Your Money / Your Vote October 23, 2024 I’ll get to that for those who don’t own these stocks. But first: PRKR closed at 69 cents last night, up from 16 cents in August. It’s tempting to take a quick quadruple; for those of us who first bought shares nearly seven years ago at $1, it looks a little different. On the one hand, there’s been huge dilution, as the company issued zillions more shares to raise cash to stay afloat. On the other hand, a great many more phones have now been sold with Parker’s technology inside, and a great deal of interest has accrued on whatever a jury might find has been owed over the 20 years the company believes Qualcomm (and other giants) have been using its patented technology for free. (The one time Parker’s patent claim against Qualcomm did reach a jury, more than a decade ago, they unanimously awarded $173 million and the judge initially said that the companies would presumably be working out a licensing agreement for future sales. Months later, though, he was somehow persuaded to throw the whole thing out.) There’s much more to be said about this, but my bottom line is that, for now at least, I see more upside than down. I’m holding all my shares. BOREF traded zero shares yesterday on the news that former FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt has joined WheelTug’s board. (BOREF owns about half of WheelTug.) After 25 years of your hearing from me about this stock, I guess you can be forgiven for not jumping up and down. (It was around $3 then; it’s around $3 now.) But to me, the news is hopeful. Babbitt adds a lot of credibility. Ryan S.: “To get a sense of him, here’s an interview he did a while back. His portion starts at 13:40, but I’ve linked to the spot where he refers briefly to ‘electric nose wheel’ technology.” At $3, BOREF is valued at $15 million. If Borealis is ever able to unlock the literally billions in annual savings to the airline industry its technology promises — a huge if — its reward could be a $1 billion market cap — $200 a share. I’m not for a minute suggesting this will happen; it’s just why I own a ridiculous number of shares, purchased with money I can truly afford to lose. (And with “limit” orders. The stock trades so thinly, even a small “market” order could be filled at a much higher price than you expected to pay.) Crazy speculations aside . . . . . . what if you’d just like to vote for a party that can do okay with the economy and your portfolio? A century of historical data shows that both the economy and stock market do far better under Democratic administrations than Republican. That’s just true. Look it up. But what about now, under Biden? And what about looking forward, under Harris? I’ve previously noted that: America’s economy is bigger and better than ever — The Economist. [It] has left other rich countries in the dust — also The Economist. The U.S. economy is the envy of the world, but too many Americans have forgotten why — Philadelphia Inquirer And I’ve linked to: Economists Say Inflation, Deficits Will Be Higher Under Trump Than Harris — The Wall Street Journal And I’ve urged you to share these must-watch 8 minutes with any business-minded folks who agree Trump is a horrible person but plan to vote for him anyway. What I’d like to add today are these two follow-ons: > This Economic Myth Needs to Go Away: 60% of Americans Are Not Struggling to Get By (The much smaller percentage who are living paycheck to paycheck would be smaller still if we elect a president who cares about them.) Indeed . . . > Surprise! Groceries are getting cheaper! It’s one of the series of “good news” graphs you’ll find in the piece if you scroll down. None of this is to say we should tell unhappy voters that they’re wrong to be unhappy. We should tell them we feel their pain — because Kamala, being an empathetic human, who grew up poor, actually does — and we should show them how we’re going to take the country to ever better days, as Presidents Clinton and Obama did, as President Biden has, and as Vice President Harris will. She has plans! Not just concepts of plans — plans. BONUS Can you spot the celebrity ‘deepfakes’ in a new ad warning against election disinformation?