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Non-Tech : Kirk's Market Thoughts -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: robert b furman who wrote (12998)	2/1/2022 8:51:27 AM
From: Kirk ©	1 Recommendation Recommended By robert b furman Respond to of 26731

Sounds like fun to finally have the time and resources to get into your restoration hobby. There are a few here in town who drive around their old, classic autos as daily drivers. They all are classic examples of why government should not be involved in the private sector. ... laissez-faire ... The private sector is most efficient mechanism. Laissez-faire doesn't work, sadly. The best example is how the very rich can get even more by buying up prime land then using it for profit without compensating the cities and communities that suffer. Good examples are sports stadiums and technology campuses like the Apple, Facebook and Google headquarters where they sell our quality of life and weather, build campuses with everything the worker needs from dry cleaning to hair cuts and free food on that campus (so the workers spend less time on these items and more time working) then they destroy the local communities as only the highest paid can afford to live close to the campuses. The workers then gentrify the local communities making it so you have to pay $23 an hour to get someone to wash dishes and subsidize the health care, housing, electricity and water bills for those workers. Sports stadiums gridlock the traffic and have concerts at night that keep neighbors awake from miles away. Most of them have figured out they can take most of the good that went to neighborhoods by offering expensive food in the stadiums rather than have the fans eat nearby in restaurants owned by small businesses. I watch the Warriors and am amazed that "color announcer" on TV who is an employee of the organization working with the announcer who works for NBC Sports, can't stop saying enough about the food quality at "Chase Center." Anyway... enough ranting! LOL

To: robert b furman who wrote (12998)	2/14/2022 7:37:23 PM
From: Kirk ©	Respond to of 26731

I wonder if the big names in capx will buy your two small favorites... Tower Semiconductor Stock Rockets On Reported Intel Buyout Intel is working on a roughly $6 billion offer for Tower Semiconductor. The Journal said a deal could be announced as soon as this week. Tower makes chips for applications ranging from cars and consumer electronics to industrial and medical gear. It operates factories in in Israel, Japan and the U.S. PATRICK SEITZ 06:27 PM ET 02/14/2022 Tower Semiconductor (TSEM) shares rocketed late Monday after a news report said Intel (INTC) is nearing a deal to buy the Israel-based chip foundry. TSEM stock jumped nearly 50% on the news. After the market close on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Intel is working on a roughly $6 billion offer for Tower Semiconductor. The Journal said a deal could be announced as soon as this week. Tower plans to report its fourth-quarter financial results early Thursday. The news comes as Intel is planning to build cutting-edge chip factories to take on technology leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM). Over the last year, Intel has pledged to spend more than $43.5 billion on new chip fabrication plants, or fabs, in Arizona and Ohio and the expansion of a factory in New Mexico. In extended trading on the stock market today, TSEM stock surged 48.2%, near 49.10. Intel stock climbed 0.2%, near 47.65. TSEM stock ended the regular session Monday at 33.13, giving it a market valuation of about $3.6 billion. Tower makes chips for applications ranging from cars and consumer electronics to industrial and medical gear. It operates factories in in Israel, Japan and the U.S. TSEM stock ranks seventh out of 41 stocks in IBD's semiconductor manufacturing industry group, according to IBD Stock Checkup. It has an IBD Composite Rating of 88 out of 99. Intel ranks No. 22 in the group with an IBD Composite Rating of 60. investors.com

To: robert b furman who wrote (12998)	2/16/2022 10:46:45 AM
From: Kirk ©	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 26731

I hope your Nomad rebuild project is going well. I look forward to seeing some photos, maybe on FB or here. WD to raise flash device prices Siu Han, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES Wednesday 16 February 20220 NAND flash prices going up. Western Digital has notified customers about price increases immediately for all its NAND flash devices to reflect a substantial rally in costs, according to industry sources. Other NAND flash chipmakers and memory module manufacturers are expected to follow suit, which may push up NAND flash prices, the sources said. NAND flash contract prices will likely begin to rally in the first quarter of 2022. NAND flash prices may see their largest sequential growth for 2022 in the second quarter, the sources indicated. With WD and its JV partner Kioxia holding a combined 35% market share, their production loss could affect 2-4% of the overall NAND bit output worldwide this year, according to the sources. WD and Kioxia have both announced disruption at their JV fabs in Japan due to contamination of certain material used in the manufacturing process. WD disclosed previously contamination of certain materials used in its manufacturing processes affecting production operations at both its JV fabs in Yokkaichi and Kitakami could lead to a shortage of at least 6.5 exabytes in flash storage availability. Kioxia said the incident would partially affect production of its 3D flash memory at the fabs. While shipments of its conventional 2D NAND flash memory will not be affected, the company will be striving to minimize the impact on customers. "Although Kioxia did not quantify, we are led to believe the 6.5EBs is just WD's loss, meaning Kioxia's loss could be roughly the same if not more as they have majority share of the bit output from the fabs," commented Craig Stice, chief analyst of semiconductors for Omdia. "Our best estimation, with the two together, is approximately 13.5-14 total EBs lost." For WD/Kioxia, this would be about 23%-24% of their total 1Q22 NAND bit output," Stice continued. "Industry-wide, this accounts for about 8%-9% of total NAND bit output." Inventory levels at both the manufacturers and in the end markets will be key to help absorb any of the factory loss, Stice noted. "The NAND market has been in slight oversupply, and prices have been in decline, which would suggest that there is inventory," Stice said. "However, now accounting for the loss, supply and demand could return to relative balance for the rest of the quarter."