Busy Day
I don’t know how much I will see of the stock market today. I like to kind of watch things as they happen, but today I have certain chores to do. My wife has a doctor appointment and we are going to lunch just before that. Then we’ll stop at a Fedex place to send a package off that I need to do. After that, we’ll get home but that will probably be in the 3 to 4 o’clock range and the stock market will be done.
I got those two ETFs yesterday and one is already selling lower than I bought at. The other one went up almost the same amount, so they balance each other out. I am having a lot of fun with them though. They are both a little different than my usual buys. Anyway, we’ll see what happens.
I was reading about what other people think is going to happen with the AI world. I think it’s going to be a problem because there is so much political debate about data centers. One person called it NIMBY. Not in My Back Yard. In other words, people want data centers, they just don’t want them close by. I can understand that. There has been a rush of warehouses going up around us here. I just know that there is going to be some issues with traffic. I am already seeing it at some of them, but so far, most of them are empty anyway.
I know that this is going to make the property taxes go up too. Those warehouses don’t pay their fair share. And of course, they all cause road construction and power consumption. Just the same as a data center. Some may even become data centers. Who knows?
Do we really need that many warehouses? I can count at least 6 that have gone up recently and they are huge. But they are mostly empty. So the traffic situation hasn’t hit us yet, but I’m sure it will.
Anyway, I can understand why people don’t want data centers in their towns. I don’t have a solution though. I like Elon’s idea. Put them in Space. But that’s going to take some time.
The way the AI stocks have been going (down mostly) I don’t know if this is all going to continue. Investors want to see some ROI and that’s pretty limited. I’m not sure that the convenience of AI is going to outpace the spend, if you know what I mean.
The war
I haven’t heard much on the news about the war in Iran. I know that our president has decided he wants to side with Russia which I think is a mistake. He is just calling for Ukraine to surrender. That’s what he calls a peace deal. Then maybe he should surrender to Iran too. No, no no. I’m getting cynical. Is that the right word? I’m just tired of the whole thing.
I saw something about more strikes by Iran on ships, but I didn’t see it on the news, so I don’t know if I should believe it or not. On the other hand, oil is over 100 dollars today and it was almost 97 the yesterday. So, it’s going up. Does that mean that Chevron and Exxon/Mobile will go down again? Seems that’s what happens. I guess it’s because it gets more expensive for them. I don’t have tons of their stock (I couldn’t afford it) but I own a share or two of each.
Tis the Season
We are supposed to be going into the earning season. As we get through Thanksgiving (can anyone afford Turkey?) things will pick up in retail I guess. It seems the jobs that are being advertised are part time, which means that some folks are probably taking second jobs. That’s a crazy issue. If people have to work two jobs just to get by, what does that say about the economy?
I know we are supposed to have no tax on overtime, but if I recall, it’s not really true. It’s more like no additional tax if you make less than a certain amount. As I recall it was only a couple of hours each week. But I could be wrong. I don’t get overtime pay. I’m retired!
But I hope that things pick up. I am hoping that the holidays will bring some good increases in my non-AI stocks. Some could really use a boost.
Will Interest Rates Go Up?
I know that at the end of this month, we’ll hear from the FED about the interest rates. I am thinking that they might go up another 25 basis points like last month. The experts say that if it goes up again this year, it will be in December. If that’s the case, then it won’t affect us until next year. Happy New Year, your loans just went up again!
If it does go up, then that will put more pressure on the AI folks because there have been a lot of loans written for the companies in that sector. I really hope that it doesn’t bring about a crash of any sort. I’m trying to stay protected. I’m also still waiting to hear from Scott Bessent what his plans are for the Treasury. I know those rates have gone up, and I am considering getting into buying some treasuries. I just don’t know how I want to do that yet.
Personal Finances
I find that I have to review all the things I spend money on and really start to cut back. I know that I have some waste there, and just things I haven’t dealt with yet. Lot of things I can change. I’m keeping my Britbox subscription though. I really like the British TV shows. But there are other things I can cut. I never go into Netflix so that’s no problem. But there are other places that I can reduce my spend. I just need to sit still long enough to do it!
