[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

Talk about a rally with some stocks today 

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

Im surprised with all of the news the last few days the DOW has not dropped? Anyone else surprised or just me? 

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

I see that the DOW has recovered a little bit today with the oil price stabilizing somewhat, but i am guessing this is very short term?  I can imagine that a lot of cities in the Gulf Coast will be going bankrupt soon.??

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

A2--- Would you mind sharing some of your thoughts behind that...just curious!  Thank you!  Do you think the perfect storm is brewing. 

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

Just now, A2. said:

Today is a baby step. The days ahead will make you really understand what I’m speaking of. Prepare 

Funny enough i was preparing to buy tmrw or Thursday.  I am going to hold off and wait it and see how it plays out.  

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

13 minutes ago, A2. said:

Brace for impact! Market about to crash again ! Good day fellow UPers

What are we down so far since open, 2-3%? 

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

26 minutes ago, tarhoosier said:

Stairs are the critical part. Take your time. Measure three times. Draw the scheme of the stairs in several views. Measure again. Take it from someone who had to rebuild his deck stairs because of insufficient planning/reading/visualization. Preparing the landing spot is also important.

 

Yep, well said!  So we initially ordered step stringer replacements but realized they were too short, so we are going to cut them out of board today and make some custom ones to replicate the old ones.  I will post some pics once they are done in case anyone is interested to see.  Thanks Tar 

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

10 minutes ago, kermit said:

^Looks square and great spacing. Excellent work!

(a coat or two of waterproofing sometime in the next 12 months will feel incredibly very worthwhile when you are looking at your deck in 2030)

Thanks Kermit!  Looking back at the pictures, they make the railing look a bit distorted too...its much more square in person.  I am planning to let it dry for a few weeks and then stain it all.  

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

Has anyone worked on any new projects or learned any skills? 

I am working on rebuilding the back deck.  I started about two weeks ago with dismantling the old one, which was a beotch.  Here are some progress pics.  I have the steps to do, one small fence door and then staining..finishing work etc.  It's not perfect but it's turning out decent, This is my first time building a deck.  Thanks

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

5 minutes ago, kermit said:

Related to the WFH question. My household currently has three people in it who need to frequently attend online meetings. It is currently impossible to be anywhere in my normal-sized house to be where I can’t hear one or more people talking. It is a freaking nightmare.

It will be very expensive for low-middle income people to retrofit their homes so that more than one person can WFH at a time.

I feel for you there Kermit!  Not surprising considering that most American homes are pretty much made of paper and sticks.  

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

Also, can anyone breakdown the shift of wealth mentioned earlier for me?  

So the $1200 relief looks good on paper but in reality is terrible for the middle class? 

Also....i guess i sold my house on time.  I was planning to sell my home sometime this year regardless of this happening, i ended up selling it in January.  

Thanks! 

2 minutes ago, joenc said:

Open plan offices are great for spreading the flu and covid19, if they becomes less popular, it will result in less employee density and more sq footage needed for physical offices.

I hated the last office i was in, which was an open office plan with the higher ups having offices surrounding the open layout.   We were all in clusters of around 7-8 people.  

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

1 hour ago, A2. said:

My largest position is Tezos (pays a cool 6% just to hold it) and I own a bit of Chainlink. Love it’s technology and it will be critical to the crypto infrastructure going into the future.
 
Bitcoin will always be the digital gold position for me (along with holding real gold and silver)

I also took a speculative position in Ripple and would like to add to Ethereum. 
 

for what it’s worth I added to all the above mentioned positions the last three days, including Bitcoin this morning. 
 

I personally believe life transforming wealth will be generated with Blockchain moving into the future. It will also displace more workers as you will be able to do a lot of things with Blockchain tech, that now requires a human. In the future EVERYTHING will be tokenized: real estate, the markets, etc

imagine buying Microsoft in the early 90’s, that’s what buying crypto is like. We are talking 1000x returns. I personally know people who invested a thousand bucks a few years back into some Alt coins, who made literally hundreds of thousands in mere months. We are in the second inning of a nine inning ball game. So I am begging those I care about to put something into it. Even if it’s a little. 

A2

A2- How hard would you say will it be to sell and generate cash from Bitcoin later on?  

I was planning on getting some Spirit, Delta and maybe some Alcoa here soon...just waiting it out a bit more..

 

 

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

9 hours ago, A2. said:

Technical update. After drawing some charts this morning, April looks likely to have the completion of one of our worse waves down.
So the first wave was 36% down peak to trough, followed by a B wave up to retrace a portion of the first wave down. 

 This next wave is actually a C wave in a larger multi year cycle, which should put us somewhere between 14000-15500 on the Dow when it’s exhausted itself. 


 I will fill you all in more when the data becomes available.

 Stay safe. 
 

A2

Thank you for this chart A2.  I am going to try to study it a bit tonight.  I also believe i am going to go with Etrade as my online broker, seems like it will do the job, buy and sell stocks lol.  No margin account, cash funded.  

What online brokers does everyone else on here use to trade stocks?

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

On 3/26/2020 at 2:55 PM, A2. said:

Hey NT, check out my posts above. Don’t want to claim that I called the temporary bottom, but I kind of did. Lol

that said, the markets bounce was definitely expected, and it could rally a little more (even from here). However, this bounce will fail and it will NOT get back to where we were in February. Then the next wave down will attempt a retest at 18k on the DOW. I personally believe it might have a smaller second bounce there, luring people in (believing that it’s a successful retest of the lows) only to see it drop lower. 
 The cycle is down, and it will stay down, regardless of how “good” the news is. Even if CV is wiped off the face of the planet, the markets are going lower, MUCH lower. 
 

as for the airlines, would not be shocked to see a bankruptcy by a major player prior to the end of the year. They will also get more government handouts. Personally I believe we will see a semi Nationalization of the industry. 
 

A2

Airline stocks are coming back down..... 

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

4 minutes ago, nicholas said:

Dang, I'm sorry man.  I've always liked the ST (and RS), great platform and exceptional aftermarket support.  I browsed around online for STs when I was car shopping last year, but they were stretching my budget a little bit, so I ended up with a late model Mk5 GTI, four door/6MT.  It was really disappointing to see that Ford decided to drop the Fiesta and Focus lines from the US market because the STs had already built up a solid core base of enthusiasts.  Anyway, hope everything works out with the new engine!  Pulling an engine is always fun, lol.

The new ST's for the European market look great.  The 2.0 ecoboost is wonderful, so much torque and it the small KO3 spools up rather quickly.  This ST was originally wrecked in the front so i rebuilt it with the help of my brother and father.  I have driven it for about 2 months without any issues before the engine letting go.  I will post up some pictures later here once it is pulled out if anyone is interested in taking a peak.  I hope you are  enjoying your Golf!   

Sorry if this is a little off-topic for this thread.  Thanks 

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

13 hours ago, nicholas said:

What kind of car is it?

Its a 14' Focus ST running with full bolt on's and a custom stage 3 tune(91,93 and e30 maps).  I was running about 25 pounds of boost at max making around 330HP/420TQ at the crank.  All data logs looked great and on more so on the safer side in terms of fueling and knock.  May  have been something previously that caused the failure.  Engine is almost out..probably tmrw, so we will see what broke.  Guessing a ring most likely.  Engine had around 100k on it.  Will be getting a new(used) engine this week.   Thanks for asking!

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

2 hours ago, urbanlover568 said:

@A2.

You called it!

Can someone break this chart down for me in layman's terms, sorry ..just try to understand it all.  Thanks!

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

3 hours ago, A2. said:

That’s awesome NT! It has got to feel good seeing progress on your projects. As for online brokerages, they are all different shades of gray. Just pick one that is large and gives you a good price on your trades. 
 One last tip, if you do start to trade in the near future, don’t use margin. I’ve seen so many get greedy and they blow up their account. 
 I can attest to this, as I did that in 2001 and literally lost 90% of my account in one day on a large short position. 
 Bottom line, margin is debt, and as tempting as it would be to use it, don’t. 
 
PS—-I really envy you, I would love to know how to work on cars. My buddies growing up were truly gifted at tinkering on engines and all things mechanical. God didn’t give me that “gift” and I’ve always admired that skill. I can play a guitar and piano like a maestro, but can barely change my oil without screwing something up. Ha!  One thing I am excited about is learning to grow a raised  bed vegetable garden this year. Truly excited about it. Got my lumber, seeds,  and dirt ready to Rock! I can’t wait to eat something that I grew. How cool is that!? 

A2

Funny and kinda not so funny story- My engine decided to let go last week while i was driving to Greensboro, looks like 4th cylinder failed at some point in the assembly.  So i am tearing it apart as we speak to prepare for the new "used" engine coming next week.  Brother and dad are helping me.  We are planting tomatoes, cucumbers this year!  The taste is so much better than anything at the store.  My suggestion is to make sure that you create some sort of mesh around the plants so that it stays protected.  We are modifying our bed this year to add essentially a mesh cover over the plants which we can open and close.    Noted on the margin! Wont be setting a margin account.  I need to sign up and go ahead and fun my account while i continue to study and wait out for the next dip back down.   Also if you or anyone ever needs any help with anything car related, feel free to send me a message. Happy to help.

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

1 hour ago, A2. said:

Lol, my “tips” here are free and truly just meant to be a guide and not financial advice. I’m not a financial prophet, but just see trends and opportunities when they arise and pass them along to my virtual friends here on UP. If I can save some peeps some bucks, great! If I can help make you some, even better! :-)

 As for buying last week, it was definitely a GREAT swing trade had you placed it, but when we have this kind of volatility it pays to sometimes just sit on your hands. (Especially if you’re just getting started). For what it’s worth, I missed a golden trade set up that would have been a six figure trade this Monday, but I was so busy with work, it simply got away from me. I’m kicking myself now, but I also have to remember that opportunities will come again. In the past I would have made another emotional bet to try and erase my mistake. And believe me, that would have been a bad move. I have to keep my emotions in check (and that’s extremely hard, even for someone who reads charts daily).

 In my view, if we get what I think is coming, ALL of us that manage to get through this crap, will be blessed with so much opportunity to buy things at bargain basement levels. That’s a GREAT THING! 

In the meantime, do these three things (especially while volatility is high and risk abounds these next few weeks and months):

1) pay down debts (This is #1 for a reason!)

2) raise cash (have some dry powder ready)

3) then get a shopping list of quality companies that you would love to own when they have a fire sale. 
 

You will be better for it. In all of that, don’t forget to live life. It’s truly more than money. We as a society have been far too materialistic and this rough patch might just be just what we ALL needed to get back to loving and living! We all need to remember we can’t take any “stuff” with us. Make memories, make friends, go for a walk (keep your 6 foot distance, lol), work on a hobby, read a book, learn a new language, pick up a new skill, take an online class, or just take some pictures and post them on UP. Most of all, smile. Help your fellow man, and try to work on being a better you. We all need this time to evaluate who we want to be. Don’t let money define you. You are more than a number. 
 

 As Mama used to say, “This to shall pass!”

A2

 

Thank you for sharing your perspective.  I really like your viewpoint. I was feeling guilty for not making the move last week, but i believe patience will hopefully reward in the end, more opportunities will come their way.   I started playing a race simulator, called iracing and working on rebuilding my brothers entire back deck, halfway there. I try to do a little cardio every day and stretch since my gym is closed.   My father thought my brother and I to work on cars, projects around the house, etc etc. growing up as refugees in the US.   Hope everyone is else is doing something interesting, new and somewhat exciting!

A2- Do you have any tips for what online brokerage to go with, or just any of the big names?   I am just going to start setting up coffee with A2 on you calendar for weekly mentoring sessions haha.  

Thanks,

Bojan

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

5 hours ago, A2. said:

Quick tip for the board:

We will know the Bear is done growling when everyone stops trying to buy bottoms and everyone (including the talking heads on financial media outlets) don’t want anything to do with stock. 
 

Every bit of the talk is about how many green shoots their are, how much value there is, and don’t worry the FED’s got our back. These are signs that we are not even remotely close to a bottom in the markets. 
 

since I love this board and my virtual pals, I will do my best to let you know when we get to that point. I promise you when we do and I say go “all in” I will be equally mocked as I was when I told many of my Industry buddies to get out.  The bottom line is you will NOT want to buy anything in the markets when it’s actually time to buy. This is a VERY difficult thing to do. I have Behavior Finance designation (not that it matters) and I promise you that markets are as much about behavior as it is balance sheets and charts. 
 

stay safe out there!

 

A2
 

 

I appreciate you taking the time to answer all of our questions and provide feedback.  I am taking this time at home to start learning about the stock market.  I was planning to buy into Delta and Spirit last week at their lows, but took a second and told myself not to rush it due to inexperience.  Maybe i messed up  should  have bought in last week and now kicking myself in the ass because of potential profit??  but maybe its for the best to take it slow with my rookie level knowledge.  How much do you charge for trading lesson?  

[The Economy and The Markets (where are we, where are we heading, and what does it mean for the QC...)]

On 3/24/2020 at 3:25 PM, A2. said:

I’m always nervous to play futures short or long. Too much whipsaw action.

 The one piece of advise a wise man once said, “the trend is your friend”. When you try to trade, it’s very easy to lose. Place positions based on the trending markets. Right now that is down, so you’d sell rallies. In an upward moving market (above the 200 MA), you’d buy dips. Just keep it simple. :-)

 

 

A2

 

Hello A2,

What's your assessment on the surge the last couple days, in particular the airlines stocks(Spirit, AA, Delta etc.)?  I am guessing it is all to do with the stimulus package.  I can't imagine them going back to levels from 4-5 months ago anytime soon.  Do you think this is a temporary surge or is it going to be sustainable, steady growth back?

 

Thanks!

 

[Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion]

Terminal A Expansion looks fantastic, I wish the entire airport looked like that instead of the recent renovations, but somewhat understandably it won't.  It's also very interesting that the most modern part of the airport is occupied by non AA carriers. 

 

Although not going to be a common occurrence, but imaging landing and parking at E gates and having to walk to 2nd Terminal A Expansion area, going to be a nice walk! 

[Childress Klein/Ram South End Tower - Lowe's anchored (23 floors - 357')]

17 hours ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

I'll let ya know. Probably going to put my place on the market in the next few weeks, and start looking for a place to buy in NoDa

Good luck with the sale and move, hope you do well on the real estate market. 

[Childress Klein/Ram South End Tower - Lowe's anchored (23 floors - 357')]

1 hour ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

For the odd one here and there that happens to be a bachelor or bachelorette. 

How is real estate in Brooklyn?  I have some ambition of staying for a month or two in NYC at some point and was randomly lookin at monthly rental prices on Airbnb in Manhattan and Brooklyn this week...woaw buddy! Hit me right in the feels lol

[Charlotte Photo of the Day]

Source: https://photos.clearskyimages.com/2015-02-raleigh-1600

Charlotte out here in the middleweight division, but punching like a light heavyweight.   Would be cool if RDF could photoshop some massings into the first or second picture.