Since January 1, a mere 14 trading days ago, my portfolio has increased by $379,952. Over 14 trading days that is an average of $27,139 per day. Since Halloween, my investment portfolio has increased by $1,282,229.
Not bad for being retired!
With all due respect to my many friends who are fur trappers across the nation, it probably beats trapping fox and coyotes which is how it all started for me in putting myself through college. I still wish I had an opportunity to trap with friends in Minnesota; if only the State of Minnesota legislature would pass laws to allow non-residents to trap. It's about time Minnesota, but I doubt anything will happen with liberal policies and leftist retards running the show in Minnesota. God help them.
Today I want to publicly acknowledge the many who have helped me get to this level. As one of my heroes, Victor Niederhoffer says, the markets are a little bit of science, statistics, gambling, economics, business, psychology and ecology. I want to thank Victor for the many meals of a lifetime he has provided to me and others during his spectacular run both in his books and on the Spec List as well as accessing his web site, Daily Speculations. I follow him now on YouTube with Ms. Sennett, giving a daily recap of the market action and you might want to as well if you have any interest in trading. As Victor always says, the purpose of markets is to take money from the weak and give it to the strong. So for me, beating the titans of Wall Street for the crumbs I have been humbled to book this month is as hard as keeping those assets in tough markets and there are difficult markets ahead.
First, to William O'Neil, thank you. Sitting in your office on Beatrice Street telling me how you pyramided Price Club to start the IBD newspaper probably inspired me more than anything. The first of many WON seminars I attended were in Los Angeles in 1984, then in New York City, Santa Monica, San Diego, Atlanta and Boca Raton. Meeting Bills cohort, David Ryan in 1996 prior to interviewing with the William O'Neil organization to rep the New USA mutual fund at the Ritz Carleton in Atlanta was extremely beneficial. For sure I got far more out of that meeting than he did with me but we were on the same page. Also, running the CANSLIM Meet-Ups in both Alpharetta, GA and Crossville, TN was a big plus and kudu's to the WON sponsorship of those meetings. I know the IBD/CANSLIM Meet-UP group in Dallas, Texas is extremely successful after attending while living in Dallas for two years.
Another person who deserves mention is Dave Davidson, short-seller extra-ordinaire. It was from a chance meeting when he worked for J.O. Patterson's hedge fund in Atlanta that he was to become an influence on my trading and most importantly to believe what was possible.
I would be remiss to not mention old friend Gary Tremble who worked for the investment management arm of Security Pacific Bank in San Diego and who provided invaluable research from the WON organization for many years. Gary is now living comfortably in Green Bay, Wisconsin and is a tremendous student of the market.
To my long time and dear friend Maurice Altshuler I owe a special debt of gratitude. Maurice was a great student of buying the dead-cat bounce off the bottoms and helped me to always be on the lookout for that "double-bottom" on the charts that has worked so well over the years.
To Budd Zuckerman of Boulder, Colorado fame I say "thank-you". Your "fundamental" love for small-cap names has always been fundamental in your investing success and style. Imagine if you used charts pal!
To James DePorre who resides in both NC and FL a great amount of respect and thanks. Jim's analysis is similar to mine and he provides the quickest read on the general levels and market trends after I have been gone from the markets. I use Jim to get up to speed on what has been happening and then let the charts tell me what is going on. Jim can be found on RealMoney.com as a writer, is an active trader and is on Twitter.
And finally to my pal Dave Utter. I owe Dave a debt of gratitude like non-other. He allowed me in. He gave me a shot. He never doubted my work ethic. April of 1982 was special and it has been a hell of a run since Dave hired me at Kidder Peabody when the Dow Jones averages were at 688!
To the many great people I have used to help me get better I thank you. Names like Steenbarger, Covel, Sperandeo, Morales, Steidlemeyer, Hale, Elder and Housel to name just a few.
And finally to my bride. I over-achieved in marriage. My biggest fan, my biggest supporter in good times and bad. When things got so wacked in 1998, to the 2008 debacle and being strong thru the downturn in early 2020 she has always believed.
I pray every day for what I can do to share my good fortune with others and make good decisions. I believe the miracle is the more we share the more we have. May Creator continue to provide good health and good hunting, both for stocks and big-game.
As a visual behaviorist I will always defer to the charts. Charts are reality and reflect decisions based on emotions. Charts are really just emotions showing up on paper. And to literally the millions of charts I have looked at over the years I am most thankful. I wish I had the time to do it all over again.
In life you can have results or excuses, not both.
Never forget, God feeds the birds but he doesn't drop worms into the nest.
If it was easy everyone would be a trader. For me, it's all about the work. Most people don't want to do the work. All I need to do is work harder because preparation eliminates the fear and preparation is never time wasted.
I am going to keep working. I think the best is yet to come.