I don't care who's hosting, I just love a good monologue. I want to hear a well thought out point delivered in about five minutes, fueled by the host's genuine passion for their chosen topic. I think they used to do this every show, and I'm not sure when it stopped.
Hello,
I am trying to replace the harmonic balancer on my 2006 4.0L V6 Mustang. I was finally able to get the crank bolt out. I had to use a chain vise grip on a tie rod to stop the engine from turning while my neighbor broke the bolt loose with a breaker bar.
Now, I am using a Harbor Freight puller kit to remove the harmonic balancer itself. I am using a 1/4" extension inside the crank snout to push against because I saw that trick in a couple of YouTube videos.
The problem is, when I tighten the thick center bolt on the puller, I just end up turning the balancer instead of pulling it off. Do I need to use the same chain and tie rod setup to hold it still like I did to get the bolt off? What am I doing wrong?
It is the offseason, which means you get an offseason post.
I want to share my fantasy Mountain West moving forward. I think the Mountain West has been smart by adding football only members, especially NDSU. I think NIU is a little odd, but we can work with that. UC Davis will join the FBS ranks in time. I think it is really unlikely that GCU will add Football.
This is a fantasy..........
The goal is to build a G6 football conference that will produce a good on-field product while trying to limit the negatives by the 2030 season.
I think you build a North division and a South division to limit the distance needed to travel, and I like divisions. I would like to see 7 teams in each division, with a requirement to play the other 6 division teams each year, and 3 teams from the other division each season. That makes 9 total conference games.
Current Northern Teams: NIU, NDSU, Wyoming, and Air Force. Current Southern Teams: UTEP, New Mexico, UNLV, Nevada, San Jose State, and Hawaii.
So, I will look to add 3 teams to the North, and 2 teams to the South.
North
South Dakota State: SDSU is the other Dakota powerhouse in the FCS and will make a good travel triangle for those Northern schools. I think it supports the idea of making a good, improved product on the field.
Montana & Montana State: Both schools have good football traditions and passionate fanbases. Both have had great success and continue the theme of taking top FCS programs.
South
UC Davis: This is 99% likely to happen, since they are already a member of the Mountain West for everything but football.
Northern Arizona University: I think the second South school is probably where you have the highest number of choices because there is no clear and easy choice. Some names I thought of were Tarleton State, New Mexico State, or GCU gaining football. Although not the best choice, I wanted something outside of the box. So, let me pitch you on NAU. They are a perfect geographic fit being in northern Arizona. NAU has an enrollment of over 28,000 students. They have a $300+ million endowment fund. Honestly, not a great choice, but I wanted to have some fun lol.
I have lived in three different states for more than a year.
The ACC has felt like it’s been on the verge of falling apart for a few years now, but overall, things seem to have settled down a bit since the lawsuits.
I’m a college hoops fan who grew up in Baltimore, so the old Big East and the ACC were the programs for me growing up. When realignment gutted the Big East, losing Pitt, Louisville, Syracuse, etc., they survived by redefining themselves. They added Creighton, Xavier, and Butler, and leaned entirely into a basketball first identity. The Big 12 did something similar recently. They were already strong with Kansas and Baylor, but they cemented themselves as a basketball juggernaut by adding Arizona and Houston.
So, what should the ACC focus on?
Schools like Florida State and Clemson are going to take the first life raft out of the conference the second it makes financial sense. Adding Stanford, Cal, and SMU brought in some decent brands, but the move felt kind of directionless. Meanwhile, the ACC's historical dominance in basketball has slipped over the last decade, with legacy brands like Syracuse really falling off. And Notre Dame as a full member is a pipe dream.
The ACC needs to overlook the impending football departures and go all in on basketball. There is still a massive amount of value there. UNC, Duke, and Louisville are top 15 national brands. Virginia, NC State, and Syracuse are big in their own right. If the goal of expansion is to be proactive before we inevitably lose 2-6 teams down the line, here is who the ACC needs to target to build a stronger basketball conference:
Easy Adds
UConn: The ACC needs to go hard here. If UConn has any interest in leaving the Big East, the ACC absolutely has to be their landing spot.
Memphis: They have a fantastic basketball pedigree, a good market, and an athletic department that has proven it's dedicated to pouring resources into its programs.
Could Really Work If You Think About It
Villanova: If Nova is ever willing to make the jump to FBS football, they shouldn't bother transitioning through the mid major level. The ACC grab them up immediately.
Throwing It Out
Georgetown: If the ACC is already theoretically poaching the Big East for UConn and Villanova, bringing Georgetown along is a choice. It immediately revives some of the greatest, most heated rivalries in college basketball history. They deliver the D.C. market, carry a national brand despite some recent down years, and fit perfectly into the ignore FBS football, maximize basketball strategy. Honestly, not a good idea lol.
San Diego State: If the ACC wants to make the Cal and Stanford additions work, bringing in more western teams makes sense. They have a recent Final Four, a basketball fanbase, and the Southern California market. Poaching them gives the ACC a West Coast basketball powerhouse and start to build a western pod.
UNLV: Everyone is moving to Las Vegas, maybe the ACC can too? Bringing UNLV brand adds some basketball prestige. You get to keep building that western wing out too.
Have some fun with this. Throw things out there.
Not looking for a new job, really like where I am at. Just thought the old resume needed updating.
1. The PEG Ratio
Traditional value investing looks for a low P/E. However, for a growth company, P/E doesn't tell the whole story because it doesn't account for how fast those earnings are compounding. NVDA's 5 year expected PEG ratio is sitting at 0.70. A PEG under 1 means you have value traditionally.
2. Free Cash Flow
NVDA pulled in $73.74B in Levered Free Cash Flow (TTM). Their net profit margin is 62.97%. Their free cash flow is continuing to grow as well.
3. Balance Sheet
They have $80.57B in cash on hand and a Total Debt/Equity ratio of just 6.55%. They are not fueling this growth with debt, they are fueling it with their own cash generation.
4. Moat
Can you have a value stock without a moat to protect the business from competitors? NVDA’s financial efficiency numbers show their moat is wide. The demand for their products is unmatched and will be for the next 10-20 years at least.
What stations actually have 91 octane gas in Bloomington/Normal?
I wanted to lay out why I’m so high on Uber right now. I’m currently an analyst in the auto sector and worked on the fleet management side of an auto company for my first job after college. I do not think AV will kill Uber, and I think overall Uber will be in a better position in 5 years.
1. Asset Light
My first job was in fleet management, and there is a reason why so many companies outsource this. The overhead for maintenance, insurance, cleaning, and cycling out old units is a massive drag. Companies like Google (Waymo) want to be high-margin software plays. Do they really want to pivot their entire business model to managing millions of physical, depreciating assets? I do not think they want to. To scale to meet the ride sharing demand, Waymo and Tesla will have to put a ton of resources in. Uber’s move to stay asset light I think is the correct approach. They just signed that deal with Zoox for Vegas and LA, they have the Rivian and Lucid partnerships, and they’re already deepening their integration with Waymo. They get the benefits of the tech without the headache of the hardware.
2. Valuation and Cash Flow
Uber has officially shifted from a cash burner to a cash generative machine. They are now printing billions in free cash flow, hitting a record $2.3 billion in Q1 2026 alone. They are buying back shares hand over fist with a massive authorization in place. Despite this, the valuation is still attractive. With a forward PE of 22x and earnings growth projected over 40%, the PEG ratio is sitting around 0.5 to 0.6. The market is pricing this high growth company as if it is a slow growth grocery store with low margins, ignoring the massive free cash flow growth.
3. AV will be a tailwind in the long term
AV has been a headwind not allowing Uber stock to breakout. I think AV will end up being a tailwind that solves Uber's biggest problem, their drivers. The legal battles, insurance hike, and labor disputes associated with human drivers get eliminated. It turns a variable, complicated expense into a predictable, scalable utility.
4. Understanding Uber
Uber is the demand layer. In the same way Expedia won hotels without owning a single bed, Uber is going to win AVs without owning a single car. I do not think there will be a Tesla app, a Waymo app, a Zoox app, and a Rivian app on your phone. They’re going to open the one app they already use that has the most cars nearby. Uber has the demand moat. I think the overall ride sharing pie will continue to grow, and Uber will be in a great spot in 5 years.
I wanted to lay out why I’m so high on Uber right now. I’m currently an analyst in the auto sector and worked on the fleet management side of an auto company for my first job after college. I don’t think Autonomous Vehicles (AV) will kill Uber, in fact, I think Uber will be in a much stronger position 5 years from now because of them.
1. The "Asset Light" Advantage
My first job was in fleet management, and there is a very good reason why companies outsource this. The overhead for maintenance, insurance, cleaning, and constantly cycling out old units is a massive, low margin drag.
Companies like Google (Waymo) want to be high-margin software plays. Do they really want to pivot their entire business model to managing millions of physical, depreciating assets? I don't think so. To scale and meet actual ride-sharing demand, Waymo and Tesla would have to commit a staggering amount of capital and physical infrastructure. Uber’s move to stay asset light is exactly the right move. They just signed that deal with Zoox for Vegas and LA, they have the Rivian and Lucid partnerships, and they’re already deepening their integration with Waymo. They get the benefits of the tech without the headache of the hardware.
2. Printing Cash
Uber has officially shifted from a cash burner to a cash generative beast. After the Q1 2026 results that just came out, they are hitting billions in Free Cash Flow and buying back shares hand over fist (including that recent $3B authorization). The market is pricing this like a slow growth, low margin grocery store, but the actual data shows a high growth platform with expanding margins.
3. AV will be a long term tailwind
For a long time, the "AV threat" was a headwind that kept the stock from a true breakout. But I think AVs eventually become a massive tailwind that solves Uber’s biggest operational bottleneck, the drivers. Transitioning to autonomous fleets eliminates the constant friction of legal battles, labor disputes, and surging insurance costs associated with human drivers. It turns a variable, complicated expense into a predictable, scalable utility.
4. Uber is the "Demand Layer"
At the end of the day, Uber owns the customer. In the same way Expedia won hotels without owning a single bed, Uber is going to win AVs without owning a single car. I really don't think most people are going to keep a Tesla app, a Waymo app, a Zoox app, and a Rivian app on their phone. They’re going to open the one app they already use that has the most cars nearby.
Uber has the demand moat. I think the overall ride sharing pie will cotinine to grow, and Uber will be in a great spot in 5 years.
Hello,
I’m headed out to buy a new (to me) car this Saturday and I’ve narrowed it down to four options. I’m looking for a balance of reliability and engagement. Here’s the shortlist:
