July 2025 Portfolio Update
Quote, Portfolio, Complimentary Monthly Commentary, Books, and more ...
Quote for this month:
“To be great at something, you don't need to be special. You just need to be what most people aren't - Consistent. Determined. Willing to work for it. No shortcuts.” - Tom Brady
*Portfolio*
*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*
Portfolio (Basic):
Holding since:
2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03
2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | OPFI 0.00%↑ - 05 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05 | SPOT 0.00%↑ - 11
2022 - MITK 0.00%↑ - 01 | WBD 0.00%↑ - 04 | $EVVTY - 09 | $NTDOY - 12
2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05 | BUR 0.00%↑ - 09
2024 - (First ???) - 01 | BKTI 0.00%↑ - 04 | BOC 0.00%↑ - 09
2025 - IAC 0.00%↑ - 01* | (Second ???) - 03 |
*IAC 0.00%↑ originally was purchased in 2021, but sold at the end of 2024 for tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2025.
Complimentary Monthly Commentary - CMC
Got few things I would like to chat about this month…
Starting of with WBD is splitting into two companies:
The Streaming & Studios company will consist of Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO, and HBO Max, as well as their legendary film and television libraries.
Global Networks will include premier entertainment, sports and news television brands around the world including CNN, TNT Sports in the U.S., and Discovery, top free-to-air channels across Europe, and digital products such as the profitable Discovery+ streaming service and Bleacher Report.
When they say investing is simple but not easy to me … this is one of those examples … one of the original reasons / thesis of why I was investing into WBD is the HBO brand and potentially turning DC Studios into the brand that was pre covid for Marvel … and when did I invest when WBD just became a spin off with all of the debt and uncertainty and I was riding in hopes for things to play out as they should… Instead of holding WBD since 2022, could of “easily” just wait and buy in 2025, right? If only investing was this easy…
But enough of me crying and back to investing, 2026 should be really interesting for WBD … Theatrically so far they been doing very well and if James Gunn can do what he did for/with Guardians of the Galaxy for DC Studios, WBD will be in very good shape! First test for that is Superman which came out this week, the thesis is playing out real time 2025-2026…
Moving on to Nintendo
I will need to admit, I have spend a bit too much “researching” ah who am I kidding playing my Nintendo Switch 2. To be more specific I been playing Cyberpunk a lot … before my first daughter was born I was a big gamer (staying in the line at 3 in the morning waiting for Wow, CoD or Borderland) … PC / Xbox / Playstation /etc you name it I played it and love it! So since 2017 ish I have not really played anything, well except the most amazing game of all times … stock market …
I played a bit first Nintendo Switch that I borough for research purpose and I enjoyed but wanted to wait for second one to buy for me, so to say that I was excited to get my hands on Switch 2 is well said very lightly … Cyberpunk was first game that I wanted to play (because it was available when Switch 2 came out) but my next one (and the one that I really want to play) will be Pokemon Legends: Z-A to be released later this year …
So far so good right? Sure … except if you are NOT 30+ y/o who only plays when he puts the kids to sleep and if you are 15 year old who takes his Nintendo Switch 2 on the go … there are no freaking apps !!! No YouTube, Hulu, Netflix or even browse web … yes sure you can “hack it” but that’s not the point … first of all first Switch had YouTube and a few others apps but not Switch 2 … Google has confirmed that YouTube is coming later on but not when … I think things like YouTube, Spotify, Netflix should be a given for portable devices and if Nintendo wants to capture larger audience, I think those apps will be a must!
It was a big lat down to know there is no YouTube on Switch 2 from the start …
Moving on to ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs (EL) is an AI voice company that is basically “potentially” a competitor to Spotify and the reason I say that is not because EL does music but because EL does audio and Spotify is know and wants to be know as audio company, everything audio … music, podcasts, books, etc…
I been using EL to listen to articles on the go, you just drop the url into EL and you can listen to anything that is in text from any website… Spotify has actually teamed up with EL to do text-to-audio books
Spotify is now accepting Audiobooks narrated by ElevenLabs
Now I don’t want to do any predictions, but its possible that Spotify would acquire EL as I see it a good fit for Spotify and the future that Spotify is moving towards
Lastly, I want to touch on Burford
One thing I’m wrestling with is BUR’s issuing of notes to pay down other notes … and new notes are at a higher rate … Most of you know I don’t kid around to pretend like I understand BUR’s in and out , I do not and most people do not and if they say they they do well I’ll be polite and just say they don’t, because BUR is very secretive and confusing company when you dig too deep … I know they are legit company with legit management but my thesis is getting money for YPF from Argentina not company it self because frankly its too complex for me. But with YPF case its pretty simple either they win or they lose and if they win how much they will win and how quickly BUR can collect that cash … question though … what are they going to do with that cash when they get it ??? I have a few speculations but I will keep those to myself, just in case…
Books
I realized that my descriptions of the books that I read may not always give them full credit as when I read these books and when I write about them, I only share one or two things that really stand out to me. So I have decided to also include a quick short description from Goodreads (no affiliations) so that way you get my thoughts but also more generic description to get a better feel for the books and in so hopefully adding them to your “to-read-list”.
This time around I finished one audiobooks:
Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas--Not Less by Alex Epstein
YZ:
Let me start with … I would love for us all to get our home power/energy from solar and wind (for pennies on a dollar), drive our electric driverless cars and well I wont go in deeper… I think (even before listening to this book) the reality is that we still need fossil fuels and will need them for a long time. Now, should we try to figure out how to be more eco friendly SURE! Should we go full blown out solar/wind only SURELY NOT! To me that’s impossible, it just doesn’t make sense that we can do full 100% solar/wind/etc. I’m against extremes (good or bad) and this book is a good and easy read on why we should still keep fossil fuels while we are developing others ways that will complement it and maybe over some long long time can replace, but I do not think it will be any time soon.
Goodreads:
In Fossil Future , Epstein, applying his distinctive “human flourishing framework” to the latest evidence, comes to the shocking conclusion that the benefits of fossil fuels will continue to far outweigh their side effects—including climate impacts—for generations to come. The path to global human flourishing, Epstein argues, is a combination of using more fossil fuels, getting better at “climate mastery,” and establishing “energy freedom” policies that allow nuclear and other truly promising alternatives to reach their full long-term potential.
Today’s pervasive claims of imminent climate catastrophe and imminent renewable energy dominance, Epstein shows, are based on what he calls the “anti-impact framework”—a set of faulty methods, false assumptions, and anti-human values that have caused the media’s designated experts to make wildly wrong predictions about fossil fuels, climate, and renewables for the last fifty years. Deeply researched and wide-ranging, this book will cause you to rethink everything you thought you knew about the future of our energy use, our environment, and our climate.
I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
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