Oswald was the starter.
From his window above the track he opened the race by firing the starting gun. It is believed that the first shot was not properly heard by all the drivers. In the following confusion, Oswald fired the gun two more times, but the race was already underway.
Kennedy got off to a bad start.
- J.G. Ballard, The Assassination Of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Considered As A Downhill Motor Race
Young householders are reaching their midthirties never having known a time when America seemed to be on the right track. Middle-aged people look at their thin savings accounts and slim-to-none pensions, scoff at an illusory Social Security trust fund, and try not to dwell on what a burden their old age could become. Seniors separate into their own Leisure World, recoiling at the lost virtue of youth while trying not to think about the future.
We perceive our civic challenge as some vast, insoluble Rubik's Cube. Behind each problem lies another problem that must be solved first, and behind that lies yet another, and another, ad infinitum. To fix crime we have to fix the family, but before we do that we have to fix welfare, and that means fixing our budget, and that means fixing our civic spirit, but we can't do that without fixing moral standards, and that means fixing schools and churches, and that means fixing the inner cities, and that's impossible unless we fix crime. […]Wherever we're headed, America is evolving in ways most of us don't like or understand. Individually focused yet collectively adrift, we wonder if we're heading toward a waterfall.
Are we?
It's All Happened Before
The reward of the historian is to locate patterns that recur over time and to discover the natural rhythms of social experience.
Some say “peaceful protest”, others “lawless destruction and looting”.
Some say “migration”, others “invasion”.
Some say “safe and effective”, others “my body, my choice”.
Some say that, after 1400 years, one more week of global jihad is no worry.
However progressively fewer people say they feel safe in a major population center, even in their own business, car or home, vs. just a few years ago, or believe laws and law enforcement have been tilting in favor of law-abiding people or victims of crime.
Some say statistically guns don’t make a person, or society, safer, and should be banned, while others note criminals don’t care and cite the long history of despotic governments always disarming the population before things get really grim.
Soon there’ll be yet another “most important election ever!” as the crucial 4th year of the never-ending presidential circus cycle is upon a nation of increasingly divided, exasperated and angry Americans in a Fourth Turning, some of whom believe so passionately that there’s any real difference which “side” wins that they’re willing to throw violent tantrums to persuade people to put their preferred politipigs in power over the proverbial plantation.
The creatures outside looked from man to pig, and from pig to man again, but already it was impossible to say which was which.
- George Orwell, Animal Farm
For added chaos this time there’s a viable independent candidate who might split the vote, which could cause considerable consternation among those predisposed to political violence, and whose uncle - President John F. Kennedy - was assassinated via magic bullet by a random unrelated gunperson at considerable range, despite having no known marksmanship skills, who, while being escorted by police through a crowd in the basement of Dallas police headquarters two days later, was in turn also shot dead by a random unrelated gunperson, unfortunately before a motive could be determined for the presidential assassination.
All pure coincidence and plain bad luck, you see, and many trust the government’s official explanation despite it being full of more gaping holes than the shooting victims and security for the President and people at Dallas police HQ combined, while conspiracy theorists (some say “reasonable people”) have persistently questioned the official account for 60 years.
President Kennedy gave a thought-provoking speech shortly before being shot, which some say provoked his killing, and seems as eerily on-point today as it did six decades ago.
I highly recommend reading it, if only to confront the stark differences between political speeches and the implied intelligence of the audience then and now.
Here’s what he had to say in the closing section of that speech:
It was early in the Seventeenth Century that Francis Bacon remarked on three recent inventions already transforming the world: the compass, gunpowder and the printing press.
Now the links between the nations first forged by the compass have made us all citizens of the world, the hopes and threats of one becoming the hopes and threats of us all. In that one world's efforts to live together, the evolution of gunpowder to its ultimate limit has warned mankind of the terrible consequences of failure.
Me? I’m just saying that social mood, cycles, and charts for gun stocks scream “bullish!”, and I’m buying.
More accurately I started buying a few weeks ago and wasn’t planning to make this a one and done idea, but the self-defense sector is now filling the previously-vacant slot number 9 of my 10 investment themes.
There’s no ETF or single stock that represents this sector well, so I’m going with equal weighting among four companies to comprise a single position in aggregate value.
In other words, the dollar amount I’d normally allocate to represent a single one and done holding for a given theme will instead be spread evenly across:
POWW - Ammo Inc. “Founded in 2016. Owner of GunBroker.com, the largest online marketplace serving the firearms and shooting sports industries, and a leading vertically integrated producer of high-performance ammunition and components for direct-to-consumer, wholesale, military and law enforcement customers.” https://ammoinc.com/about/
10-year chart:
SWBI - Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. pays a 3.4% dividend. “Since 1852 Smith & Wesson has empowered Americans with the freedom, equality, and security promised by the Declaration of Independence and guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. It is this sense of safety and security that frees us to pursue our goals and dreams, define our future, and fulfill the promise of America.” https://www.smith-wesson.com/ourstory
25-year chart:
VSTO - Vista Outdoor Inc. offers diversification beyond its guns & ammo brands which include Remington. “Our two operating segments, Outdoor Products and Sporting Products, include a diverse portfolio of renowned brands that provides outdoor consumers with a wide range of performance-driven, high-quality and innovative products.” https://vistaoutdoor.com/brands/
8-year chart:
RGR - Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. pays a 2.8% dividend and “is one of the nation's leading manufacturers of rugged, reliable firearms for the commercial sporting market. With products made in America, Ruger offers consumers almost 800 variations of more than 40 product lines, across both the Ruger and Marlin brands. For almost 75 years, Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. has been a model of corporate and community responsibility.” https://www.ruger.com/index.html
10-year chart:
Worth watching:
BGFV - Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. is one of the few big-box retailers still selling guns in the U.S. and pays a 13.7% dividend… for as long as it’s able to.
“Big 5 Sporting Goods is one of America's top retailers of name brand sporting goods and accessories. As of July 3, 2022, Big 5 had 431 locations spread throughout 11 western states. We provide a full-line product offering in a traditional sporting goods store format that averages approximately 11,000 square feet. Our product mix includes athletic shoes, apparel and accessories, as well as a broad selection of outdoor and athletic equipment for team sports, fitness, camping, hunting, fishing, tennis, golf,winter and summer recreation and roller sports.” https://www.big5sportinggoods.com/store/company/about
10-year chart: