Written a year ago, far more true today........

IF YOU HAD IT TO DO ALL OVER AGAIN 

I left Minnesota in January of 1979 on a blowing snowy, minus 30 below zero day and never looked back on my way to find what little fame and fortune might be in store for me. I had been trapping fox all fall and had a beautiful nest egg in a local bank that I figured should last me until I could find a job doing what I wanted to do. That took about 15 years but better late than never. In So Cal I had bought into the mantra of "he who travels alone travels farthest" so the San Diego beaches and associated "talent pool" provided far more diversity than just a muley or whitey if you get my drift so it took a bit for me to slow down, married at 37 and realize I probably should have married earlier but wouldn't have been able to meet and marry my partner in life for the last 33 years. I only wish we had met far sooner.

As for me, Dean Parisian, I believe the purpose of life is the pursuit of happiness and achievement, and that the voluntary transactions that flow naturally out of an enterprise system are the key to peace and material and personal freedom. Happiness means different things to different people. Freedom is a big deal to me. Freedom to roam, to spend my time doing what I want to do has much to do with my happiness. I have learned that many people don't want freedom, they don't relish freedom, they spend more time trying to save money than invest money, they waste time doing things that will never enhance their net worth and hence give them more freedom in years to come. I tell this to my sons all the time, people do what THEY WANT TO DO. So always, watch what they do, not so much what they say.

Here is an analogy for those who think things will just happen for them without doing the work.

Have you ever seen an eagle sitting on a branch with its mouth open to the heavens waiting for a rabbit to drop in? No. Those big, beautiful, majestic eagles scratch and claw for every meal they get their entire life, and in that scratching and clawing they are always provided for.

Humans tend to think we can get our life, our health, our marriage, our children, our career, our giving/contributions, our key relationships, and other areas of our life to a certain place without scratching and clawing first, without doing the work.

Extremely successful people are no happier than the rest of us and they struggle just as much or more than average people. The satisfaction of my success doesn't come from achieving my goals but from struggling well. Struggling gives one strength. The happiest people discover their own nature and match their life to it. Match your life to what you want, it's not that hard because it's all about work. Do the work. Be consistent. Work at life, stop paying lip service, just do it. Work harder on understanding, work harder on loving, work harder on helping others. Work is the only thing you can control that will shape your life. Work to be someone you never thought you could.

For you young guys looking for a significant other here is my story. It's the only one I have. I was a couple years into a romantic relationship when it finally hit me that I was spending much more time working on the relationship than enjoying it. You shouldn't have to work at loving someone and being compatible with them! Letting go and ending that relationship was painful, but it was the right decision. She found a happy marriage and family life, and I recently celebrated my 31st wedding anniversary with my soulmate and our very loved family.

After I had reached a level of financial success that attracted women "who were just crazy about me" I had to learn the hard way that most of them (95%) were nothing but a life support system for a pu$$y. I was in San Diego so that might explain a lot of it but those women were vipers. The advice I give to young guys is to wait until they find a girl who appreciates what he has accomplished (in whatever job he does) and mainly wants to be emotionally secure and have a guy who will always be loyal to her. Loyalty has to be a two-way street. A marriage like that can accomplish wonders. So remember, you can't change what's going on around you until you change what is going on within you.

As well, we have to develop peace on the inside before we can be peaceful on the outside. You can't let idiots, hypocrites, negative past coaches, negative family members, or certain "religious leaders" keep you from developing goodness within your own spirit. The amount of negativity out there these days is almost intolerable. I shut the news off a long time ago. All news. Off.

I had a nickname in college, DREAMER, and it still sticks today. To me, I believed in making dreams happen. The pursuit of your dreams is what life should be about. You need YOUR dreams and your reality and determination to create YOUR successful life.

Today I put a down payment on a home in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I call it my first investment property. I feel it is an investment in my health. Sure, there are risks, hurricanes, political issues, currency issues, and on and on and on to worry about but why worry? We aren't in control any more than Biden is cognitively healthy.

At 68 years old, I try to read more, pray more, be more consistent in my gratitude, eat better, and exercise more, until I can't work at doing those things anymore. Just the air we breathe is a gift and that's easy to take for granted. Life can be tough for all of us at times so remember this, tomorrow is a new day and I hope for the best for anyone working and struggling in life.

Probaby where we are at today....................

Well put.   Worth your time to read if you invest in stocks. 

And this too shall pass when it's least expected!

The week got off to a great start.  January is not going out with a whimper.

It's a leap year.

Beware the Ides of March!

It was a good day on the turret.  Raised some cash last week, sold off several positions, and trimmed by half some other positions.  Today, sold call options on some long-term holdings that are well out of the money.  Free money, who knows but every little bit always added up.  I have been a call option seller since 1983.  The last long call option I have ever bought was on the original breakup of ATT shares when I worked at Kidder, Peabody & Co., Inc.  Haven't bought a long call option since but have sold literally thousands upon thousands of call options since.  Grinder, sure.  Time is a wasting asset on a long call, I will always play the part of the house for my take.  SOFI turned in some good numbers today and helped the Parisian Family Office.

Thank you SOFI!

I didn't make it in the ocean today but there is enough lightning and rain in Los Cabos today to get my attention and stay out of the water.

 

BUCKHORN EXCHANGE Denver

Denver has had this restaurant in a museum a long time! It is the oldest restaurant in Colorado.   Last night, three of us dropped in for what we thought would be an excellent meal. Total failure on many fronts but let’s start with the awful steak cuts we were served.  Old cows aren’t my idea of great steak.   My steak (WAY OVERPRICED) was tougher than the leather on my spurs or saddle!   The stringy meat was so tough I could barely cut it.   All 3 of us were totally disgusted.  The calamari appetizer was atrocious.  I have eaten at Sonny Lubicks Steak House in Ft Collins several times.   In comparison to the Buckhorn Exchange that I rate a 2 or 3 on a 1 to 10 scale, Sonny Lubicks I would rate a 9.  The service was okay but one of us ordered salmon and was served a terrible steak!   How about that for making a customer happy?    It’s been 30 years since I last went to the Buckhorn Exchange.  It was my last night to ever walk in there!  Save your money and eat someplace else that serves good steak and is not overpriced.  You’ll thank me!

Los Cabos, Covid "FOG" and Markets

When the market rallied hard last fall I was in the throes of Covid.   I had a hit list of names that I continually monitor and massage and was able to take rather aggressive action.  I wasn't close to being 100% either physically or mentally and am still bothered by COVID FOG.  Not certain what it is other than old age or dementia but seems to be improving!   

In the market this week I have been selling full positions and cutting back positions.  I am not acting on the charts.  Just a feel for froth, greed, and exuberance.  Time to go short?  Not a clue.  The charts will tell me that.

Just 40 years of educating myself, working hard, and staying focused.

It was a good fall, went hunting, and had some holiday fun.  Even made a few bucks today!

Markets will humble the best of traders.  Playing defense is the first rule.  The second rule is to not forget the first rule.

I hope the beautiful sunshine in Cabo and ocean swims will cure the Covid fog!

    

Man Cave!

 

The whole truth and nothing but the truth................

I'm a member of the White Earth Chippewa Tribe. I didn't choose my parents. I grew up on many reservations. Most tribes at every turn have been ripped off by their tribal council members. Look at my tribe or the Crow tribe. Crow had 3 Tribal Chairman go to the Federal Pen. In 1988 they threw the Indians a bone to allow for casino gaming, to try to let them make a few bucks. The something-for-nothing mentality of gaming!

The American Dream does not sneak up on you and hit you over the head with a baseball bat. If not here? Where? If not now? When? If not you? Who? Success is where opportunity and hard work meet. At 14 I was hauling bales working in a hot hay field in North Dakota. At 15 I hired out to a ranch in Montana while my parents lived on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. My summer job all through High school was working on a ranch in Montana. Pay was $200 per month working 6 days a week. My last year it increased to $300 per month. Wow.

Know what? I have worked 55 years of my 70 on this planet. I am tired. You want a good life? Work for it. Strap it on. Forget your skin color. Grow a pair and shut the fuck up and work your ass off. Think it is better elsewhere? Then fucking move. Or shut the fuck up.

Sports Illustrated

They didn't learn from Bud Light.

Putting a chick with a dick in the SWIMSUIT edition was WOKE over-the-top. 

Now into the dust bin of history. 

And my gas guzzling Ford trucks are going to change the planet? GMAFB

Global coal demand likely rose by 1.4% in 2023 and surpassed a record-high level of 8.5 billion tons for the first time, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report in December.

Moreover, the three top coal producers in the world – China, India, and Indonesia – are boosting production, which is reaching new highs, the IEA said in its Coal 2023 annual  report.

While coal demand in the United States and the EU was set for a 20% record decline in 2023, coal use in emerging economies “remains very strong, increasing by 8% in India and by 5% in China in 2023 due to rising demand for electricity and weak hydropower output,” the IEA said.