All things STOCKS

#18,278
#18,278
Jax_Vol said:
You may have a point. But, by year-end, MSFT is going to make more than UNH, INTC and AAPL combined.
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I’m over weighted in the tech sector and the Mag7. AMZN AWS and GOOGL provide exposure to cloud computing. Several others to AI. Maybe swapping out GOOGL for MSFT is a good idea. Search isn’t going to carry GOOGL as much going forward.
 
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#18,280
#18,280
Thunder Good-Oil said:
I’m over weighted in the tech sector and the Mag7. AMZN AWS and GOOGL provide exposure to cloud computing. Several others to AI. Maybe swapping out GOOGL for MSFT is a good idea. Search isn’t going to carry GOOGL as much going forward.
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I do get it. Are you underweight in anything else besides health?

Health will be back, but may be 2026 in my opinion.

I've searched as well in 2025, dipped my toe into that pool, and got totally scorched.
 
#18,281
#18,281
Jax_Vol said:
I do get it. Are you underweight in anything else besides health?

Health will be back, but may be 2026 in my opinion.

I've searched as well in 2025, dipped my toe into that pool, and got totally scorched.
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I’m pretty balanced relative to the 11 S&P sectors. I don’t think that I’ve ever owned an insurance company.

I like energy, healthcare, financials, and think that materials and industrials are good for on-shoring manufacturing. Tech makes up a third of the S&P 500 - it’s not necessarily a bad idea to add there.

Materials and utilities are tiny components.

I’m not as optimistic about the US consumers as long as housing is considered separate from other spending.

Financials can run. The rate cut keeps getting kicked down the road, but it’s coming eventually.

Industrials have already had a good move. But longer term I like it.

Utilities will be good for income as investment debt appreciates with interest rate hikes. Nuclear has legs (but probably has exposure in the energy sector).

I love the autonomous vehicle and EV themes, but UBER and TSLA are expensive. Big tech is in on AVs, but it’d be a small piece of their businesses. The small AV companies could get crushed by the big players.

I’m currently unexposed to crypto (other than HOOD). I’d like to see it pull back and invest there.
 
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#18,283
#18,283
Thunder Good-Oil said:
I think that Big Pharma is more vulnerable. I don’t think that UNH is as dependent on Medicare or Medicaid.
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The merger with Synapse Health on 8/1/25 will be interesting to see how it unfolds. Medicare patients with UNH have received notifications of the change and how they’ll be their supplies moving forward.

Synapse Health will soon manage DME orders in select states

On Aug. 1, you’ll use Synapse Health for durable medical equipment orders in certain states.
www.uhcprovider.com www.uhcprovider.com
 
#18,284
#18,284
Go aeiou said:
We were advised to not drink the water outside of reputable hotels. We did drink it with ice at restaurants without a problem.
One of the two ladies we were traveling with is Jewish. She was the most concerned, and relieved to see the Jewish priest at Giza.
There will be a lot of tourist. We felt safe, but I wouldn't were an American flag shirt in Egypt.
Hope ya'll have a great trip.
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Don't wear anything that says American. Leave your brand name stuff at home. ALL of it. If you wear Oakleys, go to the dollar tree and get some cheap sunglasses for a couple bucks. Cheap shoes. And for God's sake don't leave your cell phone on a table while at dinner. If you are taking teenage girls with you, dress them way down. Crap they wear at high school makes them a target in Muslim countries.

i don't say that to scare you, but just be aware of your surroundings. You are not going to the Hamptons or Buckhead.
 
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#18,286
#18,286
Thunder Good-Oil said:
I don’t think that Buffett gets a big tax advantage with the dividends he receives. As an individual he gets taxed twice on the dividends he receives. I think he does get to exclude from income 50% of dividends that Berkshire receives as long as BHI owns less than 20% of the dividend paying company’s stock.

He likes dividends because he gets to use that cash. Interestingly though he doesn’t pay dividends out of BHI to those shareholders.

Companies pay dividends because it is how corporations return profits to shareholders. But because of the double taxation it isn’t tax efficient. However many people and institutions own stock in order to receive the dividend income. Even though the paying corporation (generally) isn’t allowed to deduct dividend payments against their taxes and the individuals receiving the dividends must (generally) include them as taxable income. Therefore there’s the double taxation element of the equation.

REITs are required to pay out 90% of their earnings as dividends. They are allowed to avoid paying taxes on their earnings that generated the dividends and their earnings pass through to their shareholders.

Companies might decide that it’s better to use the cash that they generate for other things. They can use the cash to grow the business by purchasing equipment or hiring more employees. They can pay down debt. They can buy back their own stock. They can give bonuses to employees. They can pay dividends with the cash. BUT earnings will have to cover the dividends paid to sustain them. Without the earnings companies will eventually not have the funds to pay dividends. Which is why investors need to look at the dividend payout ratio along with the dividend yield. Earnings per share must exceed the dividends paid per share or eventually the company will run out of money.

Corporations can use their cash to buy other companies. They can buy back their own shares of stock (which democrats oppose). Share buybacks are now taxed by the federal government (thanks to Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act). It’s only 1% (for now) and there are some exclusions included in the tax code when it’s under a certain amount or used to fund employee retirement plans. However the 1% excise tax is also NOT deductible as an expense to the company repurchasing their own stock.

So individuals should consider keeping dividend paying stocks in their retirement accounts and stocks with little or no dividends in their taxable accounts. Roth’s avoid the double taxation entirely. Regular IRAs and 401(k) accounts defer the tax on the dividends received.
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From what I remember reading about Buffett, he prefers that companies NOT pay dividends and instead prefer they plow those earnings back into the company. As an aside, he LOVES share buybacks as well because he doesn't sell and his ownership becomes bigger without any additional investment.
 
#18,288
#18,288
Jax_Vol said:
Somebody just took the plunge on UNH. That you Thunder?

Moved it 1% up..lol!
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I have a day limit order on to sell 8/1 PUTS. The underlying shares have moved the other way ever since. I’ll revisit tomorrow as unless UNH turns hard to the downside that order will expire at today’s close.
 
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#18,289
#18,289
SpaceCoastVol said:
From what I remember reading about Buffett, he prefers that companies NOT pay dividends and instead prefer they plow those earnings back into the company. As an aside, he LOVES share buybacks as well because he doesn't sell and his ownership becomes bigger without any additional investment.
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I can’t cite a Buffett declared preference, but he likes cash. Under 20% ownership and BRK gets to deduct 50% of the dividends received from taxable income. He certainly hates to pay a dividend.

It sucks that there’s now a tax on share buybacks. I expect that one side of the aisle will increase the tax rate when they’re back in power.

It’s great that the other side sees the value of allowing immediate deductibility of CapEx spending.
 
#18,290
#18,290
Jax_Vol said:
I thought it had hit bottom in April. I'm not seeing any news that makes me think confident there is any significant bounce back. But, again, not really picking on UNH. I can rattle off 8-10 health companies that have all cratered since RFK Jr entered the picture.
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And unless I’ve missed something, RFK Jr hasn’t done anything concrete - only talked about things he views as questionable / problematic. Am I wrong?
 
#18,291
#18,291
Go aeiou said:
I've owned NVDA for a while, and have always said it is a "forever" stock.
Still.
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FWIW, one of my wife’s siblings has spent 40 successful years in the financial industry and we use her for a portion of our investments that have performed well. She’s been recommending new monies go towards NVDA and META as of a few weeks back.
 
#18,292
#18,292
Thunder Good-Oil said:
I can’t cite a Buffett declared preference, but he likes cash. Under 20% ownership and BRK gets to deduct 50% of the dividends received from taxable income. He certainly hates to pay a dividend.

It sucks that there’s now a tax on share buybacks. I expect that one side of the aisle will increase the tax rate when they’re back in power.

It’s great that the other side sees the value of allowing immediate deductibility of CapEx spending.
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Hasn’t Buffett loved him some KO through the years which is a dividend royalty stock?
 
#18,295
#18,295
The DoD buying stock in MP Materials. MP is up 48% today. That’s not something you see very often. In 2008 .gov owned financial institution shares and GM after that.
 
#18,296
#18,296
walkenvol said:
FWIW, one of my wife’s siblings has spent 40 successful years in the financial industry and we use her for a portion of our investments that have performed well. She’s been recommending new monies go towards NVDA and META as of a few weeks back.
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NVDA is my largest tech holding. I've been thinking about a small position in META . It's just always seemed like a social media platform to me.
 
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#18,297
#18,297
Go aeiou said:
NVDA is my largest tech holding. I've been thinking about a small position in META . It's just always seemed like a social media platform to me.
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I was very skeptical when Facebook went public. Same when GOOGL did as well. Missed opportunities.

META has excellent management. And lots of capital. They’re well beyond Facebook at this point. And Facebook makes a boatload with their targeted advertising. They get to charge a premium for ads because they have gathered so much data on their users. Google does as well. They seem to invest much more on their platforms than new revenue streams.
 
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#18,298
#18,298
Go aeiou said:
NVDA is my largest tech holding. I've been thinking about a small position in META . It's just always seemed like a social media platform to me.
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If I understand correctly, the thought is META is poised to profit from the AI growth. I’ve held some META a long time that shows to have grown 600%, but recently added some more on her advice.
 
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#18,299
#18,299
walkenvol said:
If I understand correctly, the thought is META is poised to profit from the AI growth. I’ve held some META a long time that shows to have grown 600%, but recently added some more on her advice.
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They also seem to have given up (or at least de-emphasized) the metaverse, which is funny given they completed re-branded their company around it a couple of years ago.

I'm still surprised that coming out of COVID, Zuck and Co's big idea was "You know, I think people would like to spend even more time in a virtual environment."
 
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