Jeff Matthews

Right! They've built entire ghost cities capable of housing 2 million people, and they just sit there empty. Can you imagine that? Non income-producing, depreciating real estate as an investment? It's really bizarre, and I think it's destined to fail.

You might be right. I just checked, and it showed Texas has fully vaccinated only 10% of its population.

They've certainly made a lot of progress, but the value of our real estate is vastly higher.

I don't know. I'm glad we're at a point where we are going to try and find out.

Yep. China is its own empire in a sense. It invests a lot in Africa.

Masks are finally going away around here... slowly.

You make an important legal point. I have had numerous clients tell me they're not sure what they set up at X institution, Y bank, etc., if anything. When something changes in life for them (a divorce, death of a spouse, death of a child, or just changing their mind, etc.), they have to wonder about all the places where they have to go and fix the beneficiary designations. Contrast that approach with the traditional, simple will. If all of your accounts are payable to your estate, they simply go to whomever you designate in your will. That's much smarter because it's much more efficient. Much less prone to errors. Errors in estate-planning can be very costly. The simpler, the better. Just have a will and update it (and only it) as necessary. The argument against my advice is that, "Probate is slow and costly." It's not (at least in Texas). I can get a person letters testamentary within 3-4 weeks, no problem. I would suggest that if a "survivorship account" is necessary, there should be only one, and it should be just for normal expenses for a few months, or so.

Speaking of inflated values, TSLA is another one. Its market cap is more than many of the largest automakers combined. It got in the electric car game early, but the market will soon be flooded with all the others.

It just occurred to me that would be inflation. I guess it's stuck into the ether where it will always be measured in dollars.

Very candid! This is exactly right. By definition, its market capitalization tells us what it is worth now. This statistic is completely agnostic to whether it should rise or fall in value. It doesn't have to be. This goes back full circle to the first quote.

The safest asset right this minute is the US Dollar. It is that way because our government decrees it is. So let it be written; so let it be done! Anyone can argue to the contrary, but the powers that be tell us what is the standard. They will always protect and preserve that standard. It's how they've done their accounting for hundreds of years, and it will not be changing anytime soon. Just look at the value of one Bitcoin these days. I suppose a loaf of bread would cost, say.... oh, about .00005537 Bitcoin. I mean, WTF is that?!!! The math, alone, makes it silly. I don't think the founder ever intended that it would work out like this. Due to its startling success, maybe they need a new way to express it. It's time for a 1-50,000 Bitcoin split.

Right. They're buying Bitcoin with the incredible killing they've made on Tesla stock. All this newfound "wealth" is being traded, and it grows and grows. But there's this huge "unreal"-ized aspect of it. It's got to blow before long. The market seems to have a "need" to cleanse itself of idiots every once in a while. Just like drinking parties, they've got to come to an end if you are to survive to drink again.

Frankly, Schu is probably right at some level. BTC has a wide acceptance. So does gold. What is gold? We use it to make jewelry. We've used it in dentistry. Some limited use is also made in high end electronics. But at the end of the day, it sure as heck isn't money, and it has the same problem as BTC - namely, your only hope is that the next person pays more than you did. Yet gold is claimed to have tremendous "intrinsic" value, and it has certainly stood the test of time. I admit BTC can do the same thing; it's just that I don't have a lot of trust in it. I think the next big dip wallop BTC and that AT&T's stock will fare much better. We'll see... I could be wrong.

What basis do you feel Elon Musk has for saying BTC's price "seems too high?" Is there any rationale to that whatsoever? Or is it just a hunch, a dumb guess, or other kind of fairy tale prognostication? You tell me, because I don't even pretend to have a clue. However, if you want to talk about Apple's profits and the new facilities to be built by Intel, I can discuss those. There's actually substance to talk about, even though I admit there remains plenty to also guess about.

... and because they have been discussed ad nauseum, it means it is not settled. That much, you can take to the bank!

Only that part which is jeopardized by unauthorized access. It is far too dangerous to be protected this much. It would be like putting 1,000 deadbolts on all your doors and having no chance to get out if your house catches on fire.

The House Judiciary Committee is expected to propose legislation allowing news outlets to unionize in order to hold-up their works and force the giants to pay for them. See here. It's an interesting topic. I don't know how material this is to Google's and Facebook's bottom lines, but it sounds like a lot money is in play.

Here's an eye-opener... When's the last time you actually used currency? I know many of us are geezers, so I expect in this group, it's probably more recently than the younger generations. But seriously, I use my cash back credit card on everything. I use it to buy a $0.79 fountain drink at the gas station. Long gone are the days when people groaned when a person in front of them paid by credit card. Remember having to pull out the imprint machine and the carbon copy paper? The processing speed has improved so greatly that the guy in the front of the line counting currency is what now makes us groan. (Remember that, you old geezers who still pay with cash and count coins.) Currency? What's currency? If you still write checks, look at Zelle. There might be something better, so anyone feel free to chime in. Zelle is like Paypal without the charges. We are on the way to "free."

"Seems high?" Who among us can say what it's supposed to be worth? Contrast this to Shu's post in the other thread, trying to equate dividend income to a stock's equity. These things are not even in the same ballpark. You can own GoPro for 20 years and watch its price soar and watch it crash, and as long as you sit and watch it, what did you ever get? Zip! At some point, if you don't realize anything from the stock, it proves to be worthless. Contrast that to a stock that pays 5+% dividends every year.

Exactly! Who would risk that? I'm not leaving my money on a park bench, nor am I putting it where loss of a password forfeits my investment. By the way, all your statements are uneducated, too. Not you, of course. I'm just trying to help everyone else understand. Here's a straight-forward definition: Source.

Nope. Not buying. People have made a bundle, but... It's not realized. Cash out. Then, you're a real winner. Still, there is no way I will ever put my money at permanent risk of loss due to losing a password. That has to be a nightmare to an estate's beneficiaries and heirs. In fact, I had a recent client find a receipt from Bitcoin Exchange and wonder how on earth they would ever get to the Bitcoin of her deceased husband. Fortunately for her, it was a scam email, and there was no Bitcoin. Good luck to those of you who trust it. I'm not saying you will ultimately lose. Just be very careful. Think of it like this. Unclaimed Bitcoin will grow over time as the result of people who are unfortunate enough to lose passwords. There will always be more people doing this, but by definition, they will not be making any more Bitcoin. Who wants to place bets on when Bitcoin degrades to a 100% unclaimed funds?

I am told there's no backdoor if you lose your password. While people marvel at that, I consider it as a factor that would put a negative value on it. If my bank told me I would lose my account if I forgot my password, I would withdraw it all immediately.

It would be the wildest thing if a fossil was found on Mars.

Faith makes it real. As many investors have stated, it doesn't throw off any income. Your only hope is that the person after you will pay more than you did. Now that I have seen recent articles saying that JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are looking to get in on the game, I feel more than ever that tulip mania is definitely here. Who knows? I like income. If it doesn't produce income, I am not too interested. I like dividends and option income. I think Mr. Wonderful summed it up pretty well.

I browsed quickly past all the generator talk and didn't see any mention of the recent trend in some type of solar power arrangement (contract, I suppose) which burdens homeowners at the time they want to sell their homes. About a month ago, a prospective client called me, complaining that the solar panel sales rep. said they could transfer the panels to another home should they decide to move. Now that they are moving, guess what? Literally a few hours ago, I helped a real estate broker client of mine draft a special provision in his client's earnest money contract regarding the necessity of the Buyer to qualify to assume the Seller's solar panel contract and providing Seller the right to terminate the contract if Buyer does not show proof of qualification within 10 days. I know nothing about solar panel arrangements and whether they are cost-effective or not. No opinion on that. Just be aware they are creating legal issues for some people.