As
I have mentioned a few times before here and there, it is hard for me to
explain why I have been watching so much on [CNBC] the past few months. For I don’t really understand very much of
what they are talking about when it comes to investing in stocks and bonds, and
even if I did, I don’t have any money to lose in the first-place.
Yeah,
I have picked up on one thing. For one
should look at investing in stocks and bonds in the same way as they should out-right
gambling. For if you can’t afford to
lose anything, you shouldn’t be in the game.
A variation of that would be that if you can’t afford to stay in the
game until things start looking good for you, you shouldn’t be in it.
I
suppose most of the attraction that I have for what CNBC has to offer is
getting insights into what is going on in the business community that do not
usually make it onto the regular news outlets.
Early talk about the possibility of a true Apple TV coming to market
fairly soon serves as a good example of that.
Not
that I would want to buy an Apple TV.
For it is bound to be priced way out of our range, but Samsung and other
more reasonable manufacturers trying to keep pace just might help break up the
monopolies on content now being held by cable companies. For with it being possible to more easily
watch what is being streamed over the internet, I would think that the networks
would start working with other outlets and the price that we now face for cable
TV would have to go way down in order to hold onto as many subscribers as
possible.
Early
on, [Jim Cramer] of both [Mad Money] and [Squawk on the Street] fame and
fortune (in a relative sense to this piece) was a great favorite of mine. For he had a very colorful way of expressing
his opinions that were usually quite enjoyable—very much unlike [Rick Santelli’s]
Discharge Exchange segments.
Oh,
there were a few things that I took great exception to. For I would start shaking my head in dismay
every time he would start hopping up and down while screaming, “THE PC IS
DEAD! THE PC IS DEAD!” Those outbursts would usually be in
conjunction with some news about something that either Hewlett-Packard or
Microsoft was doing, and it was always followed with much talk about how much
cooler Apple now is to younger generations.
Then
he went and crossed a line that I simply could not abide. For I heard him boldly proclaim, “CUMMINS! THE BEST ENGINE MANUFACTURER IN THE WORLD!”
Okay,
I was willing to let his lack of distinction between types of engines slide,
but declaring [Cummins] as the best in the world was simply unforgiveable. For they make diesel engines that go in
trucks that those who buy them do not have to drive.
Yeah,
yeah, yeah, Cummins makes more than diesel engines for trucks, but that is what
I have an intimate knowledge of. Besides,
if Cummins is willing to make junk like that for trucks, it makes sense that
the rest of their engines would not be much better.
Would
you like to have to drive a vehicle delivering stuff in and around a big city
with a 25 horsepower two-cylinder engine while all of the vehicles in the
traffic you are trying to maneuver around have 300 horsepower V-8s? This is what it is like driving a truck with
a Cummins engine.
Yeah,
the much more powerful vehicles would quickly go on their way and leave you to
make your turns after they have went on down the street, but there is always
more traffic coming up from behind. In
fact, I am quite sure that it is a law in most jurisdictions.
Cummins
makes engines that are supposed to have as much horsepower as a [Cat] or a
[Detroit Diesel] does, but the trucks with Cummins engines are always the last
over the hill, with everything else being equal. Some idiots will argue otherwise, but they
are, after all, idiots.
The
last truck I drove with a Cummins engine had a pumped-up 444 “Cat-Killer” in
it. In all fairness, I was fairly happy
with its performance heading east out of Missouri, but on the way back, the
turbo went out, which was not the first time that had happened, while I was
trying to make two pick-ups on the south side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. With each street being practically straight
up and down in that part of town, plenty of power is a must for anyone who might
be concerned about rolling backwards while trying to go uphill. After taking most of two days to limp the
truck back to the southwestern part of Missouri, the owner of the outfit
mercifully sold the truck at auction as soon as a another new turbo was
installed.
Now,
it has been around 13 years since the last time I was out there on the road in
a big truck, and it may very well be that Cummins has decided to return to the
days when their [KTA engines] could give any Cat a true run for the money, but
I kinda doubt it. For why would a
company like Cummins strive for greatness when mediocre had plenty of money
coming into the bank?
It
was finally revealed to me that Mr. Cramer and most of the rest at CNBC could
not help themselves. For they are
looking at companies like Cummins through the eyes of a stock analyst—not
someone who would actually use their goods or services themselves. Yes, one would think that the quality of a
company’s products would have much to do with the value of their stock, but
with more and more money coming out of emerging markets like capitalist China,
a Cummins engine is better than what they can make themselves at this time, and
a Cummins can be generally bought at a cheaper price than a Cat or Detroit
Diesel can be.
Alas,
it is becoming more and more uncomfortable for me to watch my usual CNBC
shows. For Mr. Cramer was at it again
during a segment of Squawk on the Street the other day when he started literally
squealing with glee over [Valero] making a killing (his actual words) by
charging the same at their gasoline pumps as their competitors were while
paying much less for the crude oil they were refining.
Yes,
if one is to make money in the stock market, they need to buy low and sell
high, and higher and higher corporate profits drive the price of their stocks
higher and higher. Not much credit is
given for making a truly great product and selling it at the lowest possible
price out of goodness of heart, it would seem.
Isn’t our brand of capitalism great?
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