Search found 352 matches

by jhsu802701
Mon Apr 03, 2023 11:26 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Ripping CDs to cloud
Replies: 19
Views: 2357

Ripping CDs to cloud

Thanks for your input on solutions for replacing my broken CD player/boombox. I've decided that I'm never buying another CD player again. I'm keeping the CDs I already have, and I may buy used CDs if they're cheap enough. So I've decided to rip the CDs I already have and any others that I acquire in the future. I'll transfer the songs to a USB drive and my smartphone or tablet. I will play my personal music collection on my smartphone or tablet, and I can replicate the boombox experience with Bluetooth speakers. And while I don't already have Bluetooth speakers, they're cheap and widely available. I'd also like to store my music in the cloud as well. What are my options? The cheaper the option, the better. (This probably rules out the Apple...
by jhsu802701
Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:41 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Replacing my broken CD player/boombox
Replies: 27
Views: 2531

Replacing my broken CD player/boombox

My 2-year-old CD player/boombox died. I cannot even power it up to listen to the radio, much less play my music CDs on it. I gave up on cassette tape technology sometime around 2015/2016. Every tape player boombox I ever owned ate a tape after just a few years, and boomboxes with tape players were becoming harder and harder to find in the stores (like Best Buy and Target). So I decided to give up on cassette tape technology and sold off my cassette tapes to a used music store for a pittance. My now-broken CD player/boombox was my first boombox to lack a cassette tape player. I assumed that this would last much longer, but it's now 100% dead. (On the bright side, I've never had a CD player eat a CD.) Now I'm finding it difficult to find a re...
by jhsu802701
Thu Jul 28, 2022 7:53 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Early career/grad school advice for geological engineer with 2nd thoughts
Replies: 68
Views: 5442

Re: Early career/grad school advice for geological engineer with 2nd thoughts

I take that data with a grain of salt, just as I do, for instance, showing salaries of elite school grads are higher than non-elites. i.e. Cohort effects - the students attending elite schools/getting Masters tend to be stronger/more disciplined to begin with than the comparison group, and it's not clear how much of the measured effect is just because of the stronger beginning cohort. Exactly! The trouble with statistics is that implies that the way to get ahead is to ride the coattails of people with a given profile by adopting that profile. That's like thinking that subscribing to _Forbes_ magazine will automatically make you wealthy simply because the average reader is wealthy. While _Forbes_ is a great business and finance magazine, si...
by jhsu802701
Thu Jul 28, 2022 6:47 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Smartwatches with blood pressure monitor
Replies: 29
Views: 3446

Re: Smartwatches with blood pressure monitor

I second everyone else above who has said that none of these measurements will be reliable. It isn't even the watch's fault...if you consider a hospital-grade automated wrist blood pressure cuff and look at the instructions, to be accurate it usually needs to be held level with the heart and the wrist/forearm muscles need to be totally passive. I would not trust pulse oximetry measurements from a smart watch either for more than entertainment value...we have enough issues getting accurate readings in people due to differential measurements related to amounts of skin pigmentation. It might be good enough to detect a significant drop (say from obstructive sleep apnea), though not reliably enough to give a good estimation, say, on how well so...
by jhsu802701
Thu Jul 28, 2022 3:28 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best password manager?
Replies: 59
Views: 4242

Re: Best password manager?

I use KeePassXC for these reasons:
* It's free and open source
* It's available for Linux, MacOS, AND Windows. So if I have to use a platform different from the one I'm used to, I can keep on using KeePassXC and not have to hunt around for a replacement. This is also why I use LibreOffice and not Microsoft Office.

In general, which password manager to use is primarily a matter of personal taste.

If you're not sure, you can try out a bunch of different password managers initially and see which one you like best.
by jhsu802701
Thu Jul 28, 2022 3:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Early career/grad school advice for geological engineer with 2nd thoughts
Replies: 68
Views: 5442

Re: Early career/grad school advice for geological engineer with 2nd thoughts

Your son has one critical thing going for him even though it is 100% unofficial and intangible: He's well-engaged and proactive. He's being the kind of engineering student and employee whom he would hire if he were a hiring manager. In an alternate timeline, your son went into civil, electrical, or mechanical engineering (because the prospects were "better") but was less engaged. He may be asking what-ifs about geological engineering. When you're doing things because others have said that it's the "best" path, it's hard to take ownership or responsibility for things. I know this may sound radical, but one cannot get ahead by riding the coattails of other people with the same credentials or background. I cannot tell your ...
by jhsu802701
Thu Jul 28, 2022 12:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Smartwatches with blood pressure monitor
Replies: 29
Views: 3446

Smartwatches with blood pressure monitor

I recently bought a $50 smartwatch but had to return it after only 2 weeks because it had stopped working. (It's at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YS29P99?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 .) So now I'm in the market for a smartwatch once again. Should I still get one with blood pressure monitoring? I've read that smartwatches have poor accuracy when it comes to blood pressure readings. When my cheap smartwatch still worked, the blood pressure readings were MUCH higher than the ones shown by my Insignia blood pressure meter (an electronic device with the cuff that wraps around my upper arm). What can I do to make sure I don't end up with another lemon of a blood pressure monitor? The one I bought was one of the top-selling smartwatc...
by jhsu802701
Wed May 04, 2022 12:08 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: People say bonds are safer than stocks, are they really?
Replies: 71
Views: 8143

Re: People say bonds are safer than stocks, are they really?

000 wrote: Wed May 04, 2022 1:24 am They're called FIXED INCOME for a reason.

The reason is that they provide a fixed stream of income.

See how nothing in the name implies they are a hedge for equity risk?

Or that they will have any particular price performance before maturity?

The reason to own bonds is simply because one desires an asset class that has a FIXED rate of return, unlike the (highly) variable returns from stocks.
The term "fixed income" makes bonds sound conservative. Unfortunately, inflation and market interest rates are not.
by jhsu802701
Wed May 04, 2022 11:23 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: BND - Sure Thing Short
Replies: 93
Views: 18833

Re: BND - Sure Thing Short

Although I'm extremely bearish on bonds, I don't believe in selling short. If the price rises for ANY reason (no matter how ridiculous), you can get a margin call. That means you have to either put up more capital or have your position liquidated, which means that you get vindicated but miss out on all the profit.
by jhsu802701
Wed May 04, 2022 11:20 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Good time to buy bonds?
Replies: 20
Views: 4712

Re: Good time to buy bonds?

Buying bonds is one of the most idiotic things one can do right now. They don't call them "Certificates of Guaranteed Confiscation" for nothing. Today's environment is Exhibit A. Here are the reasons to be EXTREMELY bearish on bonds: * Although long-term yields are up somewhat from the lows, they are STILL far short of the current inflation rate. The last time inflation was this high (early 1980s), long-term Treasury yields were well into the double digits instead of barely over 3%. In the entire history of the world, buying bonds with substantially negative real yields has never paid off. * Given the high inflation, higher interest rates are a certainty. This means that bond prices will only fall further. While you could hold you...
by jhsu802701
Wed Jan 19, 2022 5:42 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Netflix not accepting payment
Replies: 29
Views: 4298

Re: Netflix not accepting payment

Thanks for your responses. I gave up and started a Paramount Plus subscription. It accepted my credit card information the FIRST time. I didn't have to do any troubleshooting, and I didn't have to make sure that the planets were properly aligned.

I can't believe that Netflix has a problem with customers who subscribe sporadically. Are they really so arrogant as to think that they have no competition for dollars, eyeballs, and hours of the day? Isn't it better to earn revenue from certain customers for a month or two out of the year instead of ceding them completely to the competition?
by jhsu802701
Wed Jan 19, 2022 3:23 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Netflix not accepting payment
Replies: 29
Views: 4298

Re: Netflix not accepting payment

I only get these paid streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, etc.) during the colder months of the year. I subscribe to one service at a time for a month, and then I switch to a different service. I do NOT subscribe to multiple services at a time I don't know why exactly, but this could at least be the root of the problem. Justified or not, a pattern of repeated sign-ups and cancelations may have triggered something weird in their system or your bank's. Have you ever signed up with prepaid cards or virtual CC numbers and allowed them to expire such that Netflix had a series of payments fail? Or that your bank picked up the pattern and flags it as fraud? No, I've never used a prepaid card or virtual credit card number...
by jhsu802701
Wed Jan 19, 2022 11:23 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Netflix not accepting payment
Replies: 29
Views: 4298

Re: Netflix not accepting payment

I tried incognito mode. I tried using the Chromium browser instead of my usual Firefox. I've tried all of your suggestions except for buying a gift card and using a different credit card. I cannot try a different credit card, because I don't have one. Getting a second credit card takes time, and I'm not going to wait for the second card to arrive just so I can see if Netflix accepts it when I can just sign up with another service. I'm not going to buy a Netflix gift card just to see if it works. All I need is a $10 gift card for 1 month of service but nobody sells one. I'm not going to spend $15 or $20 for a month of service. I probably wouldn't subscribe to Netflix again until next winter, and I don't want to have to keep track of this gif...
by jhsu802701
Tue Jan 18, 2022 7:26 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Netflix not accepting payment
Replies: 29
Views: 4298

Re: Netflix not accepting payment

I'm not trying to use a special offer. I'm just trying to sign up for the $9.99/month plan and pay the full price for it. So I tried again by signing up through my Roku device on my TV, but I'm still getting the message "Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again later." I tried Paypal with both options (my credit card and my checking account), but these attempts did not pan out. I'm not using a VPN or proxy to connect to the Internet. I called my credit card issuer, but there was no sign that Netflix tried to charge my account. Clearly, it's time for me to just give up and subscribe to Paramount Plus, Disney Plus, HBO Max, or Amazon Prime instead. For some reason, I've never had a credit card problem with any of these Netflix ...
by jhsu802701
Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:46 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Netflix not accepting payment
Replies: 29
Views: 4298

Re: Netflix not accepting payment

One of the customer service representatives did suggest creating a new account with a different email address. This did NOT fix the problem.

I don't have any other credit card.
by jhsu802701
Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:36 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Netflix not accepting payment
Replies: 29
Views: 4298

Netflix not accepting payment

Have any of you had problems with subscribing to Netflix? For some odd reason, it's rejecting my attempts to pay. I had this problem last month but quickly gave up and just subscribed to Hulu instead. Now that my month on Hulu is over, I'm trying to subscribe to Netflix again, but the system keeps rejecting my credit card AND Paypal. I KNOW that my credit card is in good standing, and I've had no problem using it to pay for groceries or online purchases. I contacted the telephone help and online help, but neither of the customer service representatives could see why my attempts to pay were rejected. They suggested buying a Netflix gift card. Unfortunately, I cannot find a $10 Netflix gift card. Additionally, what's my assurance that Netflix...
by jhsu802701
Tue Dec 14, 2021 11:36 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bond investing
Replies: 28
Views: 2898

Re: Bond investing

dukeblue219 wrote: Tue Dec 14, 2021 11:31 am Bonds offer safety that is not available elsewhere, even for cold hard cash beyond a relatively small limit for wealthy organizations that drive the bond market.

What's a billion dollar endowment going to do, store paper cash in a vault?
How about Treasury Bills? At least the maturities are extremely short. When interest rates rise, the yields on the T-bill portion of a portfolio will quickly rise as well because the lowest-yielding securities mature soon and get replaced by newer, higher-yielding securities. On the other hand, buying bonds now means LOCKING in a low yield that doesn't even keep up with current inflation.
by jhsu802701
Tue Dec 14, 2021 11:27 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bond investing
Replies: 28
Views: 2898

Re: Bond investing

Why would you want to invest in bonds when the yields fall well short of the CURRENT inflation rate? The bond bubble is the most idiotic asset bubble in the history of the world. Even if everything goes right, you don't make much money. Unless there's a miracle, WILL lose money.

Most other bubbles at least offer the hollow promise of hitting the jackpot. Even the recent Squid Games cryptocurrency (which was a short-lived scam) offered this hollow promise. The bond bubble doesn't even offer that.
by jhsu802701
Tue Dec 14, 2021 11:22 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should I capitulate to selling International?
Replies: 322
Views: 24606

Re: Should I capitulate to selling International?

International stocks are undervalued. This would be a terrible time to sell them.

In 1974 or 1982, one could have asked, "Should I give up on stocks now?" Those past performance metrics will ALWAYS be at their worst at the bottom. In contrast, those past performance metrics will be fabulous at major market peaks.
by jhsu802701
Tue Dec 14, 2021 11:15 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Selling Apple (AAPL) stock
Replies: 60
Views: 6355

Re: Selling Apple (AAPL) stock

The fact that everyone is convinced that Apple can do no wrong should be a warning signal. Everyone is singing the praises of Apple, but there were times in the past when everyone was singing the praises of GE, IBM, Sears, and GM. Apple doesn't need to stumble or go bankrupt in order to disappoint Wall Street. Everything good that can happen is already priced into the stock. There's plenty of room for a negative surprise. The negative surprise could be complete BS, such as missing an analyst's earnings expectations by a penny or two. Apple has the largest market cap of all. How many companies in a similar position in the past were able to sustain extremely high growth rates? It needs a high growth rate to justify the PE ratio of 32. Can App...
by jhsu802701
Tue Dec 14, 2021 11:04 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Selling Apple (AAPL) stock
Replies: 60
Views: 6355

Re: Selling Apple (AAPL) stock

Yes, I think it's a good idea to sell some or all of your Apple stock. Paying capital gains is MUCH better than not having any capital gains to pay or (even worse) having capital losses.

You could sell some stock now and sell some more in a few weeks (January 2022). Selling all at once means concentrating the capital gains into one year, and that means bumping up into higher tax brackets and increasing the tax bill. Selling some of your shares now and some of your shares in 2022 (which is just a few weeks away) means dividing the capital gains into two years. This limits the number of tax brackets that you move into. Thus, the tax bite will be smaller than would be the case if you sold those shares all at once.
by jhsu802701
Tue Jun 22, 2021 11:26 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)
Replies: 37
Views: 3521

Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

I'm surprised that Ubuntu runs on a 15-year-old PC. I wouldn't run anything heavier than TinyCore or Puppy Linux on something that old and slow. The Ubuntu base has a higher overhead. Installing Ubuntu or any of its derivatives on a 15-year-old PC is like installing the tiny 3-cylinder Smart Fortwo engine under the hood of a hypermassive 1972 Chrysler Imperial. I prefer distros based on Debian but not Ubuntu because they're so much faster given the same hardware. MX Linux is lightweight AND supports 32-bit computing. That said, I think it's time to move on to 64-bit computing. Support for 32-bit computing is already low and drops lower each year. It's time to buy a newer PC that can handle 64-bit computing. You don't even need to spend $200...
by jhsu802701
Fri Jun 18, 2021 12:05 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Windows 11 [Upgrade from Win 10 to Win 11?]
Replies: 321
Views: 31423

Re: Windows 11

nedsaid wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 2:59 pm Oh goody! I will spend the next three years looking for the start button. :wink: The ribbon for Office was bad enough, still trying to find things after all of these years in Excel.
It's ironic that those who prefer the traditional Windows 7/XP/98/95 interface have to use Linux to get it. MX Linux and Linux Mint are examples of Linux distros that offer such an interface.
by jhsu802701
Thu Jun 17, 2021 12:16 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Windows 11 [Upgrade from Win 10 to Win 11?]
Replies: 321
Views: 31423

Re: Windows 11

Marseille07 wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 12:02 am Well...MX Linux is lightweight because it's using Xfce by default. Ubuntu uses GNOME3 which is slow as you say, but there are other flavors available such as Xubuntu: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xubuntu which uses Xfce. I really like Ubuntu MATE personally.
A bigger reason that MX Linux is lightweight is its lack of the high overhead of a Ubuntu base.
by jhsu802701
Thu Jun 17, 2021 12:14 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Windows 11 [Upgrade from Win 10 to Win 11?]
Replies: 321
Views: 31423

Re: Windows 11

I tried Ubuntu in the past, but the learning curve was so steep that I did not enjoy it more. When did you try Ubuntu? Did the controversial Unity desktop alienate you? (I personally hate it.) Those who didn't mind stuck with Ubuntu. Those who didn't like it and thought that the old GNOME 2 interface was better moved to other distros, such as Linux Mint, Fedora, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu, PCLinuxOS, and others. Linux Mint dethroned Ubuntu in the DistroWatch rankings. (Then Arch-based Manjaro Linux dethroned Linux Mint, and then MX Linux dethroned Manjaro.) I think you'd like Linux Mint. It's based on Ubuntu but offers a more traditional desktop. The Linux Mint team is the most productive of all. They had quite a dilemma when it was time to...
by jhsu802701
Wed Jun 16, 2021 11:57 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Windows 11 [Upgrade from Win 10 to Win 11?]
Replies: 321
Views: 31423

Re: Windows 11

When Windows 10 was new, I recall hearing that there would never be a Windows 11. I wondered how that could be true. I couldn't imagine that Microsoft would throw in the towel given how profitable Windows was and given that most users suck it up and "upgrade" no matter how awful the product is.

I remember hearing that Windows would move to a subscription service and that there would be no need for Windows 11. If that had been in the works, I guess that the idea just didn't pan out for some reason.

I see now that the Windows upgrade cycle will continue. So my doubts that Windows 10 would be the last have been vindicated.
by jhsu802701
Wed Jun 16, 2021 11:51 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Windows 11 [Upgrade from Win 10 to Win 11?]
Replies: 321
Views: 31423

Re: Windows 11

The last version of Windows that I've used extensively is Windows XP. Those bad reviews of Vista were what prompted me to switch to Linux. Windows 8 made me so glad that I had ditched Windows. I tried it out in stores, and I had a hard time figuring out how to do anything. Windows 10 got rid of the tiles, but it's so complicated. It seemed that moving the mouse around would cause so many things to pop up. I recommend MX Linux (https://mxlinux.org/), which is based on Debian. MX Linux is lightweight, fast, user-friendly, stable, and low maintenance. It works quite well on 10-year-old PCs. If you like the traditional Windows 7/XP/98/95 interface, you'll feel at home. MX Linux is #1 on Distrowatch (https://distrowatch.com/). This distro is the...
by jhsu802701
Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:36 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Stock ETFs/funds that use the Buffett/Munger approach
Replies: 4
Views: 1104

Stock ETFs/funds that use the Buffett/Munger approach

No, this post is NOT about buying stock ETFs or mutual funds that use the Buffett/Munger approach. So I'm not concerned about valuations, expense ratios, or diversification. Instead, the idea is to look at the holdings of these stock funds for ideas on what to buy. There are thousands of stocks out there, and nobody has time to analyze all of them or even a significant percentage of them. Stock screens don't really work. There are just too many flaws in the yardsticks (PE, P/B, ROE, ROIC, etc.) that steer you towards fake bargains. All too often, the stocks with the best numbers have some hidden flaw that is not reflected in these numbers. The gems would NEVER EVER stand out based on PE ratios or price/book ratios. (This is why I don't own ...
by jhsu802701
Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What would you do and why? [HELOC to buy used Porsche]
Replies: 83
Views: 9103

Re: What would you do and why? [HELOC to buy used Porsche]

If you have to get a home equity loan to buy a used Porsche, that means you cannot afford one. Nobody needs a Porsche. This is a hobby car, not a daily driver. Parts are difficult to come by, and only a few mechanics know their way around a Porsche. Thus, the maintenance and repairs will be prohibitively expensive even if all goes well. If there are problems, that's quite a money pit. If you thought that maintenance and repairs were expensive on your Honda, Toyota, Ford, or Chevrolet, they will be several times more expensive on the Porsche. If you really want a hobby car, get a Japanese or American brand car. Parts will be MUCH easier and cheaper to obtain, and you can easily find mechanics who can work on your car. If your car turns out t...
by jhsu802701
Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:12 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Hawaii Rental Car: Best Way to Book to Ensure Your Car is Actually There
Replies: 70
Views: 9710

Re: Hawaii Rental Car: Best Way to Book to Ensure Your Car is Actually There

The only two solutions I can think of are:
1. Wait until next year to visit Hawaii.
2. Use Lyft or Uber to get around.

If I were planning on visiting Hawaii, having to pay several hundred dollars per day for a rental car would be a deal breaker for me.

I've heard that some tourists have rented moving trucks, which has been a problem for locals who need moving trucks for actually moving.
by jhsu802701
Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:09 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: WisdomTree NTSX now has siblings NTSI and NTSE launched today
Replies: 110
Views: 18028

Re: WisdomTree NTSX now has siblings NTSI and NTSE launched today

While I'm a big fan of certain WisdomTree funds (DFJ, DGS, and DGRE), I just don't understand the point of NTSX, NTSI, and NTSE. Even if I wanted to own bonds or bet on the direction of interest rates (which I don't), I'd rather just buy my bonds, bond funds, or bond futures separately. Although I'm bullish on international stocks and own several ETFs consisting of them, NTSI and NTSE don't offer anything of value that my top picks do not. In fact, they have roughly the same price/book ratio of DGRE (emerging markets dividend growth) WITHOUT DGRE's focus on premium quality stocks. You are correct in the stock holdings of these funds, but missing the additional bond futures component. Basically, in one fund you get a 90/60 stock & bond ...
by jhsu802701
Wed Jun 02, 2021 11:45 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: WisdomTree NTSX now has siblings NTSI and NTSE launched today
Replies: 110
Views: 18028

Re: WisdomTree NTSX now has siblings NTSI and NTSE launched today

While I'm a big fan of certain WisdomTree funds (DFJ, DGS, and DGRE), I just don't understand the point of NTSX, NTSI, and NTSE. Even if I wanted to own bonds or bet on the direction of interest rates (which I don't), I'd rather just buy my bonds, bond funds, or bond futures separately.

Although I'm bullish on international stocks and own several ETFs consisting of them, NTSI and NTSE don't offer anything of value that my top picks do not. In fact, they have roughly the same price/book ratio of DGRE (emerging markets dividend growth) WITHOUT DGRE's focus on premium quality stocks.
by jhsu802701
Wed Jun 02, 2021 12:47 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Do Thieves Still Go Thru Trash To Steal ID?
Replies: 41
Views: 6107

Re: Do Thieves Still Go Thru Trash To Steal ID?

When I have paper with critical information to dispose of, I soak it in water, tear it up with my fingers, and dump it in the kitchen garbage. Tearing it manually releases aggressive energy. If it's wet and mixed with perishable garbage, it's MUCH less likely to be found (or even readable).
by jhsu802701
Wed Jun 02, 2021 12:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Stamp Collecting
Replies: 21
Views: 2354

Re: Stamp Collecting

Collecting is a hobby, not an investment. If you want to make money, the odds are against you.

One point in favor of stamp collecting is that it doesn't require much space like certain other collectibles, such as furniture or classic cars.
by jhsu802701
Mon May 31, 2021 10:10 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fundamental analysis help
Replies: 17
Views: 2600

Re: Fundamental analysis help

The next part is technical analysis so I bought a book on that. I'm hoping to use a basic understanding of fundamental analysis combined with technical analysis to help make a decision. Technical analysis makes no sense to me whatsoever. It's like astrology. There are no unifying principles. The proponents of technical analysis cannot even agree on what their hypothetical ideal stock is. Fundamental analysis makes sense. While the different factions have their disagreements, there are some unifying principles, and they all basically agree on what their hypothetical ideal stock is. An extremely undervalued stock of a company with excellent financial strength, balance sheet liquidity, future prospects, return on capital, growth in free cash ...
by jhsu802701
Sun May 30, 2021 1:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Highjacked Sims Card / Money stolen from bank account
Replies: 44
Views: 5899

Re: Highjacked Sims Card / Money stolen from bank account

I'm glad I don't use my smartphone for banking or investing.
by jhsu802701
Sun May 30, 2021 1:20 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fundamental analysis help
Replies: 17
Views: 2600

Re: Fundamental analysis help

I can't believe that people STILL believe that stock prices are rational. There are more asset bubbles in progress now than was the case at the height of the Dot Con Era.

The 52-week range for GameStop is $3.77 to $483 per share. That's a factor of 128. Exactly how did the intrinsic value multiply by a factor of 100 in mere months and by a factor of 10 in just a few weeks?

Exactly how did the intrinsic value drop by over 90% in just a few weeks and then multiply by a factor of 6 in just a few more weeks?
by jhsu802701
Sun May 30, 2021 1:11 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Why the golden years for bonds are over but can still have a place in your portfolio
Replies: 203
Views: 20769

Re: Why the golden years for bonds are over but can still have a place in your portfolio

No, bonds do NOT have a place in your portfolio. Locking in a low interest rate is only a good idea if you're BORROWING money, not if you're investing money. If interest rates rise, you're stuck with a below-market yield. If you sell your bonds, you won't get all your money back. It's one thing to lose money on something that could hit the jackpot. It's another thing to lose money on something with a low yield. Academics talk about risk-free return. Bonds today offer return-free risk. Even worse is rising inflation, which seems to have begun. (There are so many shortages out there, especially of lumber, semiconductor chips, cars at dealerships, and rental cars.) This reduces the purchasing power of your bond and leads to rising interest rat...
by jhsu802701
Sun May 30, 2021 12:58 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Cheapest Asset Classes Today?
Replies: 34
Views: 5842

Re: Cheapest Asset Classes Today?

International stocks are undervalued, especially Japan and emerging markets. They're selling for low price/book ratios and denominated in undervalued currencies. (The price/book ratios I cite here are from Morningstar.) My top picks: 1. DFJ: diversified plain vanilla dividend-paying small cap Japanese stocks, 80% of book value 2. DGS: diversified plain vanilla small cap emerging market stocks, 112% of book value 3. FNDC: diversified plain vanilla small cap developed market stocks, 118% of book value 4. GWX: diversified plain vanilla small cap developed market stocks, 124% of book value 5. IQIN: diversified plain vanilla large cap developed market stocks, 133% of book value (compared to 397% of book value for VOO) 6. MOTI: developed market s...
by jhsu802701
Sun May 30, 2021 10:28 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Fundamental analysis help
Replies: 17
Views: 2600

Re: Fundamental analysis help

retired@50 wrote: Sat May 29, 2021 9:29 am Which means all the fundamental analysis is better left to the folks on Wall Street.
I disagree with the notion that fundamental analysis is useless. If you buy individual stocks, you should at least know the very basics so that you can avoid the obvious losers.

That said, if you're not up to doing fundamental analysis, then buy an ETF with good diversification and a strategy that makes sense. (For international stock investing, I use ETFs. I don't have access to individual foreign stocks, and I wouldn't be able to read the annual reports in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, or Portuguese.)
by jhsu802701
Thu May 27, 2021 4:06 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: VWO? [Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index ETF]
Replies: 10
Views: 1899

Re: VWO?

For emerging markets, my top picks are DGS and DGRE. DGS is a diversified plain vanilla fund of dividend-paying small caps. It sells for 1.12 times book value and has 1.35% of its portfolio in its biggest position. This one is a screaming bargain. DGRE specializes in dividend growth stocks. It sells for 1.91 times book value and has 5.73% of its portfolio in its biggest position. While I wouldn't normally be interested in something selling for 1.9 times book value, the stocks in this fund justify higher multiples. The US version of this fund (DGRW) sells for 5.28 times book value. I don't like VWO. The price/book ratio is 1.87, and 5.75% of its portfolio is in its biggest position. In other words, VWO is too expensive and not diversified en...
by jhsu802701
Sun May 23, 2021 1:00 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Int'l Large Value
Replies: 14
Views: 2419

Re: Int'l Large Value

Why not buy an ETF instead of a mutual fund? You buy and sell ETFs on a stock exchange, just as you would with Berkshire Hathaway. There's no purchase fee or redemption fee. Remember also that Vanguard Brokerage offers commission-free trading. The undervaluation in international stocks is so widespread that I'm bullish on everything - small cap, large cap, developed markets, and emerging markets. But I'll focus on large cap here. The price/book ratios I'm citing here are from Morningstar. My top picks for large-cap international stock ETFs are: 1. IQIN: This ETF holds the top 500 international stocks based on fundamental factors. It's a well-diversified plain vanilla fund. Think of it as the international S&P 500. It's selling for 133% ...
by jhsu802701
Sat May 22, 2021 4:55 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Advice on Intl Fund?
Replies: 12
Views: 1948

Re: Advice on Intl Fund?

Although I have several international stock funds, none of them are Vanguard funds. Most Vanguard's international funds lack the diversification I insist on or have higher price/book ratios than my top choices. I'm one of the few people on this board who is very bullish on international stocks. I'm especially bullish on emerging markets and Japan. But since you're not interested in emerging markets, I'll focus on my favorite developed market funds. The price/book ratios I'll cite here are from Morningstar. They are: 1. DFJ: This is a well-diversified plain vanilla Japanese stock fund consisting of dividend-paying small cap stocks. It's a screaming bargain at only 79% of book value. 2. MOTI: This is a developed markets fund that focuses on s...
by jhsu802701
Fri Apr 23, 2021 4:30 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Low sodium restaurant foods
Replies: 66
Views: 7618

Re: Low sodium restaurant foods

I'll be eating out less than I did before the pandemic, but I don't think I can avoid it completely. What am I supposed to eat when I travel? Dinner will be the biggest challenge.
by jhsu802701
Fri Apr 23, 2021 4:22 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Low sodium restaurant foods
Replies: 66
Views: 7618

Re: Low sodium restaurant foods

At Denny's, the least bad choice is the wild Alaska salmon. This salmon with dinner bread has 1190 mg of sodium. Among the side dishes, broccoli is the best choice (180 mg of sodium and no bad fats whatsoever). That's still 1370 mg of sodium. It's sad that this is what passes for low sodium at Denny's. And this is one of the healthier restaurants.
by jhsu802701
Fri Apr 23, 2021 4:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Low sodium restaurant foods
Replies: 66
Views: 7618

Re: Low sodium restaurant foods

At Portillo's, the broiled chicken croissant has 654 mg of sodium. The baked potato has just 15 mg of sodium. Together, that's under 700 mg.

While the French fries are low in sodium, that's deep-fried food. I suspect that the food coma will hit me like a ton of bricks if I eat deep-fried food again. That's enough reason for me to avoid it.
by jhsu802701
Fri Apr 23, 2021 4:08 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Low sodium restaurant foods
Replies: 66
Views: 7618

Low sodium restaurant foods

NOTE: Let's leave the health issues out of this, because I don't want this thread to be closed by the moderators. BACK STORY: Due to the pandemic, I've been avoiding all junk foods and restaurant foods (including takeout). I've never before in my life eaten such a healthy diet or gone so long without consuming unhealthy food. Thus, I'm consuming virtually no added sugar or vegetable oil. My diet is also low in sodium. While I won't avoid all junk foods and restaurant foods forever, I intend to continue consuming a healthier diet after the pandemic is over. MY REASONS TO AVOID EXCESSIVE SODIUM: My primary reasons are much more immediate than the health risks. (Weight and blood pressure aren't issues for me.) One reason is that many of the un...
by jhsu802701
Mon Apr 19, 2021 8:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Considering switching from Tracfone to Tello
Replies: 25
Views: 3461

Considering switching from Tracfone to Tello

I'm currently a Tracfone customer. While I haven't had problems, I'm not making full use of the service, and they charge money for service days. (If you run out of service days, you cannot use your minutes, text messages, or data, no matter HOW much you have.) While the ability to roll over minutes/texts/data is nice, the benefit hasn't been worth that much to me.

As a result, I'm considering switching to Tello, where plans start for just $5/month (100 minutes/month OR 500 MB/month). For just $6/month, I get 100 minutes/month AND 500 MB/month. If I need more minutes or data, I can just upgrade my plan (for just a few dollars more) for a month and then switch back.

Has anyone here made this switch? What do you think?
by jhsu802701
Wed Mar 31, 2021 4:48 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Useless Investment Books
Replies: 217
Views: 26391

Re: Useless Investment Books

Then I bought "One Up On Wall Street" by Peter Lynch. Lots of vague advice. Short of spending 23 hours a day pouring over financial statements, he suggests looking at a company's parking lot to observe the number of cars parked there. Well, OK, assuming there is such a company within a reasonable distance of your home. Not in that book, Peter gave some of my favorite stock-picking advice "Never buy stocks that go down". Yes, he actually said that. I can imagine a scenario like this: "Hello, Mr. (or Ms.) Broker? I'm thinking about buying XYZ. Is it going to go down?" Mr. (or Ms.) Broker says, "Let me pull up my stock chart of the future which is available only to stockbrokers. Yes, it's going to go down. I...
by jhsu802701
Wed Mar 31, 2021 4:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Is it time to replace my Roku 3?
Replies: 18
Views: 2073

Re: Is it time to replace my Roku 3?

Thanks for the responses. I guess that I'm the unlucky one with the flaky Roku 3. I'll probably replace it with another Roku product due to its agnostic nature. The Amazon products are mainly of interest to hardcore Amazon users, and the Google products are mainly of interest to hardcore Google users. Given the privacy issues, I'd rather have Roku know about everything I watch than let Amazon or Google know. (Both of these companies know enough about me as it is and don't need to know more.) Given that my old Roku 3 box is still in usable condition, I don't watch as much in summer, and static electricity isn't an issue in summer, I'll wait until this fall to buy a replacement. Perhaps prices will be cut by then, or perhaps a new model or tw...