by John Walters
Tweet Me Right
tfw you walk into the function extremely underdressed pic.twitter.com/juZ6gv0ZXH
— nb (@nicjbae) January 18, 2019
Starting Five
1. Will The Other Shoe Ever Drop?
The latest installment in the Amazingly Fraudulent and Deceitful Adventures of Donald Trump was dropped by Buzzfeed yesterday. The news site is reporting that Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about his involvement with the Russians in 2016 regarding negotiations to build Trump Tower Moscow. Trump allegedly directed Cohen to lie to Congress after the election which, you can ask Richard Nixon’s Ghost, is a big no-no.
But again, we have to ask, Will the Teflon Don skate past on this as well? As long as Mitch McConnell holds the U.S. Senate hostage (and as long as Rudy “When I said ‘No Collusion’ all those times, here’s what I actually mean” Giulani and Trump keep moving the goalposts), will any of this matter?
The first article of impeachment against Nixon was just this: obstruction by directing others to lie. This is not hysteria or hyperventilating. It’s history.
— Jon Meacham (@jmeacham) January 18, 2019
Funny thought here: None of this Cohen testimony, which should ultimately take down this president, comes off without the Stormy Daniels scandal, which the Wall Street Journal uncovered exactly one year ago, taking place (yes, there was a time in America when no one knew who Michael Avenatti was). So, just think: If Trump doesn’t get his schwerve on in Tahoe while Melania is home breast-feeding Barron, maybe Cohen is never investigated and maybe there’s no cause to seize all of Cohen’s records and computers and all of this stuff remains hidden.
Stormy: The blonde bombshell who launched a thousand news bombshells
Right about now you have to think Donald Trump wishes Stormy had just taken Ben Roethlisberger up on his indecent proposal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEskm25UGA
Would this be a fitting end for Trump, McConnell, the Kushners, Rudy, et al?
2. Avalanche at Taos
As a town and as a ski resort, located in remote northern New Mexico, is a hidden gem. Yesterday it became a danger zone, as an in-bounds avalanche buried two skiers. The snow slide happened right before noon on Kachina Peak’s K-3 chute. At first both men were in critical condition but one is now reported to have died.
3. Deep Blue Something
Divers attracted by tiger sharks feeding from a decomposing sperm whale off the coast of Oahu got a big surprise when what’s estimated to be a 20-foot long great white shark arrived at the party.
Dubbed “Deep Blue” by the divers, she is believed to be more than 20 feet long and as much as 8 feet wide, the largest great white ever encountered. Also, she’s pregnant. Is her boyfriend even bigger?
And…
4. Gym-tastic
When she was 15, UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi defeated Simone Biles in the American Cup. The next few years would see Ohashi’s career derailed by injuries and doubt while Biles went on to win FOUR gold medals in Rio.
Last weekend, however, Ohashi, now a senior at UCLA performed a floor routine that earned her a perfect 10.0 and millions of YouTube views, a product of the artistry of the routine and the unfettered joy the 4’10” Seattle native displayed while performing (keep an eye on how much fun her teammates are having in the background).
The Bruins are defending national champions.
5. Ja Rules
Chances are the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns will have the first two picks in next June’s NBA draft and chances are they’ll be too afraid to go against the grain not to select Duke’s top two players (R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson, or reverse the order if you like).
Has Luka Doncic taught us nothing? The most electrifying player in college basketball this season may be Murray State sophomore Ja Morant, who dare I say has a shade of MJ in him. The Racers’ 6’3″ dude leads the nation in assists (10.7) and averages 23.7 ppg while putting on a show. The South Carolina native is the most exciting player in the Bluegrass State this winter, which has to chap Kentucky and Louisville fans.
The Racers are 14-2 on the season, their only losses at Iron Bowl compatriots Alabama and Auburn. Someone is going to pick Morant, whom we see as a De’Aaron Fox type, in the top five picks in June.
Their fans will be giddy. Watch this from last night.
Music 101
Complicated
How dated is Avril Lavigne‘s breakout video? Before the song even begins, she asks “Dude, you wanna crash the mall?” The Canadian songstress, only 15 when her debut smash hit soared to No. 2 in 2002, arrived at the very tail end of MTV/VH1 airing videos that actually mattered. Or maybe we just got old. I dunno.
Remote Patrol
Supersonic
Netflix
Basically, it’s the “Behind The Music” Oasis documentary that was never made by VH1. We watched this and were fascinated. The Gallagher brothers were Manchester hooligans except for the fact that Noel is a genius as a songsmith and Liam has a born-to-be-rock star voice and attitude. They were simply destined to make it because of that alchemy, but were so discordant personally that it was destined to crash. “Noel has a lot of buttons,” says one close observer. “Liam has a lot of fingers.”
Very, very few bands came along in the Nineties with as much pure talent as Oasis (Nirvana and who else? Pearl Jam? RCHP? Maybe) and they really could’ve been the biggest band in the world even longer if (let’s be honest here) Liam wasn’t such a walking personality crisis.
But man, the songs. Don’t look back in anger.
So, TSLA is cutting 7% of its workforce & Musk sees “a VERY DIFFICULT ROAD AHEAD”. I know, I know, you didn’t really “PICK” TSLA as your stock this year (what kind of cop-out is THAT by the way!) but, ahem, maybe you should just stick with NVDA. 🙂
Speaking of NVDA (“oh, Nvidia, Nvdia, WHY does your name have to rhyme with chlamydia?”. 😉 ), I watched a 45 minute presentation by the Motley Fool tech specialist yesterday & he says NVDA will be one of the BIG winners in AI (the “next big thing”, supposedly TWICE as big as the internet). I had read that years ago & it was one of the many reasons I invested, so hopefully it’s an even bigger winner for both of us (you do still own?). I had another limit order in for some more shares back in late December & it ALMOST got there (my order was for $119)! If I had been at a computer on the afternoon of 12/24, I would have modified the order to buy right then. Poop! Oh well, when The Sociopath gets impeached, the market will plunge temporarily, so we can both load up then. Now THAT’s what I call “WINNING”! 🙂
I have an investment question for you. Do you follow any kind of self-devised “guideline” for your buying & selling? For example, except for a few long-holding stocks, do you automatically sell if a stock RISES more than, say, 20% &/or do you sell if a stock LOSES more than 10-15% (unless maybe the entire market is being slaughtered )?
Big Blue looks like she could have chomped down that diver in one, er, chomp! I guess it’s a pretty good thing I’m not a deep sea diver as if I’d been swimming around down DEEP & that, er, “mother” came swimming up on me, I’d have had a HEART ATTACK!
Susie B.
I missed the part in today’s blog where I wrote about stocks. Can you help me find it?
????? We are only ALLOWED to comment on something you write THAT DAY? When did you put those “rules” in place?
I saw the TSLA drop/Musk’s comment this AM & remembered you’d just RECENTLY said you were “finally interested” in that stock. It prompted my train of thought & comments.
Since I’ve been one of the FEW (only?) readers interested in your investing items, I guess you now have one less.
And for the record, Bitcoin WAS IN A BUBBLE!
It’s gonna hurt really bad when Nvdia starts slumping, as new competition comes to play and prices drop for their GPU units. Their largest market, gaming, is stagnant over the last few quarters.
Susie B,
Not even sure you will read this, but if you do…Of course you are ALLOWED to comment on whatever you want, and I’m allowed to point out that you’re just freestylin’ over here….
Without revealing too much, I saw how much I was up since the Xmas Eve Massacre and decided that what goes up will come down again. I’ve moved large into cash waiting for the consequences of the govt. shutdown and tax seasons to put another crimp in the market. We’ll see if I’m wrong or right.
Help me understand how those scuba divers felt safe to swim next to that shark. Did they know she was full after gorging on the dead whale, or did they have some secret shark avoidance skills?
I wondered same. My guesses are 1) what you suggested 2) she’s preggers and not as aggressive 3) sharks that huge are more lumbering.
In that part of the world, from what I recall reading, mako sharks and tiger sharks are far more aggressive toward humans. FWIW…