Today in "so much winning"!

[Deleted User 295]

Sad, but not surprising.

My bank typically stays away from any type of operation where the collateral is living. Dairy seems like a dying industry compared to what it was. When I was a kid I remember how much milk was pushed on us as a health food...now it's very different. We've undergone a big cultural shift when it comes to healthy eating and what's considered healthy. My kids don't drink much milk and I only really made (or tried) them drink whole milk until they were 2 or so.

I'm not saying that is totally to blame, because that shift was still present in 2018 and before....but it's a matter of time before a lot of these smaller operations die off....and unfortunately a lot of these farm operators are savvy with their money and get themselves way to leveraged up, thus all the bankruptcies.

[Shirley]

Sad, but not surprising.

My bank typically stays away from any type of operation where the collateral is living. Dairy seems like a dying industry compared to what it was. When I was a kid I remember how much milk was pushed on us as a health food...now it's very different. We've undergone a big cultural shift when it comes to healthy eating and what's considered healthy. My kids don't drink much milk and I only really made (or tried) them drink whole milk until they were 2 or so.

I'm not saying that is totally to blame, because that shift was still present in 2018 and before....but it's a matter of time before a lot of these smaller operations die off....and unfortunately a lot of these farm operators are savvy with their money and get themselves way to leveraged up, thus all the bankruptcies.

I hope you ensure that your kids are getting enough Calcium/Vit.D otherwise, especially your daughter, because the accumulation window for Calcium is early, and narrow:

...Anyone can get osteoporosis at any age. However, it’s more common in women after menopause. Men make up about 20 percent of all cases. This is because they have a higher peak bone mass and lose it slower as they age, compared to women.

Peak bone mass (PBM) is the greatest amount of bone a person can build up. Most men and women reach PBM between the ages of 17 to 25. The higher the PBM, the lower your risk of getting osteoporosis later in life...

[Deleted User 295]

Sad, but not surprising.

My bank typically stays away from any type of operation where the collateral is living. Dairy seems like a dying industry compared to what it was. When I was a kid I remember how much milk was pushed on us as a health food...now it's very different. We've undergone a big cultural shift when it comes to healthy eating and what's considered healthy. My kids don't drink much milk and I only really made (or tried) them drink whole milk until they were 2 or so.

I'm not saying that is totally to blame, because that shift was still present in 2018 and before....but it's a matter of time before a lot of these smaller operations die off....and unfortunately a lot of these farm operators are savvy with their money and get themselves way to leveraged up, thus all the bankruptcies.

I hope you ensure that your kids are getting enough Calcium/Vit.D otherwise, especially your daughter, because the accumulation window for Calcium is early, and narrow:

...Anyone can get osteoporosis at any age. However, it’s more common in women after menopause. Men make up about 20 percent of all cases. This is because they have a higher peak bone mass and lose it slower as they age, compared to women.

Peak bone mass (PBM) is the greatest amount of bone a person can build up. Most men and women reach PBM between the ages of 17 to 25. The higher the PBM, the lower your risk of getting osteoporosis later in life...

Yes. Lots of broccoli consumed in our house.

She does drink milk occasionally (vitamin D organic I think), and has it in her cereal. Also eats lots of cheese. And ice cream. Eggs a few times a week.

As with any 6 and 3 year old, sometimes it's hard to get them to eat healthy stuff...but we try to do the best we can.

[jhawks99]

I read where Roger Stone got 40 months. Less that the 7 to 9 years that was originally requested. Is it a win now or when DDD pardons him?

[Shirley]

[Shirley]

[Shirley]

[Shirley]

U.S. crude prices plunged to their lowest level in history as traders continue to fret over a slump in demand due to the coronavirus pandemic. The price of the nearest oil futures contract, which expires Tuesday, was the hardest hit, detaching from later month futures contracts with a drop of more than 90%. This suggests that some believe there could be a recovery later in the year.

West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery tanked 92%, or $16.76, to $1.38 per barrel, its lowest level on record. Meanwhile international benchmark, Brent crude, which has already rolled to the June contract, traded 6.2% lower at $26.35 per barrel. The June WTI contract, which expires on May 19, fell about 10% to $22.54 per barrel. The July contract was roughly 5% lower at $28 per barrel.

The front part of the oil futures ‘curve,’ which is the May contract that expires on Tuesday, was hit the hardest since it applies to fuel that’s set to be delivered while most of the country remains on lockdown thanks to the coronavirus. The only buyers of oil futures for that contract are entities that want to physically take the delivery like a refinery or an airline. But storage tanks are filled so they don’t need it.

The spread between the May and June contracts — known as the front month and second month — is now the widest in history, according to KKM Financial’s Jeff Kilburg. “This is a phenomenon due to the expiration of the front month contract coupled with the historic plunge in crude,” he said in an email.

[...]

[Shirley]

[Shirley]

Sorry, Trad:

[twocoach]

I saw a story about a Louisiana pastor asking his congregation to donate their stimulus checks to his church. Reason #27,156 why I don't go to church.

So gross.

[jhawks99]

I saw a story about a Louisiana pastor asking his congregation to donate their stimulus checks to his church. Reason #27,156 why I don't go to church.

So gross.

I posted a link to an interview he did defending this on the worst people thread. CNN guy tells him that preachers are eligible for government checks. A-hole said he wouldn't take gummint money.

[Mjl]

Sorry, Trad:

And... I've lost a crapload of money.
If I'm understanding things correctly, there's nowhere to put the oil that's being drilled - they may start paying to have oil taken away. As in an oil barrel could have negative value. Crazy.

[jhawks99]

Gas is $1.23 here.

[zsn]

Gas is $1.23 here.

I had to look up the cost of gasoline here (it's $2.39 BTW) because I don't go out that much and my primary mode of transportation is an electric car - which I haven't charged in nearly a month!

[Shirley]

Gas is $1.23 here.

At least when Trump brags about the price of gasoline, for once, he won't be lying.

[chiknbut]

Gas is $1.23 here.

At least when Trump brags about the price of gasoline, for once, he won't be lying.

I did see someone on Facebook recently post about how Trump has helped drive down the cost of gas. I thought it had to be a joke. But nope.

[Deleted User 289]

I know people who are extremely intelligent in many ways and yet if someone posted on Facebook that Donald Trump said dogs fly, the automobile was invented by Jesus, coffee comes from cows, and drum sticks are needed to play the guitar, they would never question it and/or insist he's right.
I will NEVER understand it.

[Shirley]

Sorry, Trad:

And... I've lost a crapload of money.
If I'm understanding things correctly, there's nowhere to put the oil that's being drilled - they may start paying to have oil taken away. As in an oil barrel could have negative value. Crazy.

Yup, they had to pay people ~ $37.63/barrel, to take/store their oil.

The Day Oil Went to Zero
Posted April 20, 2020 by Joshua M Brown

My favorite scene in ‘Goodfellas’ (how do you even choose?) is where Joe Pesci tells a story about being interrogated by cops after being caught while pulling a job, laying in the weeds in See-caucus. The cops are hitting him and he’s not giving them the answers they want. “What are you gonna tell me now, tough guy?”

Most people don’t tell a story about being beaten up with the joie de vivre Pesci displays for his fellow hoods at the tiki lounge that night, which is how director Martin Scorsese demonstrates what an absolute psychopath he is. This will be an important detail, later…

Anyway, today we – all of us market participants – watched something so brutally unintelligible take place that it almost forces us to ask ourselves “did it actually happen?” The price of West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil for next day’s delivery went to zero dollars per barrel. And then it actually went negative!

There are a whole host of technical factors related to the mechanics of the futures market involved, which I won’t get into here, mostly because they are unimportant and won’t be remembered. What will be remembered is that the price of the world’s most widely quoted and traded and utilized physical commodity was, for one shining moment, worth less than nothing. You had to pay someone to take it from you.

One of the things the old timers like to tell the young guys and gals is that they’ve been through some inconceivable shit in their day. Guys in their 50’s talk about the one-day 23% crash of ’87. Guys in their 60’s talk about the stagflationary quagmire of the 70’s. And I’m always very respectful of their experience, and the things they’ve been through – as a student of history, how can I not be?

But today…today we saw some shit. This is my third recession as a professional money manager. And outside of talking to someone who lived through the Depression (is anyone left?), I’m realizing that I am now thoroughly unimpressed with the lived experience of the old timers, the guys who tell me how I’ve never lived through the things that they have in a market context. “You can’t imagine the things I’ve seen, young man.”

I just watched the price of a barrel of oil go to zero. And I’m still going to wake up and go at it tomorrow.

What are you gonna tell me now, tough guy?

[Deleted User 289]

I have an Indian (American citizen) friend who is engaged to an Indian woman.
She currently has dual citizenship in Canada and India and was to go through every legal means necessary to become an American citizen. They were supposed to get married in the USA late next month - assuming everything went through and as planned. Not sure if/how this directly affects them now but in a group text this morning his one word response to this was - "great".

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/20/politics ... index.html