Friday Feedback: The “Spirit Of Great Stuff” Edition
End the week with a friendly voice, a companion so obtrusive. Plays that song that’s so elusive, and the magic lyrics make your portfolio move.
Off on your way, hit the open market, there is Great Stuff at your fingers. Mr. Great Stuff ever lingers, undemanding contact in your online solitude…
Welcome to Friday Feedback, Great Ones! Our invisible inbox is crackling with life today … a bright antenna bristling with energy!
Today’s the day when we dive into Great Stuff’s email inbox in search of emotional feedback on a timeless wavelength.
Now, clearly, you’ve missed out on this week’s excursion — unless you’ve already sent in your rant/question/stock idea. But you can take part next week by dropping us a line at GreatStuffToday@BanyanHill.com.
So, send us your market musings … your investing inquiries … your rambling rants, and we’ll be sure to come back next week bearing a gift beyond price, almost free!
Almost?
Well, you do have to write an email … so, “almost” fits.
Anywho, all this machinery making modern markets can still be open-hearted. So, let’s not be coldly charted and get to your questions:
Is You Is, Or Is You Ain’t My Tax Credit?
I’m late in sending this response, but I believe some mistakes were made in your discussion of the tax credit due for buying an EV. I may have missed a subsequent correction, but here is my personal experience related to buying an EV in 2019.
I bought an EV which qualified for the $7,500 tax credit in December 2019. Even though my wife and I had already paid, via withholding and estimated tax payments, more than our total federal taxes due for 2019 we still received the entire $7,500 credit.
We chose to use it for a credit toward our 2020 estimated taxes, but we could have taken it as a refund. The only way in which we would have not benefited from the EV tax credit would have been if we had not owed any taxes federal income tax for 2019.
Also, if our total tax bill had been less than $7,500, we could not have used the entire credit. We would have been able to take the credit only up to the amount our tax liability for 2019.
Also, regarding the pre-rebate price being higher for EVs than for cars with internal combustion engines, while EVs do have higher initial costs, the cost of maintenance is likely to be much lower for an EV and if, as I am able to do, you can do most of your charging at home, your cost for fuel will be much lower. That is especially true if gas prices stay high.
The Bottom Line
While I agree with you that there are still major issues with owning an EV like how few vehicles there are to choose from, the time it takes to charge (especially when away from home), and the initial cost, the case for buying an EV now isn’t nearly as bad you have stated it.
I (almost) always find Great Stuff both entertaining and informative. Thanks.
— Chris B.
Thanks for writing in Chris … and thank you for being an (almost) loyal reader! Ha.
So, it seems that I could’ve been clearer and less snarky when I talked about the EV tax credit in the November 13 edition of Great Stuff: ChargePoint Will Win The Dash For Government Cash.
In my defense, I was correct on how the EV tax credit applies … you have to owe taxes for it to work, that is.
But in my rush to make light of the situation, I might’ve worded things a bit confusingly.
Mea culpa.
Chris, you are exactly right. If you owe taxes — and who doesn’t? Not you, Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos — the EV tax credit will work for you. It just works better if you owe more taxes, which some of us take great pains to avoid.
The bottom bottom line is that, when it comes to investing advice, I need to remember that it’s really just a question of my honesty. Yeah, my honesty.
I mean, Great Ones like to believe in the freedom of investing. But glittering prizes and endless snarky phrases shatter the illusion of integrity, yeah.
Thanks for keeping me on the up and up, Chris!
For The Words Of The Profits Were Written On The IRS Wall…
Speaking of taxes … are you tired of giving all your hard-earned money to Uncle Sam?
Silly question. Of course you are!
Well, lucky for you, I’m good friends with Ted Bauman, editor of The Bauman Letter and all-around tax guru. Long ago, Ted showed me several “sneaky” — but 100% legal — tax tips to help me grab my cash and make a stash. And he can do it for you, too!
And echoes with the sound of salesmen.
Of salesmen.
Of salesmen!
And with that, we Rush on over to the inbox!
If you don’t see your email featured below in bold, virtual print … did you remember to write in this week? (Don’t worry, Ken and James S. … I see y’all filthy animals out there.)
Write to us today with your investing questions, comments, concerns, recipes, fan fiction — whatever you want to write about, we want to read it!
GreatStuffToday@BanyanHill.com. Let’s get to it!
I Got 99 Problems, But My Electrical Grid Ain’t One
My main concern is not with GM and other EV producers, it is with the capability to come up with enough electric power at our homes, etc. to support a 1,000% increase in EVs on our roads.
Hope you can give me some confidence as I see concerns expressed everywhere but no comments from our energy generating companies.
— Ed B.
Big Ed! I hope you don’t mind the nickname — it’s a Twin Peaks callback (yes, another one) and not a comment on your person. Promise.
Anyway, thanks for trekking down the ol’ virtual highway to hand us your message, Ed. I hope it wasn’t too cluttered with electric vehicles (EVs) for you on the way to Great Stuff HQ.
The point I think you’re missing here is the fact that electricity usage is continually going up. More people are born every day, more people get houses, more people buy electronics … you get the picture.
When people buy millions of PS5 consoles or TVs for Christmas — seriously, where is everyone finding these PlayStations?! — do you worry that the electrical grid will collapse come January?
Of course you don’t. That’s just silly.
What’s more, it’s not like everyone and their mother is standing in line to buy an EV for Christmas, and we’re gonna experience this sudden, massive spike in electricity usage.
Energy companies have time to update their grids and adjust to consumers’ needs. And most grids will adapt just fine … “most” being the key word (I’m looking at you, Texas and California).
You also have to remember that a lot of money is on the line here, Ed. And energy companies want that money. They’re not going to forego future grid updates and say: “Oh well … guess we’re not getting that EV charging money.” That’s like leaving cash on the table … or worse, giving it to a competitor.
So, if your power company starts struggling to meet demand due to a rising number of EVs in your area, that’s completely due to poor planning on your power company’s end … and I feel bad for you, son.
I hope that helps to clear things up for you, Ed. Thanks again for writing in! And if you’re still — still — scrounging around for more ways to play the EV game, simply click here to get started.
Ain’t It The Truth! Ain’t It The Truth!
Hey Mr. Great Stuff!
So, today I decided to put together a separate “Great Stuff Picks” spreadsheet (in Google Sheets) to track my performance of these pics as a group. After the recent sell recommendations, I own all but two of the active stock picks (no Boeing, $BA, as I’m not a fan and think the company is poorly managed. No KMX because … well, I missed that boat).
That said, the other positions show a 106.6% gain overall with an S&P 500 benchmark beat of a whopping 60.3%! First stock was added 2.83 years ago so, I calculate an effective annual return of 29% for this portfolio. Now that is some market crushing Great Stuff right there!
FYI, I had already sold IRBT for a 23% profit a while back. Sadly, I never bought into AMKR. Also, I am unlikely to sell CMI or CRWD as I still think there’s plenty of future upside for them both — they stay in my portfolio for now.
Thanks for putting together the most entertaining investment newsletter out there!
— Brent J.
Dang, Brent, you’re killing it on the organization front! You mean you don’t just throw random market orders into Robinhood, forget what you even bought, and maybe check on ‘em in a few months?
No?
Good…
Seriously, though, I commend your portfolio-optimizing prowess, Brent. And for the rest of you Great Ones wondering: “Where the heck are all these gains I’m missing?”
Well, the short answer is … they’re in Brent’s portfolio.
The long-ish answer: You can check out our latest update for the Great Stuff Picks portfolio — as well as a few portfolio FAQs, hint hint — right over here.
Volatility Giveth, Volatility Taketh
Hey Great Stuff team,
A few months ago you recommended a good options play for AMD. A lot of us Great Stuff readers made out like bandits.
With the recent overreaction from bulls and bears due to the the Omnicron variant, do you foresee another good options play in the near future? Love the content. Thanks as always.
— Sergio G.
Sergio! Thanks for writing in, good sir. Don’t think I forgot about all y’all maniacs on the options-trading floor — not for a second! Though, the thing is, volatility is making the options market a bit maddening right now.
But I thought volatility was good for options!
Yes, it is. But when all volatility rises … no one’s volatility rises. Capiche? Things just get expensive. You still have to look for that diamond in the rough … and with “the rough” spreading freaking everywhere, it makes things a bit more complicated to trade options.
Just know that I’m on the case like fruit flies on a week-old banana, and I’ll let you know the second we find a trade that’s worth sending out to the beckoning masses. Besides, I’m not just gonna throw options ideas around all willy nilly.
I’ll leave that to Robinhood and Reddit’s WallStreetBets.
Now, let’s tie up all the loose odds and ends waaaaaay down at the bottom of our inbox, next to the pocket lint and all those “lemme write for Great Stuff!” requests.
A Medley Of Miscellanea
Would you be interested in reaching out to C-level and top officials of Wealth management, Agricultural services, banking and finance, health service, oil and gas energy, heavy-duty equipment, construction services, etc. for your upcoming campaigns?
— Alex
On second thought, do you know someone who can translate Hebrew?
Thanks, I Guess
רב, אפשר בבקשה לדבר?
— Katie H.
Beautifully put, Katie. I was just about to ask you the same thing.
The almighty ever-deciphering Google tells me you want to talk. About what, I can only vaguely imagine… (My bet’s on a jackal. Is it a jackal?)
Let’s try this again, shall we Katie? Write to us over at GreatStuffToday@BanyanHill.com!
You, too, should write to us with, well, whatever you’ve got! Is there a puzzling investing problem on your mind? Any stocks you want me to dive into and dissect? (Read: rip apart.) Barring all that, what makes you want to rant?
Hit us up at GreatStuffToday@BanyanHill.com. In the meantime, here’s where you can find our other junk — erm, I mean where you can check out some more Greatness:
- Get Stuff: Subscribe to Great Stuff right here!
- Our Socials: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
- Where We Live: GreatStuffToday.com.
- Our Inbox: GreatStuffToday@BanyanHill.com.
Regards,
Joseph Hargett
Editor, Great Stuff