Stuff

Wirecard reverberations.

Apple going fully ARM-based and fabricating its own chips, dumping Intel. My feelings are that it sees PCs as a segment it wants to get out of, so if the switch doesn’t work, it doesn’t really matter because the segment makes a very minor contribution to the bottom line anyway. If it does work, Tim Apple will be hailed as a genius (again), this time for breaking free of nasty big-tech Intel (even though $AAPL itself is the most predatory of the lot, and has much more pricing power over its customers, who are consumers, than Intel does).

GNC goes bust (vitamin supplement shops).

Lots of countries relaxing lockdown, including the UK.

Stocks generally up a bit on end of lockdown news, but should we sell on the news?

Heard a podcast yesterday where Brad Dunkley was arguing that everyone is so smart nowadays that it’s impossible for an ordinary investor to profit from a fraud: it’s all in the price, so you actually should buy stocks you think are frauds. Well, it sort of makes sense, and it would have worked recently. The guy sounded very smart but pleasant: not at all arrogant. He can’t spell “(coal) seam” though! He had some very nice anecdotes about baseball card collecting.

SPACs are getting a lot of attention of late. This spreadsheet gives a list. They are basically dry powder set up as an acquisition vehicle for the next unicorn. Invest at your peril! (TBH, I know next to nothing about these, and if their target fails, presumably you get your money back so do your own research!)

Markets

Indexes seem to be drifting lower. It might be worth buying an OOM put. Just a cheap one … maybe noe: if I’ve learned anything, it’s to not try to go against the trend, even if the trend it totally irrational.

Gold has been a pretty solid performer lately. The barbarous relic is holding its own!

Some EU stocks are selling on a very heavy yield now. Value has been beaten down. Maybe it’s worth buying?

Wrap

Nothing much to note.