Sideways Trend Indicator

If rule X is true = Uptrend

If rule Y is true = Downtrend

If neither rule X or Y is true = Sideways trend

Stock Market Rule #2

How much am I willing to lose.

Before you can ski you must know how to fall. Likewise before you ever search for a stock, you must know just how much you could lose and still feel comfortable with that loss.

Oh, one more thing. You will lose money.
Happy Trading!

Stock Market Rule #1

Forget everything you have ever heard about the stock market. 

Why? Because it's most likely bull crap. If you heard it on television, radio or from a mutual fund manager, it is definitely Bull Crap!

Trading The Stock Market

Here is what this blog was originally intended to become. A collection of thoughts and ideas I use for my own personal wealth creation. My passion is the stock market, so many of my subsequent posts will be centered around this subject.

What are my qualifications to teach this subject? I will be blunt. I Make Money!

Frog Soup

It is said that if you placed a live frog in a pot of water and slowly raise the temperature, theoretically the frog would not jump out and would be boiled to death. Although I have not tried this for myself yet, it does seems plausible.

Lately though, it appears this experiment is being conducted on us the American public and it has been for many years. We are being told that what we believe to be true, is a lie, and that we thought was a lie, is actually the truth. I don't think I need to give specific examples because you've probably already suspected it, and you are feeling it right now.

The good news is, we are not frogs. We are human beings and we know something is just not right. We need to make a choice, do we jump or do we merely become another batch of someone's Frog Soup.

How to Create a Perfect World

A truly perfect world could only have a population of one.

The Choice Is Ours

We enter this world with nothing, and we leave with nothing. What we do in the meantime is entirely by our own choosing. We all have the talent, ability and ample opportunity to achieve great things. Nevertheless, there are those who blame others for their perceived misfortune and thereby accomplish nothing. However, if we take responsibility and control of our lives, we can attain anything our hearts desire.

A recent letter to ConAgra foods concerning Chef Boyardee products

I know this is a little off topic, but I saw this letter that was sent to ConAgra foods, makers of Chef Boyardee products. I thought it would demonstrate the repercussions a company faces when they take for granted brand loyalty while ignoring quality and their customers while focusing solely on cost reduction.

"Congratulations I've never seen a company try so hard to drive customers away from their products the way ConAgra has driven my family and I away from the Chef Boyardee brand. I grew up eating Chef Boyardee meals and I loved them, but you have managed to destroy what was left of the original product line and I believe they are gone forever. If Hector Boiardi were alive today he would probably change his name out of embarrassment. I hate to say it, but goodbye or not so good buy. I would wish you luck but I would be lying."

Always Remember This! Market share is never taken away, It is always given away.

The best business in the world

I'm not talking about the oldest profession, actually that would be agriculture, but we'll save that for another article. Basically there are really only two ways to create wealth; they are as a business owner or as an investor. Some would argue that you could marry into wealth or inherit it, but that's not creating wealth, that is earning money which I described in my earlier post, "The difference between being rich or wealthy". Of course both investing and business can be broken down into many different categories that go way beyond the scope of this article, so I will concentrate on what I deem the best business in the world.

Imagine a business where you have no customers, no employees, low start-up costs, no overhead, a business you can operate from home and keep all the profits, well after the government takes their share. What is this magical business?  The stock market of course, I know some of you may have felt the wind go out of your sails just now because if it were the best business in the world it would be super simple.

I won't lie; learning anything different is never easy. Just like riding a unicycle on a tight rope while juggling flaming chainsaws and singing the Star-Spangled Banner in Swahili is very difficult, until you learn how. Really trading the stock market is actually very simple once you have a good system in place, the hard part is getting your emotions and your mind in check because your greatest and fiercest competitor is you. I have a real passion for trading and teaching the stock market, so I will be writing more on the subject. Feel free to post any comments or questions.

Who Do You Serve?

Freedom is an unalienable right bestowed upon all of us by our creator. So why do we sell ourselves into a lifetime of servitude to make others rich? Right now there are literally thousands of people willing to work for any one of us, ready to lend themselves into a life of servitude to make each of us wealthy, to give us the freedom to do whatever we want, whenever we want.
If our money is not working for us, we are working for money. Who do you serve?

"No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." Luke 16:13

The difference between being rich or wealthy

The difference between rich and wealth is simple, although both are relative terms based upon an individual's idea of wealth or riches,they are completely different. Arguably, riches are earned, whereas wealth is always created. If you win the lottery or inherit a large sum of money, you are said to be rich. When that money is exhausted you have no means of getting more.

On the other hand, if a wealthy person looses their money, they have the means to create more. The wealthy can create riches but a rich person cannot necessarily create wealth. A person of wealth possesses the knowledge, wisdom, emotional stability and determination as well as other traits and talents to create riches. A rich person possesses money.

Answer to the riddle of Wisdom and Knowledge

Question:
On the second birthday of a set of twins an incident occurred in which one of the twins gained knowledge and the other gained wisdom. What happened?

Answer:
One of the twins put his finger in the flame of the birthday candle, got slightly burned and instantly gained wisdom to never do that again. The other twin witnessing his brothers outburst from the pain, gained knowledge that sticking your finger in a flame is a bad idea.
Here is the original post: A riddle about the difference between wisdom and knowledge

Real Value

I put far more value in the words of wisdom from a person who has experienced life and who has learned from their mistakes, than someone who regurgitates the thoughts and ideas of a complete stranger and considers them self an intellectual.

People Need To Accept Me For Who I Am

Rejection is never easy and at times it can be very painful. All of us have experienced rejection at some point in our life. Even though it feels like a bad thing, rejection can actually be beneficial. When we are rejected it keeps us out of situations and relationships that wouldn't be healthy or productive.

Basically, why would you want to be where you are not welcome? Why would you want to be in a relationship with someone who doesn't appreciate you? This raises the most important question. Why are you being rejected?

For years, we have been told to be ourselves. People need to accept us for who we are. That is very good advice, unless you're a jerk. However, if you enjoy life and enjoy being who you are, even if you are a jerk, that's fine. Be who you want to be, become who you want to become but realise this, not everyone will accept you.

Like the saying goes, “you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all the people all the time.” The good news is you don't have to accept who you are. If you don't like the person you are, you can change. That is why the pain of rejection is a good thing. Pain is an indication that something is wrong. When you stick your finger in a flame the pain tells you to move your finger or remove the flame, or else you'll get burned. The pain of rejection is an indicator it is telling you to make a choice. Either get out of that situation or change what you are.

So take a look at yourself and find out why you are being rejected. If you don't like what you see, it's time to make some changes. On the other hand, if you're happy with who you are, disregard the rejection, move on and enjoy life.

Is The Secret Real?

In a recent e-mail somebody asked me, what is the secret? The secret is the law of attraction, which basically means. You become what you think about, or you create what you think about or attract, manifest so on and so forth. Although it's not really much of a secret because you can find information about it almost anywhere.

The real secret is, everyone uses the law of attraction to attract good things and bad things into their life, whether they believe in it or not. Just like the law of gravity, you don't have to understand or even believe in gravity to use it to your advantage or disadvantage. You might ask how can you use gravity to your disadvantage? The answer is simple, if you jump off of a building you're going to fall and get hurt. Gravity doesn't understand what's good for you or bad for you. It's just gravity.

The law attraction works the same way. It doesn't know what's positive or negative. It's just a law. Here's an exercise to help you understand, let's say you're shopping, and you keep telling yourself "don't forget the milk, don't forget the milk", and you keep repeating that in your mind even out loud, it doesn't matter because what you're actually telling yourself is to "forget the milk, forget the milk". You see your subconscious doesn't understand what do or don't means, because all your subconscious hears is "forget the milk". When what you really need to be telling your subconscious is "remember the milk" or better yet I "will pick up milk before I leave the store".

This is just a very basic example but the use of the law of attraction is actually very much broader and more complex. Again just like gravity we can use it to simply play catch with our children or to slingshot a spacecraft around the moon. Before Anything Was Created, It Existed Only In Someone's Imagination. I hope this helps, feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Science Versus Theology

I have a problem with both science and theology because they are both studied by humans, a species that is totally incapable of filtering out their own personal biases. A relationship with God is based on faith and therefore should not have to be proven but science is based upon observation and should always be proven, otherwise it to is theology.

An exercise in futility

If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime. But, if you teach a man to build a seafood company, you feed thousands long after you're gone. Unfortunately most people just want to be given a fish.

The relationship between money and aerodynamics

In my last post I made a reference to flying, and in my future posts I'm sure I will also bring up the topic because I love to fly. I also love sailing so I'm sure that topic will find its way into some of my posts, but today I'm going to talk about the relationship between money and aerodynamics.

Anyone who understands aerodynamics knows the five laws or principles of flight and they are lift, gravity, thrust, drag and the fifth principle of flight is, Money! Lately I have been on an extended hiatus from flying because of the fifth principle. Yes I love to fly but I love life more than flying. Now I'm not suggesting that flying is dangerous, what I am suggesting though is that flying cheap can be very dangerous.

For as long as I can remember I've always loved airplanes. When I was very young I had an opportunity to ride in an airplane but I was terrified so I didn't go. It could have been the need for me to conquer my fear of flying that sparked my interest in aviation. As with most aviation enthusiasts I would read books about flying, build and fly model airplanes but it wasn't until I was in my 30s that I took my first airplane ride, and yes I was still a bit terrified. Even though I knew a lot about airplanes and how they flew, what all the controls were and how they worked, I was still nervous up until the instructor said go ahead take the controls. At that moment my life changed and I felt a change for the better, but the last thing I needed was another iron in the fire because I already had too many interests while I was working on a music career, which unfortunately never really developed into what I had hoped.

Now there was something new, I wanted an airplane, I mean a real big not a toy airplane. So how do I buy an airplane on a factory worker's wages? I resorted to the only strategy I knew at that time, I would do it as cheaply as possible and didn't care about the risk, I was going to a build an airplane. I figured I could hold down a 40 hour week job, raise two kids as a single parent, pursue a professional music career and find the time and money to build an airplane and learn to fly it, but that's just me.

I balanced it fairly well for the next few years but then that fifth law of aerodynamics naturally revealed itself. MONEY! Well something had to give, so needless to say my flying took a backseat to living. Now I am a bit older and I feel a bit wiser because I understand that money is the most important principle of aerodynamics. The more money you have the better, faster, farther and safer you can fly. I still have the same goal of owning my own airplane but I am approaching it from a different angle, I will concentrate on making money and the money will get my airplane. Wish me luck.

Let your emotions be your guide, NOT!

It's hard to go through a day without witnessing someone who is being guided totally by their emotions, but is that a bad thing? Maybe but maybe not, most of us at some point in our life have experienced an unbridled outburst of uncontrolled emotion after which we feel physically drained and on occasion totally embarrassed. We've all heard that we should control our emotions and we shouldn't make decisions based on them. On the other hand we wouldn't want to live our life guided solely by our emotions. But don't think of your emotions as a curse, instead think of them as a tool or better yet an indicator. I don't like the idea of controlling our emotions because our emotions help define who we are.

Anyway I think it's almost impossible to control our emotions. When we try to control our emotions we end up resorting to psychological counseling, psychiatry or even drugs both prescription and illegal. I'm not saying that these things are necessarily bad, except for the illegal drugs of course, but it seems like there is an epidemic of people with emotional and psychological disorders. So instead of trying to control our emotions lets use them to our advantage instead.

Let's think of our emotions as an indicator on an instrument panel of an airplane. These indicators or instruments are all tools to help the pilot fly the airplane better, easier and safer. One of the most important instruments on an airplane is ironically named the attitude indicator, how's that for an analogy. The attitude indicator shows the pilot whether the plane is banking, climbing, diving, or flying straight and level. As a pilot I was taught to always trust my instruments, but is that always the best approach? Some would argue yes, but just like always trusting your emotions I would argue no.

When I am flying with very low visibility and cannot see the horizon I will always, yes always! trust my instruments, but if I'm flying straight and level on a clear day with a blue sky and 20 miles of visibility and my attitude indicator shows that I am diving rapidly what do I believe now, the horizon or the instrument, definitely the horizon. And that is how we should use our emotions.

I will give you an example of how to do this. Let's say you're walking alone down a dark street at night in an unfamiliar neighborhood and from the shadows you hear and sense that someone is watching you. You can't see anyone or anything but you still get nervous and a bit frightened, now you are confronted with a decision, should I face my fears and continue walking to my car or do I go with my emotions, my gut feeling, my fear and run like hell? Well if you are like me, before initiating any plan of action you would ask yourself this one question. What would Spock do?

A riddle about the difference between wisdom and knowledge

On the second birthday of a set of twins an incident occurred in which one of the twins gained knowledge and the other gained wisdom. What happened? Please comment or e-mail me if you think you know the answer. I will post the answer shortly.
Here is the answer:
Answer to the riddle of Wisdom and Knowledge

The Role Of Government

For as long as I can remember I have viewed the world a little differently than everyone else I knew. I never really accepted the status quo. I've always needed to understand how things work and not just take someone else's word for it. So wrong or right but I believe right this is how I view the true role of government.

Let's look at the word government, it means to govern and to govern, you need a governor. A lot of things have governors not just states. Many mechanical and electrical devices have governors. What do these governors do? What is their purpose? Well to govern of course. Take your car for instance, the engine in your car most likely has a governor to keep it from over revving and causing damage to the engine. Actually most engines have a governor, the engine on my tractor, lawnmower, Rototiller, generator and boat all have governors.

Like it or not government is necessary, but contrary to what many may think, a government or governor was never intended to control or dictate, only to govern. What does it mean to govern? Let's look again at the governor on an engine. The governor on an engine can only do one thing and that is to impede, to slow down, to stifle to reduce power or energy to keep the engine from running too fast and causing damage to itself and that is all. The government of a nation (at least the U.S.) was engineered to work exactly the same way.

So in terms of a government controlling an economy the government can only do one thing and that is to impede. A government cannot boost an economy it can only slow down an economy. A government cannot create jobs it can only impede the creation of jobs. A government cannot control, try though it might it can only get in the way of progress.

Why Am I Here?

Why am I here? Well I have been around the block a few times and made a lot of mistakes along the way, but I feel I have learned from those mistakes and hopefully I can help others who might be making the same mistakes I did. But  the bigger question is, why are any of us here? Is there some divine plan? Is there a preset destiny for each of us? I believe the answer is yes and no.

It is hard to enter into any philosophical discussion without delving into religion.  So yes, I believe in God, but whether or not you believe in a creator the answer is still the same. We were all created equally, we were all created with certain talents, abilities, interests and aspirations. That is who we are, that is how we are wired and that is in fact our destiny, to be the person we were designed to be. To do what we know and love to do, to enjoy life and all of its abundance, to become whoever and whatever we want to become. That my friend is why we are here.