#I’m in my crazy analyst mode
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No ok but I NEED to just spit out my personal analysis of what the fuck was going on in the last 10 minutes of episode 6 because I’m actually going insane just holding all these THOUGHTS in my brain and have quite literally been thinking of nothing else for the past few days.
Cause we all know what Crowley was saying: I love you, let’s finally acknowledge this THING between us, run away and be together with me, fuck everyone else. Quite literally the same mindset as when the Not-pocalypse was going on.
Now AZIRAPHALE ON THE OTHER HAND…
Ok let’s get into this whole scene from the very beginning shall we… with Metatron sending Aziraphale to break the news to Crowley:
“You don’t have to answer immediately, take all the time you need…Go on and tell your friend the good news”
Ok so this make it seem like Aziraphale haven’t accepted the offer right? With the good news being the offer itself, right? But THEN, (skipping ahead here sorry) after the whole kiss scene the Metatron comes in and says:
“Right, ready to start?”
So it seems like Aziraphale already accepted the position??? And it’s not the Metatron is forcing Aziraphale to make a decision right there and then because everything said after implies he was prepared to leave/ already made his choice. He doesn’t look taken aback or like that question came out of left field when The Metatron asks if he’s ready, he replies with a sound “No” when asked if there’s anything to take with him, and he starts to says “I think I..” when they start to leave, the rest of which I’m sure was going to be “I think I made a mistake” or “I think I want to stay, actually” which, again, SOUNDS LIKE HE MADE HIS DECISION BEFORE HE ENTERED THE SHOP
(Not to mention when Crowley asked: “Tell me you said no…” Aziraphale didn’t say: “I didn’t says yes either”, or “I haven’t told them my answer”, he just remained silent which implies he said yes)
So going back to the first line, we can only assume there was another offer made to Aziraphale, one he maybe didn’t tell Crowley about, and the “Good News” is 1) the offer of making Crowley into an angel and 2) Aziraphale choosing to go to Heaven.
What I’m going insane after is WHAT THE FUCK IS “You don’t have to answer immediately, take all the time you need” REFERRING TO
Ok… now moving on to literally everything else (beware- it is extremely long underneath):
So right after Metatron dismisses Aziraphale, and as Aziraphale walking to the shop, we linger on him and he looks NERVOUS and like, uneasy. There’s not a hint of that huge smile he gives Crowley when he gives his “incredibly good news” Which you might be like, obviously he was nervous, he’s about to break this huge news to Crowley. BUT, counterpoint, if Aziraphale actually thought that what he was about to say was this incredibly great news that Crowley would have absolutely loved to hear, he wouldn’t be nervous, right? He’d be fucking ecstatic from the moment he walked away from The Metatron. So that fact that he ISNT, makes me believe that either Aziraphale himself didn’t like the decision he made or he KNEW that Crowley wouldn’t like what he was about to say, but said it anyways (for what reason, we speculate later)
When he enters the shop, he even gives Maggie and Nina a tense smile. You know, a smile you would give someone passing on the street when you were absolutely stressed out of your mind but didn’t want anyone to see it.
AND THEN, he give this little look that so full of love and a little sigh that’s kind of like a “yes we do have a lot to say” in response to Nina’s “It seems like you two have a lot to talk about”, which just reminds you of how during this ENTIRE SEASON, we see Aziraphale be incredibly openly fond of Crowley. That he is just as smitten for Crowley, since probably before the Beginning. I mean, right after Beelzebub and Gabriel fucked off to space, Aziraphale was STARING at Crowley with such heart eyes that it looked like man’s was about to risk it all after everyone left.
And here’s where I can’t tell weather he’s genuinely excited over the news he’s giving or if he’s just gotten realllyyy good at pretending. He’s constantly looking out the window, to where the Metatron is waiting, at the cafe, and overall very jittery and nervous. And, granted, this could just be him getting excited over the news(for reasons we’ll talk about)- but again, it’s news that seemed to give him a bit of stress.
So then we go onto the flashback of the conversation between the Metatron and Aziraphale. And here’s where I can’t believe people think Aziraphale just ran back to Heaven at the slightest bit of praise because the Metatron point blank tells him, “you’re a leader, you’re honest…I need you to run [these enormous projects], you are just the angel for the job” and Aziraphale doesn’t look happy. He’s stressed and clearly uncomfortable. The Metatron is literally singing his praises about how needed and valued he is and he could not give less of a shit. AZIRAPHALE STRAIGHT UP SAYS “I don’t want to go to Heaven” after alllllllll that. THE ONLY THING that convinces Aziraphale to accept the offer is the presence of Crowley right by his side.
So QUITE LITERALLY Aziraphale accepted the offer BECAUSE of Crowley, and that is the lenses I will be looking through his dialogue with from now on.
“You could come back to Heaven and… everything, like the old times, only even nicer.” I think the “everything” part of this sentence is talking about everything Pre-Fall Crowley had: one who was happy and was beloved by others, one who had quite literally everything they wanted. One who LOVED creating nebulas and had such passion for the beauty of the starts that he complained that the universe isn’t just some “fancy wallpaper”. Someone who wasn’t outcasted for (what he now realizes) such a stupid thing as just asking questions and doubting intentions. And I’m not sure what re-sending (?) would entail, but according to Aziraphale it seems like he would still be himself, just have that official angel status. The “only nicer” referring to how they’ll know each other, how their relationship and history will allow them to truly be together in a way they weren’t, and COULDN’T before.
“Well obviously you said no to Hell, you’re the bad guys. But Heaven. It’s the side of truth, of light, of good.” SIR WHAT THE FUCK??? This line threw me off the most because honestly man what the fuck. Not even a “They’re the bad guys” it’s “YOURE the bad guys”. Unfortunately I feel like this confirms that Aziraphale does still think them as opposing sides. Sure they’re a team, but unlike Crowley who think they’re their own group: a THEM, I think Aziraphale still thinks them as a angel and a demon. I think he’s very aware they are still on “opposing sides”. Sigh… anyways through the Heart Eye lenses I think Aziraphale is referencing how… good Crowley is. Because as much as he protests how nice he ISN’T- he still saves kids, still condemns offing one’s self, care for humans well-being and safety. He’s constantly doing the RIGHT thing, and in Aziraphales eyes that is synonymous with the Heaven he wants/ images, the good guys. He doesn’t belong in Hell so therefore he must belong in Heaven.
(Thinking about that shade of grey scene- and honestly the “you’re just of a bastard to be worth knowing” lines- I feel like Aziraphale DOES, or at least SHOULD, understand that things aren’t black and white. That there is nuance. But since he’s looking at Crowley through Gold Colored glasses, he thinks Crowley is straight up good- nothing else. He’s thinking “well Crowley SAYS he’s not nice but that’s obviously not true, so he’s just lying to save face and he’s really a great person deep down no matter what he says” (which- wow invalidating much Aziraphale, but that’s another convo). All of this just to say I think Aziraphale thinks Crowley deserves angelic status, way more then any other stuffy angel currently up there)
Then Crowley says “When Heaven ends life here on Earth, it’ll be just as dead as if Hell ended it”, and it doesn’t look like Aziraphale disagrees with that statement. Obviously right? Because that was the whole point of season 1. Aziraphale just looks… frozen? Almost kind of realizing that Crowley is very much not taking this as well as he thought? Isn’t hearing what he’s trying to say? I don’t know. Point blank, Aziraphale knows blindly following after Heaven is bad, he knows Heaven, AS IT IS, is bad. He knows that, which directly leads to his “If I’m in charge, I can make a difference.” line
Now AS CROWLEY SPEAKING, Aziraphale almost looks… taken aback? At first? Like, in a, this isn’t how I planned this to go what are you going to do rn way. He narrows his eyes a lot, which makes it look like he’s not so much confused on what Crowley is saying/ doing, but wondering why he’s doing it NOW. (Which kinda confirms they both very well knew what was happening b/w each other and said nothing like the dumb dumbs they are). He also glances at the window- again, at the Metatron. This conversation is very much not how he thought it was going to go, and he starts shaking his head as Crowley verbally rejects both Heaven and Hell. WHAT ARE YOU SHAKING NO AT, MAN? Trying to deny that Crowley is rejecting you? Trying to get him to stop saying blasphemous things about Heaven when The Metatron is right there??? Idk.
But as soon as Crowley says “…Just be an us. You and me, what do you say?” Aziraphale immediately jumps on that, says “Come with me” says they can be an “us” in Heaven, both on the same side, both doing good just as they have always done the in the centuries before. He goes from “I can make a difference” to “WE can make a difference”. THEY BOTH WANT THE SAME THING: TO BE TOGETHER RAHHHH. But most importantly- “we can make a difference”. I think the main point Aziraphale accepted the offer, like many people have speculated, was to make Heaven a place deserving of Crowley. I think he knows by now that the reason why Crowley was cast out of Heaven was incredibly stupid. That Crowley’s curiosity, objections, and connection to humanity make him a better person and angel then he is (I mean some of y’all forget Aziraphale was about to straight up shoot Adam in Season 1, not to mention it being his meddling in Scotland that lead to a young woman dying that night). So to have an opportunity to not only make Heaven acknowledge that casting out Crowley was a MISTAKE, but to possibly change they system so they can create a Heaven that encourages questioning and objection, to create a Heaven that is as ACTUALLY good as it should be, would be a dream.
Of course the “Nothing last forever”. A lot of people attribute this to him talking about material possessions (and it very well could be). But it also feel like Aziraphale was referring to this life they’ve carved out for themselves, this peace. His tone is slightly… pitiful? Sorrowful? Wistful? Perhaps Aziraphale knew realistically there’s no way they could have spent the rest of their centuries in this bookshop, that Heaven and Hell would eventually plan for either the end of them or the world yet again, put in motion what they think is inevitable.
Again, everything said after this has an emphasis on being TOGETHER. Then after Crowley refuses to respond or even look at him: “I don’t think you understand what I’m offering you”, which is clearly said in a angry, last ditch effort for Crowley to say something. Aziraphale is visibly frustrated while he says this line and he probably thinks he’s offering Crowley safety (wether that’s true or not remains to be seen) and everything he DESERVES.
Finally a passive aggressive “Then there’s nothing more to be said”. But, (as many others pointed out) dudes just as devastated as Crowley, is just as rejected.
The kiss? Not unwanted like some might say. I think it’s pretty established Aziraphales gone for the dude, and he definitely could have pulled away anytime. I mean, the reason it probably lasted so long is cause neither of them wanted it to end. Dude was fighting for his life not to reciprocate.
Ahhhh here we are at the elusive “I forgive you” line. As I said before, it’s a way to put himself above the things he as feeling. A way to emotionally run away from the inner turmoil Crowley confession and subsequent kiss created in him
(Quick 12/10 applause for Micheal Sheens acting chops on heartbreak so depressing it gets me feeling just as heartbroken as Aziraphale is :D)
Though shortly after the heartbreak turns into anger and he wipes away the kiss, frustrated in how much more complicated Crowley made things and how he didn’t accept his offer. When The Metatron comes in, Aziraphale immediately turns to wipe his tears and compose himself, putting on a cheery act. He tries to stall, almost calls after him to tell him he made a mistake, but when he turns to look at Crowley waiting out the window and decides to go to Heaven anyways, I can’t say with 100% certainty it’s for good reasons. It almost looks like he does it to SPITE Crowley’s rejection. That IN SPITE of Crowley rejecting his offer, he’s going to PROVE that he can change Heaven to be something worthy of Crowley. Idk, looking closely at his expression, it’s not an expression you make when you decide to nobly sacrifice yourself to the front lines for a loved one, it’s more of a side-eye,I’ll-show-YOU, scorned, lover look. And it’s that same look of- “hm I’ll show HIM” that Aziraphale puts on when following The Metatron.
When The Metatron mentions the next step of the Great Plan, and Aziraphale says “Yes, you mentioned that… can I know what it is?” Now this phrasing interests me because it implies that 1) Aziraphale noticed The Metatron’s mention of “Big Plans” and took note and 2) the light tone and passively asking way of “can I know what it is” vs something demanding like “and, what exactly are these plans?” makes me think he is very much aware of the precarious position he is in and how carful he has to be to keep his standing with Heaven and The Metatron light and friendly. He knows what he’s facing, he just thinks the ends (Crowley’s safety and happiness) justifies the means.
THEN, The Metatron mentions needing an angel who familiar with Earth, and seems to genuinely smile at that. I mean, I don’t think Crowley ever mentioned that Heaven was planning for a second Apocalypse, as there really was no time for discussion after Crowley came down from Upstairs. (Which really, they I hope they talk about that next season cause wtf Crowley) So I think this smile from Aziraphale is him thinking Heaven is finally going to work with and acknowledge the good of humanity.
Of course that is immediately crushed when The Metatron says “the Second Coming” and we can very clearly see how distressed Aziraphale is over the idea. And that dramatic musical cue too, as Aziraphale looks off in horror for a second. I think it HERE at this point, he decided to go to Heaven to learn more about this “Second Coming” to prevent it. He smiles disarmingly at The Metatron and quickly tries to pull himself together after this revelation and new goal. But before leaving realizes there’s no way he can contact Crowley about this, not anymore. Aziraphale is about to go somewhere Crowley can’t follow, to a place where Crowley can’t swoop in and save him if he massively fucks up. He’ll have to face the consequences of his actions directly.
He takes a breath before stepping in, one that feels like one would take before charging head first into battle, and it sort of feels like he’s convincing himself he’s making a choice that’ll benefit the greater good or something as he goes up.
(I’d also like the note The Metatron letting out a breath as soon as the door close, like he wasn’t sure that Aziraphale was going to completely follow him. I think he definitely planned this all to separate them due to how powerful and how unpredictable they are now that a second apocalypse is approaching)
SO WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN????
I don’t know man, I. don’t. KNOW. Was Aziraphale faking all that giddiness in a last ditch effort to try and convince Crowley to accept an offer he knew he would refuse? Was he actually happy about the deal? Ok- the two theories I came up after alllll this that make the most sense are these:
1) He took the deal in order to reform Heaven to be a place worthy of Crowley/ to keep them safe etc., even though he knew Crowley wouldn’t like or approve of it. Crowley confessing threw off his whole explanation and he never got to fully explain this in the way he wanted. The kiss only complicated this decision further but ultimately still decided to go through with it because he genuinely believes he can fix the broken system to be what it’s SUPPOSED to be . Only after learning of the Second Coming does he decide he can also attempt to stop that, or at least gather as much info on it as he can and run if he fails.
2) He took the Heaven deal to double cross them from the start. He realized what The Metatron was trying to do and accepted to get first hand info/ snoop around Heaven easily. He argued what he lowkey believed to be true in order to convincingly fight with Crowley since The Metatron was watching them through the window across the street, and was trying to get Crowley to either subtly understand what he was doing or to get him as far from his as possible for his own safety. Unfortunately Crowley’s kiss and confession mucked that up and he never got to clarify his decision. He’s either frustrated that Crowley never let him explain and stormed off or is mad Crowley would ever believe Aziraphale would truly abandon him and decides to continue on with his plan to double cross since it’s for the good of humanity- THEIR side. Learning of the Second Coming only solidifies his resolve to learn more.
AND- if there really was a second offer The Metatron made like the beginning dialogue suggests. Perhaps the first of the two was a deal or passive threat Aziraphale couldn’t refuse. It was something that alluded Aziraphale should watch out and keep on his toes, something that would be easier to monitor if he was in Heaven.
#good omens#good omens 2#good omens 2 spoilers#good omens spoilers#aziraphale#crowley#ineffable husbands#I’m in my crazy analyst mode#I feel like I’m actually going to explode I can’t handle these two#and their miscommunication issues#good omens theories
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A/N: Sam goes into big brother mode on Deeks’ behalf. For “Survival of the Fittest”. A companion to my WikiDeeks frost for this week, “On Even Ground”.
***
Looking Out For A Friend
After Deeks signed off, Sam immediately grabbed his cell, and tapped Rountree’s square in his contacts.
“Hey, Sam what’s up?” Rountree answered after two rings.
“Devin, what’s Deeks doing in OPS?” Sam demanded, crossing one arm over his chest as he glared at the now dark computer screen where Deeks had been a minute ago.
“Uh, Kilbride’s orders.” There was an underlying hesitancy to Rountree’s answer, and Sam glared, even though the younger agent couldn’t see him.
“What aren’t you telling me?” He could almost hear how much Rountree didn’t want to answer his question. “Look, I’m not mad at you, I just need to know what’s going on.”
“Deeks got in a little bit late today, cause Rosa’s sick, you know,” he explained with a heavy sigh. “When Kilbride saw him, he tore Deeks a new one. Mentioned something about Deeks’ being a hazard to the team, or something to that affect. It was not pretty.”
Sam’s frown deepened. He knew Kilbride was capable of saying some nasty things when he was in a foul mood, but he usually reserved actual reprimands for more serious issues.
“Did Deeks explain the situation?” Sam asked.
“I think he tried, but Kilbride didn’t really give him a chance. He ordered us off to talk to Hanson’s mom. Then when we finished up processing the scene at Yost’s, he told Deeks to report to OPS.”
Sam shook his head, even more exasperated now than he knew the whole story.
“That makes no sense,” he said, trying not to let his current feeling for Kilbride roll off onto Rountree. “I’m sure Deeks can handle himself, but he doesn’t have any the specialized training that you, Fatima, or Shyla received. And no offense, but you guys still don’t have anything on Nell and Eric.”
“None taken,” Rountree assured him. He sounded relieved, and Sam wondered how much this had been playing on his mind. “Those two are amazing.” He paused, the silence expectant. “So, uh, is there anything you want me to do?”
“Nah, I got it handled. Thanks, Rountree.” He hung and called Deeks back.
“Hey, Sam. Still looking for that information,” Deeks answered, sounding a little overwhelmed, but more in control than a few minutes ago.
“You’re good, man. Just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing.”
“I am doing fantastic. Or as fantastic as a guy who is way under qualified for working in a technical analyst position and keeps getting texts from his mom who can’t find the nonexistent DVD player.”
“You’re doing fine, Deeks,” Sam assured him. “How’s Rosa doing?”
“Better. Though I think my mom is driving her crazy by now.”
“Sounds about right. Nothing like family to annoy the sick out of you.”
“That’s for sure.”
“Rountree mentioned that you and Kilbride a run-in this morning,” Sam said, getting to the point.
“Yeah, I think somebody accidentally swapped his bran muffin with a gluten one,” Deeks joked wryly. If Sam didn’t know him so well, he probably would have missed the bitterness underlying his words. “It’s fine, Sam. Do you need anything else.”
“No, you’re good. Hang in there, brother.”
***
Sam believed there was a time for subtlety and there was a time for bluntness. Now was definitely one of those blunt days. He’d watched Deeks and Kilbride feel each other out over the last couple years, and he thought they’d gained an understanding of one another. Especially on Kilbride’s part, who was quick to dismiss and dislike anything that didn’t fit into his version the world.
Clearly, Sam had been wrong about that, and now it was time to rectify it.
He caught the Admiral as he returned from OPS, of all places, a tired, harried scowl firmly in place. It was nearing the end of the day, so most of the staff had already left or were finishing elsewhere.
“Kilbride, I’m glad I ran into you,” he said, and the Admiral sighed loudly.
“Hanna, whatever it is, make it fast. I’m not in the best of moods today,” Kilbride responded grumpily.
“Yeah, and it sounds like Deeks bore the brunt of it.”
“I swear gossip spreads faster in this office than at a high school sleepover. Deeks was late again. I merely reminded him that this unit has certain expectations of its employees.”
“Did you know that he was late because Rosa is sick?” Sam asked lightly. Kilbride’s lips turned down slightly before he caught himself and shook his head.
“No, I wasn’t aware, but that’s no excuse for his tardiness. Having children is a personal decision, and as such, Deeks should be able to plan for these types of situations. This team and this country depend on us being at our best, which Deeks was not today,” Kilbride said.
“So naturally you punished him by sticking him in OPS for half the day. Lord knows he did a better job than I would, but he’s not trained for it. Which I’d argue put this team at a greater risk than Deeks being a few minutes late.”
“Agent Hanna, what exactly are you implying?” There was anger in Kilbride’s voice now, but Sam didn’t let it deter him. He’d endured a lot more intimidating than Hollace Kilbride.
“That you let your prejudice against Deeks affect your judgment. I’m the first to admit it, I used to be pretty hard on him myself. It took me way too long, and a pretty horrible case, to realize what had been in front of me the whole time. Deeks is great at what he does. He’s trustworthy, competent, the best damn undercover agent I’ve ever seen, and somebody I have literally trusted with my life time and time again.
“You’re becoming dangerously close to insubordination,” Kilbride warned him, eyes tightening.
“This isn’t the military, Sir, so I’ll respectfully continue.” Sam offered a grim smile. “Deeks is a partner, a friend. My brother. And I’ll defend him against anyone, including those who can’t see beyond the surface,” Sam finished calmly, but pointedly.
“So, you think I should disregard his tardiness?” Kilbride offered him an unimpressed look.
“If you’re going to start reinforcing that rule, then you better yell at all of us. Since we’ve all been pretty lax with are comings and going recently,” Sam pointed out. “Either that, or you give Deeks some grace, because even though he goes by a different title, he’s just as much of an agent as any of us.”
He let that linger in the air between them, and a hint of discomfort in Kilbride’s face. That was a good sign. Lowering his voice, he added,
“My advice is, think about why you singled Deeks out today. And if you’d do the same if it was me, or Callen, or Fatima.”
“Is that all, Agent Hanna?” Kilbride asked sharply, firmly back in control. Sam sighed internally. He hadn’t expected miracles.
“I think so, Sir. Just remember that apologies aren’t the worst thing in the world.” Sam offered him a respectful nod before he turned, leaving Kilbride standing in the middle of the mission.
He hoped Kilbride figured things out faster than Sam had. For his own sake as well as Deeks’.
**
A/N: I’m not sure this quite fits in with the episode timeline and events, but we’ll ignore that. If the writers can have people get around LA in record time, then Sam can make it back for this little chat.
#ncis la fanfiction#Sam Hanna#marty deeks#devin roundtree#Hollace Kilbride#protective Sam#light angst#poor Deeks#Rountree just wants everyone to be happy#Marty Deeks defense league#ejzah fanfiction
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this might be a weird thought but the way jensen performs masculinity (and i KNOW it’s a performance cause like, have you SEEN the mockumentary?) is just.... so inherently queer to me lmao
ok. okokokokokok. you asked for this. i have a LOT of thoughts on this. it’s gonna be under a cut because i’m gonna be annoying and psychoanalyse a celebrity i’ve never met(and hope i never do) but trust and believe when i tell you i know what i’m talking about so
you want my opinion? here goes. there is absolutely no way jensen ackles is straight. i hear you, ‘how do you know that he’s bi? that’s invasive and creepy’ but may i counter that point by saying how do you know he’s straight???? why is the default for everyone heterosexual? that’s a toxic mentality to have; ‘oh you don’t know for sure so just treat him like he’s 100% straight just in case’ like....what? heteronormativity drives me wild i’m sorry
and also, um, just to, um, prove my point that this man is decidedly not straight™(i really don’t want to do this but like it has to be said) we KNOW he’s not straight because his d*ck has spoken for itself around misha, like, four times. I HATE SAYING IT!!!!!!! but, um, straight men don’t get aroused by men. ...do i really need to explain myself further???? that’s what i thought(and don’t give me the ‘it could have been for unrelated reasons’ or ‘that wasn’t a boner!’ crap because um good lord yes it was and misha caused every single one so no it wasn’t a coincidence i’m gonna move on before i collapse into myself like a dying star)
anyway, on to the topic at hand which is jensen and his performative masculinity. and it’s a juicy one.
after the unconscious amount of hours i’ve put into watching and subconsciously judging jackles, i have come to the conclusion that like, 90% of how he presents himself and talks and even moves is an act. it’s a facade. it’s a shield. he is not that person. it actually seems exhausting, because he tries to compose himself in this macho, manly, confident and effortlessly cool way, but he’s not that person he desperately wishes he was and wants to be perceived as. he’s on guard every second, even the slightest tilt of his head is like, pre-meditated in some way? if i’m going FULL body language analyst mode, i’ve noticed he has a certain posture he always shifts himself into, and it’s very ‘pursed lips, stoic faced, gruff voiced, square-shoulder, broad and manly’ but, not to be rude jensen, it kind of reads as a little kid imitating the adults he thinks are cool? oof i am going IN huh(it’s out of love though i promise)
he is trying to be this person at every second:
because that’s who he wishes he was, because that’s how he gets validation from the people around him that he looks up to; straight white guys. but to me, who he presents himself to be at conventions is just as much of a performance as this whole eye of the tiger bit is.
oh i should mention i know his body language isn’t naturally like that because how he naturally carries himself is actually pretty flamboyant? like he seriously must be toning himself down HARD
examples:
there’s no tension in his body here as opposed to the eye of the tiger gif. i’d describe it as...generally loose and free? he’s at ease when he moves like that and you can see it.
oh and dude!!! DUDE!!!! how could i not mention the fucking SPECTACLE that is his voice??? jensen. i watched season one. i know where your voice naturally sits. THAT IS NOT WHAT YOU SOUND LIKE. and there have been so many accounts of fans visiting jensen in his trailer and being surprised that his real voice is two octaves higher. again, his performance of masculinity is all encompassing. he can’t even talk normally because, in his mind, that’s a chink in his armour.
and, like you said, anon, this whole smokes-and-mirrors gong show of ‘i am the cool texan man’ is inherently queer. who are you trying to impress??? guys??? that’s pretty gay dude.(btw: gay[honorary])
i feel like i’ve already read this man for filth but i have to keep going bc i have so much to say
ok next thing i’m gonna talk about is how jensen says one thing but everything else about him tells us the exact opposite. another HUGE element of performative masculinity, ONE THAT DEAN WINCHESTER IS A MASTER OF. have i mentioned how dean and jensen are like mirrors of each other when it comes to their sexuality and queer identity??? because it is fascinating how everything i say about jensen also directly applies to dean.
allow me to introduce the grumpy face™. as in, the face he glues on when he’s enjoying doing something but doesn’t want to let anyone know it. and it’s ALWAYS when he’s doing something that could be seen as unmanly in any way. (and when i say manly i mean the ‘ideal’ version of manhood that doesn’t really exist but that jensen seems to be striving for[and dean too])
prime example is this video he did with daneel. the grumpy face™ doesn’t budge the whole time as he’s like,,,,playing an instrument and acting like he doesn’t want to bc i guess that’s too girly??? but i also find this video fascinating because the joke IN it is kind of that they’re both poking fun at him for being so insecure about playing a freaking flute. because, i mean, he gets into it, but he wants you to think he is not.
also this picture.
what is this. i hate them. jensen is smushing himself into misha’s forehead but noooo his face is telling us ‘i hate this’ because CLEARLY he does. also misha’s so happy ew gross
he does that face in photo ops with misha ALL THE TIME but how many times has he also literally asked the con goers if he can also have those photos on his phone too? because of course he actually loves touching misha and is actually a sentimental fool but he tries so hard to hide it and fails so spectacularly.
oh and this. and of COURSE this. actually let’s talk about the hitch kiss for a hot minute because it’s a perfect example of exactly what i’m talking about
(he is so transparent guys. he tries so hard but he’s so obvious.)
1. misha was never supposed to be onstage with him. so it’s a boldface LIE and OBVIOUS PLOY TO GET MISHA TO KISS HIM when he says ‘they’d like us to make out now’. but of course the way he says it is ‘oh my god can you believe what these crazy panel people are making us do haha but i mean what they say goes amirite’. same energy as ‘oh my god did you just dare us to kiss rn???’ ‘....no i didn’t’ ‘oh my god i can’t believe you’d ask that haha but i can’t say no to a dare lol’ it’s the SAME THING
2. the fact that he was in the worst mood before misha came onstage and FAKE KISSING HIM made him feel...SO?? much better? like not just a little better a lot better like, again, that says a lot, because if they weren’t dating he would not be in a better mood if misha kissed his cheek unprompted. bc that cheek kiss wasn’t a joke it was a genuine sign of affection and AHHHH
3. after the kiss happens. you know, the one that jensen actively leans into and is smiling like an idiot the whole time through and is quite clearly having the time of his life during....he says ‘well, that was uncomfortable’. .......my guy. um. i don’t know how to tell you that i do in fact have eyes and you are NOT pulling the fast one you think you are
like i’m so sorry jensen but i have you pegged. it’s literally no use.
god there’s so many instances of him doing this with misha specifically. the whole ‘ew gross lol’ but then everything about him tells us the exact opposite. like this(i hate this. how dare he say ‘he has though, hasn’t he?’ LIKE THAT?????)
so yeah my point with that is he really wants us to think he is one thing when he is the antithesis of what he’s trying to be. he really likes those things that he talks down about, and everything he’s loudly projecting is all to hide how he really feels. he went to a gay bar with daneel, for crying out loud. he wants to play a role in drag. he’s queer and he likes it. pov: you’re jensen ackles train of thought: ‘ok so i really like this thing that people might make fun of me for or call me gay for liking so if i just say ‘lol as if’ and make a grossed-out face they will be FOOLED. i am a genius. hey misha wanna blow on my ear lol i meAN GROSS EW’
i have two more things i want to talk about when it comes to this topic so PLEASE bear with me anon this is why you took so long to answer clearly lmao
ok so we’re now going to go over my favorite hot take of all time. which is ‘how do we know dean’s performing masculinity? because sam isn’t.’ only replace dean with jensen and sam with jared and oh my god do we ever have a case
jared is as STRAIGHT as they come. he is secure in that knowledge. and that’s why he is perfectly comfortable treating misha like this:
and not try to scream ‘i am not enjoying doing this!!!!!!’ at us. because he doesn’t care what we think of his sexuality like jensen does(because he has nothing to hide whereas jensen DOES)
something i found the other day that no one has brought up but i SCREAMED upon finding it is this one clip THAT I CAN’T FIND OH GOD but i promise i’m not making it up. i can’t believe i can’t find it guys it is gold. i need need NEED to talk about it. and if anyone knows what i’m referencing and can apply links in any way i will love you forever but here’s what happens off the top of my head:
ok so i’m a bit too braindead to explain it perfectly but um basically it’s a j2 panel and someone brings up magic mike and i think jared says ‘yeah i didn’t watch it’ and then jensen says ‘all the way through’. stupid joke. whatever. the joke is that jared is gay for watching magic mike.
and then i literally kid you not. jared gets this like ‘jesus christ ok dude? lol’ look on his face and then goes ‘projecting much, mr. ackles?’ and jensen gets a guilty look on his face and walks away. and jared did not say it as a joke. he was being dead pan and earnest. and jensen knew it too, he knew he was projecting. i wish i could show you guys the clip i promise if i ever find it i’ll link it but IS THAT NOT SO DAMNING FOR JENSEN????? like come ON. also proves my point that when you compare how they feel about watching magic mike. jared doesn’t care bc watching it just doesn’t interest him, but he also thinks that just watching it in itself doesn’t make you gay. jensen however.......has a different mindset, clearly.
‘projecting much, mr. ackles?’ is actually a great title for my next and FINAL section(we’re almost there folks) which is how jensen projects his insecurites about his own sexuality and relationship with misha onto misha.
i hope by now we’ve all seen this video of jensen impersonating cas. it is a blatant microaggression on his part. and like obviously homophobic. it’s like in his mind if he makes fun of them for being gay it makes them both less gay somehow??? it’s self-deprecation in a way??? let’s just tell it like it is: that impression was just jensen’s overt internalized homophobia rearing it’s ugly head. he does it a LOT too when it comes to misha.
i mean:
and that whole mess where he’s making fun of misha for being a bottom in their panel in 2016? ‘so you’re saying, like with football terms, there’s a handler and there’s a receiver heheheehe’ jensen you’re not exempt from being gay just because you know football terms lmao
oh and his OTHER impression of misha where he mocks him for...bicycling...because it’s not a manly enough sport??? jensen NO ONE else has ever thought this hard in their lives about what constitutes as masculine enough to be a sport before. that’s all you bud. we don’t find those jokes nearly as funny as you do. you are reaching, sir
the good news is that misha thinks it’s hilarious and knows it’s projecting on jensen’s part and will tease him endlessly for it. many stories come to mind, like that one photo op story where they’re literally dressed in rainbow banners and pride stickers but when misha goes to hold his hand jensen said something like ‘no way’ and then misha stepped back, put his hands on his hips and went ‘that’s the part that’s too gay for you???’ and jensen LOST it
or when that whole underwear thing happened(messy messY MESSY BTW) and then a fan asked a question about what dean and cas would do in rome and misha just said ‘when in rome’ and jensen makes a face like ‘are you serious’ and then misha says ‘you can’t look at me like that anymore, because of what you did!!!!!!’
OH and that whole story about when misha suggested they put jensen in the closet for that cat video....yeah um
and then when jensen was asked to do bisexual finger guns for a photo op and the con goer said ‘he looks bisexual here’ and misha literally said ‘oh he definitely looks bisexual here. i would say he’s actually closer to the gay side of the spectrum’ so..um...make with that as you will
OH MY GOD i’m finally done. wow. WOW. that was a lot. i hope i’ve blown your minds. ty anon i really wanted to talk about this and i hope you’re happy with the outcome!!!!!!
#cockles ask#sexuality spec#jensen is bi#anti rps for ts#cockles#liz answers#ok i have to admit it is crazy i have retained all this info#i hope someone appreciates it#my analysis#mine
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“...In the efforts of girls to be good and repress self, diaries seem to have had a moderating effect. Certainly keeping a diary which recorded successes and failures along the road to virtue was an additional incentive to be good. A success could be recorded and celebrated. At the same time, an always-listening, never-judging diary was something of a tonic. Girls who talked enough about their efforts to be good availed themselves of a simplified version of the ‘‘talking cure’’ which would soon be used by Sigmund Freud and Josef Breuer with middle-class Viennese girls. (The disproportionate number of adolescent or late-adolescent females in Freud and Breuer’s early work, and indeed the role of hysteria in their formulation of psychoanalysis, corroborates the special salience of language therapy for Victorian girls.)
…Within their diaries, girls assiduously recorded their efforts to be better— echoing, internalizing, and ultimately softening parental imperatives. Just as diaries moderated parental dictates, they mediated parental identifications. As the critic and analyst Katherine Dalsimer suggests, diaries proved to be revisited ‘‘transitional objects’’ useful in the processes of adolescent separation. No other metaphor quite captures the depth of attachment which girls sometimes demonstrated to their ‘‘darling’’ diaries than that analogy to the anthropomorphic blanket or teddy bear of early childhood.
Within vessels chartered and christened by parents, Victorian girls embarked on imaginative journeys which did not threaten to take them too far from home. Though often received from parents as gifts, diaries nonetheless granted more freedom than parents did. In diaries, girls could take on new attachments without abandoning old reliances. Thus when Margaret Tileston went away to boarding school and developed a crush on an older girl, she recorded it in her diary—as well as the news that she had just written a twelve-page letter to her mother, ‘‘the longest letter I ever wrote.’’
And when Helen Hart fell in love with her cousin, she confessed to her diary the prolonged anguish. Such confessions to diaries replaced those to parents—but with parents’ informal acquiescence. The diary was thus a tool for legitimating the ongoing reorientation of girls from parents to peers. Often the diary’s role in this transition was not symbolic at all, but quite concrete. Like rolling hoops, diary keeping was a late-Victorian recreation which girls sometimes shared with friends. Mary Boit and her cousins hid secrets in each other’s diaries, sometimes simply for the fun of the surprise alone.
In fact, the playful fabrication of different personae in diaries was an engrossing amusement within Victorian friendships. Girls described writing diaries together in their rooms, on New Year’s Eve, at boarding school, and even in the park. Shared diary keeping, of course, carried more possibilities than rolling hoops for emotional experimentation, and diaries often became actors in the friendships themselves. Girls frequently wrote about each other, producing provocative documents that became the stuff of suspicion and intimacy. Writing diaries became a way of confessing, protecting, or creating secrets too private for speech.
…For the same reasons that parents might encourage their daughters to write to them—as a way of communicating without the embarrassment of face-to-face expression—girls might use their diaries among themselves. Writing channeled unseemly emotions. That seemed sometimes to be the point of girls’ diaries. Self-governance was expected in feeling no less than conduct, and the diary could prove both a convenient receptacle for—and an incitement to—emotional spillover. In addition to moderating harsh norms and mediating new allegiances, a girl’s diary could inspire and then compartmentalize confusing emotions.
Almost all diaries contained at least one moment of a confessional nature—sometimes crossed out, sometimes written down the spine in minute handwriting, sometimes just left dangerously on the page. For some the diary’s primary purpose seemed to be to provide a safe ground for documenting, exploring, and disciplining nascent sexuality. Victorians strictly limited open expressions of sexuality, but as Michel Foucault persuasively argues, diaries dramatically encouraged discourse about sexuality.
Precocious sexuality was both most censured and most discussed—an adult secret imperfectly kept from adolescents themselves. Harriet Burton’s diary, written between the ages of thirteen and seventeen, is a document ‘‘saturated’’ with desire. Initially, when she embarked on her diary at the age of thirteen in 1887, she was reticent: ‘‘I find it rather hard to confide all my ‘inmost soul’ to a journal for my ‘inmost soul’ is— very inmost!’’ But before long, she had discovered the purpose for which she came to rely on her diary—what she would later call her ‘‘de-praving—deep raving.’’
Although she felt that her passion could not be ‘‘natural’’ for anyone her age and imagined ‘‘how anyone would laugh, how greatly amused they would be at the mere idea of a ‘mere-child’ of fourteen—loving,’’ she found her feelings ‘‘sweet’’ and despaired at the difficulty of doing them justice— of keeping them from seeming ‘‘small and weak.’’ Such self-descriptions as this passage after her arrival for a summer visit in Oneonta, New York, are as of one crazed:
‘‘I am in a very hilarious frame of mind today, and can hardly curb my prancing spirits enough to ‘wright’ as this scrawl bears witness. My silvery voice has been heard at all hours of the day rolling forth in diabolical waves of laughter, and striking terror into the souls of the inhabitants of the house. My mind is so filled with plans which wont come true that I’m nearly crazy. My emotions for other people . . . become so conflicting that they brake from the narrow bounds of my inner man and find vent in a mad race around the house.’’
Despite her descriptions elsewhere of complete freedom for outdoor escapades of all kinds, Harriet Burton described herself here as a confined hysteric, very much within the mode of the ‘‘madwoman in the attic’’ of gothic romances. Her confinement was clearly metaphoric, a fictive imprisonment of impulse within fragile shell. As in much of women’s gothic literature, Burton saw herself as really two people—a passionate inner self and an outer mask, ‘‘a placid calm expression of contentment on my face.’’ And she lamented ‘‘how dreadful has [providence] been in giving no times of solitude times which the soul may assert itself and the face throw off the mask, and break out and away from conformity and be itself.’’
In this context, Burton equated her authentic self and her sexuality. For Harriet Burton, the only place where her passion could be confessed—with all its inadequacies—was in her diary. ‘‘It seems so ridiculous and sentimental to think of writing in a journal, and I would not for anything have anyone know that I keep one,’’ she wrote. ‘‘But I will confess it to myself it is a sort of comfort to sit and write, although it is only talking to myself, and it is often putting down in black and white the things I most despise myself for.’’
…After a many-paged reverie of unfocused fantasy, Harriet Burton checked herself with her own ‘‘will and good sense’’: ‘‘The wisest thing that I can do is to go and duck my head into cold water, eat something then go downtown where I can see plenty of faces, real ones, then come home study my latin—real latin, then go to bed, a real bed,—to real sleep, get up in the morning eat a real breakfast, go to school make some real recitations, by that time I may be in the realms of reality and common sense!’’”
- Jane H. Hunter, “Writing and Self-Culture: The Contest Over the Meaning of Literacy.” in How Young Ladies Became Girls: The Victorian Origins of American Girlhood
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Binge eating, the scale and staying on track
I really miss my glory days when I could stay low. Like I would wake up and not eat for 12 hours, it did kinda suck in a way because I was freezing my ass off outside but if I could do that nowadays I would be able to loose weight so quickly.
The past is the past and honest I did so much binging back then.
Other than that, I think that the floor in my room is uneven because the scale is so annoying. I can stand on it and get 56, move it and get 59. So basically I have to figure out where to put it, a while ago I had it right but now it’s hard to tell which data is accurate. My scale is next to my foldable bed, before I went to the toiler it said “57.1kg.” then when I folded the bed, the number became 57.6 (wtf, i peed and the number got higher) so I moved the scale around and got a lot of diffrent numbers. I ended up going with 57.6 because I don’t want to give myself false hope but in reality I know that I’m loosing. My calorie notebook had all my data (date, day number, calorie intake, calories burned through walking, total, my daily weight) and so on. In the past (on my old account) I used to do cute daily logs with everything I ate and so on and I also did weekly analystics so that I could compare each week but nowadays that’s just too extra.
Honestly I have the desire to go super low. I know that it sucks if you do it all the time but from time to time it won’t do too much harm. Personally I find that when you do it from time to time, there is this ecstatic feeling to it.
Atm i’m chilling in the 800-1200 calorie range which is pretty ok in terms of managing my binges. But trying to go any lower than that sets me off in the wrong direction.
Nowadays if I go evern a bit too low, I get myself into binge mode and I go crazy. It’s such a pain in the ass because if I could go lower without binging, I would loose faster. But instead I’m in a possition where going lower = binge. I thought that I was out of the ‘red- highly likely to binge’ zone since I spend a whole week binge free but then it happened. It’s been 3 days since then so I consider myself to be in the organge zone. I’m just glad that it ended up being 1 binge that didn’t affect other days. After this section finishes I will compare this page section and the last one but so far it is a lot better. I just got to stay within the range I have previously selected. I did the maths and I should be acceptable looking as long as I stick to 800-1200. I will get to go to university and I will be able to pass as skinny as long as I have baggy clothes (will be at the lower end of the healthy bmi range for someone my height.)
Idk what my university plan is, it’s either gonna aid this process or screw it up. I’m gonna find out when it starts. I have already started looking at accomedations. I want something with a private kitchen area.
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THE WWE'S GLASS CEILING IS JUST A FOOTNOTE FOR RENEE YOUNG
She's the first female color commentator in the history of the company. But don't expect Young to list "trailblazer" on her IG anytime soon. She has a bigger mission—to become the greatest to ever put on a headset.
After three grueling hours of fulfilling her role as WWE’s first ever female color commentator on Monday Night Raw’s live broadcast each week, there’s a good chance Renee Youngis going to have to sneak away to the restroom when it’s all over. The enormity of breaking one of professional wrestling’s thickest glass ceilings doesn’t faze her. It’s the smaller things, like not getting a chance to discreetly escape to the lavatory from the announce team’s perch adjacent to WWE’s massive LED stage that, she says, will take some getting used to.“It was one of the things I was legit the most stressed out about doing commentary,” she reveals. “‘But when do I pee?!’ But I feel like I’ve overcome it.”
Young says that since taking over the third chair on Monday Night Raw from Jonathan Coachman, she’s begun to limit her liquid intake throughout the day. She doesn’t really have all that much time to sip coffee anyway, as her new role requires hours of pre-show preparation and research. In addition to a mandatory production meeting where on-screen talent is briefed on storylines, scripts and talking points, Young takes the initiative to chat with the wrestlers one-on-one, getting a sense of who they are, what’s going on in their real lives and where they see their characters going that week. She also scours social media for any interactions between wrestlers or any trending pop culture stories she can reference.
It’s this kind of work ethic, and an ability to make adjustments on the fly, that has helped Young do something no other female broadcaster has ever accomplished in the 66-year history of WWE: co-piloting the company’s flagship broadcast. To some, that makes Young a trailblazer, but she downplays that label with her trademark self-deprecating, cheery sense of humor. “I’m not going to put it in my Instagram headline: ‘Renee Young, trailblazer.’ I do feel the responsibility of it, but it’s also a responsibility I asked for.”
Renee Young, born Renee Jane Paquette in Toronto, Canada, took one of the more circuitous routes imaginable to get to WWE. She grew up in a show business household; her father was a concert promoter and her mother a bookkeeper. When she was 10, Young was encouraged by a client of her mother’s to try her hand at modeling. “I didn’t even know what that meant,” she recalls. “I was like, ‘Sure, it sounds great.’ I would go meet with different talent agencies and different modeling agencies.”
In addition to modeling, however, Young had a penchant for making people laugh. When her parents divorced, Young found that a well-placed joke could defuse the roiling tension of a divided home. “Kind of taking away that spotlight and the awkwardness of the things that were happening,” she says. “Once I realized that’s something that worked for me, I loved nothing more.” That need to be irreverent would manifest itself at school, too. “I was getting kicked out of class regularly,” she says. “I wasn’t a bad kid. I was just loud. Getting kicked out and still trying to make people laugh in the hallway. I was always in kind of a little bit of a situation. I didn’t know when to shut up. Shocker.”
When she was 16, while bouncing around the modeling world, Young was handed a small pamphlet for the Second City improv training center. She would keep it in her bedroom drawer for years as a reminder of who she truly wanted to be. Finally, when she graduated high school in 2003, she asked her father for the $250 necessary to register for her first improv class.
Improv was her passion, and she fully embraced her time at Second City, hoping to transition to a career as a comedic actress. After a brief spell in Los Angeles when she was 19, she came back to Toronto to work in music videos and commercials before settling on a career hosting on Canada’s The Score sports network in 2009. There, she began fronting a wrestling talk show called Right After Wrestling. (The show aired directly after Monday Night Raw in Canada.) That got the attention of WWE, who brought her in for an audition and eventually hired her to conduct backstage interviews with the wrestlers.
WWE offered Young her biggest platform ever, as well as a very strict set of guidelines about what to say and how to say it. Many of the interactions audiences see on Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live are heavily scripted by a team of writers. The performers are asked to get as close to reciting the lines verbatim as they can for their backstage interviews, in-ring promo segments and pre-taped vignettes. Before most interviews, Young would have to preface the exchange with, “Please welcome my guest at this time”—a catchphrase that’s become fodder for jokes within online wrestling fandom.
Despite her early struggles with the tried-and-true WWE formula, Young quickly found allies to help her push forward. Former announcer, and current mouthpiece for Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman was an early supporter of Young. He helped her ease into what can be an overwhelming, esoteric world of wrestling jargon, high pressure and unceasing travel. “He’s had my back from the get-go,” Young says. “He did not need to do that. For whatever reason, he and I have always been close when it comes to talking about being better and wanting to be the best.”
Before her debut as an analyst on Monday Night Raw, Young hunkered down in the stands of the empty arena, where Heyman found her to give his sage counsel. “He just kind of gave me advice on how to be a little more succinct, how to create those little punchlines,” she remembers. “You’ve gotta think about what this is going to sound like in a video package. Make sure you’re saying their name instead of he or she. Just little nuggets like that that you might forget. And I do forget. Sometimes, I might be out there and catch myself saying, ‘Oh, he just speared him’ instead of ‘Roman Reigns just speared Braun Strowman.’”
For the former class clown, it’s not always easy to color inside the rigid lines of WWE’s corporate universe. “Prior to working for WWE, I was always in control of my own material [at The Score].” The commentary role on Raw allows for more off-the-cuff banter for Young, play-by-play announcer Michael Cole and color commentator Corey Graves. “I’ve been here for six years, but until now, I haven’t had many opportunities to flex that [improv] muscle. I’m trying to get back into that mode.”
In her six years with WWE, Young has done pretty much all there is to do besides actually work a wrestling match. She’s worked segments on Raw and SmackDown. She’s hosted an intimate, almost Oprah-style interview show on the WWE Network streaming service called Unfiltered. She’s co-hosted the SmackDown aftershow Talking Smack with former WWE champion Daniel Bryan, and she’s helmed the pre-shows leading up to WWE pay-per-view events.
Perhaps the strangest detour in Young’s career was a brief, season-long stint on the E! network reality series Total Divas, a series that follows WWE female talent like Nikki and Brie Bella, Natalya, Naomi Paige, and Lana through their day-to-day lives. Total Divas is not all that different from other E! reality franchises like Keeping Up with the Kardashians, with its various mundane real-life dramas set against the backdrop of the glamour of the entertainment industry. One of the main storylines of the show was the question of whether or not John Cena would marry Nikki Bella. The particulars of their coupling and the eventual dissolution of that couple was all fodder for the cameras.
As helpful as the show was for her personal profile, Young departed Total Divas after completing work on Season 7. “I think the hardest part for me, for doing Total Divas, was having my relationship be on display,” she says with a sigh.
Her husband, Jonathan Good, also known as Dean Ambrose, is intensely private, according to those who know him—a shy, reserved, sensitive man who only opens up once you’ve made yourself worthy of his trust. “It’s always a compliment when John has a conversation with me,” says Natalya Neidhart, Total Divas cast member and one of Young’s closest friends on the WWE roster. “He doesn’t talk to that many people, so when he talks to me, I’m so flattered.” Young is the opposite that attracted, still that same young person always trying to make others laugh with a one-liner. “[Renee] didn’t need someone who was going to compete with her, in the sense of being bubbly and charismatic. She needed someone who complemented her, and John is just so quiet. He very rarely lets people in.” That dynamic might not have been ideal for reality TV.
“I think [our relationship] was not something we wanted to pull the curtain back on,” Young says. “That made me uncomfortable as well, because the whole time I’m just saying he’s crazy and how do I deal with this crazy person [for story purposes], which is really not our dynamic. That was really odd to navigate as we were doing it.”
Until 2015, the heightened reality of Total Divas was one, if not the only, path to success for WWE’s women. Women’s wrestling simply wasn’t a major attraction on WWE TV until Stephanie McMahon debuted highly touted prospects Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch to usher in the “Women's Revolution” campaign that gave female performers more to do than just pose for the camera and smile. But Young is a part of a class of performers who have become bona fide stars without that platform. Though she’s never competed in a wrestling match (the closest she’s gotten is a brief feud where she and Ambrose traded insults with The Miz and his wife, Maryse), Young has amassed a social media following on par with former world champions like Bayley and Alexa Bliss. “Renee is going to be a superstar at this,” says Michael Cole, who, in addition to being her cohort on Raw’s announce team, is also the person who oversees every announcer in WWE.
“When all is said and done, Renee is going to go down as one of the great analysts that we’ve ever had, because you have to stand out in this business,” Cole says. “Renee will stand out because she’s offering something that’s never been done before. Forget the fact that she’s a woman. Put that aside. That’s become a footnote now. She’s different because never before have we had in the wrestling business what Renee offers to the announce booth. It’s that innate ability to talk to people, to be able to dig underneath the surface and find out what makes these superstars tick.”
Her personality and charisma shined even if her on-screen character is mostly just a slightly toned-down version of the real Renee. “I just have to be a little bit more PG when I’m on a live microphone,” she says. The Evolution pay-per-view is something of a culmination of everything Young has been striving for since she joined the wrestling world. “When I was told I was going to be doing it, I was floored,” she says. “I feel like I can open up a door for other women, show other women and girls different paths to go down.”
Young has done her research into other women who’ve made it into the sports commentary world. She’s especially a fan of ESPN NBA analyst Doris Burke, another supreme talent who has a similarly rabid online following. “One of the things I took away [from my research] is that everyone is used to older white men doing commentary and anything that’s not has been deemed wrong. It’s not [wrong]. It’s just trying to change what people are used to hearing.”
Eventually, audiences will get used to Renee Young’s voice on commentary, if they haven’t already. In addition to her weekly job on Raw and the spot on Evolution, she’ll be calling WrestleMania in April. While Raw is three hours and the average pay-per-view is around four, WrestleMania tops out at a whopping seven hours from start to finish. When will Renee get to go to the bathroom then? “If that’s the biggest of Renee’s worries, she has nothing to be concerned about,” Cole says.
“I am not ready for that yet. I don’t think my bladder is quite prepared,” Young says with a chuckle. “We don’t travel with port-a-potties up there.” For every arena, Young has devised a route to the restroom, just in case. It’s absurd that we keep coming back to the issue, but as Young puts it, “This is real life” and she’s not one to hold back on what’s going on in her own head. “She’s relatable because she’s not perfect,” Neidhart says. In that life, as it is in her journey to relieve herself, Young’s mantra is simple: “You gotta navigate your path.”
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GET IN LINE! | Papers, Please #1
Key:
[words] = Descriptive
{words} = Voicing in-game character
+words+ = Voicing non-game character
words (in bold) = Said in ‘Arstotzkan’ accent
‘words’ = In game text
(words/letters) = Mispronunciation by JSE
Note: Transcript will be using British English.
Transcript:
[Singing along to in-game music]
Top of the morning to you laddies! My name is Jacksepticeye and welcome to Papers, Please! I’ve played this game before on the iPad version, and I’ve seen a lot about the game around and it’s got a lot of praise over the years; and, it was always something that I’ve had in the back of my head that I might play sometime; and- that- now I feel like: you know what? I just wanna play it. It’s a good game, I really like it. I haven’t finished it. I- I didn’t play that much of it on the iPad. Just a little bit to figure out what I was kinda doing so... you play- it’s kinda slower paced; and you play a guy who’s like stamping passports, or stamping IDs, going through a border of Arstotzka? Was that what’s the name of it? I think. And, it’s gets quite- it’s gets quite real, after a while; and- I haven’t played the PC version though. I haven’t even- I bought it today to get it.
‘Congratulations. The October Labour Lottery is complete. Your name was pulled’. Sweet! The music is going fucking ham in the background right now. ‘For immediate placement, report to the Ministry of Admission at Grestin Border Checkpoint.’ Ah! I- I’m gonna channel my inner Sugarplum for this one. ‘An apartment will be provided for you and your family in East Grestin. Expect a Class-8 dwelling.’ I dunno what that is. ‘Glory to Arstotzka!’ Best country in all of the land. All of the make-believe land anyway. ‘Grestin Border Checkpoint opens at last. After 6 long years, can the Ministry of Admission(s) keep us safe? Families to reunite.’
So, when you’re stamping people’s stuff, you have to like reject some others; and they’ll stipulate what you’ll have to actually do, like, let in all the people with Arstotzka passports and the- things like that. So- and then, when you let- when you send people away it gets kinda weird because you feel really bad for them.
‘November 23rd, 1982. Ministry of Admission. Official bulletin. Inspector, Welcome to your new position at Grestin Border Checkpoint.’ I know, my Russian accent is terrible. ‘Stamp passport ENTRY VISA and return documents to entrant. Entry is restricted to Arstotzkan citizens only. Deny all foreigners. Glory to Arstotzka.’ Kay, so I have to deny all foreigners. Only Arsto(r)tzkan things are allowed. Oh wait don’t click that yet. ‘Pay attention to’ the ‘passport nationality.’ O-kay! ‘Arstotzkan Ministry of Admission. Inspector’s Booth. Shutter, Counter, Rule Book, Audio Transcript’ and yeah, and then- I have something that’s able to- I have to like, bring across my things, and then pick up- and like, accept it or denied; and I have to move these things around. Okay, so, um... yes, yes, yes. ‘Grestin Border Checkpoint opens at last. Families to reunite. Entertainment.’ Sweet! Um, I’m gonna put you here. Here we go!
Next! +Pop on in and lemme see your face.+ ‘Papers, please’! What have you got? Um, okay, you’re an Arstotzkan, you’re from East Grestin. I think I’m gonna trust you. You seem like a good lad. And we’ll put you under here, and I’m very, like- I’m very anal about the way I do these things. I have to get the like- argh! I didn’t get it perfect within the square. There you go. ‘Glory to Arstotzka.’ Yes. So that’s the premise of the game; you bring in their passports, your- their IDs. You see what they have, what they don’t have, and you accept or you deny them, and they go left or right; but, stuff up here gets crazy after a while. I dunno if you’re gonna be able to see it in this video, but you’ll see it eventually. And then you have to, like, manage stuff at home between the days.
‘Papers, please. This checkpoint is smaller than I expected.’ What did you expect? You are not an Arstotzkan. What’s- what’s my thing to be able to, um, to like inspect. I can’t remember. ‘This checkpoint is smaller than I expected.’ That’s my audio transcript. Rule book! ‘Basic Rules. Entrants must have a passport. Arstotzkan (sim)- citizens only. Booth info.’ Th- That doesn’t help! Um, I can’t remember. I thought I had something that like- uh, I could like check what people had. Can I ask some, like, questions? O-kay. You do not have a place where you’re from here, so, imma have to deny you bro. I’m sorry. Y- You can’t come into Arstotzka, sorry. See you later. ‘Arstotzkans only.’ Not allowed. ‘Next!’ Next please! Or maybe I get it later, i can’t remember. The- I remember there was a thing where you could like, inspect. It becomes very inspector based.
‘I have waited in this damn line since for 8 hours. I hope it was worth it.’ Are you an Arstotzkan? No, you’re not. You’re not allowed in! You waited in this line for no goddamn reason. You see how I try to line it up all the time? It doesn’t really matter where you put it. ‘Arstotzkans only.’ Get out of my line. Cuz then some people get mad and they go rioting; and they start throwing like Molotovs and shit at ya. Cuz- It- Shit gets real and you feel horrible about rejecting these people cuz they- they start to tell you like some really personal stories.
Okay, okay, time is running out. You’re an Arstotzkan. Fuckin, welcome to the country- oh God. Welcome to the country bro. It’s g- It’s good to have ya. ‘Glory to Arstotzka.’ We’re almost running out of time. I think we have time for like two more people. Come on bro. [Unintelligible sh sound.]
Do you have an Arstotzkan’s passport? Were you not here already? ‘It was a mistake to open this checkpoint.’ He didn’t even want to get in. He just stood in line to tell me how bad I was.
Kay, day’s over. Go home. Everybody go home, I have to go back to my wife and kids. ‘Manage your expenses using the checkboxes below.’ So I have $5 left. Yay! Because rent, food, and heat; but I can get rid of heat or I can get rid of food, so- it’s kind of like This War Of Mine in a way. That you have to manage what you’re doing. My son- everybody’s okay right now so I might take off heat? And save myself $15. And then I can bring in heat the next day. Or maybe I can get rid of food and heat for now. I’m gonna sleep for now, and if they’re bu- if they’re sad the next day then I’m gonna have to figure it out. ‘Entry restrictions to relax, admit foreigners. Analysts upbeat. Increased trade and cooperation predicted.’ So now I might be allowed to let in newer people.
It’s ‘November 24th, 1982.’ I remember that day. It was the day I signed papers. ‘From today, foreigners with a valid passport are permitted to enter. Your booth’s inspection hardware is now installed.’ Ah, here it is. Yeah, and then you can like click on different things and you can like click on the person, click on their ID. If it’s like male- if they’re a male and their um ID says female you can kinda check that out and see if there’s problems with it and then deny them. Ah. ‘Check all passport information carefully for discrepancies. Deny any entrant with inconsistent information.’ So anyone who’s consistent I can let in. So, anyone with a valid passport. ‘Enter inspect mode by using the red button on your desk.’ Blah blah blah. ‘While inspecting, highlight’ the ‘two pieces’ o- ‘of discrepant information for further options. Rules and regulations. This post is bound by Ministry’ blah blah blah. Okie dok, yes. I remember how to do it now. Yes, I remember how to do it now. Sweet! Here we go. [Breathes out.] Wish me luck guys. The next day starts. I like- I like the sound of that. [Imitates sound.]
‘Papers, please.’ Are you an Arstotzkan? No. Date of birth, ‘1951.05.25. Female.’ Uh, ‘Korista City.’ Everything seems okay. Expires ‘1984′. Crap, I forgot what date it was. Uh it’s 82. Okay. You seem to be okay though. Blang, blang. ‘Matching data.’ Blang, blang. ‘No correlation.’ Okay. That with that? ‘No correlation.’ This with this? ‘No correlation.’ This with your face? ‘Matching data.’ Your name with you? ‘No correlation.’ Fuck. I can’t- I don’t think there’s anything else I can really highlight. ‘No correlation.’ Do you match this? That and that? No. See you have to try and figure out if there’s- if stuff is out of place. I think you’re okay. I think we can let you in. I’m not sure. I can’t remember some of the other discrepancies that you can highlight. But, there you go! ‘Cause no trouble.’ And you have to get through them really fast as well I think. Because then you um- or maybe you have to fill a quota. I can’t remember! But I think you have to let in a certain amount of them.
Are you an Arstotzkan? No. So, you’re female. ‘Outer Grouse.’ Okay, your name. I’m trying to figure out the discrepancies. This matches this. ‘Matching data.’ Your name, ‘no correlation. No correlation.’ This and this? I can’t remember what correlates with each other. ‘Discrepancy detected.’ Your- your pa- your thing is out of date. ‘You cannot enter using an expired document. What are you talking about?’ You’re not allowed in! Denied. Denied! It’s almost like that animal inspector game I played. Except I feel terrible about this one. I didn’t feel all that bad about the animals. I should’ve, but, yeah. And then you can like, you can suss out their weight and different things.
‘Papers, please.’ Thank you. What do you have here? It says you’re female here but you look like a dude. ‘Discrepancy detected. You-’are’ you ‘male or female? As the document says.’ So you’re female? See, I don’t know which to believe, James. If that even is your real name. Maybe this says imposter right here. Are you- are you still lined up? ‘Matching data.’ Okay, uh, name with you. The picture matches up. But this- this does not match up. These two. [Inhales through teeth.] I dunno James, I dunno. Um, I might have to deny you. I- I can’t take any risks. I can’t have you coming in here with- with misaligned documents. Any discrepancies and you’re gone. I’m sorry but that’s just the way it is. You’re gonna have to get out of my checkpoint now please.
+Hello. How are you?+ You’re an Arstotzkan. I like you already. ‘I am meeting a bus soon.’ Well just hold on here a fuckin Jiminy cricket, we’ll have to see if your documents are in order. They’re matching. This matches? Yes. Your face matches, that’s all good. It’s all good. Is this a- is this? This and... this match, I dunno. I’m runnin out of time though. Ah, ‘Arstotzka’, blah blah blah. I don’t know. These have ‘no correlation.’ Okay, I’ll let you through. Oh crap! I-I clicked the wrong thing, I clicked out of the game. Crap! It’s paused now. Resume! Shit! I’m gonna let you in. I’ll let you in bro. Here you go. You’re allowed in. Next! ‘Have your documents ready.’ Get in! I only have a certain amount of time.
Hello. How are you? Let me see this. Oh, that face does not look the same. ‘Discrepancy detected. Your picture, it is different. I do not know what to say, it is me.’ Nope! Get outta my country! There we go. I did it! I got them all done. ‘Next’? I thought the day was finished.
‘Papers, please.’ You’re an Arstotzkan. ‘Hello handsome. You look bored.’ I am. ‘If you want a good time, come and see us.’ Ooo, what d’you give me? No, go away! What did you give me? ‘The Pink Vice’! Sweet! Thank you! I’m gonna put this over here, behind your thingy. Um, right, we’re gonna have to see this. Matching. Matching. I- I don’t know what this is. I’m gonna have to match the date with this. ‘Matching data.’ Okay, you’re an Arstotzkan. I think you can get in. I think you’re okay. And I will come visit you guys. Thank you very much! ‘I will be around’ a ‘couple months. Don’t forget to visit.’ I won’t. Are we not finished? You were beepin at me, maybe it was lunch time. I dunno. ‘Drag documents here.’ Yeah, I got my documents.
Uh, okay. You are from ‘Republia’, let’s see. Does that face match this? Oh. Woah! What happened? No! Get back! He tried to jump the border. You can’t do that, you have to go through the checkpoint! Dude! No! He got shot. No! You see what happens? I’m just trying to run a border patrol here!
‘The day was cut short by a terrorist attack. Applicants entering after 6PM are unpaid. Your son is sick and needs medicine. Progress is saved at the start of each day.’ Ah crap! So I need food, rent, and medicine. Everyone’s cold- ah crap! Okay. I’m gonna have to use all my money for this now; I’m lucky I saved some of the money. Goddamn it. ‘Terrorists strike at Grestin! Kolechian agitators suspected. Checkpoint lockdown. More guards - more security.’ Let’s walk to work now.
There’s no guards here! Oh wait, there are. Ah, there’s more guards up here and there’s guards on this side now. A lot more guards people. ‘Entry for non-citizens is now regulated.’ Okay. ‘All foreigners require a valid entry ticket.’ So, you have to have a passport and an entry ticket now if you don’t- well, if you’re not an Arstotzkan. So all foreigner- ‘Entry for non-citizens is now regulated.’ Okay. So people who have foreign passports, they need an entry ticket. If they don’t have an entry ticket they can’t get in. Ah. ‘Verify information before stamping passport entry visa and returning all documents to entrant.’ Kay, so I have to inspect people now as well at the same time. ‘Missing documents can be correlated by highlighting counter and pertinent entry in rule book.’ Okay, got it, got it, got it. Nah, fuck off I don’t need that. Ah, you go in here. Next please! Move it along! Come on in!
Hello! ‘Papers, please.’ Okay, you have that. You have your entry ticket. ‘Valid on’ lemme see. ‘Matching data.’ Okay. Okay, you’re good, you’re good. Let me, uh, correlate all of this. Your picture match your face. Yes. Does this match? This? I don’t know what I’m checking. I don’t know what I’m checking. They have no correlation to anything. You match up as female. I think we’re pretty good. I think I can let you in. Okay! You can come on in. And you’re an Arstotzkan. Oh no you’re not! It’s an Arstotzkan ticket. There you go. Cool, go on in. ‘Cause no trouble. Next’ please! I like this game, it’s a good game. It’s very um- it’s very like Sherlocky, in a way.
Uh, you don’t have an entry ticket bro. Um- I need to- oh wait, I need to take out my rule book. Uh, ‘basic rules’. You need an entry ticket. Come on dude. Uh- [blows raspberry]. What am I checking? ‘No correlation’. You don’t have an entry ticket though! Um, ‘all documents must be current.’ Okay, how do I- I don’t know what I’m doing! Is this expired? ‘Matching data. Matching data, matching data.’ But you don’t have an entry ticket! And you’re- you’re not from Arstotzka. You’re from ‘Obristan’. How do I check the-? Okay, ‘require an entry ticket.’ Yes. Blam and-. Oh, blam and blam. Blam and blam. ‘Discrepancy detected.’ Yeah! ‘You cannot enter without a ticket. Here.’ Okay, fair enough. Well- but is it valid? ‘Matching data.’ Okay, you can come in. Whatever. You’re making life hard for me though bro. You’re making life hard for me. Just hand in your tickets when you get here, and there’d be no fucking problems okay? Here, take your shit and go. ‘Cause no trouble’, get out. It gets hectic, and then I don’t know if I’m actually doing it right. Cuz sometimes you let people through and then they kill the guards.
‘Papers, please. Hey there. I can make you happy any time.’ Ooo. All these people giving me nice things. Thank you. I shall visit your place! ‘Matching data. Matching data.’ Are you female? Do you match your picture? Everything is matching. Okay. You can come in. But only because I said so! Okay, go on. Get through. ‘Come to Pink Vice. Ask for Ava.’ I will do! Bye Ava! It was nice to meet you.
Hello there, my name is Jack. Do you have entry ticket? Somebody’s gonna have a- a bad date entry ticket. ‘Matching data.’ Okay. ‘Matching data.’ Okay. Do you match? Yes. Everything seems to be matching, imma let you through. I dunno if I’m actually stamping the wrong documents now. Aw, that was almost a perfect one. Here you go. Come on in. I- cuz, I’m being a bit, like, flippant with it. I’m not doing it super- I’m not being super, like, scrutinising about their information.
‘I heard about’ the ‘terrorist attack. You are lucky to have’ a ‘job still.’ You’re lucky that I’m gonna let you in. Or am I? ‘Matching data,’ okay. Okay. Um... you match that, you match this. I think you’re okay. I think you’re allowed to be let in. I’m- I’m not gonna be too worried about you guys. You seem like nice people. ‘Be safe.’ Do not cause me any trouble. Do not cause me any grief! Cuz I’m the one letting you into the country. If I get in trouble then we’re all dead.
‘Papers, please.’ You do not have a ticket! Oh you do! Never mind. Sorry, sorry, sorry. You do have a ticket. This looks fake. ‘Discrepancy detected’, it’s fake! ‘You cannot enter today. It is my mistake.’ Yes it is. Denied! Doesn’t matter. As long a- once there’s one discrepancy detected, you can get the fuck outta my booth. A bit harsh, but I have to be. We have to protect the glory of Arstotzka! Arstotzka will rise proud! Mother Russia! Well, I mean it sounds like a Russian thing, I don’t know if it actually is.
This looks okay. Wait. Wait a second. Wait a second. Are you who you say you are? Are you sure? O-kay. I’ll trust you for now. But I don’t know, wait are- do these correlate? No. I think I tried that before actually. I think the re- I don’t know what they are. Oh wait, I’m accepting you. There we go. Whoosh! Thank you. ‘Cause no trouble.’ This day is lasting longer than the others. I don’t like it, I’m very worried.
Hello little potato man. Oh you’re the one who always causes trouble. You have like fake tickets don’t ya? ‘The greatest country!’ See, he’s like, I wanna get in, but he doesn’t even have any fuckin documents. ‘No correlation.’ Um, you must have a fucking passport dude. Hello? ‘Where is your passport? {Passport’?’ ‘ Arstotzka so great passport not required, right?}’ I-I’m sorry. I’m sorry, get out. Get out. ‘I come back again.’ And then I think he comes back with like a fake one. And then he doesn’t have an entry ticket, and it’s like where’s your entry ticket? And he doesn’t have one of them either. He- he’s a- he’s a little potato face. I’m gonna call him potato man.
‘Papers, please.’ Hello, ‘Kal(t)roth.’ Okay, we’re running out of time. Everything’s matching, everything’s matching. I think you’re okay. Wait. That looked fake. Okay, you’re- You’re good. You’re good, you can come into Arstotzka. [Singing] Arstotzka is greatest country in the world! All other countries are run by little girls! Aw shit! ‘Invalid issuing city!’ Oh I didn’t know how to- I didn’t know how to get them.
Okay. You are- well you have an Arstotzkan passport so I think I’m allowed to let you in. But how do I check that? I don’t know. I don’t know. Wait is it a valid date? Crap man! That means I’m gonna get something taken out of my paycheck! Aw, little Billy’s gonna die at home! Go on in. Dammit man! I forgot how to check that.
I have $0. Everybody’s okay though. I think I can- I can- I think I can save for money. Can I save for heat as well? I have no idea. I don’t want to get sick. Okay, sleep.
Alrighty righty dighty doty, I’m gonna leave this episode here. I really like this game. It’s really cool. It really makes you feel if like, you let the wrong people in; and then you’re like oh God no they’re gonna cause trouble. And then you get it taken out of your paycheck, and then your son at home is sick, and you’re like ah little Billy no! But I like it! Let me know what you guys think of the game. I- I- I think it’s a cool game. It was getting a lot of praise when it came out. It- it’s a couple years old now I think at this point. I- I- I dunno. I liked the iPad version of it better cuz it fills the screen a bit more. You can drag and drop stuff and you get to click the stamper yourself. It’s a lot of fun but for the sake of recording it’s much easier to do the PC version.
But for now, thank you guys so much for watching this video. If you liked it, punch that like button in the face like a boss! And, high fives all round! [Imitates high-five noises] But thank you guys and I’ll see all you dudes, in the next video!
[Post-Outro Snippet]
Glory to Arstotzka! Greatest country! Make us proud!
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30 Million Unemployed; Tesla Cries Freedom; Microsoft Goes Hard
30 Million Unemployed; Tesla Cries Freedom; Microsoft Goes Hard:
On the Turning Away…
…from the pale and downtrodden … and the words that they say which we don’t understand.
Wall Street almost — almost — became aware of the U.S. economy this morning.
Continuing the epic U.S. employment saga, the Labor Department put another brick in the unemployment wall this morning. Some 3.8 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week.
The six-week total now stands at 30.3 million unemployed. CNBC called it “the worst employment crisis in U.S. history.”
The market opened down nearly 2% on the news, and, for a brief moment, you could see the sweat on Wall Street’s brow. A hint that somewhere in that sea of frothing bullishness, someone almost had an epiphany. A realization that economic demand might suffer considerably due to 30 million unemployed American consumers.
And then, while contemplating how waning demand might impact a U.S. economic recovery and corporate bottom lines, that someone stumbled over a pile of Fed money (It’s a gas!) and completely forgot the whole deal…
The Takeaway:
Hey you!
Are you still learning to fly in this crazy market? Or are you sitting back comfortably numb and enjoying the quarantine?
Yes, the economic data makes you want to run like hell, but you don’t have to say “goodbye blue sky” to investing in this market. Just breathe, be patient and take your time. Otherwise, your portfolio will play that great gig in the sky.
When it comes to investing, it’s hard to remove yourself from the “us and them” mentality, especially during these trying times. But giving in to emotions will eventually bankrupt you one of these days.
Yes, by all economic accounts, the market is more irrational than Roger Waters on a nicotine and whiskey bender. But you can be right and still lose money.
Now, Great Stuff has been pretty down on the market’s prospects since this whole pandemic thing started. We recommended putting most of your investment capital in gold, bonds and cash … you know, the standard safe havens. (By the way, which one’s Pink?)
But there’s one sector in which we have high hopes: tech.
No, we don’t have brain damage. We’re just reading the writing on the wall. Today, Great Stuff takes a look at three Big Tech companies post earnings, and we weigh their potential in the current market.
It’s our way of helping you shine on, you crazy diamond!
So, what’s … uh, the deal? Where can I grab that cash with both hands and make a stash?
Why, be careful with that ax, Eugene! If you’re wanting more, then it’s time to turn your tech investing into interstellar overdrive. See, nobody stays as fearless in the tech game as Paul Mampilly. And Paul just found one tech stock that’s set to transform the way we use and create energy.
Paul even said: “This technology can single-handedly power a major American city … virtually free of charge.” So, let there be more light! And as the market’s seesaw continues, and the Fed’s jugband blues carries on, find out more about the one tech stock that Paul recommends you buy now.
Click here to learn more!
Good: Freedooooom!
Did you miss crazy Elon Musk? I did.
The Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) CEO proffered up his best Rage Against the Machine impression yesterday, crying out “Freedom!” and calling the COVID-19 response in the U.S. “fascist.”
The outburst came during Tesla’s earnings call with investors … earnings, yeah right!
Speaking of earnings, Tesla posted a surprise profit. Doesn’t that make it three in a row?
Why yes … yes, it does. And that’s a good thing for Tesla investors in the wake of Musk coming a bit unhinged. The company posted a first-quarter profit of $1.24 per share, shocking analysts who expected a loss. Revenue also topped expectations, coming in at $6.2 billion.
While Tesla remained cautious in its outlook due to the pandemic, investors seized on the unexpected profit and better margins — a notable feat given Tesla’s lower production volume.
Our take at Great Stuff is that Tesla is a solid long-term investment. However, given our reservations about the overall market and the U.S. economy, now may not be the best time to chase TSLA shares. If you’re looking to invest, be patient. Wait for a pullback, and time your entry accordingly.
Better: Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign
Do this. Don’t do that. Can’t you read the signs?
Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) is in rally mode today. The company has seen the sign, and it’s opened up investors’ eyes. (A Tesla cover into and Ace of Base reference? Are you trying to give us whiplash?)
What sign? Why the most important sign of all for Facebook: stability in ad trends.
Forget that Facebook blew past Wall Street’s first-quarter earnings expectations, or that revenue of $17.74 billion rose 17% to beat the consensus target of $17.53 billion. It’s all about guidance in this market.
“After the initial steep decrease in advertising revenue in March, we have seen signs of stability reflected in the first three weeks of April,” Facebook said in its conference call with investors.
That’s all the sign that FB bulls needed to send the stock skipping more than 5% higher.
So, what’s our take on Facebook? Well, setting aside our distaste for the company’s mishandling of user data and its unwillingness to fully address misleading posts … FB is the best social media stock on the market.
It’s a dual-edged sword. FB is a solid investment choice if you can set aside your emotions on the company.
Best: Good Ol’ Softy
Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) is probably one of our favorite tech stocks here at Great Stuff. While we haven’t made it an official pick for the Great Stuff free portfolio, you should probably pick up a few shares if you can.
Why? Because of statements like this: “COVID-19 had minimal net impact on the total company revenue.”
Fact: MSFT was the only Dow stock to gain in the first quarter.
While practically every other company in the U.S. issues warnings and pulls forecasts, Microsoft is plowing ahead. The company just reported fiscal third-quarter results, beating even pre-virus estimates.
Driving that performance was an impressive 59% spike in Azure sales. Azure is Microsoft’s “Intelligent Cloud” business, and it’s eating Amazon Web Services’ lunch with JEDI-like prowess.
Finally, Microsoft actually provided fourth-quarter guidance — one of the very few companies to do so this earnings season. The company expects revenue of $35.85 billion to $36.8 billion, largely in-line with Wall Street’s targets.
The thing is, Microsoft has been an essential company for decades. It’s weathered dot-com busts, financial crises and government antitrust lawsuits. In fact, when I hear that “buy and hold” is dead, I always point to Microsoft.
You spoke to me, and now it’s time to breathe in the air.
Mr. Great Stuff, how long are you keeping this Pink Floyd thing going?
One of these days … one of these days I’ll stop speaking in song lyrics. But until then, you can count on Great Stuff to get countless eclectic earworms stuck in your head.
Meanwhile, if you’ve been hanging on in quiet desperation for this week’s Reader Feedback, wait no longer! It’s that time again, so let’s see what Great Stuff readers are thinking about this week.
Bye-Cycles
I feel like the stock market has three things going against that people don’t talk about but I’m not sure if they even really matter.
“Sell in may and go away”
We are at a serious technical resistance for SPY.
We are at the end of the month and we tend to see people selling more at the end of the month as opposed to the beginning … right?
I have also read that we Tuesdays tend to be more bearish than other days of the week.
I am thinking that since we didn’t see much of a sell-off on Tuesday, no one is talking about ‘sell in May,’ and we aren’t really seeing a sell-off due to resistance or it being the end of the month … the fed is going to win and we are going to plow through resistance and the recovery will continue. Does what I’m thinking make any sense?
— Preston B.
My, my … someone’s been reading his Chad Shoop! (For anyone guessing: Chad focuses on investing around many of these market cycles — as well as some hidden market cycles too. Details here!)
Thank you for your thorough email, Preston. I wanted to touch on just a few of your questions today, but honestly, you already answered it yourself in the first line. Here’s the lowdown:
Yes, we often see a seasonal dip in May. Yes, the end of the month often brings a flurry of Big Money rebalancing and profit taking. Resistance … why, up until today’s market dive, it seemed like the S&P 500 Index had the rearview mirror torn off like it was in a Jo Dee Messina song.
All of these are true to their own extents. Yes. But somewhere along the line, Mr. Market declared that fundamentals and technical logic are dead, instead deciding to leap headfirst into the chasm of “fear of missing out” uncertainties.
Preston, your observations are most astute. In normal market climates, those trends are what we’d talk about this week instead. But today, as things are right this instant, I mostly agree with your statement at the top: “I’m not sure if they even really matter.”
Just Like Starting Over
Yo, Joe,
Well, I tried. That’s about all the slang I know. I am the newest of the newbies, have never placed an order. … How can I go find a broker when I have to stay inside? How can I get my monies out of banks into brokers’ hands? Is that all done electronically? Help!
— Janis W.
Yo, J.W.! What’s good, homie? You keeping things 100 during quarantine?
Let’s help you get that bread — err, a brokerage account to start with. Your hunch is right: Almost all brokerage action is done electronically these days, as is moving money into your account once it’s set up.
I know that many people are put off investing entirely because it’s mostly online. But once you get started with a broker you like and trust, I’m sure you’ll appreciate the convenience — and the possible addiction of checking on your stocks every second of the trading day (which, frankly, is a stage most new investors get through sooner or later).
Before we go any further, let me just say that Banyan Hill doesn’t have any personal or business relationship with any of these services. They’re just the top choices I see among many of our readers.
Check out some of these links below and see what broker is right for you. You’ll want a trading platform that’s easy to use and gives you the information you want without having to sift through a bajillion different web pages:
I also want to add that, just like starting any kind of account where money is concerned, there will be fine print. (There’s always fine print, right? It’s like the ever-returning pocket lint of the legal world.)
I wish you the best of luck, Janis!
I Am You, and What I See Is Me
Are you still ok with your advice to buy Starbucks put options?
— Philip H.
Philip, I … I don’t think that was my recommendation. By any chance, are you thinking of this Winning Investor Daily article by John Ross back on April 10? Hey now, us Joes and Johns aren’t interchangeable, you see…
So, while I can’t give you personalized investment advice here (legal beagles and whatnot), what I can say is that, when it comes to options … you definitely want to keep any losses short and take gains when you’ve got ‘em.
Options Land is a fast-moving (yet insanely profitable) place … and you might want to ask John Ross directly for your next move, Philip. For everyone else out there looking for a spot to jump into the options game (and trust me, there’s no better time to do so), you can get started with expert John Ross right here.
That’s a wrap for today, but if you still crave more Great Stuff, check us out on social media: Facebook and Twitter.
Until next time, be Great!
Regards,
Joseph Hargett
Editor, Great Stuff
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On the Turning Away…
…from the pale and downtrodden … and the words that they say which we don’t understand.
Wall Street almost — almost — became aware of the U.S. economy this morning.
Continuing the epic U.S. employment saga, the Labor Department put another brick in the unemployment wall this morning. Some 3.8 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week.
The six-week total now stands at 30.3 million unemployed. CNBC called it “the worst employment crisis in U.S. history.”
The market opened down nearly 2% on the news, and, for a brief moment, you could see the sweat on Wall Street’s brow. A hint that somewhere in that sea of frothing bullishness, someone almost had an epiphany. A realization that economic demand might suffer considerably due to 30 million unemployed American consumers.
And then, while contemplating how waning demand might impact a U.S. economic recovery and corporate bottom lines, that someone stumbled over a pile of Fed money (It’s a gas!) and completely forgot the whole deal…
The Takeaway:
Hey you!
Are you still learning to fly in this crazy market? Or are you sitting back comfortably numb and enjoying the quarantine?
Yes, the economic data makes you want to run like hell, but you don’t have to say “goodbye blue sky” to investing in this market. Just breathe, be patient and take your time. Otherwise, your portfolio will play that great gig in the sky.
When it comes to investing, it’s hard to remove yourself from the “us and them” mentality, especially during these trying times. But giving in to emotions will eventually bankrupt you one of these days.
Yes, by all economic accounts, the market is more irrational than Roger Waters on a nicotine and whiskey bender. But you can be right and still lose money.
Now, Great Stuff has been pretty down on the market’s prospects since this whole pandemic thing started. We recommended putting most of your investment capital in gold, bonds and cash … you know, the standard safe havens. (By the way, which one’s Pink?)
But there’s one sector in which we have high hopes: tech.
No, we don’t have brain damage. We’re just reading the writing on the wall. Today, Great Stuff takes a look at three Big Tech companies post earnings, and we weigh their potential in the current market.
It’s our way of helping you shine on, you crazy diamond!
So, what’s … uh, the deal? Where can I grab that cash with both hands and make a stash?
Why, be careful with that ax, Eugene! If you’re wanting more, then it’s time to turn your tech investing into interstellar overdrive. See, nobody stays as fearless in the tech game as Paul Mampilly. And Paul just found one tech stock that’s set to transform the way we use and create energy.
Paul even said: “This technology can single-handedly power a major American city … virtually free of charge.” So, let there be more light! And as the market’s seesaw continues, and the Fed’s jugband blues carries on, find out more about the one tech stock that Paul recommends you buy now.
Click here to learn more!
Good: Freedooooom!
Did you miss crazy Elon Musk? I did.
The Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) CEO proffered up his best Rage Against the Machine impression yesterday, crying out “Freedom!” and calling the COVID-19 response in the U.S. “fascist.”
The outburst came during Tesla’s earnings call with investors … earnings, yeah right!
Speaking of earnings, Tesla posted a surprise profit. Doesn’t that make it three in a row?
Why yes … yes, it does. And that’s a good thing for Tesla investors in the wake of Musk coming a bit unhinged. The company posted a first-quarter profit of $1.24 per share, shocking analysts who expected a loss. Revenue also topped expectations, coming in at $6.2 billion.
While Tesla remained cautious in its outlook due to the pandemic, investors seized on the unexpected profit and better margins — a notable feat given Tesla’s lower production volume.
Our take at Great Stuff is that Tesla is a solid long-term investment. However, given our reservations about the overall market and the U.S. economy, now may not be the best time to chase TSLA shares. If you’re looking to invest, be patient. Wait for a pullback, and time your entry accordingly.
Better: Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign
Do this. Don’t do that. Can’t you read the signs?
Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) is in rally mode today. The company has seen the sign, and it’s opened up investors’ eyes. (A Tesla cover into and Ace of Base reference? Are you trying to give us whiplash?)
What sign? Why the most important sign of all for Facebook: stability in ad trends.
Forget that Facebook blew past Wall Street’s first-quarter earnings expectations, or that revenue of $17.74 billion rose 17% to beat the consensus target of $17.53 billion. It’s all about guidance in this market.
“After the initial steep decrease in advertising revenue in March, we have seen signs of stability reflected in the first three weeks of April,” Facebook said in its conference call with investors.
That’s all the sign that FB bulls needed to send the stock skipping more than 5% higher.
So, what’s our take on Facebook? Well, setting aside our distaste for the company’s mishandling of user data and its unwillingness to fully address misleading posts … FB is the best social media stock on the market.
It’s a dual-edged sword. FB is a solid investment choice if you can set aside your emotions on the company.
Best: Good Ol’ Softy
Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) is probably one of our favorite tech stocks here at Great Stuff. While we haven’t made it an official pick for the Great Stuff free portfolio, you should probably pick up a few shares if you can.
Why? Because of statements like this: “COVID-19 had minimal net impact on the total company revenue.”
Fact: MSFT was the only Dow stock to gain in the first quarter.
While practically every other company in the U.S. issues warnings and pulls forecasts, Microsoft is plowing ahead. The company just reported fiscal third-quarter results, beating even pre-virus estimates.
Driving that performance was an impressive 59% spike in Azure sales. Azure is Microsoft’s “Intelligent Cloud” business, and it’s eating Amazon Web Services’ lunch with JEDI-like prowess.
Finally, Microsoft actually provided fourth-quarter guidance — one of the very few companies to do so this earnings season. The company expects revenue of $35.85 billion to $36.8 billion, largely in-line with Wall Street’s targets.
The thing is, Microsoft has been an essential company for decades. It’s weathered dot-com busts, financial crises and government antitrust lawsuits. In fact, when I hear that “buy and hold” is dead, I always point to Microsoft.
You spoke to me, and now it’s time to breathe in the air.
Mr. Great Stuff, how long are you keeping this Pink Floyd thing going?
One of these days … one of these days I’ll stop speaking in song lyrics. But until then, you can count on Great Stuff to get countless eclectic earworms stuck in your head.
Meanwhile, if you’ve been hanging on in quiet desperation for this week’s Reader Feedback, wait no longer! It’s that time again, so let’s see what Great Stuff readers are thinking about this week.
Bye-Cycles
I feel like the stock market has three things going against that people don’t talk about but I’m not sure if they even really matter.
“Sell in may and go away”
We are at a serious technical resistance for SPY.
We are at the end of the month and we tend to see people selling more at the end of the month as opposed to the beginning … right?
I have also read that we Tuesdays tend to be more bearish than other days of the week.
I am thinking that since we didn’t see much of a sell-off on Tuesday, no one is talking about ‘sell in May,’ and we aren’t really seeing a sell-off due to resistance or it being the end of the month … the fed is going to win and we are going to plow through resistance and the recovery will continue. Does what I’m thinking make any sense?
— Preston B.
My, my … someone’s been reading his Chad Shoop! (For anyone guessing: Chad focuses on investing around many of these market cycles — as well as some hidden market cycles too. Details here!)
Thank you for your thorough email, Preston. I wanted to touch on just a few of your questions today, but honestly, you already answered it yourself in the first line. Here’s the lowdown:
Yes, we often see a seasonal dip in May. Yes, the end of the month often brings a flurry of Big Money rebalancing and profit taking. Resistance … why, up until today’s market dive, it seemed like the S&P 500 Index had the rearview mirror torn off like it was in a Jo Dee Messina song.
All of these are true to their own extents. Yes. But somewhere along the line, Mr. Market declared that fundamentals and technical logic are dead, instead deciding to leap headfirst into the chasm of “fear of missing out” uncertainties.
Preston, your observations are most astute. In normal market climates, those trends are what we’d talk about this week instead. But today, as things are right this instant, I mostly agree with your statement at the top: “I’m not sure if they even really matter.”
Just Like Starting Over
Yo, Joe,
Well, I tried. That’s about all the slang I know. I am the newest of the newbies, have never placed an order. … How can I go find a broker when I have to stay inside? How can I get my monies out of banks into brokers’ hands? Is that all done electronically? Help!
— Janis W.
Yo, J.W.! What’s good, homie? You keeping things 100 during quarantine?
Let’s help you get that bread — err, a brokerage account to start with. Your hunch is right: Almost all brokerage action is done electronically these days, as is moving money into your account once it’s set up.
I know that many people are put off investing entirely because it’s mostly online. But once you get started with a broker you like and trust, I’m sure you’ll appreciate the convenience — and the possible addiction of checking on your stocks every second of the trading day (which, frankly, is a stage most new investors get through sooner or later).
Before we go any further, let me just say that Banyan Hill doesn’t have any personal or business relationship with any of these services. They’re just the top choices I see among many of our readers.
Check out some of these links below and see what broker is right for you. You’ll want a trading platform that’s easy to use and gives you the information you want without having to sift through a bajillion different web pages:
I also want to add that, just like starting any kind of account where money is concerned, there will be fine print. (There’s always fine print, right? It’s like the ever-returning pocket lint of the legal world.)
I wish you the best of luck, Janis!
I Am You, and What I See Is Me
Are you still ok with your advice to buy Starbucks put options?
— Philip H.
Philip, I … I don’t think that was my recommendation. By any chance, are you thinking of this Winning Investor Daily article by John Ross back on April 10? Hey now, us Joes and Johns aren’t interchangeable, you see…
So, while I can’t give you personalized investment advice here (legal beagles and whatnot), what I can say is that, when it comes to options … you definitely want to keep any losses short and take gains when you’ve got ‘em.
Options Land is a fast-moving (yet insanely profitable) place … and you might want to ask John Ross directly for your next move, Philip. For everyone else out there looking for a spot to jump into the options game (and trust me, there’s no better time to do so), you can get started with expert John Ross right here.
That’s a wrap for today, but if you still crave more Great Stuff, check us out on social media: Facebook and Twitter.
Until next time, be Great!
Regards,
Joseph Hargett
Editor, Great Stuff
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What’s the Most Important Lesson You’ve Learned Along Your Journey?
Every twist in our story, challenge we face, and obstacle we overcome is an important part of our story. These difficulties make us stronger and wiser and prepare us for what’s ahead. As we grow and succeed we may imagine that soon the challenges will fade away, but in our conversations with business owners, artists, creatives, academics, and others we have learned that the most common experience is that challenges never go away – instead they get more complex as we grow and succeed. Our ability to to thrive therefore depends heavily on our ability to learn from our experiences and so we are asking some of the city’s best and brightest: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Steve Niedringhaus | Owner | Operator of AB & E Logistics | biker and family man
The most important lesson I’ve learned in my journey so far is to ensure that you communicate! It is something that you need to do very well and very often. Developing relationships on a personal and business level is how you survive and flourish in both realms of your life – period. A great relationship is something you have to work for. It’s not an automatic gift given to you. Trust me – My wife and I have had to work very hard on our relationship through our 25 years of marriage. It’s not easy work but the gifts a great relationship provide keep you in the game. It keeps you coming back for more and forever working to make it even better. The key to this is communication. To me, It’s no different in business. I provide a service and like most industries it’s highly competitive. You have to set yourself apart and the best way I’ve found to do that is to build relationships based on great communication. I basically complete the same tasks others do in my industry but I take it a step further. I talk to all levels of personnel at the customer any chance I get. I try to build those relationships from the person loading my trailer to the CEO of the company who happens to walk out while I’m loading. I want to ensure they know my name, my companies name and the service I provide and try to get to know them on a personal level. It’s not always price that brings in clients. It’s how they remember you when the next time for them to call on your industry comes up… You want to be that face and personality they remember!
@stevienied
@ab_and_e_logistics
@abandelogistics
Harlan Bowling | Designer | developer | photographer and full-time traveler
I think the most important lesson I’ve learned (and am still learning!) in my journey is to be authentic and to open your heart and mind to the experiences of others. No one gains anything by keeping everything to themselves, and the willingness to share experiences, creativity and vulnerability with others offers both of you the chance to learn and grow. Sometimes I can wear my heart on my sleeve a bit too much, but I wouldn’t trade those deep moments I’ve had with people because of it for anything.
@grymttrs
@grymttrs
grymtt.rs
Alissa Fletcher | model/cosplayer
To go with the flow. Work hard but also remember everything happens for a reason.
bunniecupcakes.com
@bunniecupcakes
Sydney Kurtz | Data Analyst | Rise Nation Instructor, & Dallas Fitness Ambassador
Perseverance is absolute key. If you set your mind to it and don’t give up, whatever goal you want can be achieved. There are no great successes without failures.
@sydney.kurtz
@dallasfitnessambassadors
@texasspiceonlamar
@omnidallas
Kerry L. Gipson Jr. | Comedian KG or “Komedian KG™
Addison Improv, Arlington Improv, Hyenas Comedy Clubs, Joke Joint, Gulley’s Comedy Event Center, Dayton Funnybone, Cleveland Improv, Backdoor Comedy Club, The Comedy Theater(Little Rock, AR), HaHa Café, LA Comedy Club, and more… During the start of his career, Komedian KG has networked with many great names of entertainment as well from; Robert Powell III, Talent Da’ Comedian, Finess Mitchell, Ronney Jordan, Jason Russell, Blame The Comic, Lil Duval, Carl Payne From “Martin Lawrence TV show, Christopher “Kid” Reid, Flo Hernandez, Shaun Larkins, Shun Jones, Flex Alexander, Dameon “Mr. Entertainment” Ellis, Kool Bubba Ice, Rodney Perry, Kenny Howell, Quinn Hudson (BET), HA HA Davis, Sydney Castillo, Clint Coley, Dean Lewis (Last Comic Standing), Ryan Davis, Roy Lee Pete(R.I.P), Comedian Michael Shawn (K104 Radio), IBF Boxing Champion Errol Spence Jr. and Dallas Rapper Yella Beezy
During the start of my career on this journey, I’ve learned that standup comedy is a small group of entertainers that has been growing rapidly due to internet and social media. Every day a new stand out talent is discovered. I’ve learned that social media has changed the way standup comedy and how comedy is portrayed to it’s audiences and viewers. As this rapid approach to spotlighting talent via social media is occurring, you must be adaptable with keeping up this change, creative and innovative with your ideas that will allow you to go the distance in your career. Stand-up comedy isn’t like any other career in entertainment, the level of difficulty to rely a story, message, and/or joke from your personal point of view will always cast judgement and opinion from others. Being able to expand your routine will help overcome these challenges as a standup comic. Change is inevitable in the career of entertainment and performing arts and you have to remain humble, stay focus on your goals, learn the business and soak up and filter all advice as you go. Never be afraid to learn and innovate new ideas!. Dallas, Texas is growing with new talent in every genre of entertainment and performing arts, and will someday be one of the world’s premiere go to places for pursuing entertainment as a career in the near future.
@komediankg
@komediankg
@komediankg
@komediankg
reverbnation.com/artist/video/15554643
soundcloud.com/komediankg
youtube.com/channel/UCrgolqahdIyUYRyP5Ea5NPw
komediankg.webs.com
Gigi Davison | Hair Stylist, Makeup Artist & Aerialist
The most important lesson I’ve learned on my journey so far is that I am the creator of my own path; and take advantage of opportunities… they always lead to more.
@gigioligy
@beauty_bygigi
@mrs.gigid
Wayward Coffee Co. | Mobile Craft Coffee & Community
Jason Arreola
We’d say the most important thing we’ve learned so far, even though this is all new to us and we have a whole lot of work to do ahead, is that you have to just go for it. Each of us has had a dream at some point to start their own coffee business and we had to just take that passion and drive and finally do it. It has all come together in such a cool way and we’re real thankful for it. We’re so stoked about this and we want to make it the most unique, meaningful, genuine thing ever and bring so many other people along for the ride with us.
@waywardcoffeeco
Neil Kenner | Coach of Movement, Mindset, and Holistic Lifestyle
I resigned from my job as the SMU Women’s Assistant Tennis Coach in May of 2018 to embark on what I defined as a “Learning Journey,” so the lessons have been coming in literally nonstop. If I had to pick just one lesson, I would say that the ability to have patience and maintain self-belief throughout the journey has been the biggest. To expand on that, there are a lot of people out there who urgently strive to fill their schedules as quickly as possible. That may be the perfect protocol under certain circumstances or at a particular stage in life, but doing just the opposite has been my recent approach.
When I first started coaching, I said an emphatic YES to everything. My schedule was completely packed with private lessons, groups, tournament coaching, event planning, and anything else a tennis club could offer. I prided myself in taking no days off. After all, I was making pretty good money for a young single guy, developing a solid reputation as a coach, and gaining a crazy amount of experience in very little time. In my five years coaching at T Bar M Racquet Club, I must have experienced the equivalent of 15 years when compared to most. It was nonstop, and everything I did lead to growth.
A decade later, I find myself in a much different position. Rather than viewing a full schedule of lessons as a symbol of success, I now consider it a growth-stunting trap. Time is the ultimate item of value to me now, specifically having control over my own time. Sure, there are compromises that sometimes need to be made, but leaving enough open time and space in my schedule is what has allowed me to make this dream journey a reality. For much of the past year and a half, I chose to use that time to LEARN as much as I could from the resources that I felt were most applicable. Later on, I began shifting my focus more into digesting and then organizing all the new information into a form that made sense to me. Then more time went into applying this stuff into my own practice and combining it with what I’ve learned throughout my career. Just now am I at the point where I am ready to CREATE – which is what I love to do. One of the few things that I love more than creating is being able to SHARE my creations with others as a means to help improve lives, so the ability to begin doing so has been incredibly fulfilling.
Spending lots of my current time in creation mode and now getting a taste of sharing is only the beginning, and none of it would have been possible without PATIENCE. Had I panicked and begun filling my schedule with lessons again, I would most-likely not have had the time and energy required to achieve my bigger goals. So yes, PATIENCE has been my most important takeaway – and unwavering SELF-BELIEF has gone hand in hand with it.
@neilkenner
Chris Mendez | Realtor®️ & Dog lover
@annmariemendezphotography
In my journey, I have been able to learn that everything is possible if you set your mind to it. It may sound like a cliche, however, we are capable to achieve great things in life if we develop our mindset and put it to work. You are the one that can make it happen. Your mind is a dream and goal achieving machine.
YOUR DESTINY is dependent on your DECISIONS.
@chrismendez_realtor
@chrismendezrealtor
LinkedIn: chris-mendez
chrismendez.brayreg.com
Chidimma LaQueen Nwosu | Blogger/Influencer
For as long as I can remember I have always been the chubby girl who was shy and lacked confidence. I let people’s opinions of me tell me who I was. I never really knew who I was and this persisted into my adult years. After college a couple years ago, I decided to take on a healthier lifestyle and with that I lost weight. A lot of people think this would be the end all be all and you’re automatically happy, but more often than not, this is not the case. I still struggled a bit with my identity. Sure, my self-esteem went up, but I still was not internally happy and still lacked self-confidence.
A little over a year ago, I moved to Dallas from Maryland to attend chiropractic school. Usually when you move to a new area, it is a chance to start over and meet new people. This was very hard for me and immediately felt out of my comfort zone. I retreated to myself and for the first time in my life I felt homesick.
After the holidays and a few life changing moments, I decided that I need to get to know myself and really portray how I want the world to see me. Thus, began my selflove / body positive journey. I was terrified in the beginning, but in order to achieve the goal I set out I had realized that with uncomfortability comes strength.
After a while I noticed that my vulnerability allowed me to own and embrace everything that makes me, me. Not only that, I also received messages from women saying that I have encouraged them to do the same. Knowing I have helped at least one person, is by far one of the best feelings ever! Society loves to tell women what we should be doing, from an outfit you shouldn’t wear because of your size to what lipstick you shouldn’t use because of your complexion. But when we come together to support and empower one another the sky is the limit. We can be any shape, size, or color and still run the world.
In my 26 years of living, I have never felt so empowered and confident. This is not a one and done journey, life is ever changing. I look forward to the changes to come and will continue to share. If I can do it, you can do it too. Accept yourself for who you are first and everything will fall into place. There is so much more beauty in life when you change the narrative into something positive.
Lessons I’ve learned along the way is that regardless of what I do, I won’t be everyone’s cup of tea and that’s okay. Whoever or whatever is meant for me will always be for me and no one person can take that away from me. I also learned that the tongue has power. Speak to yourself with kind and positive words because what you speak is what you create.
@ChidimmaLaQueen
BRYSON PRICE | Music Producer & Artist
Balance in life is KEY. You see a lot of musicians rise to the top, then fall off the map a couple years later. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. I’m still a long way from achieving my goals, but I’m taking my time and doing things right. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all in! I’m putting forth my BEST effort and giving it all I’ve got, but it’s possible that I’ll never “make it.” Music is my passion, but I feel that the most important thing is my spiritual health, physical health and my family. Slow growth is much more sustainable than overnight success and I’m working hard towards my goals every single day. There’s no shortcuts..I’m making the best use of my time, grinding day in and day out, while making sure that my life is balanced.
BrysonPrice.com
youtube.com/channel/UCImrrfbrWlax3REURMR7twQ
@bryson.price.35
@BrysonPrice
Bryan Valadez | Visual Artist and Determined Individual
The most important lesson I have learned in my journey so far can be best described with the word perseverance. Throughout my years of painting I have come across personal challenges such as critical self reflection of my abilities, wondering if audiences will react well to my work, or even questioning the probability of being able to make it as a visual artist.
Although in these instances it has always been the act of striving to move forward despite any difficult situation, which has allowed me to grow. If there were doubts about my skills as an artist, I would push myself to become better with practice. If I wondered how people would react to my work, I would suggest to myself to keep working because I am making art to express myself. If fear of not being able to achieve success as visual artist were to arise, I remind myself that I’m devoted to achieve my goals and in fact I am hungry for success. With that in mind could I come to a conclusion and maintain constant progression. A vital lesson not only evident in my journey’s past but also applied to whatever I approach now.
@vala_alla_b
@bvaladezart
Cameron Taylor | Visual Leader & Photographer
That it is okay to not be in the same place as everyone else. With access to social media we tend to compare ourselves to our peers and even people we have never met. With things such as age barriers, financial differences and overall different circumstances it’s not fair for anyone no matter your social stature to put yourself against someone else or to bring yourself down cause you may not “be where someone else is in life”. It’s honestly a huge self love thing that I had to learn the hard way when for so long I thought I did love myself and was happy where I wasn’t and to find out I wasn’t in my mid twenties was a huge and rattling wake up call. I have expanded my time to utilizing social media to not just post about my life, granted I do that haha, but to also have conversations with people, make friends online and to unplug every once and awhile. The self love you have for yourself is so huge and I’m still learning each day on this journey called life how to get better and better at it.
@okcamcam
longleglifestyle.com
Dr. Ragan Brown | Educator | Author | Self Care Influencer | Travel Specialist, and
Academic Coach
Life as a Self Care Influencer began by me posting various positive quotes on my Instagram and Facebook page. Soon it developed in a career that affords me the opportunity to help others go from chaos to calm. Early in life I knew my gift was encouragement relatability and relief. However it took a while to come to the realization that being a light when others see darkness is truly part of my assignment. Many days there are battles and struggles with the idea of am I truly cut out for this journey. There are days when leads and sales opportunities happen and then there are days when you are pulling your hair out. Honestly, I question myself almost everyday. However every no, detour, and under construction. One of the most important lessons of this journey is that it multifaceted, which is a beauty all by itself. As an entrepreneur, you develop strength, that you didn’t know you possessed. Another important lesson on my journey is that it simply is a journey. It’s not a race or a destination. Although we feel that we should go with the crowd, on the entrepreneurship journey you must take “the road less traveled.” roadblock has some sort of lesson attached. Overall faith keeps me focused. Traveling through life as an entrepreneur is multifaceted. There are several layers to maneuvering your business. I wouldn’t say you completely master it, because you are always learning and growing from various situations. This journey has also led to multiple collaborations. From book anthologies to lifestyle photo shoots to commercial advertising and speaking gigs to help empower young women. These past few years I have realized how multifaceted and This entrepreneur journey has helped me to be a risk taker. Often times, I have to take a risk on investments that don’t yield monetary returns. Because of this, I have gained business buddies, and people who are just as passionate about my success as I am about their success. As a risk taker I have also invested in various projects and businesses in an effort to have multiple streams of income aside from that I recently embark on a new journey as a travel agent to further stress all things self-care. Almost every other day, I just want to give up as I continue to hone in on my niche. In the beginning, things were simple because I remained in the academic coaching box. As life became a whirlwind, opportunities were presented which required me to have a business growth spurt. My support system of family and friends remain a fixture for me as they keep me centered and grounded. The Lord has also connected me divinely to like minded individuals to propel me, push my buttons, and hold me accountable. As a business owner, I’m most proud of my growth, versatility and willingness to learn more. Sometimes it appears as the stars aren’t aligning, but when I revisit the core of why I chose an entrepreneur journey. I thank God over and over for choosing me to complete these assignments and bless others.
@drbrownconnection
FB: Ragan Brown
Christopher Jenkins |Personal Trainer and Nutritionist at Grizzly Fitness and Herbalife nutrition
I use my journey to get through everything in life. The most important lessons I’ve learned in my journey is to first have faith and trust God; Even when I couldn’t see or understand. Proverbs 3: 5-6 states, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” I’ve learned that it takes motivation and dedication to achieve your goals. Philippians 4:13 states, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” This is my motto because without God giving me the strength, this weight loss would of been impossible. It took much encouragement from my Pastor Calvin Wortham, Patrick Jefferson, my entire family and church family, and my brother and coach Alsce Crocker.
@gohustlapeewee
@GoHustlapeewee
Facebook: Christopher Alonzo Jenkins
Snapchat: peewizzle24
Myda Chapa | DFW realtor with Coldwell Banker Apex
One thing I have learned is to always keep an open mind and just go for it!
@mydachapa
Makya Love | Computer Science Engineer & Aspiring Model
@drivenimage
The most important lesson I have learned as a young model is that my journey is unique and far different from other aspiring models. It’s so easy to get distracted by others’ journey and their success. In the beginning of my modeling journey I used to dwell on the progress of other models around me, instead of focusing on my own progress. Later down the line, I learned quickly that the more I compared my journey to others, the more distracted I was from fulfilling my own journey 100%. So, keeping my eyes steady and ahead on my individual career path has been the most important lesson learned thus far.
@especiallymakya
@especiallymakya
youtube.com/channel/UCvgzPmiqKygMMyigT_wLv5g
Jacky Alberto | Hairstylist & Online Boutique Owner
Alex Gonzalez
The biggest lesson I’ve learned this year is to stop fearing and overthinking, just do it. For the longest time I’ve had several ideas, goals, and dreams but I found myself fearing the “what if it doesn’t work out” and being very self critical with my own work and ideas that I allowed that to become paralyzing in my journey which just kept me stagnant. This year I’ve learned to just take a leap of faith and trust God. I believe he places these thoughts, ideas, dreams, and passions in our hearts for a reason. If we don’t go for it then the years will just pass us by and we are left with regret of things we wished we would’ve went for. I’ve gotten a taste of what “shooting your shot” feels like with some of my goals and dreams and I’ve built momentum from that, it’s definitely been one of the best decisions ever!
fash-cultureboutique.com
@fash.culture
Madeline Reid | Wedding and Lifestyle Photographer
The most important lesson I’ve learned in my journey of capturing life moments, is that every single person has a different story and a different way of expressing their story! The best way to capture people’s individual moments in the way that highlights their story best is to actually get to know your clients. Ask them about their life, what they do, where they work, what are their interests? what keeps them going? When you know someone for who they are rather than “just another client”, you are able to capture their story in a whole new way, and the photos end up being so much better!
Madelineanikkaphotography.com
@madelineanikkaphotography
Ashton Danora | Capturing Purpose Through Lens
This year has been really challenging. Throughout this week, I really had to sit down and think about what I learned about myself through the journey of 2019. What stood out the most is learning how to be present. I am always planning for the future and I tend to forget about, for the lack of a better word, the “now”. I used to be so focused on tomorrow’s agenda, or a week from now…and I would miss out on the blessings and opportunities of the present. As this year has flown by, the last three months of 2019 will be dedicated to seizing the moments that come to me.
@_ashton.danora
Cynthea Thomas | Entrepreneur & Jewelry Designer
Olivia Friesen with Copper Curls Photography
A lesson I have learned is to never compare myself to others. By doing this I don’t progress to where I want to be and it’s not a great place to be in. I am unique in my own way and I want to spread joy and love through what I create during my journey.
royalmadnessdesign.com
@royalmadnessdesign
@royalmadnessdesign
@Cyntheyeahh
RJ Monae | Fitness Coach
The most important lesson I’ve learned so far is, “”You have to change to grow and to grow you have to change”. I think we all expect change throughout our lives. The mistake many make is that we don’t change personally. We hope to be the same in every area of our lives and not realizing that a different version of “”YOU”” is required. The key to change is “”YOU””. I learned that about seven years ago and begin to put pieces of my life back together.
I had to learn things don’t always happen the way we want them to. We tend to give up then accept things as they are. The action of not accepting leads to depression, weight gain, health issues, and stress levels. Don’t be hard on yourself; embrace every mistake, failure, disappointment, and heartache. I have been in health and fitness for about seven years. I officially started fitness coaching about four years ago to coach people through the process of change and becoming the best version of themselves. Many already know what to do; they need someone to guide and educate them to make the best choices for their lifestyle needs.
I have been a mentor and coach for 14 years. I have dedicated my life to help others become the person they’ve always wanted to be. My health, fitness, and lifestyle have taught me no matter what area or stage you are in your life, change is required. In the past seven years, I have worked to claim my independence back. Now, I want to help others to reclaim theirs through health and fitness because it’s never too late. “Don’t be afraid to change, be afraid to STAY the same”.
@rjmonae
@rj.monae
@rjmonae
RJMONAE.COM
Christina Curas | Digital Marketing for snack startup and healthy recipe creator
Be true to yourself, your beliefs and your passions. If others don’t agree with you that’s okay, you can’t please everyone. I’ve learned if you share authentic content that you are truly passionate about you will reach others with the same passion. That’s what community building is all about. I prefer to do that in all aspects of my life. As humans, we are all influencers in some capacity and it’s our duty to share authentically, not solely based on compensation.
@cocofitfoodie
Tiffany Hayes | REALTOR & Author
Stan Fleming
I’ve learned to change the way I measure success. Someone once said, “Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become.” I must become the solution to someone’s problem, then and only then will I truly be successful.
tiffanyhayesrealestategroup.com
@tiffanyhayesrealestategroup
@tiffanyhayesrealestategroup
Landis Dorsey | Artist and Family man
In my journey so far I’ve learned that patience is vital to the growth process no matter what your situation may be. A saying that my pastor uses has helped me “Life’s a cinch inch by inch.”
@landisdorsey_art
Olivia Delancey | Certified Nurse Practitioner & Aesthetic Injector
Throughout this journey, I’ve learned how important it is to listen to my clients. Each person is different and understanding their individual concerns is priority. I build relationships with my patients, helping them feel comfortable discussing their wants, needs, and even their insecurities. I like to have a clear understanding of what my clients are seeing in the mirror. This way, I can create a customized treatment plan for each client, boosting their confidence while keeping their results natural and undetectable.
@oliviadplasticsnp
northtexasplasticsurgery.com/olivia-delancey-np
Vanessa Blanco | Salon General Manager by day & Aspiring Cake Artist by night
Never give up. I used to stress myself so much with trying to work full time, be a mom full time, and baking/decorating cakes. Thinking that I didn’t have enough time to do it all. So much so that I had even considered giving it up. But With patience and practice you learn how to balance. I now know the tricks to breaking up different parts of the cake making process up in to multiple days so I don’t stress like I used to. Now its enjoyable like when I first took my very first cake decorating class!
@prettypartythingsdallas
@prettypartythingsdallas
Sebastian Yancy | MMA Fitness Trainer & Co-founder of Non-Profit Sweat 4 Service
I’ve learned that in life you must do what you love. Too often do people drain their souls away doing what they dislike daily & gel as though they don’t have time to do what they are love. But if you can figure a way(& there always is a way) to make what you love benefit you, your soul will be energized to do & create more happiness & success. & to give a way to share that with others, is a gift spawned of love that everyone can receive.
youtube.com/channel/UCnfepgcg8HfTLf5FOx1NHDQ
@playing4people
Rocio Zapata | Home Baker & Cake Decorator
@cakesdenise
The most important thing I’ve learned is to have a clean working area and be kind and respectful with clients. One more thing would be to always give good quality, presentation, and lastly good flavor for the product. In this business of pastries we never stop learning, we will always learn new things to improve.
@cakesdenise
Kristen Vollinger | Believer in the strength of a new day and its noms
First things first, I must state anyone who says, “I forgot to eat today”, absolutely makes zero sense to me. Not sure if I am envious of their free thinking and lack of time spent planning their next meal or if these are just deeply sad souls. ha. joke. Okay. So What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your journey so far? I believe it is key to stay true to your WHY (why are you doing this?) and asking yourself this question often. To help reach your why and stay focused, I try to surround myself with what I want to see more of in the world, especially on social media. When posting my own content, I want to be excited about it and not have it based in a belief of what is expected of me as a food blogger. I believe the message in return is more genuine and interesting. If I start posting what I believe others want to see, then I’m not being true to myself and my passion. I will not be favored by all, yet I wont have lost sight of the reason why I started this journey. We will never live this exact day again, so let’s celebrate it with some delightful tastes.
@DallasNewGirl
The post What’s the Most Important Lesson You’ve Learned Along Your Journey? appeared first on Voyage Dallas Magazine | Dallas City Guide.
source http://voyagedallas.com/2019/09/30/whats-important-lesson-youve-learned-along-journey/
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How To Get Started Investing In Alternatives Like Fine Art
Robert Farrington is a paid influencer for Masterworks. All opinions and advice are his own.
It’s been a crazy December in the stock market - one of the worst since the Great Depression. The S&P 500 was down over 8% for the month of December, cementing a 2018 loss of 6.2% YTD.
And 2019 doesn’t look any better, with some analysts expecting a recession this year or next.
But the truth is, no financial expert can time the market, and nobody knows what’s going to happen next. All you can do is create an asset allocation in your portfolio that matches your risk tolerance.
That’s where alternatives come in. Most advanced-level investors should look to diversify beyond equities into alternatives. Alternatives usually include hard assets, like real estate and fine art.
Let’s dive in on how to get started investing in alternatives like fine art and why you should consider it, and where to do it.
If you want to skip my thoughts and see what I’m talking about, check out Masterworks here >>
Quick Navigation
Why You Should Have Alternatives In Your Portfolio
Examples Of Asset Allocation Risk Mitigation
How To Invest In Fine Art
What Other Alternative Investments Are There?
What Are The Downsides
Final Thoughts
Why You Should Have Alternatives In Your Portfolio
Many people don’t understand why it’s important to diversify your portfolio. The idea behind diversification isn’t to boost returns (in fact, it usually doesn't). Creating a proper asset allocation and diversifying your investments is designed to limit volatility and downside risk in your portfolio.
When you’re young, in full growth mode, and don’t have very much in assets, huge swings in volatility and value don’t impact you very much. For example, if you have $10,000 in your 401k, and it loses 10% - you lose $1,000. That’s painful. But it’s not going to be very impactful on your life.
Now, if you have $1,000,000, and you lose 10%, that’s $100,000. That number could be more impactful to you - especially based on where you are in your life.
Investing in alternatives in your portfolio can limit volatility and downside risk. The idea is that these assets (mostly physical assets like fine art) have an intrinsic value as a hard good, and they rarely lose value over the long run. They may not grow as much (although some do), but they have a different risk profile than stocks and bonds.
Examples Of Asset Allocation Risk Mitigation
Let’s look at some examples.
If you had an 85% stock, 15% bond portfolio, you might see some great growth, but huge swings.
Using historical data since 1926, a portfolio with 85% stocks has seen a return of 9.85% annualized. But… it’s worst 12 month return saw a -60.78% year… That could be detrimental based on where you are in life.
If you look at recent memory, in the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the S&P 500 dropped 56% and took around 1.5 years to recover. However, during that time, fine art only dropped 26% and recovered faster.
Now, if you shifted a bit, to say 75% stocks, 15% bonds, and 10% cash, you would see an annual return of 7.96%, but your worst year would have only been -40.64%.
Now, if you add some alternatives into the mix, say 65% stocks, 15% bonds, 10% cash, 10% alternatives, you might see annual returns around 6%, but a downside risk of only -17.7%.
This is all just a scenario, but it shows how adding in different asset classes can lower volatility and risk - which can help you achieve your long term returns.
How To Invest In Fine Art
The big drawback with investing in alternatives (whether real estate or fine art) has always been knowledge. Unless you are very knowledgeable about a subject, how can you invest properly.
That’s where Masterworks comes in.
Masterworks has a team of art experts that buy paintings and fine art, and then they sell shares in the painting to other investors. They attempt to buy paintings below their estimates of market value, and their goal is to hold them for a period of 5 to 10 years.
However, the paintings are always for sale in their collection if they are approached by a collector.
The goal is, at some point in the future, the painting sells, and all the investors are paid according to their fractional ownership in the painting.
The great thing is that the minimum to get started on Masterworks is just $1,000. That makes investing in fine art affordable to many investors. And with Masterwork’s knowledge, it has the potential to be win-win.
Check out Masterworks here and see what are is available to invest in >>
What Other Alternative Investments Are There?
Fine art isn’t the only alternative out there. It’s just one of the few that’s becoming a bit more accessible to everyone.
Another of the most popular alternatives is real estate. Until a few years ago, real estate had large investing costs - but several companies have adopted a similar approach to Masterworks when it comes to real estate investing.
Some of the other main alternatives include:
Commodities - Precious metals like gold, agriculture, and energy
Other Collectibles - Stamps, coins, classic cars, fine wine
Foreign Currency
Insurance - Life insurance and annuities
Venture Capital or Private Equity
The goal of all of these investments is the same: to diversify out of equities into other investable assets to mitigate risk or boost returns (or both).
What Are The Downsides
All investments have some type of downside, and investing in alternatives like fine art is no exception.
The biggest downside (which we talked about earlier) is the knowledge required. All alternatives require some specialized knowledge, but investing on platforms like Masterworks lowers this barrier quite a bit by relying on the knowledge of experts.
The other big downside is transaction costs. Almost all alternative investments have high transaction costs - to buy, sell, and even maintain. Equities, on the other hand, have seen their transaction costs drop dramatically over the past several decades.
Just think of buying real estate. When you go to buy, there are realtor fees, escrow fees, and more. When you own it, you have maintenance and taxes. And when you go to sell, more fees (upwards of 6%).
To invest with Masterworks, you’ll face a 1% management fee, and you’ll give them 20% of the profits when you sell. Compared to other alternative investments, this is very much in-line.
And it’s important to remember how that plays out. Since 2000, fine art has outperformed the S&P by over 180%, but net of fees, you might be closer in line to the stock market - with one big caveat.
The risk profile of your investment is very different, and that can lower the volatility of your overall portfolio.
Final Thoughts
Investing in alternatives isn’t for everyone. But for the investor who is looking to diversity into alternatives, Masterworks is a very interesting investment opportunity.
Given that your investment is backed by a real piece of artwork, and the investment is certified by the SEC, it’s very safe. And even for younger investors looking for alternatives, this can make sense.
The real question you need to ask yourself is where you are at in your life, what does your “correct” asset allocation look like, and should you consider alternatives like fine art.
If so, then check out Masterworks and see how easy it can be.
Browse Masterworks’ offerings here >>
The post How To Get Started Investing In Alternatives Like Fine Art appeared first on The College Investor.
How To Get Started Investing In Alternatives Like Fine Art published first on https://worldwideinvestforum.tumblr.com/
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Credit: Epic Games
‘Fortnite: Battle Royale’
It’s become a tired refrain this year. Any change in a game company’s stock, any shift in sales around the industry, you can bet speculation wanders to Fortnite: Battle Royale and the waves of its success on the market at large. So, I understand how the following sounds.
In its annual earnings report, Sony posted gaming revenues of $17.7 billion, a jump of 17.8% from last year. Reasons for the increase included more sales through its digital marketplace, as well as a 29.5% boost in the number of subscribers to its membership service, PlayStation Plus.
Microsoft told a similar story when announcing its third-quarter gaming revenues, which jumped 18% from last year to $2.3 billion. The growth was driven by a 24% bump in software and services revenue, particularly through third-party support. Additionally, Xbox Live memberships are up dramatically. Last quarter, monthly active users suddenly increased from 53 million to 59 million, and they currently remain 14% higher year-over-year.
So, what could be the main factor in the bump? Maybe – seriously, just maybe – it was Fortnite.
Launching on Sept. 26, Fortnite: Battle Royale has been doing alright for Epic. OK, a little better than alright. Game researcher SuperData estimates that Fortnite earned $223 million across all platforms in March. It’s the most viewed game on Twitch, with streamers like Ninja casually playing alongside Drake and breaking records on the streaming platform. And, simply put, it’s become a pop culture hit, with NCAA athletes comparing historic upsets to winning a Fortnite match and rappers challenging others to a game.
But most importantly for Microsoft and Sony, Fortnite is currently the top grossing game on consoles, making it the first free-to-play game to make such a claim. Does that translate to Sony and Microsoft’s nice numbers? Well, it’s complicated.
Consider that Fortnite is free-to-play on PS4 regardless of if the player subscribes to PlayStation Plus. And certainly, a portion of the Xbox One’s “third-party title strength” comes from Fortnite’s competition, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Following its breakout success last year on PC – where it still stands as the most played game on Steam – PUBG hit Xbox One in a timed-exclusive deal.
“It’s safe to assume that Fortnite helped grow console subscriptions in the past quarter given its massive, widespread success, and indeed, PUBG will have boosted Xbox revenues,” says Tom Wijman, market consultant at gaming data firm Newzoo. “Given the popularity of both games and the online gameplay, I think it’s safe to assume it helped convince people to renew their online subscription for another year, and will also have brought in many new subscribers.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Wedbush Securities Analyst Michael Pachter thinks the impact of Fortnite on console revenues may be overstated. “Around 20% of Fortnite players already owned consoles, and my guess is that the vast majority of these people were already subscribers to PS Plus and XBL.”
So, whether Fortnite affected the numbers is a toss-up. Again, it’s easy to connect anything to a global phenomenon like the battle royale genre. I’m sure Logic buying a $3.5 million Los Angeles home has something to do with Fortnite – maybe he likes diving down into Snobby Shores. Correlation blah blah causation, right? But regardless, the numbers perhaps illustrate something more significant.
Spending on console free-to-play games in February increased 359% year-over-year, and it wasn’t due to Smite. Fortnite becoming the top free-to-play console game isn’t a little stat. It’ll make publishers’ ears perk up if they haven’t already. According to SuperData at least, PC free-to-play draws in significantly more money than pay-to-play across PC and console. In 2017, it earned $22 billion compared to a combined $13 billion for PC and console full game purchases plus post-launch content. Could Fortnite and its subscription-based Battle Pass be the title that brings more PC-style experiences to consoles?
“Platform holders have seen only moderate success with free-to-play and Fortnite‘s success presents a breakthrough moment,” says Joost Van Dreunen, SuperData’s CEO. “Fortnite has managed to crack the walled garden that is console because of its innovative gameplay and an innovative monetization strategy. The latter is relevant here because it deftly avoids the growing criticism from consumers and governments alike on loot boxes.”
Wijman of Newzoo agrees. “I do expect that Fortnite‘s success will help open publishers’ eyes to the possibility of free-to-play experiences on console,” he says. “Of course, the success is attributable to the Fortnite phenomenon, but it does show that a popular PC experience can be brought to a different crowd and not lose momentum. Fortnite isn’t the first free-to-play port on console – Warframe, Smite and World of Tanks are all examples of free-to-play titles that are available on console and PC – but it’s probably the most successful one to date.”
Still, it may be too early to call, and it’ll likely take more than one game – albeit, a crazy popular one – to drastically alter the current ecosystem on consoles. After all, the PC free-to-play earnings are driven by a multitude of titles, including services like League of Legends and Dota 2, which literally fill out arenas through its esports events years after launch. And $60 games like Call of Duty: WWII still make it to the top of the sales charts each year.
As Wedbush’s Pachter says, “There really is no business model for publishers to launch free-to-play games [on consoles]. I know Fortnite is killing it with microtransactions, but it is an exception to the rule. I suppose somebody will try to emulate Fortnite’s success, but my best guess is that ‘free��� battle royale modes are added to paid games like Call of Duty and Battlefield.”
“>
Credit: Epic Games
‘Fortnite: Battle Royale’
It’s become a tired refrain this year. Any change in a game company’s stock, any shift in sales around the industry, you can bet speculation wanders to Fortnite: Battle Royale and the waves of its success on the market at large. So, I understand how the following sounds.
In its annual earnings report, Sony posted gaming revenues of $17.7 billion, a jump of 17.8% from last year. Reasons for the increase included more sales through its digital marketplace, as well as a 29.5% boost in the number of subscribers to its membership service, PlayStation Plus.
Microsoft told a similar story when announcing its third-quarter gaming revenues, which jumped 18% from last year to $2.3 billion. The growth was driven by a 24% bump in software and services revenue, particularly through third-party support. Additionally, Xbox Live memberships are up dramatically. Last quarter, monthly active users suddenly increased from 53 million to 59 million, and they currently remain 14% higher year-over-year.
So, what could be the main factor in the bump? Maybe – seriously, just maybe – it was Fortnite.
Launching on Sept. 26, Fortnite: Battle Royale has been doing alright for Epic. OK, a little better than alright. Game researcher SuperData estimates that Fortnite earned $223 million across all platforms in March. It’s the most viewed game on Twitch, with streamers like Ninja casually playing alongside Drake and breaking records on the streaming platform. And, simply put, it’s become a pop culture hit, with NCAA athletes comparing historic upsets to winning a Fortnite match and rappers challenging others to a game.
But most importantly for Microsoft and Sony, Fortnite is currently the top grossing game on consoles, making it the first free-to-play game to make such a claim. Does that translate to Sony and Microsoft’s nice numbers? Well, it’s complicated.
Consider that Fortnite is free-to-play on PS4 regardless of if the player subscribes to PlayStation Plus. And certainly, a portion of the Xbox One’s “third-party title strength” comes from Fortnite’s competition, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Following its breakout success last year on PC – where it still stands as the most played game on Steam – PUBG hit Xbox One in a timed-exclusive deal.
“It’s safe to assume that Fortnite helped grow console subscriptions in the past quarter given its massive, widespread success, and indeed, PUBG will have boosted Xbox revenues,” says Tom Wijman, market consultant at gaming data firm Newzoo. “Given the popularity of both games and the online gameplay, I think it’s safe to assume it helped convince people to renew their online subscription for another year, and will also have brought in many new subscribers.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Wedbush Securities Analyst Michael Pachter thinks the impact of Fortnite on console revenues may be overstated. “Around 20% of Fortnite players already owned consoles, and my guess is that the vast majority of these people were already subscribers to PS Plus and XBL.”
So, whether Fortnite affected the numbers is a toss-up. Again, it’s easy to connect anything to a global phenomenon like the battle royale genre. I’m sure Logic buying a $3.5 million Los Angeles home has something to do with Fortnite – maybe he likes diving down into Snobby Shores. Correlation blah blah causation, right? But regardless, the numbers perhaps illustrate something more significant.
Spending on console free-to-play games in February increased 359% year-over-year, and it wasn’t due to Smite. Fortnite becoming the top free-to-play console game isn’t a little stat. It’ll make publishers’ ears perk up if they haven’t already. According to SuperData at least, PC free-to-play draws in significantly more money than pay-to-play across PC and console. In 2017, it earned $22 billion compared to a combined $13 billion for PC and console full game purchases plus post-launch content. Could Fortnite and its subscription-based Battle Pass be the title that brings more PC-style experiences to consoles?
“Platform holders have seen only moderate success with free-to-play and Fortnite‘s success presents a breakthrough moment,” says Joost Van Dreunen, SuperData’s CEO. “Fortnite has managed to crack the walled garden that is console because of its innovative gameplay and an innovative monetization strategy. The latter is relevant here because it deftly avoids the growing criticism from consumers and governments alike on loot boxes.”
Wijman of Newzoo agrees. “I do expect that Fortnite‘s success will help open publishers’ eyes to the possibility of free-to-play experiences on console,” he says. “Of course, the success is attributable to the Fortnite phenomenon, but it does show that a popular PC experience can be brought to a different crowd and not lose momentum. Fortnite isn’t the first free-to-play port on console – Warframe, Smite and World of Tanks are all examples of free-to-play titles that are available on console and PC – but it’s probably the most successful one to date.”
Still, it may be too early to call, and it’ll likely take more than one game – albeit, a crazy popular one – to drastically alter the current ecosystem on consoles. After all, the PC free-to-play earnings are driven by a multitude of titles, including services like League of Legends and Dota 2, which literally fill out arenas through its esports events years after launch. And $60 games like Call of Duty: WWII still make it to the top of the sales charts each year.
As Wedbush’s Pachter says, “There really is no business model for publishers to launch free-to-play games [on consoles]. I know Fortnite is killing it with microtransactions, but it is an exception to the rule. I suppose somebody will try to emulate Fortnite’s success, but my best guess is that ‘free’ battle royale modes are added to paid games like Call of Duty and Battlefield.”
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Survey Results & Recruitment Picks (Also Apology)
New Post: https://fortnite.asas.pro/survey-results-recruitment-picks-also-apology/
#fortnite #game #fun #esport #news
Survey Results & Recruitment Picks (Also Apology)
TL;DR: Sorry for the delay of results and recruitment, was a crazy week for me. The survey ended as expected, with many people having negative feelings towards SBMM. There will be future surveys.
If you don't care for a wall of text, please leave now! I felt this post was unavoidable to keep short. Sorry not sorry.
An Apology
Hello everyone! I would like to start off by saying sorry for the delay of results. The previous two weeks were extremely busy and consumed most of my time. I appreciate all of you that have been messaging me to remind me to get this stuff done.
Furthermore, I would like to apologize to all the people that applied to my previous recruitment post and have not heard back. Rest assured, I have made my picks. (Spoiler: You can see them further down)
Survey Results
You can view the original post here
Brief Summary
I am sure everyone had a general idea of what to expect from the survey, and this definitely did solidify what most people already believed. Most people really do not like the idea of any Skill Based Matchmaking (SBMM) implementation. Rest assured, Epic Games has heard your fears and I have been told they would never consider such a feature without first strongly considering the myriad of variables it takes to get it right.
Noteworthy Results
Even after reiterating it many times, many people still believe I work for Epic Games and that the survey was somehow Epic related. Regardless, I enjoyed reading how much you think Epic is ruining the game with their "bullshit updates and emotes".
One thing I noticed coming up in discussion a lot is the type of player the average Redditor represents. Most people were under the belief that the average Reddit user was not casual, but in fact there is an almost 50/50 split between players that consider themselves to be a casual and competitive player.
In terms of the actual implementation of SBMM, there was definitely a common theme. Of those that believed it could work, the most common (and basic) answer was for it to exist as a separate mode. I personally believe that if any sort of ranked mode were to be implemented, that is how it would be.
Surprisingly, 15% of you think that a SBMM implementation should not be a separate mode! This (rather high in my opinion) percentage may be due to misinterpreting what the question was asking, but otherwise would mean that the community is wrong in how much everyone hates the idea.
Overwatch, Counter Strike, and the token (ticket) system. Many respondents who felt like being more passionate tended towards a couple categories. Overwatch and CS:GO were common games cited as doing matchmaking well. A token/ticket system was also a common suggestion that seems to have a lot of favor among the subreddit.
Another thing to note, you guys play a lot of Fortnite. Of the 15,028 people that answered, I'd estimate you all play in the high tens of thousands of hours a week. (Many of you answered 15+ hours, if all of you just played one that would still be 15k hours a week!).
I'll leave the interpretation of everything else up to you guys. But as an added bonus, I've generated
Raw Data
As promised, everyone now has full access to the survey data. You can view the spreadsheet here. If you find anything interesting feel free to make note of it in the comments below (I tried to go through all 15,028 responses but it is quite a daunting task).
You can view some more fancy stats here.
Future Surveys
I think we'll definitely be doing future surveys on what we consider to be topics of the week, as well as monthly "check ups" on where people believe the game is at. As a result, if you think there are any pressing questions that deserve data, shoot me a message.
Future surveys will be more planned out and last a week (until the next survey is posted). Upon closing, all data and a summary will be released.
Recruitment Picks
Programmer(s)
Please welcome your new code slaves /u/DaJuukes and /u/bcb67. They will be assisting my takeover of the world. We will begin by making a bot that doesn't break, doesn't have ugly code, and does my taxes. Perhaps also a Discord bot for everyone as well (mainly going be for us mods though).
Here's a little something about each of them:
/u/DaJuukes Hi! I'm a Node.js specialist and work in Discord and Reddit bots, along with Ethereum stuff. You can find more info about me here: http://dajuukes.codes
/u/bcb67 Hey Reddit squad! Just wanted to introduce myself, I'm /u/bcb67 and I'm going to be joining the /r/fortnitebr team to hopefully write some cool moderation tools / bots. I'm 21 years old and am a Senior at NC State University in Raleigh NC. I actually work as a part time Information Security Analyst @ Epic.
CSS/Designer(s)
Please welcome your new fashion designers /u/scorpionmechanic , /u/Ullaakut, and /u/Mastergoat. Two of which I've seen some brief initiative taken to help out, but I look forward to new ideas and new eyesores for everyone to look at! Being serious, I hope to tackle some long wanted features such as night mode, a proper filter, and a fancy sidebar.
Here's a little something about each of them:
/u/Ullaakut I'm a French software engineer working in Luxembourg (just fresh fired one week ago, my whole project team along with a few others have been trashed). I'm 99% backend but I still have some old skills in design and frontend so it should be fine for the job here. I'm 23, I like making video games on the Unreal Engine, playing tennis, and working on open source projects!
/u/Mastergoat Hey I'm MasterGoat (damn I wish I made a new account before this!) I'm a 20 year old FortNiteBR Addict from Darwin, Australia. My days consist of working for the government for 8 hours then another 8 hours of trying to get those Victory Royales! I've been creating my own video games and websites for a few years now and am happy I can finally apply that experience properly to a community that has been a big part of my life the past 6 months. Look forward to help make this site snazzy and pretty for you all!
/u/ScorpionMechanic Ok, my name is u/ScorpionMechanic, I just joined the FortniteBR Mod Team as a CSS Designer. IDK if my age will be a problem, but, I recently turned eighteen. I've been doing Graphic Design for almost ten years, mostly doing personal works or commissions from friends of my parents. I'm the designer of the FortniteBR subreddit. Both the Valentines and the Normal version. Also, help me to git gud. I haven' won in weeks.
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Will The Gov’t Shutdown? – Daily Pfennig
Chuck Butler’s: A Pfennig For Your Thoughts
December 6, 2017
* Dollar Gets Bought…
* RBA leaves rates unchanged
Good Day… And A Wonderful Wednesday to you! The Pfennig lost the coin toss this morning, so that’s the reason this is later than usual… As I said last Wednesday.. Better late than never, right? Things are still not back to normal around here for me, and so the Pfennig suffers. Hopefully, things begin to normalize for me… Bob Seger and his Silver Bullet Band greets me this morning with their song: Turn The Page, which is exactly what I would like to do with this period of my life!
Well, we finally saw some movement in the currencies yesterday and overnight, with the dollar getting bought, and the currencies slipping. Again, the move isn’t great shakes, but it still is noticeable, so therefore it registers on the Richter Scale.. HA!
There’s an article on the Bloomberg this morning that’s talking about how the dollar will see more selling in 2018, even with the Fed in rate hike mode. The article points out that the dollar has seen its worse year in the last decade in 2017, and the analysts writing the article believe that the impetus toward a lower dollar in 2018, will come from a revival of global growth, and rate hikes that challenge the Fed’s rate hikes all over the globe…
This article falls in line with the one I told you about on Monday from UBS that talked about how they saw a global tightening of credit in 2018.. So, remember earlier this year when I would talk about how I was seeing signs of a revival of global growth, and called it the “Global Growth Tent Revival”? Once again I was ahead of the crowd on this call, but did anyone listen to me? I doubt it… So, listen to me now and hear me later, this Global Growth thing has potential, and that’s it…
There are plenty of athletes that have “potential” but very few of them “make it”… So, while I agree with the article that the dollar will find it a tough row to hoe in 2018, I’m thinking it will have more with the Fed losing whatever credibility they have left, when they have to reverse their moves this year… That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
Things in the U.K. aren’t so rosy these days.. Seems PM May, is backing into a corner on her views regarding BREXIT, and the leaders of the BREXIT move aren’t agreeing with her views… And then there was this latest poll in the U.K. that showed a majority of citizens still believe in BREXIT, but believe it will end badly…
Well, so do I, so we have something in common, eh? The pound was flying high as last week ended, but these new developments with the BREXIT negotiations have pulled the pound back down.
One day after seeing the A$ and kiwi climb to the top of the performers’ list, the both got sold overnight. The A$ took the biggest hit, and the kiwi selling was more of a “sympathy trade”… The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) met last night and left rates unchanged, which everyone expected, but then the RBA had this to say, that I’m sure had something to with the A$ selloff.. The RBA said that they were in no hurry to hike rates, which led the markets to think that their earlier thoughts of a rate hike in the 1st QTR of 2018, will have to be pushed back…
You know, I’m still amazed at the dollar’s underwhelming reaction to the passage of the Tax Reform Bill last weekend… I mean wasn’t this tax bill supposed to be the cat’s meow for the reflation trade here in the U.S. ? Or… was all that already priced in to the dollar? It sure appears that way to me…
So, I’m thinking that if the dollar can’t mount a huge rally on the news that the tax reform bill, then it really is in the stage of beginning to end the strong dollar trend… I’ll stop there and let that last thought sink in a bit…
OK, I’m back! Gold got whacked again yesterday.. UGH! Just what the heck these sellers are thinking is a mystery, and while I don’t plan to attempt to get into their heads, I will say that I think they are all somewhat lost… So, Gold lost $9.70 yesterday with 302,000 contracts traded… Craziness here too folks.. Gold closed below its 200-day moving avg. yesterday according to Ed Steer, and began the day at $1,265.90 today…
The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday had the Rocktober Trade Deficit and it printed worse than expected! The Trade Deficit widened to $48.7 Billion up from the September print of $44.9 Billion… That’s a HUGE swing folks, and while it signals heaps of imports, it also signals that the dollar was stronger in Rocktober than in September…
Today’s Data Cupboard has the ADP Employment Report, which is supposed to give us an idea what the BLS Jobs Jamboree print will be on Friday.. Last week, my fave economist, Danielle Di Martino Booth, asked readers to send in their favorite employment indicator. She was looking for something not followed by everyone but was better than the BLS report… I almost sent her my feelings on the ADP report…
I’ve said many times that I think the country should ditch the BLS and use the ADP report as their “employment go to report”… ADP is the payroll system for almost every corporation or small business in this country, and if they show that 190,000 jobs were added in a month, they should be the ones who know!
To recap… The dollar got bought on Tuesday and overnight but the moves aren’t huge. U.K. PM May is hearing it from all sides on BREXIT, and the citizens of the U.K. think BREXIT will end up badly… This all weighs on the pound. The RBA left rates unchanged and sent the A$ downward with some comments about not seeing the need to hike rates for some time…
For What It’s Worth… Well, this Friday is the deadline for a budget deal here in the U.S. Recall that the lawmakers kicked the can down the street a couple of months ago, to this Friday… And I read this morning, that there will be another bill to delay it another two weeks… This is more craziness folks… And I doubt the Fed will hike rates on the 13th, if there’s no budget deal in place, or the Gov’t is in shutdown mode… You don’t have to take my thoughts on this as James Rickards weighed in with his thoughts in the Daily Reckoning (www.dailyreckoning.com) yesterday, and I have some of that for you here… you can click on the link above for the full story…
Or… here’s your snippet: “Will Republicans and Democrats agree on a budget, and avoid a government shutdown after midnight Friday?
I’d say the odds are 50/50. Actually, I put the odds of a shutdown at about 55%. There’s certainly enough substance here to be wary.
The government could shut down because of disagreements over defense spending, funding for Trump’s wall with Mexico, deportation of illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children (the “Dreamer Act” also referred to as “DACA”), funding for Planned Parenthood, funding for Obamacare (called “SCHIP”), disaster relief and more.
There’s not much middle ground between Democrats and Republicans on many of these hot button issues.”
Chuck again… I don’t believe the lawmakers will allow the Gov’t to shut down, so look for that “extension” if you will, to save the day this Friday…
Currencies today 12/6/17… American style: A$ .7585, kiwi .6899, C$ .79, euro 1.1804, sterling 1.3384, Swiss $1.0111, … European Style: rand 13.5260, krone 8.2605, SEK 8.4068, forint 266.41, zloty 3.5698, koruna 21.7142, RUB 58.69, yen 112.49, sing 1.3481, HKD 7.8126, INR 64.48, China 6.6140, peso 18.80, BRL 3.2385, Dollar Index 93.37, Oil $56.89, 10-year 2.33%, Silver $16.07, Platinum $907.14, Palladium $996.05, and Gold… $1,267.70
That’s it for today… Well, our Blues got back on the winning track last night in Montreal. They had gone into a funk, but looked much better last night. Winter weather has arrived here in the St. Louis area… I don’t like cold weather one iota, and longtime readers know that I head to S. Florida in January to get away from the cold. But then there’s always this cold weather in December that I despise! At least now that I’m somewhat retired, I don’t have to go out in it if I don’t want to! So I have that going for me, eh? Nilson takes us to the finish line today with his song: Without You… And with that, out of the way, it’s time to go… I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday, and Be Good To Yourself!
Chuck
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Will The Gov’t Shutdown? – Daily Pfennig
Chuck Butler’s: A Pfennig For Your Thoughts
December 6, 2017
* Dollar Gets Bought…
* RBA leaves rates unchanged
Good Day… And A Wonderful Wednesday to you! The Pfennig lost the coin toss this morning, so that’s the reason this is later than usual… As I said last Wednesday.. Better late than never, right? Things are still not back to normal around here for me, and so the Pfennig suffers. Hopefully, things begin to normalize for me… Bob Seger and his Silver Bullet Band greets me this morning with their song: Turn The Page, which is exactly what I would like to do with this period of my life!
Well, we finally saw some movement in the currencies yesterday and overnight, with the dollar getting bought, and the currencies slipping. Again, the move isn’t great shakes, but it still is noticeable, so therefore it registers on the Richter Scale.. HA!
There’s an article on the Bloomberg this morning that’s talking about how the dollar will see more selling in 2018, even with the Fed in rate hike mode. The article points out that the dollar has seen its worse year in the last decade in 2017, and the analysts writing the article believe that the impetus toward a lower dollar in 2018, will come from a revival of global growth, and rate hikes that challenge the Fed’s rate hikes all over the globe…
This article falls in line with the one I told you about on Monday from UBS that talked about how they saw a global tightening of credit in 2018.. So, remember earlier this year when I would talk about how I was seeing signs of a revival of global growth, and called it the “Global Growth Tent Revival”? Once again I was ahead of the crowd on this call, but did anyone listen to me? I doubt it… So, listen to me now and hear me later, this Global Growth thing has potential, and that’s it…
There are plenty of athletes that have “potential” but very few of them “make it”… So, while I agree with the article that the dollar will find it a tough row to hoe in 2018, I’m thinking it will have more with the Fed losing whatever credibility they have left, when they have to reverse their moves this year… That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
Things in the U.K. aren’t so rosy these days.. Seems PM May, is backing into a corner on her views regarding BREXIT, and the leaders of the BREXIT move aren’t agreeing with her views… And then there was this latest poll in the U.K. that showed a majority of citizens still believe in BREXIT, but believe it will end badly…
Well, so do I, so we have something in common, eh? The pound was flying high as last week ended, but these new developments with the BREXIT negotiations have pulled the pound back down.
One day after seeing the A$ and kiwi climb to the top of the performers’ list, the both got sold overnight. The A$ took the biggest hit, and the kiwi selling was more of a “sympathy trade”… The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) met last night and left rates unchanged, which everyone expected, but then the RBA had this to say, that I’m sure had something to with the A$ selloff.. The RBA said that they were in no hurry to hike rates, which led the markets to think that their earlier thoughts of a rate hike in the 1st QTR of 2018, will have to be pushed back…
You know, I’m still amazed at the dollar’s underwhelming reaction to the passage of the Tax Reform Bill last weekend… I mean wasn’t this tax bill supposed to be the cat’s meow for the reflation trade here in the U.S. ? Or… was all that already priced in to the dollar? It sure appears that way to me…
So, I’m thinking that if the dollar can’t mount a huge rally on the news that the tax reform bill, then it really is in the stage of beginning to end the strong dollar trend… I’ll stop there and let that last thought sink in a bit…
OK, I’m back! Gold got whacked again yesterday.. UGH! Just what the heck these sellers are thinking is a mystery, and while I don’t plan to attempt to get into their heads, I will say that I think they are all somewhat lost… So, Gold lost $9.70 yesterday with 302,000 contracts traded… Craziness here too folks.. Gold closed below its 200-day moving avg. yesterday according to Ed Steer, and began the day at $1,265.90 today…
The U.S. Data Cupboard yesterday had the Rocktober Trade Deficit and it printed worse than expected! The Trade Deficit widened to $48.7 Billion up from the September print of $44.9 Billion… That’s a HUGE swing folks, and while it signals heaps of imports, it also signals that the dollar was stronger in Rocktober than in September…
Today’s Data Cupboard has the ADP Employment Report, which is supposed to give us an idea what the BLS Jobs Jamboree print will be on Friday.. Last week, my fave economist, Danielle Di Martino Booth, asked readers to send in their favorite employment indicator. She was looking for something not followed by everyone but was better than the BLS report… I almost sent her my feelings on the ADP report…
I’ve said many times that I think the country should ditch the BLS and use the ADP report as their “employment go to report”… ADP is the payroll system for almost every corporation or small business in this country, and if they show that 190,000 jobs were added in a month, they should be the ones who know!
To recap… The dollar got bought on Tuesday and overnight but the moves aren’t huge. U.K. PM May is hearing it from all sides on BREXIT, and the citizens of the U.K. think BREXIT will end up badly… This all weighs on the pound. The RBA left rates unchanged and sent the A$ downward with some comments about not seeing the need to hike rates for some time…
For What It’s Worth… Well, this Friday is the deadline for a budget deal here in the U.S. Recall that the lawmakers kicked the can down the street a couple of months ago, to this Friday… And I read this morning, that there will be another bill to delay it another two weeks… This is more craziness folks… And I doubt the Fed will hike rates on the 13th, if there’s no budget deal in place, or the Gov’t is in shutdown mode… You don’t have to take my thoughts on this as James Rickards weighed in with his thoughts in the Daily Reckoning (www.dailyreckoning.com) yesterday, and I have some of that for you here… you can click on the link above for the full story…
Or… here’s your snippet: “Will Republicans and Democrats agree on a budget, and avoid a government shutdown after midnight Friday?
I’d say the odds are 50/50. Actually, I put the odds of a shutdown at about 55%. There’s certainly enough substance here to be wary.
The government could shut down because of disagreements over defense spending, funding for Trump’s wall with Mexico, deportation of illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children (the “Dreamer Act” also referred to as “DACA”), funding for Planned Parenthood, funding for Obamacare (called “SCHIP”), disaster relief and more.
There’s not much middle ground between Democrats and Republicans on many of these hot button issues.”
Chuck again… I don’t believe the lawmakers will allow the Gov’t to shut down, so look for that “extension” if you will, to save the day this Friday…
Currencies today 12/6/17… American style: A$ .7585, kiwi .6899, C$ .79, euro 1.1804, sterling 1.3384, Swiss $1.0111, … European Style: rand 13.5260, krone 8.2605, SEK 8.4068, forint 266.41, zloty 3.5698, koruna 21.7142, RUB 58.69, yen 112.49, sing 1.3481, HKD 7.8126, INR 64.48, China 6.6140, peso 18.80, BRL 3.2385, Dollar Index 93.37, Oil $56.89, 10-year 2.33%, Silver $16.07, Platinum $907.14, Palladium $996.05, and Gold… $1,267.70
That’s it for today… Well, our Blues got back on the winning track last night in Montreal. They had gone into a funk, but looked much better last night. Winter weather has arrived here in the St. Louis area… I don’t like cold weather one iota, and longtime readers know that I head to S. Florida in January to get away from the cold. But then there’s always this cold weather in December that I despise! At least now that I’m somewhat retired, I don’t have to go out in it if I don’t want to! So I have that going for me, eh? Nilson takes us to the finish line today with his song: Without You… And with that, out of the way, it’s time to go… I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday, and Be Good To Yourself!
Chuck
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A Fraud At The Top Of Tesla?
This post A Fraud At The Top Of Tesla? appeared first on Daily Reckoning.
Is Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc. (TSLA) a fraud?
Or is he just terribly misinformed?
That’s one of the many questions investors are asking this week after Tesla released sales figures for the third quarter.
Two months ago, Tesla announced that the company would manufacture 1,500 of its new low-priced Model 3 sedans during the third quarter. By the end of the fourth quarter, Tesla expects to be producing 5,000 cars a week.
So how many of the 1,500 Model 3 cars were actually made during the last quarter?
Just 260.
That’s not a “miss.” That’s a whiff of epic proportions!
Tesla is Building a Reputation… On and Off the Road
Quite frankly, I would love to have a Tesla parked in my garage.
Tesla has built a reputation for quality, luxury, and innovation that no other car manufacturer has been able to match… (yet).
I’m intrigued by the company’s progress with autonomous driving, and it’s exciting to think about how much reading I could get done while heading to the airport if I didn’t have to actually be driving my car.
So Tesla’s reputation when it comes to the quality and technology in its vehicles is quite amazing. That seems to be the vision and drive behind just about everything that Elon Musk does.
He’s a man on the edge of the curve, always trying new things, always pushing the boundaries, always producing high quality with maximum functionality.
In addition to its reputation for quality and innovation, Tesla is building another reputation.
The company’s reputation on Wall Street is anything but quality. In fact, analysts are now taking everything that the company says with a grain of salt.
Take for example, Tesla’s prediction of 1,500 Model 3 cars manufactured last quarter. Even though this was the stated goal, Wall Street analysts didn’t believe the company would meet this level.
The average Wall Street analyst surveyed already expected Tesla to miss the target by 15%. They were right about the miss… But just didn’t fully grasp the magnitude of how far Tesla would fall short of guidance.
This isn’t the first (or second) time Tesla has disappointed investors. The company has a long history of setting grandiose expectations, and then failing to meet its own time lines for fulfilling its promises.
Just last quarter, shares of TSLA sank sharply after the company missed delivery expectations for its existing models that were already supposed to be in full production mode.
An Investor’s Worst Nightmare
True believers in Tesla and its stock will point to the strong returns investors have received over the past five years.
To be fair, the stock has risen from $33.87 at the end of 2012, to a current price near $335 as we enter the last quarter of 2017. That’s an 889% gain for investors who held their shares through the entire period, or just over a 58% annualized return over five years. Not bad.
But take a look at the roller coaster ride you would have had to sit through to enjoy this return:
As you can see in this chart, Tesla went essentially nowhere for a three year period (while giving investors ulcers because of the turbulent back and forth trading).
Three different times during this period, shareholders endured large declines. Between 2014 and 2015, the stock dropped 38%. The fall between 2015 and 2016 was a gut-wrenching 51%. And then after rebounding in early 2016, the stock turned around and fell another 34%.
Would you really have had the resolve to hold TSLA through all of that turbulence? All the while knowing that Tesla was not turning a profit, burning through cash and may still be years away from actually becoming profitable?
Call me crazy, but I’d rather own a stable dividend paying company like Ford Motor (NYSE:F) or General Motors (NYSE:GM), than a dream stock like TSLA that may or may not turn out to be a viable business…
“Do You Think I’m An Idiot?”
I’m currently reading a biography on Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance. (Actually I’m listening to the audio book while I run, bike, or when I’m in my car).
In the opening chapter, the author talks about having a long dinner with Elon in which the entrepreneur shared details on his many dreams including space travel, inhabiting other planets, and other “ahead of their time” ideas.
As the conversation wound to a close, Elon looked at Ashlee and asked point blank: “Do you think I’m an idiot?”
The question is worth considering…
No, I don’t really think Elon is an idiot. The man is clearly a genius and has an amazing mind. But I do wonder if he is out of touch with the reality of what it takes to actually run a sustainable profitable business.
According to many, Tesla is just a company Elon started to help generate cash for his rocket program. And so far, there’s no cash actually being generated (except for the inflated price that investors are paying for their shares of TSLA).
I’m curious what you think…
Do you own shares of Tesla? Would you buy them at a certain price? Do you think this company is a wise investment?
Maybe you think I’m the idiot. After all, I’ve been steering you away from this company and telling you that the stock is too risky.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on Tesla, Elon Musk, our ideas here at The Daily Edge, or anything else that’s on your mind.
Please send your thoughts to [email protected].
I look forward to hearing from you!
Here’s to growing and protecting your wealth!
Zach Scheidt
Editor, The Daily Edge
Twitter ❘ Facebook ❘ Email
The post A Fraud At The Top Of Tesla? appeared first on Daily Reckoning.
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