jas007

In other words, get out if you can. That's what I thought, almost three years ago, and so here I am, in Thailand. I'm afraid I might not even be safe here, so long as there's a threat of nuclear or financial armageddon. A nuclear war would end life on earth. A financial meltdown could result in most people losing everything, even those who thought hey had their bases covered. Either way, I sense danger.

And therein lies the problem. There are any number of sneaky ways people can be tricked. Some, fairly sophisticated. Maybe you're the kind of person who doesn't have much of a bank account to drain Your phone doesn't contain links to your entire life. Banks, brokerage accounts, friends lists, pictures. But some of us do, and for me, I have no problem protecting myself. Sort of like wearing a helmet when I'm on a motorbike. Maybe I'll be OK. But if I'm not and I end up smashing my skull all over the street, there are no do overs.

But it is entirely possible. Have you not been paying attention here? Jeez. It's much simple not to take chances.

There's lots of propaganda floating around, but one thing I know for sure. Donald J. Trump is the President of the United States and you're not. Putin is the leader of Russia. and you're not. And it's those two people who are going to put an end to this nonsense. So, sit back and watch. It's a thing called reality.

For years, I used to run every morning. At first, only about three miles, but at one point I was up to six miles every morning. My endorphin supply for the day acquired. By the time I was 60 or so, I started walking every morning. For about 1 1/2 hours. They say at a certain age that running might not be so good for you any more. I guess I should spend more time in my condo's gym. Treadmills, rowing machines, free weights.... And swimming. I used to do that and recently bought a pair of goggles. Some early morning laps might not hurt. Has anyone ever thought of trying the trek to the Mt. Everest Base Camp?

How many people do you know who have had their entire bank account drained before they even realized what was happening? I know a few. It's no big deal until it happens to you. And when it happens, it's not funny.

I'm not sure I'm following your logic. My point is this: many large institutional investors park a large percentage of their holdings in S&P500 index funds. They do this because traditionally, such a diverse group of stocks have been seen as a hedge against market uncertainty. If some of the stocks in the index go belly up, so what? The other stocks in the index will likely survive and life will go on. The index is weighted by market cap, though, so a few large companies, such as Apple and Google and Facebook, can skew the average. However, that's only part of the problem. Not only can a handful of stocks obscure overall market performance, modern portfolio theory requires that certain government statistics be taken as gospel. The CPI, for example. So what, you say? As we're finding out now, many government statistics are simply works of fiction. Job numbers, first time unemployment claims, and so on. So the S&P 500 index funds are problematic. They're used as a means or providing "stability," and yet their very use can run contrary to the intended purpose. The exit doors aren't big enough. As they say, "past performance is no guarantee of future results."

I'm not sure Trump has a specific plan regarding ASML. He probably sees it as a tangential issue, if he actually thinks that far ahead. To be sure, the US has made efforts to pressure ASML to limit the export of its technology to China. Of course, China seems to have come up with a solution to manufacture cutting edge chips on its own, so maybe it's a non-issue at this point, other than whatever lag time might pertain to the USA's ability to come up with even more powerful chips on US soil. As for Intel? I'd say they went off the rails somewhere along the line, and that's why they're now on a path to insolvency. Reminds me of General Motors. At one point they had it all and became complacent. Finally, don't forget the issue of Quantum computing. Spooky fast and far beyond anything the most powerful binary supercomputers can compute. A quantum computer can do a computation in eight minutes that it would take a binary computer trillions and trillions and trillions of years to compute. Longer than our know universe has been in existence. One of the companies was so scared by what they found out that they temporarily shuttered their program, or so they say. The only thing those Quantum computers need? Power. Electricity. Quantum computing stocks. Might be a good investment if the market tanks. Make sure you cover your bases. There are two different kinds of Quantum computing methods.

Does anyone here pretty much know for a fact that they have a Guardian Angel? I'm almost certain that I have one, but I'm not sure what I did to deserve one. He or she has saved my life on more than a few occasions. This Guardian Angel doesn't otherwise stop me from screwing up all sorts of things, but when it comes to keeping me alive, the record seems to be 100%. -Changed an airline reservation at the last minute one time. Turns out I would otherwise have been blown up by a terrorist bomb. -Woke me up one time just as I was about to drive my little sports car into an interstate bridge support. -Gave my mother a signal to stop what she was doing to go outside and scream at me about a speeding car that would have surely killed me, as I was about to cross the street without paying attention. -Delayed my purchase of some lottery tickets one time just enough to delay a trip that would have certainly ended my life when a speeding car ran a red light. Those are just a few highlights. There are many more examples, as some of my friends can attest to. Anyway, there must be something going on that's not of this world and that we're a part of.

Just a quick note: Anyone here that's old enough to remember the 1987 stock market crash must surely remember the "portfolio insurance" everyone thought they had. And what happened? It didn't work. Big time, it didn't work. In fact/, the scheme exacerbated the sell off by creating a feedback loop. As the market declined, the computers sold off stock in an attempt to maintain liquidity, exacerbating the problem. The system failed, as did the market that day. Fortunes were made be anyone willing to step in and catch some of the largest market capitalization stocks in the world as they were sold off, selling for what would today be literally pennies on the dollar. Well, that may what's in store for today's markets, thanks to the S&P 500 bandwagon everyone seems to be on these days.

You make the mistake of thinking Russia started this war. Or maybe, you've been brainwashed. That would be typical. Propaganda works. I won't waste time giving everyone a history lesson. But those who know, know.

I think I've read about a plan top blow up/destroy the Taiwan Semiconductor plants in Taiwan if the Chinese invade. I'm not sure how fast they can get the AZ plants up and running, but it might not take too long. In the meantime, there may be some vulnerability. Maybe the US has a stockpile?

If Ukraine doesn't stop screwing around, that's exactly what I mean. At this juncture, the possibility remains of some part of Ukraine remaining as a nation state and as a buffer from NATO or any UN forces wearing some other costume. That means Russia will have none of it. No NATO, and no EU boots on the ground. A neutral security buffer for Russia by which it can protect its strategic assets in Russia and what has now become Russia. For Russia, it's an existential issue and it's non-negotiable.

That remains to be seen. If those states pose any kind of existential strategic threat to Russia, then Russia will act to extinguish such threats. It's very simple.

Update: The Tops Daily stores sell 35 gm bars for 89 baht.

You're probably right. Just recently, Taiwan Semiconductor announced plans to move large production facilities to Arizona. Trump knows what's coming.Taiwan Semiconductor knows what's coming. And Trump understands the importance of Geopolitical spheres of influence. For example, he just ordered the US military tp draw up plans to retake the Panama Canal by force. Western Hemisphere = US sphere of influence. It's going to happen. We'll see what happens to Greenland and Canada, but the same mindset will be at work.

There's only one kind of dead. Still, you may well just be ending one chapter of a life that never ends. So, you screwed things up this time. Next time, you'll do better. It's good if you look at things that way, I think.

They'll never understand. And the big thing they don't understand is that Trump has the ultimate "trump card," so to speak. He's the duly elected president of the United States with a sweeping mandate. He, and only he, determines US foreign policy. And if enough people begin to push back, whether it's through the courts, against Elon Musk, or through the influence of card carrying Neocons like Rubio, it's Trump that will finally determine how this all plays out. Push him hard enough and he'll realign the world geopolitical landscape. Push him hard enough and he'll abandon NATO and it's supposed Article 5 "guarantees." Push him hard enough and it's a done deal. Putin and Trump have already spoken, bypassing Rubio and any potential interference by that Neocon. And so it will soon come to an end. The war is over. Russia won. And Trump knows Russia won. The killing will soon stop. And when the deal is sealed, the Deep State, the Leftists, and the Neocons will have no on to blame but themselves.

In my case, I already have AIS phone service with a data plan and can use my iPhone as a hotspot. I already have NordVPN, not necessarily for this purposes, but once you have the subscription, you can use it on all your devices. And, as I've said, I can purchase additional data if I happen to need any, through the AIS app. So, that's about as good as I can do, all things considered.

Possible issues: Man in the Middle attack. Rouge hotspots. Just to name a couple. I wouldn't use public wi-f-in a million years.

Am I the only one here who understands why accessing the Internet via public wi-fi is a bad idea?

Chalk it up to the long term effects of a massive public brainwashing campaign, financed by the USA. It's been going on for years, in one form or another. Most people actually believe the nonsense. Propaganda works very very well. The second I heard that Hillary blamed her election loss on "Russian Collusion," that told me everything I needed to know. How much did they spend on the Mueller investigation? Those people were so convinced they were invincible, they got 51 intelligence officers to sign onto their nonsense scheme.

I have an iPhone with service through AIS. I don't like to use any kind of public wi-fi, so when I travel, I use my I-Phone as a hotspot for online browsing. My phone comes with a data plan, but if the allowed data runs out for some reason, I can buy additional data right through the AIS app.

Again, where is it etched in stone that that will always be the case? For now, you're right. But don't think for a second that couldn't change.

Sure. That's the point. Nothing is certain. Even an S&P 500 index fund is not the safe haven it once was. Everybody thinks that, though, which is why it's no longer necessarily true. People hold such funds as some sort of security blanket, and yet once that's the conventional wisdom, look out! What would happen if 90% of the Index's investors all headed for the exit at once?