LC

You can wade through the BAC thread but I think there is a more concise thread in the Strategies section, but I am having a hard time locating it. Best bet would be to check Eric's post history and try to narrow down where it was discussed.

As bizaro said I think the most effective method (for tax purposes IIRC) is to purchase stock on margin and protection via puts. The most important thing is to do a solid analysis up front taking into account all scenarios and tax situations, and see how the P&L behaves

I think it was easier to build wealth in the 80s/90s. Lower debt levels for the average young person and better market returns. The S&P 500 averaged like 18% or so from 1981-1999. That’s a good point as well!

I hit the mark about two years ago before I bought the houses...but I'd guess it isn't the same as it was growing up in the 80s/90s. Now, you can get a useful degree and go consult for 5 years, save your cash and you're 90% of the ways there. Which is a good thing!

Bought some VZ

Just some new technology to keep in the back of your mind: https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/green-material-for-refrigeration-identified

I'll be grumpy again, but I find Star Wars being milked to extinction. There's too much mediocre to crappy SW content especially if you also account for all the games. I'd say the same about Marvel superheroes properties. There has been a super wave of superhero movies and huge monetization of these, but IMO it's getting very saturated and overproduced. Remember how superhero movies were in deep craphole in 90s? Nothing says we can't see this again. There's something to be said about past Disney approach when they released a movie and then the movie was pulled from distribution for 15 years or so until new generation came. You wanted to see "The Lion King" five years after release? Tough luck, wait another 10 years. This is clearly impossible in the current day, but it was a smart approach. I think you make fair points but I'd argue there is really no better home for story franchises.

Couldn't find a topic on this one so here goes: Waste Management said on Monday it would buy smaller rival Advanced Disposal Services for about $3 billion, as the top waste management services provider looks to expand its footprint in the eastern United States. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/15/waste-management-set-to-buy-advanced-disposal-for-2point9-billion-wsj.html

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/black-hole-first-picture-event-horizon-telescope A world-spanning network of telescopes called the Event Horizon Telescope zoomed in on the supermassive monster in the galaxy M87 to create this first-ever picture of a black hole. Some more tidbits: A picture of Katie Bouman, who led the development of the algorithm which made it possible to capture the image of a black hole, at the moment when the first black hole image was processed. https://preview.redd.it/7fhncejghhr21.jpg?width=772&auto=webp&s=7129bbfe28b1ba023b901d9fd7c856b52a3fb40a And here she is giving a TED talk in 2017 about how to take a picture of a black hole: Pretty incredible!

I really appreciated the sardonic wit in mjohn707's second paragraph ;D ;D

Give yourself a long enough leash to make mistakes. Do not try to limit your mistakes - this is how you learn. And eventually the market will “educate” you.

I'd say put the majority in an index fund as you're doing and take 5% or so to invest yourself. Read all those value investing books, value a bunch of companies "blindly" i.e. without looking at the market price, lose some money and understand the emotional highs and lows of changing portfolio market prices...over time you'll get smarter and more experienced...you'll know when you feel comfortable shifting more out of index funds and into personal stock selections.

List of committees and members. Subcommittees are provided as well under each committee. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/committees/

Hi folks, just wanted to start a topic on the use of HSA accounts as essentially an IRA account with bonus optionality. Here's a decent overview of the use case: https://www.madfientist.com/ultimate-retirement-account/ Benefits: -Pre-tax contributions reduce taxable income and are not subject to FICA taxes (SSA, Medicare) -Tax-free withdrawals for any qualified medical expenses incurred after the date you open the HSA acct -Account is essentially treated as a traditional IRA after 65 years of age -Many times employers are matching or providing these contributions Cons: -Fees are murky -HSAs accompany high-deductible insurance plans -The hassle of saving copies of all your medical expenses Not a bad way to manage a few thousand annually.

As usual, we do not deserve Sanjeev ;D ;D

https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/03/21/fox-layoffs-begin-following-disney-merger-4000-jobs-expected-to-be-cut

I disagree pretty strongly on ESPN being a bad purchase. You are right and I take it back - I was unclear. It was a very good purchase for reasons over the history of Disney ownership, for reasons you mention. My (very admittedly unclear) meaning was it is not the cash cow it was 10 years ago.

To be fair, Disney managed to double net margins from 2011-2018, from ~11% to ~21%. Comcast went from 9% to 12% over the same timeframe. I'd take that as a sign that while management admittedly failed on the top line (namely ESPN and the factors I mentioned above), they did good work on the bottom line.

Bought DIS.

I think they had problems on the transition of media consumption: -ESPN has very much under-performed as people move away from sports TV. All the major sports networks offer subscription services, and online viewership is growing. IMHO this was a bad purchase. -Similarly they have not been able to leverage their assets as effectively via TV broadcasting, again as consumers move from TV to streaming subscriptions. I think their Disney+ service will probably need to be financially supported for a year or so (akin to Hulu's launch). But I think on the balance of probabilities, it will be the way forward for DIS. All in all, they are great content producers but have been slow to keep pace with distribution changes. I will probably pick up some shares today on weakness as Spek mentioned.

Rest in peace.

Traditional fiberglass insulation is about $1/sqft - and you get R30 values with about 10 inches of insulation. Spaceloft provides R30 with 3 inches of insulation - but costs $20/sqft buying it used from ebay (which I'm sure most real builders do not really do) http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemDescV4&item=380906349501&category=63894&pm=1&ds=0&t=1525955152000&ver=0 Now, I take your point on certain situations where 7 inches of wallspace is truly at a premium. Here is a skeptical review I found: https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/question/spaceloft-my-only-option So just a disclaimer I think that review was 4-5 years old, there is currently a datasheet out for the product and I am not inclined to doubt the company's claims. I think it's a good product at a bad price. IMHO if they can make this cost-competitive with traditional fiberglass batts (or at least in the ballpark) - you have a chance at a real winner. Also, the industry is littered with high-price, high-performance materials. Take a look at the zillions of concrete alternatives (bio-concrete, polypropylene concrete, etc.) for a glimpse. A lot of these don't take off because the traditional product gets you 90% of the way there for 90% less $$. As a homeowner who wants to re-do some insulation, I'd love to get my hands on it at a reasonable price. But at 20x the cost of rolling fiberglass, it's just not worth it.

Thanks for the writeup. Couple of additions (from an old article so this may be outdated) https://www.cnet.com/news/high-tech-aerogels-wrap-homes-with-insulation/ 1- There are other companies with similar technologies/products Material company Cabot has also developed its Nanogel insulator for buildings. Another company, ThermaBlok, has had its insulation used in demonstration houses built during last year's Solar Decathlon home competition, where energy efficiency was a high priority. 2- For building insulation: Does that mean you should consider hanging aerogel blankets on your walls, floors, or attic to boost insulation? Not necessarily. The higher upfront still cost means that it's best suited for buildings with walls that don't have a cavity--typically formed by wood framing--that can be filled, said Blair. 3- A concern is to how revenue has dropped over the past 3 years.

I'm single & was paying for drinks at the FloraBama last night. I feel a lot more sane today. That is all. ;D water and advil, my friend ;D ;D

The amount of brain damage that single payer system would save US citizens alone makes it worth it. ;D