#unicorn wars zine

[ulichzae5al]

hellоооo, this is a spoiler for the art in UnicornWarsZine in VK! if you are interested then all the information about zine — https://vk.com/unicornwars_zine (mmm true, everything is in Russian here оккк)

oh dismember me with a circular

[aestheticofstars]

Old art for Unicorn Wars zine.

[localcuttlefish]

My piece for the @battle-facility-zine !

My design of Arceus is inspired by the supposed description of a unicorn given by Julius Caesar during the Gallic Wars.

The zine is free, and contains both written and illustrated work from a number of incredibly talented writers and artists! Take a look! https://fantazine.itch.io/in-pursuit-of-victory

[transformers-mosaic]

Transformers: Mosaic #587 - "My Little Transformers"

Originally posted on March 10th, 2011

Story, Art - Matt Marshall

deviantART | Seibertron | TFW2005

wada sez: In addition to being a longtime Transformers fan, Matt Marshall made something of a name for himself as a fanfiction writer in the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fandom; his most notable work, “The Star In Yellow”, was released a year after this strip. Marshall clearly somewhat struggled to find enough Transformers to make the crossover work; we see Beast Wars Neo Mach Kick (a horse), Beast Machines Battle Unicorn, and Beast Machines Silverbolt (it’s long been theorised that his toy was originally intended to be a griffin, so he’s depicted here as a griffon, using his more show-accurate Beast Wars Returns colors). Also coincidentally, Battle Unicorn served as the basis for one of the better-known unproduced BotCon exclusive figure pitches, Twilight Sparkle Prime. Much of the artwork here is drawn directly from the cartoon, and most of the ponies appear to be generic; I’ve tagged the identifiable ones. I’m surprised that Marshall didn’t go for the low-hanging Unicron/unicorn joke, but that may well have informed his inclusion here in the first place. Dr. Hooves is a multiversal incarnation of the Doctor and I am tagging him accordingly. Marshall’s remastered version of this strip from his Tales From The Matrix Keeper zine is included below.

[sodasa-was-taken]

Hey there, I'm curious about your thoughts on this. If the Gundam fandom particularly the English part isn't very fanfic-heavy, what's up with Gundam Wing having 50000 fanfics from FF dot Net and AO3 combined? And many of them still being updated. They even had a zine last year and I think you can agree that that's admirable for an old fandom. Compared to Gundam Witch, I'm only aware of 2, and one is even dead. Meanwhile, other M/M heavy fandoms have released more than a number of zines already.

I guess I can't help but compare the English fandom with the Japanese fandom which is releasing countless anthologies and events across the board to this day. Like many, I've read that fanfiction is the gage that people care about a fandom so I can't help but wonder if that is an old way of thinking and unlike Gundam Wing fans who are older, the fans of Gundam Witch are younger and just don't care about fanfiction anymore.

This is the first time someone has pointed out a flaw in one of my arguments. It's been a long time coming if you ask me.

I think I might not have expressed myself in quite the right way. I didn't mean to say that the English speaking part of the Gundam fandom isn't into fanfiction but that it has a proportionally small amount of people whose main thing is writing fanfic. I think it's silly to only use the amount of fanfiction to determine the size of a fandom because the skill sets and passions people within a fandom can have vary greatly. Some fandoms are huge on fan songs some barely have any or not at all. Some ships have more animatics dedicated to them than others and while popularity does play a role it's rarely if ever perfectly proportional. That's what I was trying to get at. The only way the output of a specific type of fan work would be a reliable way to determine the size of a fandom is if the ratio of that type of fan work to the amount of people in the fandom was at least somewhat consistent. In most cases it's anything but.

The disparities between Gundam Wing and g-witch makes perfect sense to me, but it doesn't have anything to do with young people not caring about fanfiction. Believe they absolutely do. The thing is Gundam Wing aired on Toonami back in 2000 as the first Gundam show to ever premiere on American television. It was a straight-up phenomenon in the way anime just isn't anymore in the west due to anime becoming a lot more mainstream within the last decade. The way it was distributed meant that a lot of people could stumble into it without already being in certain circles watch a few seconds while skipping between channels and decide to give it a try. This had the potential to bring in people with very varying interest because a lot of those who became fans hadn't actively been seeking out the show.

Compare that to a show like g-witch that came out in a time where streaming wars and algorithms mean you most likely wouldn't have just stumbled upon it unless you were already watching similar shows. People in the west had to main ways of learning about the show: either through someone they know or through the internet. There's basically no way anyone got into the show out of pure curiosity and this is pretty much true for any Gundam show since Unicorn. Anyway, my point is we've gotten more picky because we can be and it makes fandoms more homogeneous when it comes to taste than in the past.

When it comes to what kinda people do choose to watch g-witch there's three main points I've seen people bring up when recommending the show. It's a new take on Gundam. It's well produced. It's gay, I swear. These three things respectively appeal to existing Gundam fans, people who are passionate about the medium of animation, and fans of sapphic media especially those who like animated shows. If they are to join the fandom they're likely more than one of them. Without knowing for sure through what I have been able to observe I would guess it's people falling under the third category who are the most prolific Sulemio shipfic authors. In terms of the amount of fics that is as I'm almost certain it's a bunch of Gundam veterans who are responsible for the 300000+ words ongoing fics.

That was a longer answer than I would've predicted. Thank you for the ask.

[vinyls-and-valentines]

for the asks thing, do you have any OCs? sorry I can't really think of anything else to ask

I do! I don't talk about them much outside like. When people ask me if they do exist, but all in all they're usually somewhere in the background of my Danger Days universe even when not mentioned. Currently the roster is:

Dead Don't Testify, SHAUT, Baba Yaga:

Young zone bands started somewhere in the latter years of what I call "the Killjoys Era" (2013-2019) and contemporary with most canon zone bands I usually mention except for Massive/Awesome and Cold Dead Hands. Unlike canon bands, though, they fizzle out quite quickly, all either breaking up or getting ghosted by 2023.

Toybox

Lobby droid band that plays something between techno and industrial metal, made up exclusively from samples of old pre-war cartoons. They play at The Lounge, the Lobby's most infamous bar hidden in the shell of what once was a large clothing department store, and always bring with them really cyber-punk meets scene looking fake instruments.

Tray, the Zone 5 ghost

How they became a ghost? Who knows! It's hard to say when they even died, but they have been stuck between planes since long before even the Phoenix Witch and that, sadly, has its consequences. Tray does not remember who they are, and is slowly fading away because of it, but whenever there's someone starting a fire, they always feel drawn to it. Not many 'joys are quite fond of amnesiac ghosts who can only speak of pre-war literature, though.

Acid Angel

1/3 of a supernatural hunting club and amateur radio host. Xyr station only ever airs at night, because that's when only White Noise (juvie station) used to be on and it all just felt so empty, xe couldn't stand it. This does mean xyr eyeshadow often hides bags that go on for miles, but killjoys are supposed to live on liquid heartattck anyways, right? Knocking out cold for 12 hours for every other day is totally normal. Xe is the only person who's ever reaally bothered to remember Tray, even if only by the character they talk about or act out for xem.

Graveyard Storyteller & Unicorn Skin

The other 2/3s of the supernatural hunting club. Graveyard is the opposite of a vulture, in that instead of finding and collecting the possessions of the dead to deliver to the mailbox, lost possessions of people gone missing end up on his and Unicorn's doorstep. Sometimes he knows exactly where the items need to be delivered to, otherwise it takes a while, testamony being the boxes of random things neatly stacked on a shelf in the storage room. Unicorn is usually the one to do the deliveries as it is a. part of her job as a handyperson/courrier, and b. he knows her brother is stubborn as fuck and has no common sense, meaning he'll try to go outside although it hurts him to do so and might very well needlessly further worsen his eyesight.

The Finch Sisters

A pair of identical twins, called Anne and Maria Finch, who've been 14 ever since 2009-ish iirc and run most of the distribution for band merch and zines in the Zones. They can be found every 2 weeks outside Tommy Chow Mein's shopfront in Zone 3, a.k.a the Paradise Motel, and are really the only ones allowed to loiter like that in the premise of any TCM store. They go missing the night Baterry City falls.

Dead Silence (ex-Neon Ghost)

Exists in the gray area between persona and an OC. The Zones best worst guide ever— they cannot give out directions for shit, but somehow xe still knows the most obscure of locations. They move around a lot, as is the way of tumbleweeds, and they mostly get around by finding stuff for people or doing long and tedious tasks like patching up holes in clothing.

The American Suitehearts

A group of juvie halls who share themes with the characters from Fall Out Boy's American Suitehearts music video, and who end up as an administrative group, almost, to a juvie outpost in post-Killjoys/neo-Killjoys era (2020-2027) Outer Zone 1. This is mostly spearheaded by Donnie and xyr general involvement with Lobby wizards (tech-savvy folk with a foot in the proverbial back door of BLi's archives), though it's not exactly like any of the others were opposed to xyr proposition when xe caught them up to speed on what was going on behind the curtains. The outpost is where The Girl hides for about 6 years, after running away from WKIL and ultimately how she returns in the Zones inhabited by killjoys.

Fate

I guess She also counts? But She is quite literally Fate, much less in the way of 'ones destiny is pre-determined from birth' and more in the way of the entity that runs the cosmic lottery every time someone makes a decision that affects more than just themselves

[ckret2]

What are your fandoms I never took you for a Pokémon

It's me. I am a Pokémon.

Pokémon's one of my fandoms that comes and goes in waves. I actually made a demo for a rom hack about a decade ago! Google ToxicPurple, it was gonna be cool. Until I stopped working on it.

Saying my fandoms is hard because there's a lot of series that I'm into but not actively or not always a part of? Historically my biggest have been Transformers, Invader Zim, Kingdom Hearts (I have not played KH3 do not send me spoilers I swear), Homestuck, and Naruto.

But there's also Borderlands, Death Note, Pokémon, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Harry Potter, District 9, Steven Universe (I am also ages behind do not send me spoilers I swear), Sailor Moon, the Aladdin series, Darkwing Duck, Lovecraft as long as we're kicking Lovecraft himself out of the room... Those are just off the top of my head.

And also off the top of my head are series I enjoyed but only saw part of or was only into for an extremely short period or liked while I was watching but wasn't inspired to fantasize for or just for whatever reason really enjoyed but don't consider one of "my (ongoing) fandoms", like Star Wars, Star Trek, Artemis Fowl, the Bartimaeus Trilogy, Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Good Omens, the Disney Hercules series, Scooby-Doo, Advent Children (not the rest of FFVII just Advent Children), Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Kimi Ni Todoke, Simoun, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Puella Magi Madoka Magika (I explicitly reject the creator's intended message), Okage Shadow King, Mob Psycho 100, One Punch Man, Unicorns of Balinor, the new She-Ra, Rainbow Brite, Care Bears, very briefly YuYu Hakusho, Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Poirot, Skyrim which I actually AM writing a fic for now, I Robot, Mad Max Fury Road...

... Some of the things in list 3 could be in list 2. Hmm. The lines are blurry.

Anyway! My interests are myriad.

My interest in Pokémon is flaring up (yknow, like a rash) because right now I'm doing a Pokémon fic for an upcoming zine, here! I'm also doing an Utena fic for it. One fic is about struggling to help your friends escape a cycle of abuse after you yourself have gotten out via French revolution metaphors, and the other is about Team Rocket disguising Jessie as a Pokémon in order to steal a large sum of money.

[louciferish]

WIP Tag Game

I was tagged by @paintingwithwords!  The idea is to share what WIPs you have and when you write them down, it can be… interesting…

Oddly enough I am... not really big on WIPs in the traditional sense? I have one thing I’ve actually written and intend to finish, some more ideas I may or may not write, and then a few abandoned things. So I guess I should categorize them.

Actually Writing This Thing

 * on man’s road - my YOI Last Unicorn AU. First chapter up. Whole thing is plotted. Second chapter 50% done. It’s happening and you can’t stop it.

 * LLYBB bing #2 - done, getting posted soon.

Plotted, Maybe Writing

 * short YOI crack AU based off Interview with the Vampire. This is tricky because I really want to write it but only part of it, as a one-shot.

 * Drag Queen AU I would be cowriting with a friend. We have a general plot, but neither of us is super committed to it

 * couple short pieces I have in concept for zine submissions if accepted to them. Not going into details because... zines.

 * if I really hate myself I’ll actually try to write this YOI Valdemar AU but I’d probably rather die??? Those wind up being the best, though.

Abandoned In My Drive Folder

 * 4 different DC Comics AUs that I’ve started to some degree but given up on.

 * An epic Star Wars fic I wrote one chapter of 3 years ago

 * A Teen Wolf AU based off the movie The Lobster that I had totally plotted but never wrote any of 

 * A sequel to my The Losers comicsverse story “With You And Free Wi-Fi” that I wrote two paragraphs of but didn’t outline. So all I remember about it is that maybe Halloween was involved given the doc is titled “spooky losers”.

Tagging... @sans--seraph and @cactusspatz and anyone else who wants to remind themselves how much they have unfinished :p

[luninosity]

2) what work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing? 15) why did you start writing? 19) when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.? 20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

2 - what work am I embarrassed about existing, if any?

There’re sort of two answers to that, but it’s not quite embarrassment in either case? The first answer is, I’m not really embarrassed by anything that’s up on AO3 or LJ - some of it I’d do differently if I were going to rewrite it today, and sometimes I can tell I’m a much younger writer, but that’s just part of the process of becoming better; it’s who I was then, and that led to me being me now. So I’ll stand by it all, in that sense (though, again, there ARE a few I’d write differently, especially Erik POV stuff; I’m not sure I was that good at him starting out).

The second answer is the McFassy fic that got mocked on the Graham Norton Show, and I am saying mocked and not just read, because they didn’t ask me (I’d’ve said no; other people might’ve said yes, but they didn’t ask, and I’d’ve chosen to say no, please don’t remove my fic from its context without any understanding of that context) and they read it all wrong - it’s a very bittersweet and at the beginning painful fic, and it was a gift-by-request for someone else (so they insulted her too), and they read it like it was supposed to be funny. And I still to this day get messages going, ooh, look how cool this is, they featured your fic!!! when I’m just like, no, this is actually one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life, I’d like to pretend it never happened. I’m not linking to it for that reason.

15 - why did I start writing?

I’ve been writing ever since I can remember - I mean, at like four years old, I wrote a story about a girl who gets brought a baby unicorn instead of money by the Tooth Fairy. Fandom stuff, though, I started doing that (by myself, not as part of a community, just handwritten scribbled stuff in a notebook with a kitty on it) because I was a giant Star Wars nerd, and remember that this was in the times after the classic films but before the prequels, so all we had were the EU novels, the Zahn and Anderson and Kathy Tyers, and that just wasn’t enough, so I started writing my own. (I kind of knew fandom and fanfic was a Thing - my dad’s a big Star Trek nerd, and he had a bunch of the old fanzines and related work, the Jean Lorrah and Sondra Marshak stuff - but it all felt sort of historical, y’know? Nothing he had was currently happening, so I just sort of assumed it was a particular phenomenon.) And then I kind of stopped for a while, because life got busy and the prequels weren’t great (I did write, or start, one or two Obi-Wan & Anakin fics - in retrospect they’d probably count as pre-slash, they were all about recognizing how much they each meant to each other, but the romance angle had somehow not yet occurred to me). And then in grad school Awesome Husband and I discovered Supernatural, at roughly the same time as I was going to a few conferences and realizing that Fandom Studies was a thing, and I went, OH MY GOD THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE WHO DO THIS, LIKE WHAT I USED TO DO, LIKE THE STUFF IN MY DAD’S OLD TREK ZINES, ONLY TODAY AND ON THE INTERNETS, and I started venturing in...

19 - how do I keep track of complicated narratives?

Um...I’m trying to get better at it! Like I think I mentioned in a previous reply, I learned via a couple of Cherik fics (Pineapple Revolution, oh god) that I needed to at least think about things I *might* need later on, and a sense of overall plot/resolution to work toward. These days I tend to make outlines of at least big plot points, so I know what I’m thinking. For example: for Like Sugar I always had at least a couple of sentences describing each story (”Seb ends up defending their honor against Random Awful Dominant in a bar, this is absolutely a turn-on for Chris, time for some switching and topping-from-the-bottom and EMOTIONS...”) and then when I started working on each one I’d put in a few more notes to answer my own story-specific questions (”where’s Chris beforehand, so that he’s not with Seb when we start? WHICH emotions would they each be feeling, probably? how does this logically follow from the nightmare story, before this one?”) and then I’d sit down and write!

20 - do I write in long sessions or short spurts?

Both, actually! I prefer having a whole afternoon, or at least a couple of hours, to really get into the flow of words and get stuff done; but as that rarely happens, I have learned to squeeze in some writing in office hours if I have twenty minutes before a student comes in, or as a break from grading midterms. I also tend to think about fic while driving to/from campus, and if I have a very clear line or bit of dialogue in my head, I’ll write it down really quickly. A lot of the current original fic, and also the fic I’m writing with @boopifer, has happened that way.

[cake-emu]

here is the nerdy af robots mini zine I made for @looney-unicorn, complete with Humans references & Star Wars droids

[littlekill-blog]

ntopia

Say, a ntopia society replacing your dystopia/utopia. I intend to unfold this ntopia in a fluid form with texts, images, music, installation, dance, ceremony, etc.

Who am(are) I(we)?

A cluster of young gurus. Young enough at heart, and old enough at souls. We love singing and dancing.

Is dystopia already out of date in the sense of fashion?

Only if dystopia is a kind of fashion. Pull out your Instagram.

Is the age of mediated images already gone?

Yea it is gone, within that trap music.

Following is just a beginning of developing the dictionary of ntopia:

Balance: may the force be with U;

Central park: the liver among us; the ancient force;

Chinatown: the arcade; Karaoke, table pool and birthday parties; James Cohan Gallery; insiders’ art parties; more parties;

DJs: the best people to hang around town;

Electronic dance music: Boiler Room;

Entropy: back to zero;

Fluid: next year this time, this will be gone;

Healer: within you and me;

K-pop: the streetwear icons; almost Instagram famous;

Love: so many kinds of love; tru luv;

LSD: Last Saturday Dance + sage + mushroom tea;

n: let it be; let go of control; let it grow;

Party: you know that gender equity war is still on; LOL;

Polyamory: girl gaze; sexts; female orgasm; Fila x Hello Kitty; poly(h)armony;

PS1: geodesic dome; zines; pretty parties; loud noise;

Style: silhouette music video;

Supreme: how about superMe?

Surf town: where the sunflowers are;

Techno: we are soul sisters and brothers;

Unicorn: the cleaning service that I encourage everyone to have;

Yin & Yang: they’re gold; …;

[vinyls-and-valentines]

do you have killjoy ocs?

I do! I just never talk about them because they're not really involved in any, like, "greater purpose" bullshit, so they're just a nice excuse for me to think about how life in the Zones is when you're not one of the most sought after crews in the desert. As it stands, the roster is:

The Finch Sisters, A.K.A Mary and Anne Finch (she/her for both). They're two 13 year old girls that set up shop outside Tommy Chow Mein's Zone 3 storefront every 2 weeks and sell all sorts of zines and trinkets like pins and whatnots. They somewhat thread the line between killjoy ocs and my common zone spirit ocs because they are distinctly alive, despite being stuck at 13 for about as long as they need to be 13 for, but altogether they exist primarily for lore reasons.

Acid Angel is one of the Zones' smaller DJs and xyr broadcast is a weird mix of skate punk and any song that even remotely references pre-War horror movies, or sounds like it could be, and xem doing xyr own little supernatural podcast. Both xyr appearance and personality in general is what would happen if you combined a scene kid and a jock, and xe basically lives on energy drinks at this point. Xe is also reverent of Zone spirits and often goes out to Zone 5 to start fires and keep company to wandering spirits.

Graveyard Storyteller is a vulture in his own right, though unlike most he doesn't fall exclusively under the Witch's jurisdiction, but under Destroya's as well. Whereas most vulture's duties usually are to collect and deliver masks to the mailbox or end claps they may run into, Graveyard's duties are more along the lines of writing down the names of fallen 'joys, so that they're never quite entirely forgotten, takes care of the Graffiti Bibles that just kind of tend to appear at his place or has his sibling deliver the odd few that have to be passed onto someone else. Him and strong light are on shit terms because he got his eyes slightly fucked up.

Unicorn Skin is Graveyard's twin and runs deliveries throughout the Zones as her primary occupation. She can often be seen at roller derbies as well, getting his cut of the wagers placed on his team when they win, or at the abandoned mall in outer Zone 5 just helping out however she can. He runs a lot of the more outdoors-y chores for her brother, but otherwise doesn't quite live with him as much as random killjoy outposts the likes of The Nest, the Paradise Motel, etc. Her, Graveyard and Acid sometimes go ghost hunting and while she's more skeptical about the supernatural than the latter 2, it's still nice to spend time together.

Crimson Cadet is another small Zone DJ and a permanent resident at the Nest, her broadcast being a mix of "mixtapes i stole from my ex", the latest song whatever Zone band put out this week, gossip, concert info and the traffic. They're a crash queen through and through, and not known for doing anything in moderation, though between fighting and running away, they always choose the latter unless they have no other option.

I'm still unsure about Astro Zombie, who i do want to revamp and have join the ranks of my current ocs and, as it is customary every 1.5 years apparently, i've changed my sona's name from Neon Ghost to Dead Silence

[preciousmetals0]

Tesla Is Going to $500 … or Not, Whatever

Tesla Is Going to $500 … or Not, Whatever:

Friday Four Play: The “Look at All Those Jobs” Edition

(Did a friend forward you this email? If so, you owe them big-time! Seriously, this is Great Stuff. We don’t take that title lightly. After you’ve profusely thanked your friend, why not sign up for the free email today? It’s mostly painless. I promise.)

After seeing the November nonfarm payrolls report, I have just one thing to ask you regarding the U.S. economy:

Are you not entertained!?

The U.S. economy added a whopping 266,000 jobs last month. Wall Street only expected 187,000. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.5% from 3.6%, and average hourly wages rose by 3.1% — just above the projected 3% gain.

That’s good news, right? The recession is now canceled (again), and the bull rally can continue forever and ever! (If you just said “amen” … I’m right there with you, friend.)

But … (you just knew there was a “but” coming, didn’t you?) as with everything in the U.S. economy, there are a few provisos.

Such as this: About 41,300 of those jobs represent General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) employees returning to work following a months-long strike — which is helping to hide the fact that U.S. manufacturing jobs have seen practically no growth in the past year.

And then, there’s the ever-present question that I see every time a jobs number is reported: “How many of those are full-time jobs with benefits?”

Look, why can’t you just read the bullish headlines and be happy?

Honestly, I’m glad you can’t. If you could, you probably wouldn’t be reading Great Stuff right now.

The thing is, this is a really good jobs report. But it’s not the be-all and end-all bullish herald many on Wall Street are making it out to be. There’s still a U.S.-China trade war going on, remember?

So, be good for goodness’ sake … woah, somebody’s coming!

And that somebody is President Trump, who has yet to decide if he wants to make a trade deal with Chinayet. Until then, let’s not get too excited. Mmmkay?

And now for something completely different, here’s your Friday Four Play:

No. 1: How Close Is Close?

White House National Economic Council Director (man, that’s a long title) Larry Kudlow appeared on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street to talk about the U.S.-China trade deal this morning. If you were looking for more insight into just how close a “phase one” deal is, you’re going to be disappointed.

Kudlow reiterated that the two sides were “close,” a word we’ve heard ad nauseam for the past year. He also said that President Trump is prepared to walk away from a deal if it’s no good.

“The president has said many times if the deal is no good, if the assurances with respects to preventing future thefts, if the enforcement procedure is no good he has said we will not go for it. We will walk away,” Kudlow told CNBC.

Honestly, this isn’t news. I don’t even know why I’ve included it, other than the fact that a White House official is speaking on the U.S.-China trade war. The two have been “close” for so long, they should just start dating already.

But the financial media are going to heavily push both the “close” and the “we will walk away” narratives today, so I thought you could use some perspective.

And now you have it. Nothing to see here. Let’s move on, shall we?

No. 2: Shockingly Indecisive

When it comes to investing, I absolutely love it when analysts or financial talking heads take a stand. They might ultimately be wrong, but at least they had enough conviction to believe in their own analysis.

But today’s “bullish report” on Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) from Morgan Stanley makes me want to slap someone. In a note to subscribers, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas lifted his “bull case” price target on Tesla to $500 per share. Jones sees Tesla selling 100,000 Cybertrucks by 2024 and the company’s Chinese Gigafactory churning out 450,000 vehicles per year by 2024 or 2025.

However … Jonas also reminded subs that he maintains a “base case” price target of $250 on Tesla with an “equal weight” rating — essentially a hold.

So, let me get this straight: Adam Jonas thinks Tesla is either going to rally nearly 50% … or plunge roughly 25%? My cat could make predictions like that. In fact, if you’d like to get stock predictions from my cat — his name is Kylo, by the way — email me at GreatStuffToday@banyanhill.com. I’ll try to hook you up.

Have some conviction, man. Believe in yourself, Adam Jonas. I know you can do it!

You know who does believe in himself? Banyan Hill expert Paul Mampilly. That man has strong hands, conviction and a firm opinion on Tesla.

So, if you’re tired of wishy-washy investing research from the “pros,” check out Paul Mampilly’s Profits Unlimited newsletter.

Click here to find out how to subscribe now!

No. 3: Big Gains at Discount Prices

It never ceases to amaze me what will drive a stock on any given day. Take discount retailer Big Lots Inc. (NSYE: BIG), for example.

The company reported a profit of $3.25 per share on revenue of $1.17 billion. Analysts expected Big Lots to report a loss of $0.16 per share on sales of $1.16 billion.

That earnings figure looks amazing, doesn’t it? Well … about that.

Most of those earnings came from the sale of a California distribution center. Excluding that sale, Big Lots lost $0.18 per share. That significantly changes the picture, wouldn’t you agree?

Furthermore, Big Lots placed fourth-quarter guidance below Wall Street’s expectations. The company expects earnings of $2.40 to $2.55 per share, versus the consensus of $2.68 per share.

So, essentially, Big Lots missed on earnings and guidance, but beat on revenue. How has Wall Street dealt with this rather lackluster performance? By sending the stock more than 20% higher today.

What’s more, BIG now trades just below long-term resistance at $25. This looks like a potential opportunity to short Big Lots … if you’re into that sort of thing.

No. 4: Yeeting Yext

You up for a lesson in Gen Z slang? (You know, so you’ll know what the grandkids are talking about?)

Yeet: to throw something away (typically yourself). That’s my 13-year-old’s definition, at least.

Well, Yext Inc. (NYSE: YEXT) is getting yeeted today. (I’ll stop now.)

The stock is down more than 14% after Yext posted a third-quarter loss that was larger than expected and revenue that was merely in line. According to Yext’s report, it missed earnings because it went on a hiring spree to build up its workforce.

If you’re not familiar with Yext, the company specializes in Big Data and cloud-data management and integration. Yext, a startup that went public about a year ago, is competing with the big boys — such as Amazon.com Inc.’s (Nasdaq: AMZN) Web Services analytics and Microsoft Corp.’s (Nasdaq: MSFT) Azure cloud business solutions.

So, you might be able to understand why the company missed earnings — it’s got to get warm bodies in seats so it can compete. Revenue continues to rise, which is a good thing. However, investors have shown little patience for losses at tech unicorns this year.

And that’s why Yext is getting yeeted today.

Great Stuff: Help Your Friends Make Billions!

Are you hoarding all this Great Stuff for yourself?

I don’t blame you. If I had a financial e-zine with a trading chart that could help me make billions, I’d keep it quiet too.

But no … no! Shame on you for not sharing!

Where’s your holiday spirit?

Sharing is caring, and Great Stuff cares.

So, if you have a friend who still gets their daily financial news in that dry, Waspy old format from the major financial publications, forward them today’s copy of Great Stuff.

Liven up their day. Help them make billions too!

They’ll thank you for it.

Finally, don’t forget to like and follow Great Stuff on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Great Stuff Managing Editor, Banyan Hill Publishing

[goldira01]

Friday Four Play: The “Look at All Those Jobs” Edition

(Did a friend forward you this email? If so, you owe them big-time! Seriously, this is Great Stuff. We don’t take that title lightly. After you’ve profusely thanked your friend, why not sign up for the free email today? It’s mostly painless. I promise.)

After seeing the November nonfarm payrolls report, I have just one thing to ask you regarding the U.S. economy:

Are you not entertained!?

The U.S. economy added a whopping 266,000 jobs last month. Wall Street only expected 187,000. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.5% from 3.6%, and average hourly wages rose by 3.1% — just above the projected 3% gain.

That’s good news, right? The recession is now canceled (again), and the bull rally can continue forever and ever! (If you just said “amen” … I’m right there with you, friend.)

But … (you just knew there was a “but” coming, didn’t you?) as with everything in the U.S. economy, there are a few provisos.

Such as this: About 41,300 of those jobs represent General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) employees returning to work following a months-long strike — which is helping to hide the fact that U.S. manufacturing jobs have seen practically no growth in the past year.

And then, there’s the ever-present question that I see every time a jobs number is reported: “How many of those are full-time jobs with benefits?”

Look, why can’t you just read the bullish headlines and be happy?

Honestly, I’m glad you can’t. If you could, you probably wouldn’t be reading Great Stuff right now.

The thing is, this is a really good jobs report. But it’s not the be-all and end-all bullish herald many on Wall Street are making it out to be. There’s still a U.S.-China trade war going on, remember?

So, be good for goodness’ sake … woah, somebody’s coming!

And that somebody is President Trump, who has yet to decide if he wants to make a trade deal with Chinayet. Until then, let’s not get too excited. Mmmkay?

And now for something completely different, here’s your Friday Four Play:

No. 1: How Close Is Close?

White House National Economic Council Director (man, that’s a long title) Larry Kudlow appeared on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street to talk about the U.S.-China trade deal this morning. If you were looking for more insight into just how close a “phase one” deal is, you’re going to be disappointed.

Kudlow reiterated that the two sides were “close,” a word we’ve heard ad nauseam for the past year. He also said that President Trump is prepared to walk away from a deal if it’s no good.

“The president has said many times if the deal is no good, if the assurances with respects to preventing future thefts, if the enforcement procedure is no good he has said we will not go for it. We will walk away,” Kudlow told CNBC.

Honestly, this isn’t news. I don’t even know why I’ve included it, other than the fact that a White House official is speaking on the U.S.-China trade war. The two have been “close” for so long, they should just start dating already.

But the financial media are going to heavily push both the “close” and the “we will walk away” narratives today, so I thought you could use some perspective.

And now you have it. Nothing to see here. Let’s move on, shall we?

No. 2: Shockingly Indecisive

When it comes to investing, I absolutely love it when analysts or financial talking heads take a stand. They might ultimately be wrong, but at least they had enough conviction to believe in their own analysis.

But today’s “bullish report” on Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) from Morgan Stanley makes me want to slap someone. In a note to subscribers, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas lifted his “bull case” price target on Tesla to $500 per share. Jones sees Tesla selling 100,000 Cybertrucks by 2024 and the company’s Chinese Gigafactory churning out 450,000 vehicles per year by 2024 or 2025.

However … Jonas also reminded subs that he maintains a “base case” price target of $250 on Tesla with an “equal weight” rating — essentially a hold.

So, let me get this straight: Adam Jonas thinks Tesla is either going to rally nearly 50% … or plunge roughly 25%? My cat could make predictions like that. In fact, if you’d like to get stock predictions from my cat — his name is Kylo, by the way — email me at GreatStuffToday@banyanhill.com. I’ll try to hook you up.

Have some conviction, man. Believe in yourself, Adam Jonas. I know you can do it!

You know who does believe in himself? Banyan Hill expert Paul Mampilly. That man has strong hands, conviction and a firm opinion on Tesla.

So, if you’re tired of wishy-washy investing research from the “pros,” check out Paul Mampilly’s Profits Unlimited newsletter.

Click here to find out how to subscribe now!

No. 3: Big Gains at Discount Prices

It never ceases to amaze me what will drive a stock on any given day. Take discount retailer Big Lots Inc. (NSYE: BIG), for example.

The company reported a profit of $3.25 per share on revenue of $1.17 billion. Analysts expected Big Lots to report a loss of $0.16 per share on sales of $1.16 billion.

That earnings figure looks amazing, doesn’t it? Well … about that.

Most of those earnings came from the sale of a California distribution center. Excluding that sale, Big Lots lost $0.18 per share. That significantly changes the picture, wouldn’t you agree?

Furthermore, Big Lots placed fourth-quarter guidance below Wall Street’s expectations. The company expects earnings of $2.40 to $2.55 per share, versus the consensus of $2.68 per share.

So, essentially, Big Lots missed on earnings and guidance, but beat on revenue. How has Wall Street dealt with this rather lackluster performance? By sending the stock more than 20% higher today.

What’s more, BIG now trades just below long-term resistance at $25. This looks like a potential opportunity to short Big Lots … if you’re into that sort of thing.

No. 4: Yeeting Yext

You up for a lesson in Gen Z slang? (You know, so you’ll know what the grandkids are talking about?)

Yeet: to throw something away (typically yourself). That’s my 13-year-old’s definition, at least.

Well, Yext Inc. (NYSE: YEXT) is getting yeeted today. (I’ll stop now.)

The stock is down more than 14% after Yext posted a third-quarter loss that was larger than expected and revenue that was merely in line. According to Yext’s report, it missed earnings because it went on a hiring spree to build up its workforce.

If you’re not familiar with Yext, the company specializes in Big Data and cloud-data management and integration. Yext, a startup that went public about a year ago, is competing with the big boys — such as Amazon.com Inc.’s (Nasdaq: AMZN) Web Services analytics and Microsoft Corp.’s (Nasdaq: MSFT) Azure cloud business solutions.

So, you might be able to understand why the company missed earnings — it’s got to get warm bodies in seats so it can compete. Revenue continues to rise, which is a good thing. However, investors have shown little patience for losses at tech unicorns this year.

And that’s why Yext is getting yeeted today.

Great Stuff: Help Your Friends Make Billions!

Are you hoarding all this Great Stuff for yourself?

I don’t blame you. If I had a financial e-zine with a trading chart that could help me make billions, I’d keep it quiet too.

But no … no! Shame on you for not sharing!

Where’s your holiday spirit?

Sharing is caring, and Great Stuff cares.

So, if you have a friend who still gets their daily financial news in that dry, Waspy old format from the major financial publications, forward them today’s copy of Great Stuff.

Liven up their day. Help them make billions too!

They’ll thank you for it.

Finally, don’t forget to like and follow Great Stuff on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Great Stuff Managing Editor, Banyan Hill Publishing