You don’t go to Key West to golf, but, if you’re in Key West and want to, then you’re in for a treat. There’s a great 18-hole, southernmost course just outside of Old Town KW. It’s just far enough to enjoy your chocolate croissant and con leche or to split a cuban mix from 5 Brothers on your drive. Now being a public/private course and the only one, it gets a lot of play. Tee times are required and if you’re a twosome you’ll soon be paired up into a foursome whether you like it or not. “Don’t worry,” I said to my son Owen between bites. “Meeting other golfers is like meeting other skiers. … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2020
Time to Cut Trading Ties with China
The WSJ outlines below how Chinese President Xi is forcing more state control of Chinese businesses. This is being done today under the auspices of helping the party, but having more state-owned enterprises or quasi-state controlled enterprises does not create a level playing field. China doesn’t view business the same way Western firms do. The private sector and the public sector are partners in China. No profit-motivated Western business lacking the implicit backing of its national government can compete with Chinese businesses that get or will get that kind of support. It’s time … [Read more...]
Elon Musk: When I Spend too Much Time in the Conference Room
Here Elon Musk talks about what happens when he spends more time in the conference room than on the factory floor. Musk recently announced his move to Texas from California. He's not alone. Originally posted on Your Survival Guy. … [Read more...]
Why Silicon Valley is Moving to Texas
You read here yesterday that tech billionaire Elon Musk has moved to Texas, but he's not the only one making the break from California for the Lone Star State. Nearly 700,000 Californians have moved to Texas over the last ten years. Now, the company that laid the cornerstones of Silicon Valley's tech dominance, Hewlett Packard, is moving there too. Fox News reports: The San Jose, California-based tech company disclosed the move in an SEC filing. “HPE has made the decision to relocate its headquarters from San Jose, California, to Houston, Texas. HPE’s largest U.S. employment hub, Houston … [Read more...]
This Lithium Battery Start-up is Growing Fast
In Barron's, Al Root reports on QuantumScape, a lithium battery start-up that has helped push the industry's valuation to new highs. He writes: The lithium-battery industry is now more valuable than Exxon Mobil, which pioneered the technology back in the 1970s. The valuation of QuantumScape (ticker: QS) pushed the battery makers over the top. Its stock is up more than 300% over the past three months, valuing the start-up maker of solid-state electric-vehicle batteries at more than $30 billion. Exxon (XOM) stock has staged a comeback from earlier in the year, with a gain of about 12% … [Read more...]
Even Elon Musk, Tech Billionaire, is Looking for a Better America
You're not the only one thinking about packing up your business and heading for a low-tax state where politicians treat you like their employer rather than their piggy bank. The billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk has moved to Texas. Heather Somerville reports for The Wall Street Journal: Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk said he has moved to Texas, taking aim at Silicon Valley and becoming one of the highest-profile executives yet to leave California during the coronavirus pandemic. He said relocating made sense with Tesla’s new factory being built in Texas. He lamented that … [Read more...]
Starbucks Taking Market Share
Sadly, the casualties among businesses during the pandemic have been small businesses. Small coffee shops have not been spared. The beneficiaries of this ugly reality are big businesses. Starbucks is taking market share from mom and pop coffee shops that are closing their doors. Starbucks shares are trading at record highs. Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson and Alistair Gray report in the Financial Times: If housebound consumers have discovered how much they can save by skipping their morning lattes, nobody told Starbucks’ chief executive. The global pandemic will only briefly interrupt … [Read more...]
If You Can, Tell Retirement “Not Yet”
Not many industries have been devastated by COVID-19 like the airline industry. Airlines are firing personnel, including highly skilled pilots, and asking others to go into early retirement. Many older pilots, for myriad reasons, are resisting retirement. The Wall Street Journal tells the story of Garry Krasnov, who would like to tell retirement "not yet," but in the end made the gut-wrenching decision to take an early retirement offer from Delta Air Lines. With a vaccine approved in the U.K. and more approvals expected, airlines are hoping travel will begin its recovery later next year once … [Read more...]
The Pipeline Company Advantage You Don’t Often Hear About
Pipeline companies have an advantage that you don't always hear about. It starts with the high barriers to entry for building pipelines. If new companies can't get permits to build additional pipelines, the value of existing pipelines, and the companies that own them, increase. Lack of permitting is a supply shortage created by the government. Here's the part you don't normally hear about. Democrats like Joe Biden prefer to give far fewer permits for pipelines. Who does that help? It helps pipeline companies with existing capacity while hurting new entrants. The Wall Street Journal's Jinjoo … [Read more...]
A FAST Way to Lose SLOW Money
You read in these pages (read here, here, here, here, and here for starters) how you can end up paying twice for investments. The first charge is the mutual fund or ETF expenses like the expense ratio (and god forbid 12b-1 fees and other loads). Then there is the fee investors pay to their advisers. All in all, it can add up to more than two percent a year. It’s like ordering a Happy Meal and paying the guy in front of you to place your order. You can do better than that. Now, many advisers are taking their clients' money to invest in "model portfolios." Dawn Lim reports for The Wall … [Read more...]