What is Trending on Amazon

by Fred Fuld III

Have you ever wondered what the hot items are on Amazon (AMZN) that people are ordering? The following is a list of the latest trending items.

By the way, Amazon reports earnings on April 27.

Nintendo Switch – OLED Model – The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Edition

Polaroid Originals Now I-Type Instant Camera

LEVOIT Air Purifier

Keurig K-Iced Coffee Maker

Gotland 8 Piece Outdoor Patio Furniture Set with Gas Fire Pit

AND FOR MOTHER’S DAY:

Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking

Disclosure: Author owns AMZN stock. This article contains Amazon affiliate links whereby I would receive a small commission on any sale through those links at no additional cost to you.

Why Cutting Back on Spending is the Stupidest Thing You Can Do During Rising Inflation

by Fred Fuld III

I’ve been seeing so-called experts on TV explaining about ways to survive during these inflationary times. They recommend such things as spending only the bare minimum when you go to the supermarket, buy just enough gas to get you through the next few days, and avoid going on vacation.

This is about the stupidest thing you could possibly due during a rising inflationary environment.

The best thing you can do is the exact opposite. When you shop for groceries, stock up on as many non-perishable as you can, such as canned goods (soup, vegetables, fruit, seafood), peanut butter, dried fruit, protein bars, oatmeal, honey, syrup, salt, sugar, spices, and bottled water.

Why? Because prices will continue to rise. You might as well pay lower prices now and have plenty to last you for a long while, instead of buying a little now and paying higher prices a few weeks or months from now.

You may have seen a previous post, called The Amazon Inflation Rate is Running at 68% Per Year, which showed that in a recent one-year period, the average price increases from items I ordered through Amazon increased by 68%, and even if you excluded the outliers, the items that more than doubled in price, the overall average increase was still an outrageously high 38%!!!

Inflation cannot be stopped immediately. It is not a light switch that can be turned off at any moment. It is more like turning around a giant ship, which can take a long time.

So, the same situation exists with buying gas for your car. Fill it to the maximum that the gas station has set for your credit card. (I keep hearing about people saying the pump stopped at $100 or $120.) You might as well fill your tank now instead of waiting a week, and paying 25 cents a gallon more.

As for vacations, why wait? Prices for flying will continue to rise. Airlines use petroleum fuel for their jets, and since the price of oil has been rising significantly in price, the airlines have to pass that cost along to their customers, along with all the other costs related to running an airline.

Plus, if you were considering traveling overseas, there is an additional reason to take your vacation now. The U.S. dollar is very strong compared to other currencies, so your spending will go a long way in many European and Asian countries.

Therefore, you should have no guilt about spending your money now. As a matter of fact, you would be doing yourself a financial favor.

Amazon’s Top Selling Kindle Books

by Fred Fuld III

Amazon $AMZN has just released its list of the top selling books on Kindle. In addition, Amazon is offering three months of Kindle Unlimited for just $0.99 through the end of 2021. This includes over two million eBooks, thousands of audiobooks, and up to three select magazine subscriptions.

So what are the top Kindle books? The top five titles in Kindle Unlimited in 2021 are:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The Stopover

When We Believed in Mermaids

If You Tell

Temptation

Happy reading!

 

 

Disclosure: Author owns AMZN. Article includes affiliate links. 

The Amazon Inflation Rate is Running at 68% Per Year

by Fred Fuld III

You might have noticed price increases at the pump. In California, if you can find gas for less than $5 a gallon, even regular, it’s a bargain.

Shell gas prices

Or maybe when you checkout at the supermarket, you noticed that your bill is a bit higher than normal.

groceries

If you have noticed these things, then you are starting to feel the effects of inflation.

According to the United States Government Bureau of Labor Statistics, in October, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose by 6.2 percent over the last 12 months.

I personally think that that rate may be a bit too low. Why? I did my own analysis of a random sample of purchases made through Amazon (AMZN) over the last twelve months, comparing what I paid in the past to what the current price is now, and the results were shocking.

These items included such things as office supplies, food, vitamins, toothpaste, book, disposable masks, garden hose, and even a robot vacuum.

The lowest increase in price was for a 40 ounce bag of raw whole natural Blue Diamond almonds, which increased in price by only 5%.

The next lowest increase had a substantially higher price rise. Scotch Heavy Duty Shipping Packaging Tape went up by 15%.

Now for the big increases. Surprisingly, snack foods had the greatest rise in prices. Crunchmaster Multi-Seed Crackers almost tripled in price by rising 194% and Sensible Portions Garden Veggie Chips spiked by 173%.

Both BROOKSIDE Dark Chocolate Candy with Acai & Blueberry, and a 21 Ounce Bag Dulzura Borincana Sesame Seed with Honey and Almonds doubled in price. (I guess now you can see the kinds of snacks that I like.)

However, what is most interesting is the overall average of the price increases. Based on the rate of increase in cost over the last year for more than 25 different items purchased on Amazon, the average of those percentage increases is 68%!!!

Even if you exclude the high increase outliers, the ones that more than doubled, the overall average price increase of the remaining items is 38%, still extraordinarily high, and way above what the government reported. 

Here is a list of the items below:

Anycolor Compatible Label Tape Replacement for Brother M Tape 39%
Blue Diamond Almonds, Raw Whole Natural, 40 Oz 5%
BROOKSIDE Dark Chocolate Candy , Acai & Blueberry, 21 Ounce Bag 148%
BUMBLE BEE Premium Light Tuna in Water, Ready to Eat Tuna Fish 21%
Columbian Clasp Envelopes, 10 x 13 Inches, Brown Kraft, 100 Per Box 44%
Crunchmaster Multi-Seed Crackers, Artisan Cheesy Garlic Bread, 4 Ounce 194%
Disposable Filter Masks, Eventronic 3 Ply Face Masks, For Home & Office (50 Pcs) 20%
Dulzura Borincana Sesame Seed with Honey and Almonds 134%
FIJI Water Artesian Water, 16.9 Fl Oz (Pack of 6) 34%
Filexec, 93630, Art Presentation Book, 24 Pocket, 11″ x 14″, 1 Each Black 25%
Hammermill Paper, Copy Plus Paper, 8.5 x 11 Paper, Letter Size, 20lb Paper, 1 Ream 53%
Hermard 50ft Expandable Garden Hose with 9 Function Nozzl 32%
KIND Bars, Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond, Gluten Free, 1.4 Ounce, 12 Count 26%
Krazy Glue Home and Office Brush-On Glue, 0.18 oz 74%
NOW Supplements, Vitamin D-3 5,000 IU, High Potency, 240 Softgels 32%
Polysporin First Aid Topical Antibiotic Ointment with Bacitracin Zinc 54%
Puritans Pride Lutein 20 mg with Zeaxanthin Softgels, 120 Count 94%
Samsung POWERbot R7040 Robot Vacuum 159%
Scotch Tape Heavy Duty Shipping Packaging Tape, 1.88 Inches x 800 Inches, 1 Pack 15%
Sensible Portions – 30357 Garden Veggie Straws, Sea Salt, 1 oz. (Pack of 8) 20%
Sensible Portions Garden Veggie Chips, Sea Salt, 7 oz. 173%
Sensodyne Pronamel Intensive Enamel Repair Toothpaste for Sensitive Teeth 62%
Seresto Flea and Tick Collar for Dogs, 8-Month Flea and Tick Collar for Large Dogs Over 18 Pounds 38%
The Family Upstairs: A Novel 114%
Triple Leaf Tea Jasmine Green Tea, Decaffeinated, 20 Count 25%
V8 Juice, Original 100% Vegetable Juice, 11.5 Ounce Can (Pack of 24) 138%
AVERAGE RATE OF INCREASE 68%
AVERAGE RATE OF INCREASE excluding doubling outliers 38%

If you are an avid Amazon shopper like me, you can do your own analysis. Just click on the Orders link, choose 2020, click on View Order Details to get the price you paid, then click on the Order Again button to see what the current price is. Once you have that, subtract the price paid from the current price, then divide that result by the price paid, and that is your percentage increase.

Of course, maybe I have a tendency to only buy things that happen to have a way of significantly rising in price. Or maybe not.

This increase in prices certainly doesn’t come close to Zimbabwe’s previous hyperinflation, whereby $100 trillion dollar bills were issued. However, it is a wake-up call.

Zimbabwe 100 trillion

Let me know what your Amazon inflation rate is.

 

Disclosure: Author owns AMZN and also has a short vertical call position in AMZN. 

Many Losing Unemployment Benefits this Month but Amazon Helping to Pick Up the Slack

by Fred Fuld III

Yesterday, the jobs report came out from the Labor Department showing job growth of only 235,000 versus an expectation of 720,000.

However, the bigger problem is that next week, it is estimated that 7.5 million unemployed people will lose their unemployment benefits.

Amazon (AMZN) is one of the companies that is coming to the rescue. The company’s goal is to hire 40,000 people in the United States and 15,000 in the rest of the world.

Amazon has been one of the leaders in providing employment for Americans. Last year, the company, which is the second largest American employer in the private sector, hired 500,000 last year.

The largest, Wal-Mart (WMT), is planning to hire another 20,000 employees, which should help provide some support to the unemployed.

 

 

Disclosure: Author owns AMZN.

Weirdest Wall Street Stuff on Amazon

by Fred Fuld III

Are you looking for a great joke gift for a stock trader friend? Or maybe just a funny gift for your father who likes to invest, and you need to come up with a present for Father’s Day. Then again, you could just be looking for something for yourself to prove what a great trader or investor you are.

If so, there is a great selection of unusual  items on Amazon related to investing and the stock market. Here is an interesting list of the out-of-the-ordinary.

Rocket Ship WSB Wall Street Bets Stock Market T-Shirt

If you made money on GameStop (GME), why not show it off with this attention getting WallStreetBets To the Moon T-Shirt.

 

Wolf of Wall Street Poster

Here’s an unusual one. A framable quote from Jordan Belfort, the Wolf of Wall Street.

 

Miniature ATM

All right, it’s not a real ATM. It’s basically a kid’s piggy bank, but instead of being in the shape of a pig, it is in the shape of a bank vault with keypads and everything. A unique gift for a child.

Stock Market Decision Maker

If you can’t figure out which way the stock market is going, check out this desk paperweight stock market decision maker that might just tell you whether to buy, sell, short, hold, and so on. Makes a great icebreaker for visitors to your office.

 

Are you made of money?

People might think so if they look below your pant cuffs and see socks with money raining down.


Show that You’re the Godfather of Stocks

If your father trades stocks, this might be the perfect Fathers Day gift, a T-shirt that says The Stocksfather.

 


COVID Stock Market Chart

Now here’s a chart that you won’t see every day. A graph of the SPY from December 2019 to May 2020, showing the Coronavirus Crash.

 


Show the World that you Trade While You Drive

This is a chrome plastic license plate frame that proclaims that you would much rather be watching the stock market.

 

Thank You AMC Stonk to The Moon Stickers

Here are three stickers for those that made money from  AMC (AMC). Put them on your laptop, your front door, your car, your water bottle, your face, or wherever.

 


Are You a Stock Market Genius?

This Stock Market Genius coffee mug is great for braggarts.

 

What Guy Wouldn’t want a Throw Pillow?

This is a Buy the Fear, Sell the Greed throw pillow, great for punching or throwing if you make a trading mistake.

 

Bull and Bear Bronze Statue with a Twist

You have probably seen several of this statues showing a bull and a bear. This one is a little different. The bull is goring the bear, and look at the bear’s expression.

Hopefully you can find some great unusual, weird, strange, investment related gifts for yourself, family, and friends.

 

 

 

This article and page contains affiliate links.

How to get Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss for Free

If you have never read the book Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Timothy Ferriss, you owe it to yourself to do so, and now is your chance to read it for free.

For those of you who don’t know, Tim Ferriss is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, best-selling author, speaker, and podcaster. He has invested in and/or advised numerous startups, including Shopify, EverNote, StumbleUpon, Uber, Facebook, Twitter, and TaskRabbit.

The book, Tools of Titans, contains the ideas, tactics, and tools of over 200 of the world’s experts in their fields.

Currently, Amazon (AMZN) has a promotion whereby you can get the Kindle version of the book for free. ( I believe this offer is only for Amazon Prime members.) This deal is expected to be available for just a week or so, so if you are interested, I suggest that you get it now.

 


 

Amazon Partners with Ownera on Hackathon to Launch the Revolutionary Ownera Digital Securities API

Los Angeles – Ownera, the institutional-grade blockchain network for digital securities (AKA Security Tokens), has announced it will be releasing its Digital Securities API utilizing the Amazon (AMZN) Managed Blockchain service running HyperLedger Fabric. Ownera is a network where all nodes will be regulated financial entities (such as banks, asset managers and exchanges), who underwrite and distribute the assets on the network.

The Ownera API to be released is so simple and powerful, that the Hackathon will challenge digital securities platform developers to fully adapt their applications to support Ownera within the 3 days of The Global Hackathon, between October 13-15 at the CIS conference (as part of the Los Angeles blockchain week).

 

A Blockchain for Asset Ownership

Ownera will be demoing the API and also leading a technical session for developers on October 15-16 at the Los Angeles Convention Center during CIS.  The API will also be made available early to participants in The Global Hackathon that begins on October 13 and ends on stage at CIS, where Ownera and AWS will give an award for the most innovative use of their API.

 

The Ownera Digital Securities API connects ownership apps to Ownera, while unlocking the core features necessary for launching compliant digital security platforms and apps:

  • Connects to the Ownera institutional-grade test net, built with HyperLedger Fabric utilizing the Amazon Managed Blockchain Service.
  • Runs on a version of HyperLedger Fabric, converted by Ownera from a private to a public network, which will initially be permissioned, and eventually become permissionless.
  • Connect digital securities platforms and developers to a network of verified assets managed by nodes which are all regulated financial institutions.
  • Enables the simple development of institutional-grade digital securities issuance, trading and management platforms.
  • Includes profile management, including KYC, investor accreditation, etc.
  • Includes asset management, including Know your Asset (KYA), an innovation Ownera pioneered to include verified asset information and investor rights in an immutable and legally-binding way in the blockchain as an integral part of every digital security – so investors know exactly what they are getting.
  • Has built-in Atomic Swap transaction capabilities to enable the instant sale of digital securities for any currency credit, fiat or digital, minimizing counterparty risk.
  • Connects to the innovative Ownera Regulation App Store, turning regulation compliance into AI-powered blockchain apps that asset-issuers can simply choose from a list!.

 

Fireside Chat with Ami Ben-David

Additionally, Security Token Pioneer Ami Ben-David, the Founder and CEO of Ownera, will be doing a presentation, followed by a fireside chat at CIS to discuss the next evolution of digital securities into the instituitional market, and how Amazon is providing the infrastructure for this paradigm shift on which Ownera will be running.

 

About Ownera

Ownera is an institutional-grade digital securities network, where all nodes are regulated financial entities (such as banks, asset managers and exchanges), who underwrite, verify transactions for regulation-compliance, and then distribute the assets to their institutional clients across the network. Ownera is built on a version of HyperLedger Fabric, upgraded from a private blockchain configuration, to a public permissionless model.

How to Get Free Same Day and One Day Delivery from Amazon

If you are doing some last minute shopping, you may be pleased to know that Amazon offers Free Same Day and One Day Delivery. Here are the catches:

  1. It is limited to certain items but over a million items qualify.
  2. It is limited to certain cities but over 10,000 cities and towns qualify.
  3. The order must be for over $35.
  4. Same day orders must be placed by noon.
  5. Next day orders must be placed by the afternoon.
  6. Must be a member of Amazon Prime.

For more information, go HERE.

 

How to Get $5 from Amazon for Free (Today Only)

Amazon (AMZN) is having a special promotion, today July 17 only, whereby if you buy an Amazon gift card of at least $25 or more for someone (including yourself), you can receive $5 in credit for future purchases.

This is like receiving an immediate 20% return on your money, with no risk, since you will probably spend at least $30 on Amazon at some point

The only catch is that you have to be an Amazon Prime member. Also, when you check out, you need to enter the promotion cade:

GCPRIME16

before you click on the Order button.

More information about the gift cards can be found at:

Amazon gift card