Mag 7 Tech Stocks Beating, Insane AI Debt Levels, Castles and Tiki Bar Maps, Last Week for 100k Chase Sapphire Preferred

Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as Mag 7 tech stocks beating, insane AI debt levels, castles and Tiki bar maps, last week for 100k Chase Sapphire Preferred card offer, bubble talk, unknown risks, circus barker attention economy, AI influencing sales of crap, religious fundamentalists are dangerous, why ambulance rides are so expensive, tourism winners and losers, already missing the World Cup, the best photography and Thailand links and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of frequent flyer miles and points at the lower half of the post. And much more. Enjoy the weekend.

 

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This blog started way back in 2012 focusing on my crazy hobby addiction of traveling with frequent flyer miles, hotel and bank points. It has since evolved to curated posts featuring the best web content along with my commentary.

 

BLOG HOUSEKEEPING

This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.

 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

 

“He who is of a calm and happy nature, will hardly feel the pressure of age” – Plato

 

MUST READ GEMS 

As a World Cup fan since 1978 I am already missing it. And this fantastic article has put it all together why this World Cup was special:

29 Reasons We Loved the 2026 World Cup

 

 

PERSONAL FINANCE

Great read by Sam Ro at TKer: Known worries and unknown unknowns.

Never forget that there will always be something to worry about. It’s an inescapable reality of investing in the stock market…it’s a positive for investors that there are many things the market is actively worried about. It keeps the market in check and less vulnerable to stomach-churning price swings.

On the other hand, the most destabilizing risks are the ones people aren’t talking about. The unknown unknowns…Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about these unknown unknowns. There’s no knowing what’s coming and when they’ll emerge (unless you’ve got some inside information). There’s also the possibility they’ll never emerge. The best we can do is understand that sometimes, things will come out of nowhere and send shockwaves through the markets. And given a little time, these things become another one of those more manageable risks that surface on many surveys for months. The good news is that the stock market has a long history of recovering from unexpected shock events, which means any drop in prices has proven to be a buying opportunity for long-term investors.

I think we in the wealth management industry are being asked this question the most: Overvalued, Bubble or Revolution? I guess time will answer this as it always does. In the meantime, we can confidently say that if you consider the US stock market over concentrated in less than 10 tech stocks, you have not seen how concentrated other countries’ stock markets are, ours is not even remotely close. In addition, the other certainty is that the current conditions definitely do NOT even come remotely close to the bubble of the dot com era. Yeah, I was there and that was even beyond insane.

Oh wait, the above was posted before yesterday’s tech wipeout: Magnificent 7 Loses $767 Billion as AI Skeptics Dump Tech Stocks.

Talking about bubbles, it looks like the one in South Korea already burst. With permanent scars of wannabe “investors” traders losing and, just like hopeless crack addicts, going to return to win it all back, yikes: ‘I couldn’t breathe’: South Korea’s frenzied stock trading exposes margin loan risks.

Lee Seung-ho watched the nearly 300 million won ($202,515) stock trading fortune he built with ‌a 500% margin loan evaporate in just four weeks in May, but he plans to borrow again and return to the market the moment he has enough capital. The 24-year-old South Korean university student in Seoul briefly turned the 20 million won he saved during mandatory military service into a 15-fold windfall, all by tapping a “tiny circle button” on his trading app that instantly unlocked five-times leverage. [Bold font for emphasis…leverage kills!]

 

 

TECH/SCAMS/CRYPTO

Not sure this belongs in this section but it is my blog and don’t have any sponsors or ads so I can do whatever I want. So, I am adding it here because I can. Very interesting article: The Circus Barker Economy. I have been saying for a while we are living in crazy times with so many loud charlatans polluting our eyes and ears non stop 24/7 365. And they hawk all of the attention. At the same time, whatever they pump is still bullshit and they eventually and thankfully do crash out of our lives. And it is sweet justice when it happens.

Today, the greatest power in America rests with those whose strident tone is now paired with absolute ridiculousness.  Put simply, what is now on offer is truly beyond belief.  Moreover, it is in everything that matters: American culture, politics, and finance.  Our Attention Economy has been taken to its extreme.  People are shouting nonsense and no one even blinks. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t nonsense.  Think Adam Neumann, Trevor Milton, Sam Bankman-Fried.  Their stories were always nonsense.  And the same was true of Michael Saylor.  Circus barkers always yell whatever they have to draw a crowd.  When the goal is attention – especially when paired with the loyalty, money, and power that now comes with it – truthfulness doesn’t enter the equation. If there is fragility in the markets (and in America more broadly) today, it is the growing likelihood that history rhymes – that the remaining circus barkers ultimately experience the same fate as those who went before them. Moreover, that history rhymes and they experience the same fate at the same time. 

The grift is coming from the top and we don’t even blink at this shit anymore smh: Why Wall Street Firms Are Paying $100,000 a Month for a Fast Track to Trump Posts.

The new “Truth API” product from Trump Media & Technology will let firms pay for an even faster readout of the president’s posts. The company plans to charge $100,000 a month, or $60,000 a month if traders commit for years…

 

AI

If you have found yourself scrolling on Instagram clicking on some “expert” convincingly selling you something, you know, have you considered that it is most likely all BS and this person does not even exist? Meet All The Middle Aged Women Who Don’t Exist. They’re all gorgeous. They’re all “57.” And they’re all selling you NMN. Yikes!

This isn’t just aspirational marketing. It’s manufactured identity. Isabelle is not a woman with great genes. She is not a woman with incredible discipline. She is not a woman at all. She is a carefully engineered marketing avatar, designed to trigger the exact insecurities women in their fifties are already struggling with…then conveniently offer the solution. That’s not influencer marketing. That’s a grift. [Been calling this shit out for years here, please follow me on Instagram LOL]

Also, you know what they say about crises and bubbles bursting, right? It’s because of the debt. Oh, this (found HERE):

The year of AI debt.

 

 

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16 Comments

  1. Again the thing-ee right above says there are two comments but I only see one from DML. Very odd. Thanks again for another great collection of reading! This will fill a fair amount of time over the next couple days! The kitchen does look excellent!

  2. Back from Minnesota! It’s beautiful up there. The North Shore lived up to the hype–waterfalls, a black beach, lighthouses, cliffs, iron ore barges, all in one place. Hit northern MN and got to see a boreal forest ecosystem. The kids unexpectedly love the Soudan Mine State Park, a former iron ore mine, so we made an impromptu stop at a nearby active mine, which is the world’s largest open pit iron ore mine, and they’ve got a visitor center with views, equipment you can get a close-up look at, etc. And I really liked the city of Duluth. We stayed at a place called Lift Bridge Lodge, which is right by the famous lift bridge of Duluth so we got to see a couple of 1,000-foot long barges go right by us. The world’s largest accordion collection is right across the bridge in the town of Superior, WI, so my music-major son loved that. And we spent a full day driving down and back up the Mississippi River, getting down almost to Iowa. Very scenic.

    I’m up to 38 states now. Yet to visit: Alaska, Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, New Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa… and Michigan. We’ve enjoyed the Midwest summer trips so much I think the next trip should be either Michigan or else fly into KC so we can cross Kansas / Nebraska / Iowa off my list.

    1. Oh yeah… we got to experience our first ever aborted landing at our connection in Philly! Got within a few feet of the ground and then pulled up. That was interesting. The pilot said it was the wind.

  3. @ DML: Gracias senor. Thanks for always taking the time to comment here.

    @ Carl: Yeah, there is always one less actual comment that makes it here. It is from an aggregator site that has my link up as soon as I publish it. I think I have marked it as “spam” so it never gets shown here but it somehow still counts in the counter. Not that it makes any difference in the page views my site has, not sure how I can stop it.

    @ NickPFD: Thanks for the travel trip report from Minnesota. You want to take over doing trip reports here, I can give you my blog’s credit card revenue 🙂 I still can’t believe you have not visited Michigan!

  4. So, we have the best 100k bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred CSP card, which is arguably a great card now and a a keeper. I understand most blog readers can not get it. But that does not stop the others from getting one to help this cause keep going. And yet, without any time devoted to the blog turned to promotion/marketing (because that takes time away from searching to find to read the links that make the cut to appear here each Friday for so many years now), this blog has sold just one CSP card in the month of July. Which is just so deflating it is hard to describe. And many here are probably sick of me bitching about this. So when the credit card vendor finally kicks me to the curb due to “low sales volume” (frankly, I can’t believe this has not been done yet!) it will finally get me to put this baby to rest and move on with my life. I mean, my blog has outlasted almost every other blog in this space.

    And yet, highly “esteemed” blogs in Boarding Area, like that mega crap site Eye of the Tiger/Flyer, or something, you know, the former Delta Points, my “Rene” who sold it years ago apparently but somehow still finds time to “write” there, if you can call that writing. Anyway, that site probably makes more money from ads and page views than mime, which is, well, incredibly deflating you guys. And it just posted:

    “Carnival Cruise Passenger Scratches Her Feet, Eats Pizza”.

    And I am crying while I look at what I post here…

    I am taking the weekend off. Later today we have almost 40 people in our house for my wife’s retirement party. I am starting to lose count how many retirement parties she has held, I am jealous lol. One day…

  5. A comment about Freddy from Germany, noted in the “29 Reasons” article you mention, really got to me.
    “He arrived in America excited to enjoy the World Cup and accidentally became proof that we are constitutionally incapable of letting a nice story remain nice.”
    Here’s hoping that what our country has been subjected to recently does not dampen our spirit or our national sense of kindness and generosity going forward.
    Thanks for keeping at this, George.

    1. Thank you so much for your kinds words. You have no idea how gestures like this have kept my blog baby going for so long. I think the World has definitely helped in preserving what makes this country special. In spite of the constant repeated hits it has been taking from within!

  6. BREAKING NEWS:

    So, I just booked another award for 110,000 AA miles to fly:

    DTW-DFW AA First
    DFW-HND AA First on Boeing 777-300ER
    HND-BKK JAL Business on Boeing 787-9

    Long layover in Haneda which is fine.

    I also kept for now my United Business award for 100k UA miles:

    DTW-ORD UA First
    ORD-HND UA Polaris on 787-10 Dreamliner
    HND-BKK ANA but may have been changed to Japan Air??

    Any feedback? I think I am going to cancel the United award. Or is AA First inferior to UA Polaris? Got a weird email from ANA indicating a change in the carrier for that flight to BKK but seat did not change. Not sure what is going with that leg but I think it is now operated by a “Japan Air” airline, very confusing. As all ANA communications are.

    I happened to be available as soon as I got the PointsYeah email alert.

    1. UA miles are far more valuable than AA miles. If you found a way to effectively use AA miles, do that because ya never know when another opportunity might roll around…could be years. And then more years.
      That said, I booked an international F award on AA last year. They put me in coach. I am not kidding. Initial segment was delayed, and apparently AA then decided to let their non-revs use the TransAtl & European connection seats. Got (in time) to the gate for the second segment: “Oops! That’s no longer available.” OK, then put me in biz. “Oops! That’s no longer available either.” I was fuming, but had to speak at a funeral the next day, so was stuck and took it. I was fuming far more when I saw later that AA did not compensate me and effectively charged me by not even returning the appropriate number of miles to my account. They refused to budge despite my repeated written protests. So there’s that.
      In 2005, I scored one of the $51 trips to Fiji. So hey, in the grand scheme of things, maybe it all evens out. In the meantime, I wish you every success getting that F ride, Buzz.

      1. >>>>>>>>If you found a way to effectively use AA miles, do that because ya never know when another opportunity might roll around…could be years. And then more years.

        Great point, been trying to use them for years indeed! And I was shocked when F came up to BKK…still can’t believe it actually.

        Your ordeal with AA is very familiar, last few times out of DTW AA totally screwed it up. So I am VERY wary of trusting them they will get me to DFW on time. And the main reason I got the 5.41 am flight to allow me enough time lol. But I don’t trust them. And, you know, DFW weather issues there so common.

        Oh, I found out more about the ANA equipment changes. The fight will now be operated by Air Japan…and ANA says, and I quote: “All scheduled flights operated by Air Japan on behalf of ANA will continue to operate in accordance with ANA’s aircraft and service standards”.

        So, hmmm, I am in between two tough choices. First world problems, I think I can manage. But for now, I am going to keep both reservations open. Because I do expect AA to mess with it, like canceling the flight to DFW lol.

        I do remember those tickets to Fiji. I think wife shut me down because we had just flown back from somewhere else. Or it was tickets to Cyprus with Alitalia with that pure rep that dealt with all of us weirdos. His name was Antonio or something….oh good times. And how much times have changed!

  7. The CSP pumping is reaching insane levels, every blog/vlog coming up with increasingly ridiculous ways to pump it. And yet here, I don’t do any of that because I got more important things to do. And this is why this blog is a failure commercially. Only one card sold in July. So with the best bonus on a card that is arguable not only one of the best ones and definitely a keeper now…if I can’t sell more than one, wtf am I doing here?

    Wife is having a blast and I am laboring here to keep this ship afloat.

    Leaving for Bangkok in 3 weeks, maybe it is time to step away and reassess everything.

    Anyway, wife’s retirement party was a great success, will post a few pics in next blog post and on IG…when I get around to it.

  8. I noticed that the group pic in your kitchen shows a bunch of people in bare feet. Is that a household rule or just the cultural inclination or the people who came over?

    1. Lol, never in a million years I would have guessed someone will point this out!
      The only rule we have is no shoes inside the house. We do have a bunch of slippers we take from Hyatts and Fairmonts and Conrads and some friends use them. But I think I went on a cleaning spree and tossed a bunch of them out…to create space for new ones lol.
      Most friends are Thai and they take hygiene extremely seriously so no worries there. Also, with wife retired she has taken house cleaning to levels never imagined before lol.

      Thinking to go for the Schwab Amex Platinum one more time but now on my phone. If turned down again, I may shoot for an Amex Business Gold to see if I get it or how close to the 200k SUB offer Amex will give me. Keep poking Amex hoping one day it will let me back in!

  9. The CSP 100k Bonus ended. I sold one, taking the reader to lunch tomorrow.

    The best bonus, one card sale for the whole month.

    There will be a post this Friday. Starting to now visualize more my life without the stress of trying to produce a quality blog every Friday.

    Blogs are dead.

    Long Live TBB.

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