like to start another war?  The Iraq War didn’t make things better, now Iran is moving its influence into Iraq now.  http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000116529&play=1

Global Warming isn’t not real.  http://news.yahoo.com/ice-free-arctic-summers-bring-100100621.html  “Drill Baby Drill” the battle cry.  Millions for the über-rich and oil companies, billions in losses for the masses with weather damages with weather and sea level changes.  Thousands dead. 

Rich people create jobs.  http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/big-lie-rich-people-create-jobs-210637141.html What actually creates jobs, is the economic ecosystem, a strong healthy middle class and customer demand.  The economy is struggling because the middle-class has been gutted by the GOP. Hanauer in the article says we need to  

first, cut taxes for the middle-class and raise taxes on high-income earners.  Plus pay middle-class workers more.  Neither option did you hear in the Mitt Romney fundraiser video, he believes we need to cut American workers wages and cut taxes on the über-rich (himself and his group of friends).

Cut social programs we can’t afford them.  http://247wallst.com/2012/05/22/the-happiest-countries-in-the-world-2/  The happiest people have safety nets. 

Deregulation is important to the consumer and economy.  http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/why-phone-cable-internet-bills-cost-much-130914030.html  No deregulation and privatizing is only good for the über-rich.  It isn’t good for the consumer.  The example is our phone system duopoly in the article. 

Competition will lower prices for the consumer.  In American today with have duopolies like the phone companies you have to choose from.  Monopolies like Microsoft.  And, oligopolies like our health insurance industry.  A is a market form in which a market or industry is dominated by a small number of sellers, each oligopolist is likely to be aware of the actions of the others. Oligopolists tend to get together (especially if unregulated by a central government GOP) and price fix.  Romney and the GOP are experts at this http://business.time.com/2012/09/13/bain-capital-private-equity-firms-accused-of-price-fixing-in-lawsuit/  Bain dabbled in some price fixing under Romney. 

47% of Americans don’t pay income taxes.  Who are they?  Let’s see they are in the military.  They are elderly, soldiers and college students.  People who have children who make under 30k a year.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyyG9g_F4Kg  The GOP has started a hate campaign directed at old people, military personal and children, who all actually pay taxes in SSN, Medicare, Property, and Sales Taxes.  The GOP is misrepresenting who pays taxes and who doesn’t, and who these people they want us to hate are.  The GOP is also misrepresenting the nature of the problem with social security and taxes.  The nature of the problem is with revenue is that people don’t have a job, we don’t have enough people working, not that the poor are not paying enough taxes.  We can solve the social security problem for our young people if we just taxes social security the same for everyone removing the caps on SSN and Medicare taxes.  CEO’s are paid more than their companies pay in Federal Income Taxes, Apple the most profitable company in America pays 3% in California State Income Tax.  The GOP has given us The Big Lie.  I don’t think old people, college students, children and military personal are the problem!

 

7th Stock

Technology Companies 

In review you now have 6 stocks and 1 ETF.  Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED) or another utility, Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) or another food stock, Eaton Corp (ETN) or another industrial stock, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Inc. (POT) fertilizer, and U.S. Bancorp (USB) or some other financial (Bank) stock of choice, an oil or gas stock my recommendation was Chevron Corp (CVX).  Last picked was an metal stock my recommendation was copper ore Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) but any metal mining sector stock would do.  Remember you can own any stock in the sector not the one I recommend.  I like the SPDR Gold Shares Trust GLD ETF. 

 

Wall Street will have buys on stocks until the company goes backrupt.  Review Enron’s story and the Wall Street’s Enron’s stocks recommendations if you don’t believe me.

Enron’s stock was recommended and loved right up to the fall.  The same can be said for Dell.  Dell Computer stock was loved until a few years ago.  So what about Apple stock?  Look at history at some point with every technology company consumers turn against them.  Doesn’t matter if it is desktop computers, energy electric utility exchanges or even Apple Ipads. 

Problem two with technology companies is you need to avoid most of them.  Stay away from the glamorous loved stocks like Apple.  Apple is a speculation stock so if you want to trade and speculate then buy and sell puts and calls in Apple.  But to invest in a Tech stock you want a steady eddy.  I would recommend Intel Corp. (INTC) which owns a monopoly and gives a 3.89% dividend, or Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) another monopoly with a 2.96% dividend.  Neither is a romantic lovable stock.  Let’s review my June 14 post Two New / Different Sectors.  Never trust a Technology company or its management, they are all liars.  You are just lucky if they are not financial falsifiers and cooking the books like Enron was.  In the last few years you lost money with the management practices of Facebook IPO valuation, Hewlett-Packard’s Mark Hurd, and Yahoo’s co-founder Jerry Yang.  All these men are rich beyond measure and lost you money and are less then ethical not caring about their shareholders.  If there is a hint of dishonesty you must sell a tech stock.  I am not saying that either of my recommendations INTC or MSFT have a problem or I think will have a problem in the future.

If you force me to I would pick Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) because it is so different from the rest of my portfolio picks, it is a software company and not a hardware company.  You want the opposite in a tech stock from what you would like in girl you are dating, so you want a stock that is not sexy or popular.  Ten years from now the 90% of the tech stocks of today will be dead and gone or dog stocks.  Tech is a tough sector.  I chose MSFT because I am not an engineer and will not know if INTC loses its edge with chips until I have lost a lot of money.  I will know sooner if Microsoft screws up with its software.  Do I trust Bill Gates?  The answer is no, he is no different than the first Rockefeller was.  Microsoft reminds me of Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company both were / are monopolies and destroy / destroyed other companies and lives.  Both destroyed better companies by their monopolistic size.  Microsoft inserted inferior products into its Windows operating system and destroyed far better software.  Not honest so Microsoft management will not be honest with you the shareholder.