When Negatives Really Matter To Stocks

The ten year old bull market does not want to die, and many investors have been gored by the bull.  However, sometimes multiple negatives can send the market crashing as the Dow lost 343 points on October 1, 2019.  Real impeachment talk, a PMI of 47.8 for manufacturing, and no resolution in the China trade lead to the bear chomping hard on the bull today.

I already held a significant position in TMF, the triple long bond ETF, but I am planning to buy more tomorrow.  People have been talking about a bond bust for years, but it has never happened, and it cannot happen while we have multiple serious negatives since people will always run for security in troubled times.  This is a winning trade although I will take profits at certain times.  I am following the MACD cycle primarily for this trade, and I will be buying as the signal line moves up.  Then, when I see it make a new high while the MACD starts to fall, I will sell while I am up.  Sometimes it can take months to get a good trade setup, but it is well worth trading when you have the chance.

Dog Days of Summer Stocks

August and September are not good months for stocks.  Whether stocks rally again this fall or not, we need to be concerned also that the Dow has broken its 200 day moving average three times since last fall.  This is an unmistakable sign of a market top even though some people may not want to hear that.

Is it time to go short then?  No, that won't work either because too many people want the bull market to continue, and someone once said that the market can remain irrational for longer than you can remain solvent.  So, you will be gored if you act too soon.

What I am doing myself is building positions in dividend stocks.  One stock is BLV, Vanguard's long term bond ETF.  It is up 15 percent since last fall in addition to a dividend of around 3.5 percent.  The management cost for you to own the ETF is also almost nothing.

Another stock that I own is Pimco's Income Strategy II Fund, PFN.  It is currently my largest holding.  It pays a dividend of around 8% per year, and you get paid part of that each month.  I love monthly dividend stocks.  Management costs are more than 1%, but I think the stock is very much worth owning.

I am working toward having a portfolio comprised of at least 50% quality dividend stocks so that I don't have to worry about stock market volatility.  It is okay to take some risk, but you need to be able to sleep at night knowing that half of your money is reasonably safe.

Buy With The Insiders For Stocks

We are currently in a topped out stock market where you cannot just buy a popular stock and expect it to go up.  If we expect to make money, we must buy the stocks that are currently being bought by insiders because they are expecting their stocks to go up.  The best website I have found for tracking insiders and cluster buys is OpenInsider.com.  You will see the latest insider and institutional investor buys and sales.  You can also search for your favorite companies to see if big buying is occurring in stocks that you like. 

2019 Stock Trends

2019 may become a difficult year for stocks as it was in 2018.  With trade wars and Congress gridlock, the market will be hard to predict.  However, since the Federal Reserve finally took a dovish stance, we probably won't have a recession this year.

The biggest and most predictable trend that I see is with marijuana and hemp stocks.  CBD oil for medicine can be made from both plants, and there is a strong demand for CBD oil.  You could do an internet search for pot stocks and hemp stocks and take your pick.  They will probably all be volatile.  Nevertheless, if you buy at the bottoms and take profits at the tops, they could be worthwhile trades.  You could also keep a core position in each one.  This is what I am doing.

Some of the biggest marijuana stocks that I own are CGC, CRON, and HEXO.  I also own penny stocks in this area that I cannot recommend yet.  Anyway, probably around 50% of my portfolio will be locked up in this sector while the trend is solidly positive. 

Rebuilding From Chemotherapy

One bad aspect of chemotherapy is that you might lose a lot of weight.  On the surface, this might sound great, but if you lose so much that your bones are almost showing through your skin like I did, then you have lost too much.  For example, I lost skin tissue everywhere, and you need a certain amount of skin cushioning for your bones.  My feet were particularly affected to the point that it felt like I was walking on bones, and it hurt.  So, I knew I had to rebuild my body, and I have regained 25 pounds since then.

How did I gain quality weight back?  Naturally, I consumed a lot of protein through milk, protein shakes, eggs, and chicken.  However, I needed to do more than that.  Thus, I started taking a body-building product called Secretagogue-One, and it helped a lot.  It comes in a box of 30 lemon flavored packets of nutrient powder that mixes easily in 10 ounces of water.  The formula contains human growth factors such as glutamine and tyrosine along with other ingredients.  In fact, glutamine is so important for muscle repair that I add extra glutamine powder to the Secretagogue-One drink.  I will keep taking these supplements as well as L-Carnosine for energy for as long as it is necessary.

Coping With Chemotherapy

One of the most feared things in life is to be diagnosed with cancer.  I am one of the people who were affected by this problem.  Thankfully, I am now in remission after months of chemotherapy.  I am still on a mild drug called Avastin to keep the cancer from coming back, but my doctor is very happy with my progress.

In case you want to read more about my story, you could visit www.memoirsandstories.com to follow my continuing diary.  My article on this subject can be found in the "more" column of my website.  For example, I mentioned some supplements that help people get through chemotherapy, and I am currently talking about what I am doing during remission.  I hope that my story will help anyone who is dealing with cancer.

Linux Mint

Are you tired of the problems of dealing with Microsoft Windows with their constant updates and with viruses getting through Windows in spite of virus protection?  Then, you would enjoy getting used to Linux, and there are easy ways to do it.  Disc.com has a variety of Linux thumb drives and CDs to get started with Linux.

This past Friday, my Windows operating system got attached by a virus again, and I could not get rid of it this time.  Fortunately, I already had a Linux Mint operating system on a thumb drive from Disc.com.  I had previously used the thumb drive during another virus incident, but I was unsuccessful in getting Linux installed in dual boot mode.  Either Windows or my virus protection would not let me install Linux that way.  So, I took the OEM choice in the Linux Mint menu and wrote over my complete hard drive to erase all traces of Windows and my former virus protection.

This operation worked well although I found out you have to leave the thumb drive in your computer when you boot to Linux for the 1st time.  Once the system loads, you will get a prompt that says you can remove the thumb drive.  After I removed the thumb drive the 2nd time, the computer was able to boot into Linux on its own.

Now, I am having to manually install my website bookmarks, but I am okay with that.  Linux has been working fine all day, and I am done with Microsoft unless I have to buy a new computer.  Then, once again, I will have my Linux Mint thumb drive ready to install the minute Windows screws up.  Anyway, I am happy with my current internet access with Linux, and it will stay that way for the life of my current computer.