I'm speaking on the Long/Short Value Strategies panel on Friday; Tweet on TWTR; Lordstown Motors crashes again; After Credit Cards, Which Debt Should You Pay?; Jeers to Samsung; Cheers to ICanFixItForYou
1) I'm speaking on the Long/Short Value Strategies panel at the virtual Ben Graham VIII Annual Conference on Friday at noon, along with four other speakers:
- Christopher Brown, Founder, Aristides Capital
- Andrew Left, Founder, Editor, Citron Research
- Mitch Rubin, J.D., CFA, Chief Investment Officer, Portfolio Manager, RiverPark Funds
- Kurt Feuerman, Chief Investment Officer, Select U.S. Equity Portfolios, AllianceBernstein
The conference is happening every day this week from 11 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. Eastern time. To see the agenda for each day and register, click here. You can save 50% by using the code "WHITNEY."
2) This tweet reminds me of one of our biggest winners:
We recommended shares of Twitter (TWTR) 10 months ago to Empire Stock Investor subscribers. Since then, it's risen 63% versus 28% for the S&P 500 Index, but it's pulled back 23% from its February high. This gives investors another opportunity to get in at a highly attractive price.
3) I hope my readers heeded my warnings about electric-vehicle startup Lordstown Motors (RIDE) in March, April, and May because it continues to crater after announcing last week that it doesn't have enough cash to start commercial production and issuing a "going concern" warning. The stock collapsed another 19% yesterday after the board found evidence of inaccurate statements and the CEO and CFO were forced out.
Don't be tempted to bottom-fish here, as the company still sports a $1.6 billion market cap – there's a lot more downside...
4) Some good advice in this Wall Street Journal article: After Credit Cards, Which Debt Should You Pay? Excerpt:
Stimulus money, mortgage forbearance, and the pause in federal student loans have helped Americans pay down high-interest credit-card debt. Now, some are wondering what is the smartest debt to pay off next.
Americans paid off $82.9 billion of credit card debt in 2020, according to an analysis of TransUnion and Federal Reserve data by WalletHub.com, a consumer-finance website. In the first quarter of 2021, credit card balances dropped by $49 billion, the second-largest quarterly decline since 1999, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Meanwhile, more than 20 million people still have student loans in forbearance.
Financial advisers traditionally encouraged borrowers to pay down debts starting with the ones carrying the highest interest, which is usually credit cards. With relief programs still in place, some say the old advice should be thrown out the window.
The new order of operations is all about evaluating how secure your income is and what else you have going on, said Michele Cagan, author of Debt 101.
Here are three ways to think about erasing any additional debt you might have:
- Refinance and Pay Debt
- Get Ahead
- Don't Pay It Off
5) I recently cracked the screen on my new Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, which leads me to my "Jeers and Cheers" today.
First, jeers to Samsung, which charges a usurious $499 for a replacement screen – grrrr!
And cheers to the electronic repair shop ICanFixItForYou, which quickly ordered the new screen and replaced it while I waited.
Given how often we all crack our cell phone or iPad screens, our laptops go on the fritz, etc., it's important to have a shop you trust to fix your problem quickly and not rip you off.
I met the owner, Abraham, years ago, and he's always taken great care of me. Here we are last week in his office near Penn Station:
If you live near New York City and ever need his services, you can e-mail him at Abe@icanfixitforyou.com or call him at 212-292-8005. Use my name!
Best regards,
Whitney