Daily Musical Selection: Bon Voyage Organisation - La Course (Radio Edit)

Added on July 22, 2024 by C. Maoxian.

I dig it…

J.D. Vance Should Have Been the Democratic Presidential Nominee in 2024

Added on July 22, 2024 by C. Maoxian.

Fighting for the white working class, anti-Wall Street, anti-global capitalist class. Two interesting old interviews:

November 2016. Peter Robinson seems smug and interrupts him constantly…

March 2018. I’ve always loved the Tiger Mom and knew she had taken J.D. under her wing at Yale.

Patty Boyle Says Pump And Dump Schemes Are Now Legal

Added on July 22, 2024 by C. Maoxian.

Patty Boyle is a funny guy: “The influencers had ripped jeans, tattoos, McLaren cars, those watches that online scammers always wear, and contrasting facial hair.”

Fraud on the Social Media Market, by Sue S. Guan

By ruling that the victim must have directly surrendered property to the fraudster, any investor who purchased stock in the stock markets on the basis of a fraudster’s misinformation cannot recover. This ignores longstanding tenets of economic theory and contradicts established securities law doctrine. Further, because the structural reality of today’s markets means that nearly every pump and dump using social media will involve investors purchasing stock on the stock market, the ruling would effectively immunize nearly all fraud perpetrated on social media.

SEC Charges Eight Social Media Influencers in $100 Million Stock Manipulation Scheme Promoted on Discord and Twitter, Washington D.C., Dec. 14, 2022

United States of America versus Edward Constantinescu, et al.

Thus, the scheme did not deprive investors of their money or property through any misrepresentation; the misrepresentations deprived them only of accurate information necessary to make discretionary economic decisions.

[Laughable ruling, Texas of course, geez….]

Edward Constantinescu, a.k.a., Eddie Cantaloupe

Extended Hours Trading Hours for the Top 25 Retail Stock Brokers

Added on July 19, 2024 by C. Maoxian.

Ally Invest

Extended hours trading is available at Ally Invest. You may enter pre-market orders between 8:00 am – 9:30 am ET or post-market orders (also called after-hours orders) between 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm ET. On days when the market closes early, the extended hours trading session runs from 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm ET. You may enter limit orders only. An order placed during an extended hours trading session is only good for that session. If your order is not executed during a specific extended hours session, the order expires at the end of the session and does not roll into the next traditional or extended hours session. You may cancel an order that has not been executed before the close of an extended hours session. For settlement and clearing purposes, orders executed during an extended hours session are considered to have been executed during the day's traditional session. Please refer to the additional disclaimer for extended hours trading.

Alpaca Trading

Currently, we support full extended hours:
Pre-market: 4:00am - 9:30am ET
After-hours: 4:00pm - 8:00pm ET

Charles Schwab

Pre-Market: Orders can be placed between 8:05 p.m. (previous trading day) and 9:25 a.m. ET and will be eligible for execution between 7:00 a.m. and 9:25 a.m. ET.

After Hours: Orders can be placed and are eligible for execution between 4:05 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. ET.

eToro

eToro offers some US assets for pre-market trading from 06:30 to 09:30 ET and after-market trading from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM ET via a separate symbol ending in ‘.EXT’.

E*TRADE

Trading during Extended Hours Trading Sessions (including the Pre-Market Session (Monday through Friday 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. ET), the After-Market Session (Monday through Friday 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET), and the Extended Hours Overnight Session (Sunday through Thursday 8:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. for certain ETFs),

Fidelity

Orders for the premarket session can be placed from 7:00 a.m. to 9:28 a.m. ET. Short sale orders for the premarket are only permitted between 8:00 a.m. and 9:28 a.m. ET. Orders in the after-hours session can be placed from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET. In the event that a market center becomes unavailable during an extended-hours session, Fidelity may submit orders to another eligible and available market center to maintain order flow. Thus, your order may be presented in any one of several market centers.

Firstrade

8 AM - 9:25 AM, 4:05 PM to 8 PM

Interactive Brokers

Outside Regular Trading Hours -- IBKR LITE: 07:00 - 20:00, IBKR PRO 04:00 - 20:00

JP Morgan

Not mentioned on website

Lightspeed

Lightspeed’s trading hours of operation are 4 AM to 8 PM EST on weekdays only.

Merrill Edge

Pre-market and after-hours trading is available Monday through Friday on days when the market is open. Pre-market trading is available from 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. ET. After-hours trading is from 4:01 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET.
On any day, extended-hours trading may be unavailable, delayed, interrupted or terminated early without prior notice. Extended-hours trading is not available on days the market is closed, preceding a market holiday or if the market is closed due to an emergency. This service is not available for clients using a 10-digit User ID.

Moomoo

Outside of the regular trading hours of 9:30 am to 4:00 pm Eastern Time, investors have the option of making trades in the pre-market hours and the after-hours. The pre-market trades can be made between 4:00 am and 9:30 am Eastern Time, while the after-hours trading session runs from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm Eastern Time

Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley bought E*TRADE, so see above….

Public

Extended Hours Trading is available from 8:00 a.m. – 9:29:59 a.m. EST and 4:00:01 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. EST Monday through Friday, excluding market holidays.

Robinhood

Extended hours are 7 AM – 9:30 AM ET and 4–8 PM ET

SoFi Invest

Extended hours are from 9 AM – 9:30 AM and 4 PM – 8 PM ET Monday to Friday. Only limit orders can be placed during extended hours. Orders placed after 4 PM ET that and not filled by 8 PM ET will be canceled. Trading during extended hours involves greater risk including lower liquidity and greater volatility.

SpeedTrader

Not mentioned on website.

Tastytrade

Currently, the tastytrade pre-market session opens at 8:00am ET and runs until 9:30am ET, while the post-market session (aka “after-hours session”) runs from 4:00pm ET to 8:00pm ET.

TD Ameritrade

Charles Schwab bought TD Ameritrade, so see above…

TradeStation

The following sessions are available:
Regular Session Hours - 9:30 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Eastern
Pre Market Hours - 8:00 A.M. to 9:30 A.M. Eastern
Post Market Hours - 4:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. Eastern

TradeZero

Equities trading on all exchanges, between 4:00 AM ET to 7:00 AM ET; $0.005 per share.
Equities trading less than $1.00, between 7:00 AM ET to 8:00 PM ET; $0.005 per share; minimum $0.99, maximum $7.95 charge per trade.*

Vanguard

Not mentioned on website.

WeBull

4 AM ET - 8 PM ET

WellsTrade

In addition to regular trading hours, trade eligible stocks and ETFs from 4:01 p.m. ET to 6:30 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday in an active, real-time, after-hours trading session on the Wells Fargo Mobile® app. Extended Hours Trading has unique risks and may not be appropriate for all investors. Review the Online Extended Hours Trading Risk Disclosures prior to trading after-hours.

Zacks Trade

Not mentioned on website.

Zippo Armor Solid Copper Case, Lighter No. 46171

Added on July 18, 2024 by C. Maoxian.

$125 … “Solid copper case features a Deep Carve Armor symbol beneath an epoxy Zippo flame icon.”

Honest Reviews of Martin Scorcese's Terrible Movie, "The Departed"

Added on June 29, 2024 by C. Maoxian.

From Rick Groen: “Rumour had it that the source material - a rejigging of the tense Hong Kong hit Infernal Affairs - was ideal for [Scorcese], a return to the mean streets and mobsters of his glory days. Rumour had it that the cast, including Jack Nicholson in his first teaming with the director, was exceptional. Rumour had it that God was in His heaven and Martin Scorsese was back on track. Rumour was wrong … Scorsese has been doing some channelling too - of Tarantino on a really off-day … As so often before, the body count is high in a Martin Scorsese movie. But where once the bodies pulsated with life in all its vainglorious furor, here they drop like wooden ducks in an artificial pond.”

From Stanley Kauffmann: “William Monahan’s screenplay is so full of cryptic pronouncements and swift portentous scenes that neatness is blown away … But [Sorcese’s] film is so frantic with plot jabs and counter jabs that the gravity of the theme is blurred in cop-and-criminal sorties. Even Scorsese’s usually gleaming direction is dulled to the Law & Order level, except for a few of his famous traveling shots … Jack Nicholson… virtually repeats his Joker in Batman … Is Scorsese desperate? This screenplay has the scent of it, as if he is scraping for material to feed his basic filmic interests. But the risk in this case—not evaded—was that his need led him close to painful strain. I can’t remember another Scorsese moment as shockingly banal as the finishing touch here. We look out the window of the stooge’s luxe apartment, past his terrace. Then a rat comes out and plays on the terrace railing.” [Yeah, I laughed out loud then.]

From Christopher Orr: “A remake of the sleek, superb 2002 Hong Kong police thriller Infernal Affairs, the movie has been Nicholsonized across the board, becoming fatter, coarser, and more self-indulgent than the original.”

From The Standard: “Being a Scorsese fan these days is like sitting at the bedside of someone on a life support machine. As each new offering appears we look, desperately, for signs of animation. Sad news, my friends. On the evidence of The Departed, it's time to pull the plug … scriptwriter Bill Monahan (fresh from the yawn-fest that was Kingdom of Heaven) fails to do anything interesting with the characters in the second half … As in his remake of Cape Fear, Scorsese has mucked up a B-movie he professes to love: producing something full of twists but devoid of that lovely, fluttery, rare thing: surprise.”

Thoughts on the 2024 Jeep Wrangler 4xe Sahara

Added on June 28, 2024 by C. Maoxian.

An old lady ran over the front of my Miata while I was sitting at a stop sign, so my car had to go to the shop to be repaired and the insurance company gave me a rental car in the meantime. I got a 2024 Jeep Wrangler 4xe Sahara because it was big and bright red and I was feeling jittery after the accident.

Things I like about the Jeep:

body on frame, it’s a real truck, 5,400 lbs with EV battery
you sit up high
roof over front seats easily removable making it a Targa — very nice … the thing I liked best about it
distinctive look, not cookie-cutter
it has many “oh shit” handles around the cabin, which is nice
has nice flat dash that I can put my radar beeper on
the big screen can be shut completely off with a single button push
physical HVAC controls and volume knob
plenty of outlets (USB, USB-C etc.) incl. a 120 volt outlet!
stereo is surprisingly good
sound insulation surprisingly good
back roof and doors can also be removed fairly quickly with Torx bit, but I didn’t do that
every other Wrangler owner waves at you, which gets tiring since there are a lot of Wranglers out there
inline 4 popper with turbo has surprising amount of zoot (375 hp, 470 lb/ft torque)
easy to get 5,400 lbs. hurtling at 100+ mph … scary

Things I don’t like about the Jeep:

terrible gas mileage
only 850 pounds of payload capacity
flashing gang sign at other Wrangler drivers becomes a chore
ride quality so-so, but you’re in a Jeep after all
no way to shut off the big screen completely if you’re listening to music
takes a long time to charge the battery using 120V outlet
full charge on battery gives you pathetic electric-only range of 27 miles max.
can’t think of a dumber vehicle to make into an EV (gets 1.5 miles per kW)
it gets some attention, esp. in Firecracker Red
vertical windshield collects a lot of bugs

Would I buy one of these? Not in a million years. The EV part of the car is going to break and cause horrible problems at some point. This Jeep costs $60,000, which is insane… I guess with the government EV subsidy it makes a little more sense if you’re buying this for your “business,” but not really. Plus it’s going to break. Did I mention that it’s for sure going to break?

Rear view, Note 4xe badge and pretty blue tow hook

Closer look at badge and pretty blue hook

Front view, note pretty blue hooks which means this beast is eco-friendly

Charging port, 120V will take overnight and give you a whopping 27 miles and only if you drive downhill with a tailwind

Cute blue Jeep outline on center caps to let world know you’re eco-friendly

I would remove all the badging except for the top one which has an indent in the body

Quick release roof panels over front seats means it turns into a Targa top like RF Miata, very nice.

“Oh shit” handle for rear passenger (on both sides), nice

Cute Jeep outline in bottom corner of windshield

Contrasting gray cloth on dashboard is a nice touch … note size of passenger’s horizontal “oh shit” handle

Physical HVAC controls nice, and awful giant screen can be shut completely off with one click

Cute “Easter egg” inside charging port area

Consolidated Tape Association Tape A 2024 Q1 Revenue

Added on June 26, 2024 by C. Maoxian.

CTA Metrics

BaT Top 80 of the '80s Car Index

Added on June 25, 2024 by C. Maoxian.

I recently bought Bring A Trailer’s first coffee table book, titled: Top 80 of the '80s. I was surprised that they didn’t include an index of the cars featured in the book in any of the promotional material, so I’ve made my own below.

I’m surprised the Pontiac Fiero is not included — it’s an obvious selection to me.