Z-SYMBOLS
October 11, 2022 | Daily JAM, TSLA, Volatility |
Even before the Biden administration launched a new U.S./China trade war by imposing restrictions on U.S. exports of advanced chip technology, Tesla (TSLA) was facing a sales slowdown in China. Now, with what I regard as the near certainty that Tesla will be one of the choice targets in any Chinese retaliation, I think it’s time to sell Tesla and get out of the way of what looks like a truly nasty tit-for-tat war of sanctions and restrictions. Tomorrow, October 12, I’m selling Tesla out of my Volatility Portfolio with a loss of 63.74% since I added it to the portfolio on November 10, 2021, near what would turn out to be the high before the onset of today’s Bear Market for technology stocks.
October 11, 2022 | ASML, Daily JAM, Top 50 Stocks |
Today I’m selling ASML Holding (ASML) out of my long-term 50 Stocks Portfolio. My take on Asmel hasn’t changed: this is one of the key chip equipment companies in the drive to produce smaller and denser chips. What has changed in the market and the global economy. I think that technology, and especially chip stocks, are in a downtrend that has a lot longer to run. And that recent U.S. restrictions on advanced chip technology exports to China will set off a trade war that will come down heavily on companies such as ASML.
October 10, 2022 | AAPL, AMD, ASML, Daily JAM, Jubak Picks, NVDA, Top 50 Stocks, TSLA |
If you liked the Trump administration’s trade war with China, you’ll love the Biden administration’s new, more dangerous, escalated version. Rather than slapping tariffs on Chinese goods, and inviting retaliatory tariffs by China on American products, the Biden administration war limits the same of advanced semiconductors and chip-making equipment to Chines companies. The action is aimed straight at the heart of China’s efforts to build its own chip industry. And it plays right into a belief, stoked by China’s President Xi Jinping, that China is the victim of a Western plot to prevent the country’s rise to its rightful place in the global order. And the opening blows in this trade war come just as President Xi aims to be installed as China’s newest preeminent leader with a status near that of Mao. I don’t know what the retaliation from China will be, but it is unlikely to stop with a few restrictions on how U.S. companies, such as Tesla (TSLA) and Apple (AAPL) operate in China. The situation is so dangerous because it is so uncertain and so open-ended.
October 6, 2022 | AMD, Daily JAM, INTC, NVDA, Top 50 Stocks |
After the close today October 6, Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ) announced that its preliminary estimate of revenue for the third quarter would be just $5.6 million. That’s well below Wall Street forecasts of $6.71 billion.
October 6, 2022 | Daily JAM, QCOM, Top 50 Stocks |
Today, October 6, I made Qualcomm the #6 Pick in my 10 Perfect Stocks Special Report. As of October 7, I will be adding Qualcomm to my long-term 50 Stocks Portfolio.
October 5, 2022 | COST, Daily JAM, Jubak Picks |
After the market close on October 5, Costco Wholesale (COST) reported that sales for September had climbed 10.1% to $21.46 billion. Total same-store sales rose 8.5% in September, beating Wall Street’s estimate of 6.3% growth.
October 5, 2022 | Daily JAM, FCX, FQVLF, SCCO |
Copper gained after the London Metal Exchange said it will restrict new deliveries of the metals from Russia’s Ural Mining & Metallurgical Co. and one of its subsidiaries.
October 5, 2022 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing, USO |
Today, Wednesday, October 5, OPEC and its allies, including Russia, approved a two million barrel-a-day cut in oil production. This is the largest cut in production since the onset of the pandemic. Here’s the key paragraph in the OPEC+ statement: “Adjust downward the overall production by 2 mb/d, from the August 2022 required production levels, starting November 2022 for OPEC and Non-OPEC Participating Countries as per the attached table.” On the news, oil and oil stocks extended the rally that began on news leaks yesterday.
September 30, 2022 | AMAT, ASML, Daily JAM, Top 50 Stocks |
Yesterday, September 29, after the close of trading DRAM chipmaker Micron Technology (MU) reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $1.35 a share and adjusted earnings of $1.45 a share. That was down from $2.42 a share in adjusted earnings in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2021. Wall Street was looking for earnings of $1.37 a share. Revenue fell to $6.64 billion from $8.27 billion a year ago. Analysts had been looking for revenue of $6.73 billion. The drop in earnings and revenue was widely expected. Which is why the stock closed up 0.18% today after the earnings. You’d have to say that the big hurt from Micron’s news–and especially from its report that it would cut total capital spending by 30% year over year and spending on wafer fab equipment by 50% year over year–fell on chip equipment makers.
September 29, 2022 | Daily JAM, NVDA, Top 50 Stocks |
My one-hundred-and-ninetieth YouTube video: “Quick Pick Nvidia” went up today. This week’s Quick Pick: Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). I believe Nvidia will be the dominant chip stock for the next decade–but the stock is struggling during this bear market and the shares were down 58% year-to-date as of September 26. The company has come out with a new line of chips, the GeForce RTX 4000 Series, which offers a 2-4x performance boost over the last generation chip. But in order to get that boost, early reviews indicate, a computer game has to use Nvidia’s DLSS software. Currently, almost no games use DLSS. So Nvidia finds itself in a build it and they will come situation. (“Build it, and they will come,” as James Earl Jones said in Field of Dreams.) Nvidia now awaits the uptake from companies that will be using this chip of the future. Because this product doesn’t “do anything” right now, Nvidia’s upcoming earnings on November 16 won’t reflect this new product. In the short-term, I look for the stock o sell off further on the earnings report. In other words, a better buying opportunity still awaits those who can be patient.
September 28, 2022 | Daily JAM, Jubak Picks, LLY |
Shares of Eli Lilly (LLY), a pick for my Jubak Pick’s Portfolio in a post yesterday, are up 8.89% today as of noon New York time, September 28, on news that an experimental Alzheimer’s drug from Biogen (BIIB) and Japan’s Eisai(ESALY) slowed cognitive and functional decline by 27 percent in a clinical trial. Today shares of Biogen are up 38.07% and shares of Eisai are up 62.6% on the news. Why the pop in Lilly? As I explained in my post yesterday, Lilly has its own Alzheimer’s drug in development and positive results out of Biogen/Eisai are thought to be a positive for that drug too.
September 26, 2022 | Daily JAM, PFE, Volatility |
This week’s Trend of the Week is “Drug Stocks Aren’t a Safe Haven Anymore.” Drug stocks seem to have lost their safe haven status. As of September 20, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) was down 4.6% in the last month, and Pfizer (PFE) was down 7.55%. Why? Investors who were looking for safe havens may have decided they don’t need them any longer if the volatility continues to not be as bad as expected on the downside. Or many analysts cut their estimates with the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act, which took steps toward drug price negotiations for Medicare and Medicaid. Or since drug stocks have been falling maybe they’re no longer a safe haven. (And yes, that’s circular logic.) Some of the ETF dips can be attributed to one stock: Moderna (down 12.46% in the last month) which is considered by much of the market as a one-trick pony–a Covid stock. However, I’m adding Moderna to the Jubak Picks Volatility Portfolio on September 27 because the company has a pipeline full of new vaccines based on the success of their Covid vaccines. Overall, drug stocks may not be the safe havens that they once were but there are still selective buys in the sector.
