More disruptions to the global chip supply chain-I’ll do some trimming in the sector tomorrow by selling ASML, LRCX, and IFNNY

More disruptions to the global chip supply chain-I’ll do some trimming in the sector tomorrow by selling ASML, LRCX, and IFNNY

Right now investors and traders are getting a crash course in how vulnerable global supply chains are to disruption–especially when they become really extended. And how a supply chain disruption can ripple out in unexpected directions thanks to the complexity of many key products.
First, the Pandemic took a hammer to the complicated logistical systems required to get Commodity A to Sub-assembler B in order to make Consumer good C that would show up for sale around the world. Just in time inventory, it turned out, didn’t work very well when nothing arrived on time. Second, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has–or at least it should have–reminded us that global supply chains can resemble Whack-A-Mole.

Stocks get more extended–and riskier–in some not so obvious ways

Stocks get more extended–and riskier–in some not so obvious ways

In my YouTube video posted today I dismissed (pretty much) my worry that this rally was getting narrower and therefore closer to a nasty end. Nvidia (NVDA), up 8.85% at the close ) I noted had dragged a few chip stocks with it after the company reported a significant earnings beat and increase in guidance yesterday. For the day Qualcomm (QCOM) was up 1.63% and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) ahead 1.86%. But stocks as a whole didn’t join in and some recent bellwether stocks actually retreated with Coca-Cola (KO) off 0.96%, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) down 1.87%, and Disney (DIS) lower by 1.11%. Not good. What you’d like to see as more stocks join in–the rally gets broader–as prices go up if you’re looking for evidence that a rally might continue for a while. But, I noted in my video, not all is lost. Big tech stocks, which have largely been left on the sidelines in the rally, were up strongly today wit Amazon (AMZN) gaining 3.78% and Apple (AAPL) higher by 3.05%. If this group starts to participate the rally would be likely to have another leg. However, that’s not my only worry about this rally. I’m seeing evidence that the gains being racked up by stocks such as Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Apple are based on increasing vague speculation about trends that are way, way off in the future.

Special Report: It’s a Market Melt Up!!! Ten stocks to buy; when to sell; and strategies for long term portfolios–today the first 4 picks

Special Report: It’s a Market Melt Up!!! Ten stocks to buy; when to sell; and strategies for long term portfolios–today the first 4 picks

Tolstoy was wrong when he wrote at the beginning of Anna Karenina that “All happy stock markets are alike; each unhappy market is unhappy in its own way.” (That’s what it says in the original Russian, I swear.) Truth is that all happy stock markets are different.
There are the long rallies from valuation bottoms that come after a disaster like the Global Financial Crisis and the Great Recession. There are the sharp quick explosive moves higher that come after the passing of a panic with less damage than expected like that after the Pandemic meltdown in the spring of 2020. And, among all the other happy markets, there are the market melt ups that come after a long bull market has already driven valuations to nose-bleed levels. Sometimes that melt up turns out to be the final blow out stage that comes before a big correction–but not always. And sometimes the melt up just drives stocks to a high where they stagnate while fundamentals catch up with prices. I believe we’re in the midst of a market melt up now. In this Special Report I’m going to outline the ways in which this “happy” market is different; give you advice on how to adapt this rally to your portfolio goals; and finally give you 10 picks for profiting from this melt-up.

More disruptions to the global chip supply chain-I’ll do some trimming in the sector tomorrow by selling ASML, LRCX, and IFNNY

50 Stocks Portfolio member TSM reports record quarterly revenue on 5G iPhone demand

Today, January 8, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), the worlds largest contract chipmaker, reported December sales that translate into record quarterly revenue with estimated sales in the quarter climbing to $12.9 billion (361.5 NT$). (The company reports its quarter on January 14.) The projections based on December revenue amount to a 25% increase in revenue in 2020 from 2019.

Notes You Need for June 30: Macao gaming stocks, FDA standards for approving a COVID-19 vaccine, AAL jobs, Nevada casinos, DNR misses interest payment, Airbus cuts jobs, Qualcomm wearable chips

In my daily trawling through the market I come upon lots of tidbits of knowledge that I think are important to investors but that don't justify a full post. I've decided to start compiling these notes here each day in a kind of running mini blog that I'm calling Notes...