The StockDr & Team discuss smartphone surveillance threats, inflation, AMZN, & whether or not to buy the dip on COIN.

Inflation is at the hottest level in 13 years. Energy prices accounted for much of inflation increase for the month, with the broad index up 2% and gasoline prices rising 2.8%. Food prices also were up 0.4%. Energy is up 25% from a year ago and gasoline has surged 42% during the period.

Apple had its annual meeting today as they introduced a slew of new products…It was called “California Streaming.” How does the stock perform in anticipation of this event and afterwards? Apple typically outperforms coming into these events compared to after. This just reinforces buy at the funeral sell at the wedding. This year the same trend seems to be playing out. Apple is up 14% over the last three months, more than the S&P 500′s 1% gain over the same period.

The Millennial Moment presented by our Mega-llennial, Nikki Ward broke down a spyware known as Pegasus.

Stop & Update your iPhone immediately. Pegasus, used a novel method to invisibly infect Apple devices without victims’ knowledge. Known as a “zero click remote exploit ,” it is considered the Holy Grail of surveillance because it allows governments, mercenaries and criminals to secretly break into someone’s device without tipping the victim off.

Apple has issued emergency software updates for a critical vulnerability after researchers uncovered a flaw that allowed highly invasive spyware from Israel’s NSO Group to infect users products without so much as a click.

NSO Group is a company that licenses surveillance software to government agencies. Pegasus is NSO’s best-known product, it runs secretly on smartphones, shedding light on what their owners are doing. It can be installed remotely without a surveillance target ever having to open a document or website link and reportedly is capable of stealing data, passwords, and activating a phone’s microphone or camera.

AMZN & COIN:

Evercore research firm puts a big target increase on Amazon stock. It’s been estimated that Amazon Prime same day delivery currently serves 50% of the U.S. population. The new distribution facilities should allow Amazon to significantly expand the number of Prime members who can get same-day delivery, which should lead to more purchases and increased customer loyalty.

A report from an analyst at Piper Sandler said to buy the dip on COIN. He sees a rise of 40% from current levels. Shares in Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the U.S., have declined more than 26% since it went public in April. While crypto’s have been down over the past few weeks so has COIN. However, here’s where it gets interesting. COIN has had an 86% correlation to the price of BTC since going public.

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The StockDr & Team discuss Bitcoin, Auto Production Issues, and Recent Market Stats.

The S&P 500 has doubled since the Pandemic March low which is the fastest bull market double off a bottom since WWII.

Interesting Stats: Charles Schwab says their average portfolio has 12 holdings. Average balances for each generation; Baby boomer $532K, Gen X $306K, Millennials $103K Compared to the average account size at Robin Hood where the median customer has a $240 balance in their account, the average is about $5,000

Looking to purchase a new car? Well, you might to have to wait. A global chip shortage has had major impacts on automakers production. The shortage has been exacerbated by the move to EV’s. For example, a Ford Focus typically uses roughly 300 chips, whereas one of the electric vehicles can have up to 3,000 chips.

Now, with shortages in raw materials such as, lithium, plastics, and steel to contend with car prices and production time will only continue to increase. Porsche said car deliveries could take up to 6 months.

Ford and VW are struggling to deal with the global chip problem. VW, Europe’s largest carmaker has lost market share in China because of the chip shortage. Malaysia, where many of Volkswagen’s suppliers are based, has recently been hit hard by the coronavirus leading to several factory shutdowns.

The Millennial Moment presented by our Mega-llennial, Nikki Ward explained Bukele’s Bitcoin Bust. El Salvador became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender allowing Salvadorans to use bitcoin to buy a cup of coffee, pay taxes, or even order off McDonalds dollar menu.

As part of the new law, businesses will be required to accept bitcoin for goods and services, though merchants who aren’t technologically able to accept bitcoin will be exempt.

In the run-up to the launch, the government installed bitcoin ATMs around El Salvador.

The launch got off to a bumpy start in the early hours of the rollout, as the government took its bitcoin e-wallet offline because of technical glitches. Chivo, is the government-run e-wallet that can be used for purchases in bitcoin or U.S. dollars. It's said to lower commission costs for money sent from abroad, but critics warn may fuel money laundering. 

El Salvador bought 400 bitcoins, worth about $20 million and is preloading government-run bitcoin wallets with $30 worth of bitcoin for Salvadorans who register.  BTC’s value fell as much as 17% on Tuesday, leading the El Salvador government to buy an additional 150 bitcoins.

The stakes are high for an indebted country of 6.5 million. Economists say that bitcoin’s sharp fluctuations risk denting the tax revenue and foreign currency reserves of a government that has neither the policy tools nor the financial firepower to contain a speculative attack. There are security risks because the funds held in the Chivo wallet are controlled by the government on behalf of its citizens. Such fund centralization risks attracting hackers.

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The StockDr & Team discuss Tech, Space Travel, and LTSE.

Apple rallied to another all-time high based on the news that the next iPhone will have the ability to utilize satellite communications.

Fintech giant PYPL is exploring the option to let users trade individual stocks. The company hired a brokerage industry veteran to lead the “Invest at PayPal” division.

Did PayPal get this thought bubble from seeing the success with Robinhood and Sofi, and trying to take some of the market share? Last year they rolled out the ability to trade crypto. Now with this new trading option, they appear to be trying to keep up with the competition.

Square currently offers a trading platform through the Square Cash App.

Warren Buffet turned 91 on Monday, but it looks like this old dog is learning new tricks. For years, Mr. Buffett has stayed away from tech stocks until he bought AAPL in 2016. Apple now represents 45% of his portfolio and worth over $120 billion.

Brokerage firm Jeffries began coverage on Virgin Galactic (SPCE) with a buy rating this week, saying SPCE can tap into an estimated $120 billion market for space travel.

They continue to say their business model is simple; more customers + more spaceships to meet demand drives top line growth. Jeffries did a survey of 233 people with a net worth of over $1 million.

A third of the respondents said they were interested in going to space, with 20% willing to spend over 5% of their net worth to do so. Keep in mind Virgin’s price point starts at $450K per person. They believe there 250,000 people out there with the interest and the means to do it. They currently have backlog of 600 reservations.

The Millennial Moment presented by our Mega-llennial, Nikki Ward introduced LTSE, The Long-Term Stock Exchange, hatched out of Silicon Valley, based on the concept to encourage long-term thinking over short-term gains, and backed by investors who opt in to take a similar long-term view.

The LTSE is for companies that seek to increase impact with employees, customers, like-minded investors, and society at large. The exchange wants to promote transparency and commitment to policies and practices that support the environment, social responsibility, and good governance.

Companies on the exchange will be required to issue quarterly reports but they also must agree to abide by the listing standards like, the requirement to publish information on strategic planning and to align executive and board compensation with performance. This is unlike traditional exchanges who often focus on delivering results which often hurts their ability to execute long-term strategies

First Trust economists have moved their S&P 500 year end target to 5000 from 4500. They’re known as perma-bulls and have been right. They state outstanding earning growth of 9.2% in Q2 sequentially and up 15.8% from the pre-covid peak in late 2019.

The risks of course are 1) a US lockdown which they don’t believe will happen. 2) The Fed could raise rates more quickly. 3) President Biden and the Democratic Party could push through major tax hikes.

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The StockDr & Team are back this week to discuss the top stock on Robinhood's leaderboard, Dogecoin, and Chinese tech stocks. 

This week’s meeting of the minds was brought to you by the Siler Wealth Management Team.

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The StockDr & Team travel directly into the destruction Tesla and Spirit Airlines have caused this week. 

TSLA tanked as the National Highway Safety Administration opened a formal investigation into TSLA’s autopilot system or traffic awareness cruise. NHTSA identified 11 incidents of Tesla’s on Autopilot have hit vehicles at scenes where first responders have used flashing lights, flares, an illuminated arrow board, or cones warning of hazards.

Spirit Airlines (SAVE) cancelled more than 2800 flights between July 30 and Aug 9. The airlines blamed the disruption on bad weather, staffing shortages and technical problems. This massive disruption cost the company about $50 mil in revenue.

The company says they’re making “tactical schedule reductions” for the rest of the Q3 to soften the blow of staffing shortfalls. CEO Ted Christie is offering an apology on behalf of their entire leadership team.

Between the cancellations and “tactical changes” this will impact the company to the tune of $80-100 million in negative revs for Q3.

“Big Short” investor Michael Burry is betting against Cathie Wood’s flagship ARK fund (ARKK). Burry’s Scion Asset Management bought 2,355 put contracts against the ARKK in Q2 and is holding on. The ARKK had a pretty good Q2 performance up 9% but down 10% so far in Q3.

Cathie Wood then called out Michael Burry on Social Media after he bet against the ARKK. “To his credit, Michael Burry made a great call based on fundamentals and recognized the calamity brewing in the housing/mortgage market. I do not believe that he understands the fundamentals that are creating explosive growth and investment opportunities in the innovation space.”

The Millennial Moment presented by our Mega-llennial, Nikki Ward discussed another Crypto Hacker story involving PolyNetwork, a cryptocurrency platform targeted in a massive heist last week, which saw the hacker, or hackers, make off with more than $600m worth of tokens.

A hacker, who is referenced as “Mr. White Hat,” exploited a flaw in PolyNetwork’s code which allowed them to transfer the assets to their own crypto wallets. The hacker has returned most of the money, except $200 million of funds which are currently locked in an account that requires passwords from PolyNetwork and the hacker to gain access. PN is pleading with the hacker to provide the private key needed to retrieve the money.

“Mr. White Hat” is a reference to ethical hackers who search for vulnerabilities in organizations’ systems that could expose them to attacks. Security researchers have questioned the labeling of the Poly Network attacker as a white hat hacker.

The group said its promise to reward “Mr. White Hat” with a $500,000 bounty still stands, and even invited the hacker to become its “chief security advisor.” PolyNetwork said it “has no intention of holding Mr. White Hat legally responsible” for the hack.

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The StockDr & Team are joined by crypto guru, Jesse Markowitz owner of Your Personal Crypto Assistant.

Do you think Bitcoin will hit $200K by 2022? The Team places their predictions for where the stocks future price will be. 

This week’s meeting of the minds was brought to you by the Siler Wealth Management Team.

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The StockDr & Team are joined by special guest, Jesse Markowitz owner of Your Personal Crypto Assistant. This is not a joke, the StockDr is going to talk about Cryptocurrency. Instead of rolling his eyes, putting his fingers in his ears, and singing “lalalalala,” like a kid who is about to be told “no”, the StockDr sits across the sound board from a cryptocurrency consultant to ask the question we are all wondering, “How is the wealth made”?

Crypto consultant, Jesse Markowitz answers the biggest questions about the “social media investor” craze.

History of August in the Stock Market:

This week so far, we have seen the markets reverse higher. The market has been up 8 out of the last 9 months so a pullback at this point won’t come as a surprise. Although the 3 major averages are still in strong uptrends.

August isn’t the best performing month for the Stock Market. It is the third worst performing Months of the year. Additionally, the fact that July was a strong month notching 7 new highs, could make it a tough set up for August. History shows that it becomes more difficult for stocks to rise in August if the market cruises at record highs in July.

Since 1950 the S&P 500 has averaged -1.3% in August after reaching at least one record high in July. And the S&P 500has never risen in August after making 7 or more record highs in July.

Our Top 10 Holdings going into the Month of August at Siler Wealth Management

1) AAPL 2) AMZN 3) TSLA 4)  SQ 5) NVDA 6) CSX 7) DIS 8) NIO 9) GILD 10) PYPL

This week’s meeting of the minds was brought to you by the Siler Wealth Management Team.

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The StockDr & Team deliver an action packed episode featuring Big Tech, Earnings, Robinhood IPO, and more crackdowns in China. Fasten your seatbelts, turn the radio up, and get ready for a wild week in the Market.

Earnings Results: Big Tech, Big Bucks

China may be performing well in the Olympics, but the government certainly doesn’t want their own companies winning any medals.  Reuters reported that China is barring for-profit tutoring platforms on core school subjects. The country has also introduced time caps and tutoring curfews, and notably, forbade the platforms from raising capital through IPOs as well as advertising their programs.

Robinhood will start trading tomorrow under the ticker symbol (HOOD). Pricing somewhere between $38-42 with up to 1/3 of its shares going to Robinhood users. The company is offering IPOs at offering price to their customers as part of their mission to make markets accessible. From 2016-2021 half of the new brokerage accounts were opened at Robinhood. They made $522 million in Q1. They currently have 22.5 million accounts and $102 billion in assets.

The Millennial Moment presented by our Mega-llennial, Nikki Ward discussed relocation incentives for remote workers. Can you think of a great fix for towns with a declining population or economy? Someone sure did, more than 40 towns across the U.S. are offering relocation incentives for remote workers. Incentives include anywhere from $2,000 to $20K in cash payments or housing assistance, plus perks like park passes & camping equipment to sweeten the deal.

Is the housing boom over? New home sales come in below expectations, down 6.6%. After a year of frenzied buying and price gains in the double digits, newly built homes are now out of reach for much of the demand that remains in the market. Most of the homebuying is on the higher end of the market & builders can’t afford to put up affordable homes due to skyrocketing construction cost. Nationally, home prices were 16.6% higher than in May 2020, the highest reading in the S&P.

This week’s meeting of the minds was brought to you by the Siler Wealth Management Team.

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The StockDr & Team are back to deliver your weekly dose of market commentary. Is it ethical for a university to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for students and employees? Netflix continues to underperform, and Carnival Cruise Line announced a new company update. 

The Millennial Moment presented by our Mega-llennial, Nikki Ward tackles another cryptocurrency headline that hit the screens this week. A mother-son duo who allegedly swindled investors out of $12 million using an “AI Supercomputer” concept.

The SEC has moved to shut down what it says is a Ponzi scheme run by a mother and son team out of Las Vegas, who allegedly walked off with more than $12 million after using social media promotors to entice at least 277 investors to invest in their company on the idea that they had developed a fool-proof, stock-picking supercomputer.

Joy & Brent Kovar are accused of luring people to invest in their company’s technological capabilities, Profit Connect Wealth Services, Inc., encouraging them to tap into their retirement funds and pull equity out of their homes. The company, in return, guaranteed annual returns of up to 30% plus monthly compounding interest the right to withdraw their funds, penalty-free at any time, and with no fees. 

Investigators say the Kovar's never engaged in any kind of investing activity and allegedly used the money instead to finance their lifestyles, buying homes and cars and paying off large credit card bills. In all, investigators say Joy Kovar transferred some $1.2 million to her own personal accounts and spent another $1.7 million on items for herself. It specifically targeted people looking to build up college funds for their children

- Indiana University can require its roughly 90,000 students and 40,000 employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19 under a federal judge’s ruling that might be the first of its kind regarding college immunization mandates. Similar lawsuits have been filed in federal courts in Connecticut and California

- CCL announced plans to resume guest cruises with 75% of its total fleet capacity by year’s end, despite concerns about the spread of the more infectious Delta COVID variant. The company will resume operations with 54 ships across eight of its nine brands.

- NFLX, despite beating earnings projections nearly 80% of the time, Netflix has often missed sales expectations for the quarter and averages a loss 6.1% in the day following the print, according to 19 years of data from Bespoke Investment Group. The company has also raised guidance in just 11% of its second-quarter reports.

This week’s meeting of the minds was brought to you by the Siler Wealth Management Team.

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Special guest, Ron Insana joins the StockDr & team this week. 

This week’s meeting of the minds was brought to you by the Team @ Siler Wealth Management

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