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maladaptive-ninja-returns · 5 years

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Blame It On Your Beats (7)

Chapter Content: Fluff, mushy song.

Summary: A brush with the underworld leads you on a run, away from what was supposedly your normal life, with Bucky Barnes. You two do not seem to be in sync as Bucky tries to keep you alive, trying your best not to kill each other. Or that’s what you think you are doing.

Series: contains smut, adult content in there somewhere in the future chapters so please look at the chapter content and warnings before you proceed.

Chapter Warnings: explicit mention of a sexual act.

A/N: This series is written for @littledarlinhavefaithinme ‘s MK Writing Challenge. Thank you so much for hosting. I am having a lot of fun with the prompts. But I am clearly behind schedule. Eep! Thanks for being so patient!

Tags for this fic are open

MASTERLIST

Man, I know that it's hard to digest

But maybe this story ain't so different from the rest

And I know it seems hard to accept

But you've got your demons, and she's got her regrets

Bucky could’ve sworn some part of the universe- or the speakers in the bar, probably- was speaking just for him through those words as he entered the soft space. His eyes took in Zemo the redhead, who now stood behind the bar with his phone unfazed as ever, while a blond man poured out drinks for a couple that sat on the bar. One of the two men who sat there, the tanned one, caught him looking in their direction, giving Bucky a casual nod before he turned his head towards the opposite corner where the booths were. Bucky followed his gaze and saw a familiar leg hanging out from below the corner table, the foot strapped in brown gladiators, the thin laces twisted intricately around it like its own form of art.

And I know that it's hard to digest

I really know this shit is as good as it gets

Looking back at the man, he nodded in gratitude before walking towards the last booth. Towards you.

And I know it seems hard to accept

But you've got your demons, and she's got her regrets

The afternoon sun was blazing through the window, lighting up the table with its invisible flames, making you glow under the purified reflecting rays. You didn’t see him coming, allowing him to catch you scribbling something on a notepad with a pencil- both, the hotel’s property kept at your disposal- while your phone and the earphones still connected to it remained on the table, a bit away from where you sat.

But you've got your demons, and she's got her regrets

Bucky slowed his pace to take in the warmth he watched emanate from you for the first time- even if it was just from the reflecting sun. But just then your burning Y/E/C peaked from under your lashes, making him saunter towards you at what he guessed would be his normal pace.

“Nice shirt,” you commented, pointing the head of your pencil at his sky blue Henley.

“Thanks,” he responded before sitting down to your right, thinking he wanted to keep a measured distance. But what he really wanted was not to block the light from the other side; keep watching you glow like this even though your face carried a sullen taste.

Driving his hands through his hair, he looked at the page you were working on.

“What’s that?”

Your eyes quickly shifted from the paper to him, catching the blue shine at you, making the back of your neck heat up a little. You straightened where you sat, you legs driven back to you as you kept your pencil down and turned the page towards him.

“It’s the symbols on the paper those men were after last night,” you stated, making Bucky turn towards the pad, giving you a window to watch his pale, just-came-out-of-the-shower features, forcing you to catch your breath before it gave away your idiotic musings.

How can someone be so beautiful? You heard your mind.

Didn’t you say that about a centuries-old paper? Your inner voice bounced around in your head.

Yeah, so? He’s a century old too.

Ah! You dirty girl. You do have a type!

Bucky scrunched his nose at the paper, making your heart play the harp with all its strings. “I...this looks more like poetry than symbols. Quite...quite literally.”

You smirked, more for your amusement than his curious eyes that registered the swollen red bags under yours, making a part of Bucky twist at the vivid thought of tears in your eyes.

“I wrote the symbols down as a description that only I can understand. Thought it would seem out of the ordinary if I would just lay it flat over the bar to study it or draw in the notebook,” you admitted, taking the pencil in your hands before the smirk disappeared and a distant look washed over your eyes as you looked at your phone. “You never know who might be watching.”

With an elongated sigh, you passed Bucky a smile before going scratching the back of your neck, paying attention to what was playing in the background.

“I’m sorry.”

Bucky’s coarse words had your full attention, making everything around you pause for the instant you let his words seep through your ears up to your brain.

“What?” you heard yourself whisper.

“I am sorry,” Bucky shifted a little towards you, his voice heavy, “for forcing you into doing something you were not comfortable with.”

Just like the tides outside were washing the shores, you felt something warm wash away a part of the heaviness you had been carrying inside you.

“I should not have lied to you,” he stressed, his eyes weighing the truth inside them, “because one wrong decision and you might have died and it would have been my fault.”

You finally let out all air caught inside you, pressing your lips together to prevent them from trembling.

“I’m sorry for being unnecessarily exhausting about you saving my life,” you professed, trying to meet his gaze but faltering eventually.

“It’s my fault, really,” you pointed out, shrugging as Bucky saw you twist your ring on your finger, “none of this would’ve happened if I never left my dorm, never ran into Lena, never let myself be talked into joining some fucked up brotherhood of the night of these underworld goons-”

Your words began to spill out broken as you continued to babble, making a string inside bucky tighten around his chest as he shifted closer to you.

“Hey, hey, hey,” he whispered as he brought his flesh hand forward to hold your cold one, “stop.”

“Did you know what you were entering into when...Lena introduced you to whatever it was?”

You looked at Bucky’s delicate blue holding your gaze through the haze building up inside your eyes.

You shook your head.

“Did you know it while you were doing their dirty work for them?”

You shook it again. “But I did do it, didn’t I? People are dead because of me, because of what I did. How am I any different from the ones who fire the bullet?”

And at that moment he realised what Steve must have felt when he had first tried to reason with Bucky how any action of the Winter Soldier was not his fault.

“Because you have a conscience,” he declared, never taking his eyes off you, “You knew the moment it all unravelled in front of you that it was wrong. You helped Scott make his security impenetrable. You stopped him from losing his job, his company, his credibility. You are really not the one at fault here, doll. Trust me.”

I think I'll borrow tomorrow's happiness for today

I lent on the cracks of all this love

And it went away

You took in a good lungful of breaths to calm down and let his words penetrate the wall that was building up inside you. His eyes didn’t leave you for a second, making sure you were actually taking his words seriously.

Why did he have to be such a sweetheart? Wasn’t the whole soldier thing enough to send flutters down my existence?

“Thanks, Barnes.” You blinked away your tears, wiping away whatever little fallout was there with your fingers.

Falling I'm falling I'm falling I'm falling down

Next to you

“Bucky,” he stated, easing back into the cushioned setting behind both of you.

“Hmm?”

“Well,” he decreed moving his shoulders in a casual shrug as his lips played with a smile that teased your eyes, “considering we are married for the week, I figured you should call me by the name I prefer.”

Pin a string in the middle and tie it to my chest

I'm spinning around your five-mile radius, don't look away

You arched your brows in wonder, a soft smile finding its way on your lips.

“Bucky.” The name came off your lips and tongue like a declaration of its own, making that tightened string inside Bucky’s chest tug a, but it a good way, producing a note of its own.

Falling, I'm falling, I'm falling, I'm falling down

Next to you

The smile he gave you reached his eyes, crinkling the corners even, making the harp inside you haul repeatedly at that one string as if letting you know you were forgetting how to breathe.

“Here you go, wifey,” he gave you a perfect beam, bending a little towards to you, making you pause somewhat in shock at an unmistakable thought passing through your brain-sending quivers down your spine- before you saw him take out a card from his pant pocket and sit back straight, flushing your insides in embarrassment.

He brought forward a plastic card that had nothing but the name S.I. Black.

“Is that what I think it is?” you took the card in your hands to examine the etched chip on the back covered neatly inside the black matte with the glossy magnetic strip running over it.

“Believe it or not, Stark’s emergency kits come with a credit card.”

You laughed in pure amusement.

“Oh, this has Pepper written all over it,” you chortled.

“My thoughts exactly,” Bucky chimed in.

The next two hours passed in buying drinks and snacks at the bar to fill up your hungry stomachs as you explained to Bucky the significance and interpretation of the symbols and how Eton may have been trying to procure an ancient method of creating a new element for the old parchment or OWL as you, Stark and Banner had started calling it, was one of the many old fragments found from the earliest most stable civilisations of the world that had some really efficient methods of purifying metals, making weapons, chemicals and even new alloys from the most impure metals found inside earth.

All the interpretations you could make out, but what you were not able to work with was that there was no order in the information that was coming out in front of you; it was gibberish if not total chaos. You would have driven yourself down the pit of distress had Bucky not slammed the pad shut and told you to take a break.

He left the booth to get you something to relax your nerves, leaving you to stretch your arms and legs as you tried to settle with your glass of water till he came back, while also inviting a pair of bright and curious eyes to your corner.

The couple you’d seen taking pictures of the shore came towards you, their arms entangled in a casual but loving embrace, carrying beers in their free hands.

“Hi!” the girl with the purple hues in her black hair jumped as she waved at you, pure joy dripping from her form, making you reflect the same warmth she was radiating.

“Hi,” you exclaimed, bringing your hand forward for a shake, “I’m Y/N.”

“I’m Yukio,” she practically sang, “and this is my love, Sonic!”

“‘Sup,” Sonic gave you a nod, clearly not much of a greetings person.

You asked them to join you at your table, thinking it would be a good distraction from the all the riddled symbols your brain was seeing right now.

“Are you also on your honeymoon?” You couldn’t help but smile at Yukio’s unadulterated enthusiasm, making you think it had barely been a minute but you would die for this girl.

“Yeah,” you nodded, trying to control the heat building inside your cheeks, “he just went to the bar to get us some drinks.” You pointed your gaze at Bucky who- as if out of some telepathic connection- turned his head towards you at the same time, waving at the new company you had just found.

Sonic looked at Bucky with a calculated smirk on her dark tinted lips before flicking her eyes towards you.

“Huh,” was all she let out.

“What?” you didn’t want to but her expression was making it difficult for you to hold back the urge to ask her what she was thinking about your supposed man.

“Nice dude?” she asked rather than answering.

“Hells yeah,” you answered.

“Does the dishes?”

“Mm-hmm.” Technically, yes, he did his dishes. No lie there.

“Treats you good?”

“Yup.”

He sat down with me and heard me ramble about my work even though I am sure half of it went above his head, still nodding and listening with the same enthusiasm as he did when I first started. I’d say he’s treating me quite well.

You took your glass in your hand, happy with yourself, trying to hide your smile with the sip of water.

“Gives you head?”

The water gushed the wrong way, forcing out a cough as your nasal passage and lungs ached at the sensation.

Nothing in this world could have prepared you for this.

“Babe!” Yukio gasped as she started rambling something to her girl in Japanese.

Between your coughing fits and Sonic’s disgruntled moans followed by her eyeroll, you could tell she was being told not ask something so personal with someone they’d just met.

But she just stared at you as you tried to clear your throat and persuade Yukio you were fine. Fantastic, even, while your insides were on fire trying to get the image out of your head.

“She’s clearly tensed, babe,” Sonic stated to Yukio before turning back to you with a nonchalant stare, “You could really use some.”

That’s what I’ve been telling her for ages! Your inner voice grew two sizes at those words.

“She could use what?”

You could feel every cell in your body dry up at the sound of a familiar voice standing right behind you.

Bucky sat down beside you, keeping no distance between you two, letting you feel his cold metal right over your overheated arm, as he kept down his drinks and made acquaintances with the pair sitting opposite you.

“I was just telling her that you needed to go down-”

“DOWN to the shore to gather some sea shells!” you nearly shouted into the air around you. “Cheers!” you announced, clinking your drink to every glass on the table before gulping it down altogether.

Yukio pressed Sonic to leave you and Bucky alone but not before the latter gave you a fistbump before leaving.

The alcohol eased your nerves, letting you breathe in a swirl of colours for a second as you felt your accelerated heartbeat finally slow down.

“So…” Bucky eased himself beside you- gulping down his own drink- his arm still in contact with yours, taking away all the unnecessary heat from your flushed body, “what did she mean when she said if I gave you head?”

____________

A careful explanation of how his super hearing worked, a negation of his constant persuasion of telling him what Sonic had meant, his ultimatum of finding it out from someone else in the hotel, you doing a google search and showing him the specific results for the terminology he was intrigued about and a pair of flushed faces drowning in embarrassment later you two were sitting in the lawn at the back of the hotel lit by fairy lights and fire lamps all around you.

Two faces distinctively red, sitting next to each other on the dinner table, speaking nothing, just enjoying their drinks quietly amongst the mushy crowd seated all around you.

Yukio had especially dragged you away from the gathering to apologise for her partner’s straightforwardness, making you melt at her sweetness there and then. And when she did, you tried to find a way to not go back to your seat any time soon, trying to buy as much time as you could to compose yourself; to get that one specific, extremely crisp image of him in between your legs out of your head.

So you found yourself at the boutique where Louise had taken you in the morning, buying whatever decent clothing you could find for yourself that would help you get through the week. You also ended up buying a royal blue sheen shirt for Bucky for no particular reason except for the fact that you could clearly see him pulling it off.

The twenty minutes away from the all the social setup and keeping up the facade helped your nerves to ease up a bit, allowing you to take a mimosa with from the bar before heading outside and playing pretend again.

Everything seemed to have been going smoothly till the fireworks celebrating some local event started.

You had been standing with Louise and Jamal- the man who had been sitting at the bar with his husband this afternoon- talking about your top five most interesting pieces of history when a loud bang had caught you off guard, making you jump while the cocktail had slipped from your trembling hands. All the buried memories of last night resurfaced as another bang ripped the locks holding back the incident splintered at the sound and the vibration pricking at you violently. The eerie eyes with that unsettling smile came back and so did the sound of cracks developing on the glass as those dead grey orbs tried to hammer their way through the barrier keeping you away from his grasp.

You had felt your breathing falter. The heat turning cold with the ocean’s current brazing you, sending disconcerting shivers down your spine. You were trying to hold on to something in the midst of the unfamiliarity engulfing you in the darkness of the night, Louise and Jamal’s repeated worried words not being of much help.

“It’s just the fireworks, sweetie,” Louise persuaded your figure bent by the garden light.

“It’s alright, I got her.” The familiar husky voice found its way through the growing crowd; you waiting for it to hold you up above the surface of the sea of bad recollection that was trying to drown you.

And suddenly just like the first splash of a warm shower running down your aching skin, you felt the familiar hot and cold arms take you in their embrace. You wasted no time of your own to wrap your arms around the familiar frame you had held last night with every last drop of faith inside you.

“I got you. I got you,” Bucky whispered, his voice vibrating through him near your ear buried in his chest, “breathe. It’s okay. Just breathe. I’m here. You’re fine.”

Another firework went off, forcing you to flinch inside Bucky’s hold while he tightened his embrace around you.

“You want to go back upstairs, doll?” he whispered soothingly into your ears.

You nodded, not ready to face anything and anyone else.

“Okay. Alright. Let’s go,” he uttered, his flesh hand easing the goosebumps on the skin of your arm as he wrapped it around you while slowly moving inside the mansion, in the direction of the elevator.

He didn’t bother with the stares or the questions passing as murmurs in the small crowd watching you with keen interest. All he did was grab a bottle of water from the nearest table on his way in from his free arm, the metal files clinking with the glass as you two stepped inside the elevator.

The doors closed and for the first time, you felt the little golden square space to be so welcoming with its haunting silence.

“I-I...uh…” you tried to find words to conjure up a sensible statement to explain him your sudden dissolution in the midst of the dinner party, your mind trying to give him a reason for this precipitous need for his hold, “the um t-the explosion...fire from last night. It was all-”

“Relax,” he whispered near your ear as he rubbed his thumb on your arm, undoing the stretches of the stress right under his touch.

His hold only left you for the moment he had to open the door to the room as you walked inside the space you’d mentally made your own for the next few days and sat down at the edge of the bed.

“Here-” Bucky took out your phone- the earphones still dangling from it- and brought it forward for you to take- “Stark told me some good tunes help you calm down.”

You took the phone from his hands and brought it down in your lap, absent-mindedly pulling at the wire with your fingers.

Bucky stood there, watching you in some deep thought, surprised at the fact that he found himself more at the anguished edges of the cliffs he stood at right now than this morning- when he was sure he couldn’t bear watching you mumble whatever your first thought was, irritating him beyond what he was used to with the rest of the Avengers.

Now, a part of him ached at your silence, wanting to hear you tease him with anything related to deep waters, wishing that you would just charge at him out of the blue just so he could no know you are still here with him.

All he had had in his mind before last night was his image of you with your earphones in, dancing around Banner’s lab while the scientist tried to get your attention, twirling in some deep thought as you would move from one corner of the lab to another to search something, drag your chair, the wheels under it feeling your mood as you would vent out your frustrations on them. All he had known you as was the intern with the headphones, the one who would roam about the halls of the facility at night to go to the kitchen and find some food because- according to Banner- you would make your brain twice than the normal amount, for the research as well as the efforts to keep yourself in sync with the songs inside your head.

Now, you sat in front of him in the dark- the only thing lighting up your features being the yellow glow of the fairy lights gleaming beneath your floor outside the window. It pained Bucky to see you out of your element- and he hated every bit of it.

That’s when the realisation dawned upon him, making him shut his eyes close tightly as he ran his hands through his hair for not grasping it earlier.

He sat down on the edge of the bed beside you, his hands reaching for his pockets in his jeans, coming out, shifting in the dark before he took in a long breath for the things he was about to say.

“Do you know his name?”

The edge in Bucky’s words brought you back to the present, making you turn towards the blue that was dilated in the dark, reflecting the pale yellow at the rims of his pupils like rings of fire burning inside him.

“Did he tell you his name?”

Your hand went back to the tracker around your finger, turning it round and round, before visiting your memories to find what Bucky was looking for.

“His chatroom name was Dex790. I’m guessing it stood for Dexter but that probably would be his code name or something.”

“What did he look like?”

“Bucky, I don’t-”

“Please,” he begged, the fire inside his oceans burning darker, “just tell me.”

For a second you wanted to be scared by the latent rage you saw inside him, but no matter how hard you tried, you just couldn’t bring yourself to hate him.

“Blonde, Caucasian, square jaw but he had a small face and grey eyes. Like...like they were dead. He had these...perfect white teeth like way too white. Abnormally white. And a very light scar right here, in front of his left ear.”

He nodded in satisfaction at you before dipping his head in his lap.

That’s when you first noticed the light glowing from his phone in his fingers there.

“Did you get that?” he asked, looking at the phone.

“Got it,” Steve’s voice came over the speakers, “Friday’s already begun the search. We’ll get him, Y/N.”

“Hey, Y/N,” Natasha’s faint voice called from a distance, “don’t let the metal guy scare you, okay? He looks threatening but he’s just a fluffy bunny on the inside.”

Bucky snorted at the phone; you could clearly see his cheeks turn colour even in the dim lighting.

“Oh, I think I am the one who’s been scaring him for the last twenty-four hours, Natasha,” you quipped, stretching the corner of your lips before tucking your hair back behind your ear.

“Ooooh,” Sam howled from somewhere, “can I please take her out for coffee when she comes b-”

Bucky cut the call before you could hear how it ended, throwing the phone over to the couch before turning back to your hands still fiddling with your earphones.

“He won’t harm you, Y/N,” Bucky tried to reassure you.

“He was quite clear he wanted to kill me, Bucky,” you countered.

“You think I’d let him?” he retorted, shutting you up with the resolve in his eyes making an unprecedented spirit wash over you.

“Don’t let the fear he created inside your head stop you from doing what you love, Y/N,” he declared in a heavy whisper, making you turn your gaze towards your phone.

“Every time I think of putting on my headphones, all I can think about is him standing behind me, waiting in some corner before I catch him looking,” you croaked, your hands feeling a little tremble in your hands on speaking out your worst thoughts into the air.

“Then let me deal with half of it,” he declared, your eyes following his pale hands as he untangled the beautiful mess and gave you one while keeping the other with himself.

“Now, put on whatever it is that you hear,” he insisted as he secured it in his ear.

A chuckle left your lips, catching him off guard as he stilled his presence to finally breathe in your placid happiness.

“Nah, I don’t think you’ll like it,” you surmised as you opened your phone and then quickly closed it.

“Come on, try me,” he moaned, making you curse at the hum that vibrated down your core that made you bite down on your lips.

Taking one good gulp of air, you opened up your collection and put on your playlist titled I Wonder What The Winter Sun Looks Like.

A click echoing in the ear invites a soothing guitar solo for the two of you.

Alone in a crowded room

My eyes will search for you

You looked at Bucky’s eyes reflecting the waxing moon in the strings of his perfect blues, wondering what you were doing here in his company at this moment when a few weeks earlier you had been sitting at the other end alone with your dark thoughts never even thinking you could actually be in the company of a man who could put the Gods to shame, let alone be comforted by his warm embrace.

Abandoned by my company

I’ll search for what’s in front of me

And hope that I find something new

Bucky was having the same thoughts, wondering how a girl he barely knew a few days ago was becoming more than just a passing thought in his mess of a mind. But you were becoming a delicious heated mess, everything from your eyes to your lips- oh those beautiful lips parted in some wandering thought.

My heart is like the ocean searching

Searching for the shore I’m learning

There must be something more than dreaming

The ocean outside rebelling against the rocks no longer bothered the two of you as you were tired to understand these bizarre torrents building up inside your hearts.

This heart of mine is tired

But my feet will not retire

The alcohol will not suppress

The fear of death and loneliness

I know that I’m not alone

You felt your body let go of a rope inside you preventing you to loosen up in front of your company and found yourself leaning back on to the mattress, letting your body drop onto the feathery lump, ready for it to take away all your stress. You didn’t know what he would think of it, what he would make of it. You just lay there in your state, as you wanted to.

My heart is like the ocean searching

Searching for the shore I’m learning

There must be something more than dreaming

The bed dipped beside you, Bucky’s body coming down next to you, facing you like it was the most obvious thing to do. You too turned your body towards him, the words coming out of the song still intact inside your senses.

I’ve wrestled with the truth for quite some time

But I’ve been drowning in this restless mind

Bucky found himself loosening his own masks in your presence. Watching your fragile gaze searching for something he found riling up in his own stomach. A previously unobserved flutter.

I'm sick of being so unsatisfied

Tell me that the answer’s right

God are you awake at night?

'Cause I've been abandoned by my company

I’ll search for what’s in front of me

And hope that I find something new

You wondered if you were the only one feeling these sensations your voice had been teasing you about the entire time. Was this the thing you were concerned about when you first found yourself in this room with him this morning?

My heart is like the ocean searching

Searching for the shore I’m learning

There must be something more than dreaming

Abandoning all things that were sullen to your minds, both of you find the solace in the soothing songs cradling your hearts in their tunes, the sleep finally coming for both of you as your bodies let the sands of slumber work the magic twice as fast in each other’s company.

My heart is like the ocean searching

Searching for the shore I’m learning

There must be something more than dreaming

Continued Here

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preciousmetals0 · 4 years

Text

Impeachment Melt-Up; Maxing out With Micron

Impeachment Melt-Up; Maxing out With Micron:

Ain’t That a Peach

I’ve been hesitant to wade into the impeachment waters … for obvious reasons.

I don’t like politics. I mean, I do … but I don’t like mixing them with investing advice unless it’s absolutely necessary.

I’m putting a toe in the impeachment pond today because the U.S. House of Representatives voted last night to approve articles of impeachment against President Trump. As such, Trump becomes only the third U.S. president in history to be charged in an impeachment trial.

For the record, Trump is being impeached on two counts of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. If you want to know more about the finer points — the details of the impeachment process and all that jazz — I’m not covering them here.

Practically every major news outlet around the world is covering that information. For example, The New York Times has the full articles of impeachment in PDF format here.

Do I have opinions on the topic? Sure.

Am I going to share them here? Not on your life … or your portfolio.

So why bring it up at all, Mr. Great Stuff?

Because political events this big can have an impact on your financial well-being. Political views are so polarizing and emotional that they often get in the way of sound portfolio management and cloud research. And that hurts your gains.

And investing is all about the gains.

The Takeaway:

You may have noticed that the markets aren’t reacting to this major event as sharply as you would expect. There’s a reason for that.

Wall Street believes that we will see a repeat of the President Clinton impeachment trial. In other words, the Senate will acquit Trump, and that will be that.

Investors, especially large institutional investors, thrive off expectations and what is known. The unknown scares the utter bejeezus out of them. Since “it is known” that the Senate will acquit, Wall Street is business as usual … although it will enjoy the show.

Here is what I believe will happen. Naturally, there are investors out there that remain reluctant to put money into the market during the impeachment. These investors will remain on the sidelines until the show in the Senate is over. Once the acquittal comes through, that money will flow readily back into the market.

Yes, dear readers, we are looking at a post-impeachment market melt-up.

With tariff woes off the table for now, U.S.-China trade relations normalizing, the U.S. economy chugging along and the Federal Reserve lending a helping hand … we are looking at solid gains for the first half of 2020.

Since the House announced the formal impeachment process in September, the S&P 500 Index is up roughly 7%. That rally will gain momentum once the trial begins and the outcome becomes apparent. Remember, the S&P 500 surged more than 25% during the Clinton impeachment process.

It is known.

Now, the question is: Are you prepared to take advantage of the potentially significant market melt-up that’s coming?

If not, then you need Banyan Hill expert Paul Mampilly in your corner. That man has strong hands, conviction and an excellent track record of identifying mega trends.

So, if you’re tired of wishy-washy investing research from the “pros,” check out Paul Mampilly’s Profits Unlimited newsletter. You don’t want to miss out on this potentially lucrative market melt-up.

Click here to find out how to subscribe now!

The Good: Micron Bottom

The swoon is over. The glut is gone. Micron Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MU) stock can now move on.

The hype is slowly starting to return for flash memory maker Micron. The company’s quarterly earnings report last night revealed Street-beating results and improved guidance for next year. For the record, earnings topped expectations by a penny per share, and revenue was $150 million higher than expected.

Not too shabby. But the real driver for Micron stock today was a comment from Sanjay Mehrotra, the company’s CEO and president: “With our strong execution and improving industry conditions, we are optimistic that Micron’s fiscal second quarter will be the cyclical bottom for our financial performance.”

You heard him, folks. The bottom is in.

There’s one big reason to believe in Sanjay’s prediction…

Micron’s biggest problem has been a sluggish smartphone market. The company’s flash memory is a big part of smartphone storage. But 5G is expected to power a rebound in smartphone sales, thus driving up demand and revenue for Micron.

And with a fresh supply license for Huawei — a blacklisted Chinese tech giant and the second-largest smartphone-maker in the world — Micron’s future is looking brighter every day.

The Bad: Über Scary Germans

Like Rammstein finding a “Swifty” at one of its concerts, a German high court banned Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER) from operating in the country this morning.

According to the court, Uber is not licensed to provide transportation services with rental cars. Rental cars?

Due to German law, Uber must work with existing taxi-style services in the country. In 2015, Germany banned Uber from matching up private drivers with passengers, citing German transportation laws. This time, the court said that Uber’s workaround of using car rental services violated competition rules.

Clearly, Germany is a complicated place to operate a taxi-style service. But it is the largest economy in Europe, so Uber is considering appealing the ruling or suing the court outright.

This is the second such setback for Uber in Europe. Last month, London revoked Uber’s operating license in the city, claiming a risk to passengers.

Those self-driving cars can’t come fast enough for Uber. It is still working on them, right?

The Ugly: The Peloton Plunge

I hope the view from those large bay windows is a nice one, because Peloton Interactive Inc. (Nasdaq: PTON) investors are going to need something pleasant to look at.

A second hedge fund has come out of the woodwork to pan the exercise bike company. Last week, Citron Research’s Andrew Left set a price target of $5 per share on Peloton. Ouch.

This week, Hedgeye Risk Management issued its own bearish warning. Co-founder Brian McGough tweeted that the company “should never have gone public, or picked the wrong strategy.”

According to McGough, Peloton’s true valuation is in the $2 billion to $4 billion range, not the roughly $9.5 billion valuation it currently sports. At that valuation, PTON would be trading closer to $7 to $14 per share — 55% below the stock’s current trading range.

Left and McGough aren’t alone in their bearish stance on the company. According to Bloomberg, about 70% of PTON shares available for public trading are sold short.

If this bearish duo is right, PTON investors are in for a world of hurt when PTON’s post-IPO lockup period ends in March.

You know the drill.

You Marco, we Polo.

It’s Reader Feedback time!

Great Stuff readers never cease to amaze me with their random pop culture knowledge. I honestly didn’t know that there were this many Savage Garden fans out there. David K. wrote:

You forgot “do,” but that’s OK. Do really want to bathe in the sea? You just have to shower afterwards. Anyway, I look forward to your garden of savage comments about investing and the economy.

“Garden of savage comments” … I like that. I might have to steal it. And why not bathe in the sea? There are already plenty of sponges there. Just imagine how deep the ocean would be without sponges!

Thanks for writing in, David! I’m glad you’re enjoying Great Stuff.

Y’all also have lots of predictions for next year. Some are good, like this one from Richard W.:

I believe 2020 will be better than the negative Nancies say or think. Roku is a winner. Their box in TVs, EU penetration, DIS, Apple, will go thru ROKU. It is easy, cheap and it works. CRWD will be the second winner of 2020. They have a moat that is unrealized yet. They have many platforms for whatever you want. It is so simple to incorporate. Many rave reviews. Long ROKU CRWD.

And some are not so good, like this one from Gordon F.:

I saw a chart recently that showed how the stock market has risen in lock-step with expansion of the Fed balance sheet, so as long as the balance sheet keeps expanding, so goes the theory, the market should continue rising.

But I also imagined an image of a chart that shows the circumference of a balloon plotted against the amount of air blown into it. They also increase in lock-step until a certain point, at which the balloon pops and the circumference disappears or becomes meaningless.

At the moment, nothing appears likely to pop this balloon, but if and when it happens, it’s likely to be sudden, and everyone will be yammering about a black swan (unforeseeable, catastrophic, how could we have known, blah, blah, blah). I’m still in the market, but I also maintain positions that will (hopefully) protect me if the balloon does pop.

It’s no secret we’re fans of Roku Inc. (Nasdaq: ROKU) here. Richard is right on the money about it being the real winner in the streaming wars. We’re also fans of CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: CRWD). However, the end of the post-IPO lockup period could be a bit volatile for early investors. Remember to be careful on this one.

As for popping balloons, well … that always happens at the end of the party, doesn’t it? But Gordon brings up an excellent point that we’ve harped on repeatedly here at Great Stuff. That point is: You need to be prepared.

You can invest in all the Rokus, CrowdStrikes and Pelotons you want, but don’t let them make up the majority of your portfolio … especially if you’re in retirement.

Always remember: Gains are good, but protection and caution are golden.

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Great Stuff Managing Editor, Banyan Hill Publishing

0 notes

goldira01 · 4 years

Link

Ain’t That a Peach

I’ve been hesitant to wade into the impeachment waters … for obvious reasons.

I don’t like politics. I mean, I do … but I don’t like mixing them with investing advice unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Practically every major news outlet around the world is covering that information. For example, The New York Times has the full articles of impeachment in PDF format here.

Do I have opinions on the topic? Sure.

Am I going to share them here? Not on your life … or your portfolio.

So why bring it up at all, Mr. Great Stuff?

And investing is all about the gains.

The Takeaway:

You may have noticed that the markets aren’t reacting to this major event as sharply as you would expect. There’s a reason for that.

Wall Street believes that we will see a repeat of the President Clinton impeachment trial. In other words, the Senate will acquit Trump, and that will be that.

Yes, dear readers, we are looking at a post-impeachment market melt-up.

It is known.

Now, the question is: Are you prepared to take advantage of the potentially significant market melt-up that’s coming?

If not, then you need Banyan Hill expert Paul Mampilly in your corner. That man has strong hands, conviction and an excellent track record of identifying mega trends.

Click here to find out how to subscribe now!

The Good: Micron Bottom

The swoon is over. The glut is gone. Micron Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MU) stock can now move on.

You heard him, folks. The bottom is in.

There’s one big reason to believe in Sanjay’s prediction…

And with a fresh supply license for Huawei — a blacklisted Chinese tech giant and the second-largest smartphone-maker in the world — Micron’s future is looking brighter every day.

The Bad: Über Scary Germans

Like Rammstein finding a “Swifty” at one of its concerts, a German high court banned Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER) from operating in the country this morning.

According to the court, Uber is not licensed to provide transportation services with rental cars. Rental cars?

Clearly, Germany is a complicated place to operate a taxi-style service. But it is the largest economy in Europe, so Uber is considering appealing the ruling or suing the court outright.

This is the second such setback for Uber in Europe. Last month, London revoked Uber’s operating license in the city, claiming a risk to passengers.

Those self-driving cars can’t come fast enough for Uber. It is still working on them, right?

The Ugly: The Peloton Plunge

I hope the view from those large bay windows is a nice one, because Peloton Interactive Inc. (Nasdaq: PTON) investors are going to need something pleasant to look at.

A second hedge fund has come out of the woodwork to pan the exercise bike company. Last week, Citron Research’s Andrew Left set a price target of $5 per share on Peloton. Ouch.

This week, Hedgeye Risk Management issued its own bearish warning. Co-founder Brian McGough tweeted that the company “should never have gone public, or picked the wrong strategy.”

Left and McGough aren’t alone in their bearish stance on the company. According to Bloomberg, about 70% of PTON shares available for public trading are sold short.

If this bearish duo is right, PTON investors are in for a world of hurt when PTON’s post-IPO lockup period ends in March.

You know the drill.

You Marco, we Polo.

It’s Reader Feedback time!

Great Stuff readers never cease to amaze me with their random pop culture knowledge. I honestly didn’t know that there were this many Savage Garden fans out there. David K. wrote:

You forgot “do,” but that’s OK. Do really want to bathe in the sea? You just have to shower afterwards. Anyway, I look forward to your garden of savage comments about investing and the economy.

Thanks for writing in, David! I’m glad you’re enjoying Great Stuff.

Y’all also have lots of predictions for next year. Some are good, like this one from Richard W.:

And some are not so good, like this one from Gordon F.:

You can invest in all the Rokus, CrowdStrikes and Pelotons you want, but don’t let them make up the majority of your portfolio … especially if you’re in retirement.

Always remember: Gains are good, but protection and caution are golden.

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Great Stuff Managing Editor, Banyan Hill Publishing

#Timor Invest

0 notes