Anybody Buying Yet? Where’s the Bottom?

[BigHornRam]

man... look at these sales!
View attachment 254487

This one is getting ready to auger into the hillside.


No sweat for Ernest 3 though, boomer daddy should have a couch to sleep on!

Carvana CEO’s Net Worth Skids But His Dad, Who Controls Company, Is Worth Nearly $3 Billion

Ernest Garcia II made billions of dollars by timing his Carvana stock sales to perfection. As the used car retailer careens towards bankruptcy, his controversial cashout looks smarter than ever.

www.forbes.com

 

[SAJ-99]

Interesting development on busting the monopoly side of mega companies.

"Big Tech appears to be in for a rude awakening as the Federal Trade Commission flexes its muscles under the leadership of Lina Khan. The antitrust enforcer has voted 3-1 to block Microsoft's (MSFT) $69B deal for game developer Activision Blizzard (ATVI), making waves across the industry. The decision is a clear sign that Khan and her team at the FTC will be more aggressive in cracking down on the biggest U.S. tech giants, who frequently grow their influence or fight off upcoming challengers via acquisition.

What are the concerns? Simply put, the FTC feels that the tie-up between Microsoft - the company behind Xbox - and one of the best known game developers could harm competition. Activision's Call of Duty and World of Warcraft are some of the most popular gaming franchises, and turning Microsoft into the No. 3 gaming company in the world could limit rivals' access to titles or raise prices for other gaming platforms. The FTC also said it would give the Xbox maker an unfair advantage in the new market for game subscriptions, as well as the emerging market for cloud gaming.

Microsoft has gone to great lengths in recent days and weeks to assuage the fears, like inking a deal to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo (OTCPK:NTDOY) for the next decade. A similar offer to Sony (SONY) on same-day access to the game on its PlayStation platform has so far been rebuffed, but the Xbox maker remains "committed to helping bring more games to more people - however they choose to play." Microsoft President Brad Smith has also been spotted in Washington, meeting with lawmakers to argue that the deal would "create more opportunities for gamers and game developers."

Go deeper: The U.S. is not the only jurisdiction where Microsoft might have to fight, as the transaction is also seeing in-depth reviews in Europe and the U.K. While the company initially took the concessions route, it now looks like it will be presenting its case in court. Prepare for a drawn-out battle that might include precedent of so-called vertical deals, whether withholding games from platforms would be profitable and whether Microsoft has made good on its past promises. The tech giant has also been in the antitrust spotlight before in a landmark DOJ suit from 1998, which saw Microsoft agree to modify some of its business practices."

Credit article:

Stock Picks, Stock Market Investing

seekingalpha.com

No sure how this plays out in a court, but I agree these tech companies can start to look like monopolies when they control an ecosystem. This is a rabbit hole I have tried to avoid around corporate and patent lawyers. I always feel like I understand it less than when I started.

 

[SAJ-99]

This one is getting ready to auger into the hillside.
View attachment 254492

No sweat for Ernest 3 though, boomer daddy should have a couch to sleep on!

Carvana CEO’s Net Worth Skids But His Dad, Who Controls Company, Is Worth Nearly $3 Billion

Ernest Garcia II made billions of dollars by timing his Carvana stock sales to perfection. As the used car retailer careens towards bankruptcy, his controversial cashout looks smarter than ever.

www.forbes.com

Shouldn't you be worrying about oil right about now?

 

[BigHornRam]

Shouldn't you be worrying about oil right about now?

Why worry? It's only money.

 

[mtmiller]

Should be able to zero out my sick leave by retirement date if I start taking 70 sick days a year.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Shouldn't you be worrying about oil right about now?

 

[SAJ-99]

View attachment 254510

It has held $70 today. Seems like it is getting close to bottoming. Should be about time for some "rumors" from OPEC. RBOB a touch over $2, back to where it was a year ago.

Energy trading like we are in a recession.
Bond trading like we heading toward a recession.
Equity markets trading like the future is bright.
Hmmmmm....

 

[Deleted member 28227]

It has held $70 today. Seems like it is getting close to bottoming. Should be about time for some "rumors" from OPEC. RBOB a touch over $2, back to where it was a year ago.

Energy trading like we are in a recession.
Bond trading like we heading toward a recession.
Equity markets trading like the future is bright.
Hmmmmm....

+ China Covid Policy
+ SPR is cut off
+ rig count decline

etc...

 

[X13]

I’ve never had any sick leave, my wife has never had any sick leave.

What you describe seems pretty anachronistic if I’m being honest, it’s more common among my peers to have unlimited PTO/Sick leave than any kind of accrual system.

I don’t know many people my age in Government so that likely skews my perspective.

I (31) have a government job with sick leave, my wife (28) does not. I get 5 weeks paid annual leave and about 2.5 weeks of sick leave per year. It accumulates over time with no max. You get paid out at retirement through a convoluted equation that equals +/- 50% of your accrued unused sick time. In 9 years, I have used 84 hours of sick leave. Most used was for bereavement leave, (funerals and whatnot) that comes out of sick time. A few more days were for the birth of my daughter (family sick leave). I think I have actually called in sick twice.

My wife gets 4 weeks paid annual leave, no sick option. She has to always be sure to either set aside 2-3 days a year to functionally use as sick days or any time missed is unpaid. Any unused time does not accumulate. In any extended period of absence we would have to rely on long term/short term disability insurance.

I already have accumulated over 800 hours (100 days) of sick leave. Even in my low paid line of work, it would not be out of the question for someone to get a check for $50k-100k at retirement for unused time.

Anachronistic? Yes. However in government work where salaries don't keep up with the private sector its a necessary evil to keep compensation competitive.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Anachronistic? Yes. However in government work where salaries don't keep up with the private sector its a necessary evil to keep compensation competitive.

100% plus and minus to every job, and to be clear I wasn't trying to make a value judgement more just reflecting current conditions in the work place.

 

[SAJ-99]

+ China Covid Policy
+ SPR is cut off
+ rig count decline

etc...

Only problem is the specs are very net long, or at least were as of last COT. Will know in a couple of hours how that changed over the last week.

 

[jryoung]

+ China Covid Policy
+ SPR is cut off
+ rig count decline

etc...

Why is there a decline in rig count? Is it globally, here in the US?

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Why is there a decline in rig count? Is it globally, here in the US?

Prices have dropped, and service costs have sky rocketed.

Drilling costs are up something like ~20% in the last 6 months. Everyone got laid off in 2020 when everything blew up, then prices spiked and supplies/labor was at a premium.

Essentially you made great money completing DUCs or flowing your wells, but your margins on new wells diminished. Now prices look a little sketchy with those costs + price of oil.

I can't speculate on where oil prices will go, but I think Rig costs will drop some.

 

[SAJ-99]

I (31) have a government job with sick leave, my wife (28) does not. I get 5 weeks paid annual leave and about 2.5 weeks of sick leave per year. It accumulates over time with no max. You get paid out at retirement through a convoluted equation that equals +/- 50% of your accrued unused sick time. In 9 years, I have used 84 hours of sick leave. Most used was for bereavement leave, (funerals and whatnot) that comes out of sick time. A few more days were for the birth of my daughter (family sick leave). I think I have actually called in sick twice.

My wife gets 4 weeks paid annual leave, no sick option. She has to always be sure to either set aside 2-3 days a year to functionally use as sick days or any time missed is unpaid. Any unused time does not accumulate. In any extended period of absence we would have to rely on long term/short term disability insurance.

I already have accumulated over 800 hours (100 days) of sick leave. Even in my low paid line of work, it would not be out of the question for someone to get a check for $50k-100k at retirement for unused time.

Anachronistic? Yes. However in government work where salaries don't keep up with the private sector it’s a necessary evil to keep compensation competitive.

Seems this guy has a different type of employees.

Kansas Olive Garden manager fired after posting time off rant: ‘If your dog died … prove it’

The manager for an Olive Garden location in Kansas has been fired after sending a rant to employees instituting strict policies for taking time off. The Kansas City-based CBS affiliate KCTV5 …

thehill.com

 

[thusby]

Seems this guy has a different type of employees.

Kansas Olive Garden manager fired after posting time off rant: ‘If your dog died … prove it’

The manager for an Olive Garden location in Kansas has been fired after sending a rant to employees instituting strict policies for taking time off. The Kansas City-based CBS affiliate KCTV5 …

thehill.com

Every time you give a crap in the service industry, you get canned. It’s like taxes or death.

 

[Nickman123]

I (31) have a government job with sick leave, my wife (28) does not. I get 5 weeks paid annual leave and about 2.5 weeks of sick leave per year. It accumulates over time with no max. You get paid out at retirement through a convoluted equation that equals +/- 50% of your accrued unused sick time. In 9 years, I have used 84 hours of sick leave. Most used was for bereavement leave, (funerals and whatnot) that comes out of sick time. A few more days were for the birth of my daughter (family sick leave). I think I have actually called in sick twice.

My wife gets 4 weeks paid annual leave, no sick option. She has to always be sure to either set aside 2-3 days a year to functionally use as sick days or any time missed is unpaid. Any unused time does not accumulate. In any extended period of absence we would have to rely on long term/short term disability insurance.

I already have accumulated over 800 hours (100 days) of sick leave. Even in my low paid line of work, it would not be out of the question for someone to get a check for $50k-100k at retirement for unused time.

Anachronistic? Yes. However in government work where salaries don't keep up with the private sector its a necessary evil to keep compensation competitive.

So you get the 5 weeks and the 2.5 weeks? For a total of 7.5 weeks paid time off each year? That is almost 2 months of paid time off. To put it another way, that is pretty much one day off for every 5 days worked. Full medical too probably? Maybe for your whole family? And a guaranteed pension? Only the government and mega corporations can afford that. For most people in the real world, your wife's 4 weeks seems pretty reasonable

 

[X13]

So you get the 5 weeks and the 2.5 weeks? For a total of 7.5 weeks paid time off each year? That is almost 2 months of paid time off. To put it another way, that is pretty much one day off for every 5 days worked. Full medical too probably? Maybe for your whole family? And a guaranteed pension? Only the government and mega corporations can afford that. For most people in the real world, your wife's 4 weeks seems pretty reasonable

It'll be up to 8 weeks of vacation time per year by the time I hit retirement age... Seems like you got a little salty and missed the whole point and context of my post.

I was responding to @wllm saying that he didn't know anyone his age in government work and their thoughts on sick time. I provided all that information to convey that sick time in government work is a part of the overall compensation package. The pension and health care go along with that as well. It's all a part of what makes up for the pay that's often significantly less that what would be offered in the "the real world" (as you so elegantly put it).

In my opinion, government sick time is multi-purpose: short term paid leave for acute illness, banked longterm for critical illness, and if you never use it then you get a big paycheck when you retire. I don't know anyone that abuses their sick leave but I do know guys that got cancer, broken bones, surgery, etc that really appreciated the ability to use their careers worth of sick leave to take months off work to recover and still be able to pay their bills and feed their families.

When the job's starting salary is poverty level, compensation needs to come from somewhere or no one will do it...

 

[jabber]

New public offering. Company makes a good product. I bought a couple of their 100 amp batteries about a half year ago. After initial first day hype, the stock has been tanking. Not sure how to price the value of something like this? I put it on the watch list, and will do some more research to see where it becomes a good investment opportunity.

DFLI Stock Alert: What to Know as Battery Maker Dragonfly Energy Starts Trading

Dragonfly Energy (DFLI) stock is catching the interest of traders on Tuesday after the company's shares went public yesterday.

investorplace.com

Bought some of this a couple of months ago at $7.50 sold half today at $15. Need a lot more of this type of action

 

[BigHornRam]

Bought some of this a couple of months ago at $7.50 sold half today at $15. Need a lot more of this type of action

I put a buy order at $7.50 a while back and it never filled. Been watching it go up ever since. Good trade for you!

 

[westbranch]

So you get the 5 weeks and the 2.5 weeks? For a total of 7.5 weeks paid time off each year? That is almost 2 months of paid time off. To put it another way, that is pretty much one day off for every 5 days worked. Full medical too probably? Maybe for your whole family? And a guaranteed pension? Only the government and mega corporations can afford that. For most people in the real world, your wife's 4 weeks seems pretty reasonable

I have pretty much 2 months PTO at a small private company. The way I view it, I could have zero days of paid time off but they would have to pay me the same $$ to work 10 months of the year. Its all a give and take, I have friends on the same career path that work for large corporations have salaries 75-100% more than me at this point in their careers. But they don't spend as much time outside as me.