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Currently Reading

Some books I’ve read recently:

Ride of a Lifetime – by Bob Iger, former CEO of Disney. Insightful read into the fascinating career of Bob Iger; excellent book on leadership.

American Icon – by Bryce G. Hoffman. Excellent book on the turnaround of Ford Motor Company, with Alan Mulally at the helm. Another outstanding book on leadership.

Hit Refresh – by Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. A wonderful book from a brilliant and empathetic CEO. Another insightful book from a fantastic leader.

Lifespan – by David A. Sinclair, PhD. Age is a disease that can be cured; after reading this book, I see the potential. Highly recommended, this will change the way you think about the possibilities and implications of longevity.

Clean Coder – by Robert C. Martin. Classic book on being a professional programmer. Required reading for all technology professionals.

Having fun with Verticals and Iron Condors

I’ve always been interested in finance and investing. For the majority of my career, I’ve managed my own retirement and brokerage accounts, although I’ve sought out guidance from financial advisors along the way. I’ve read numerous books and have watched and listened to countless hours of the financial talking heads opine on strategy, rates of return, debt, savings, taxes and a whole number of topics on wealth, investing and psychology. There are so many vehicles, from IRAs, 401ks, Rollovers and Roths to Equities, ETFs, 529’s and much, much more.

There is one subject above all others that I’ve grown particularly fond of in the world of investing: Trading Options

I’ve long wanted to trade options but I previously was not comfortable jumping into that realm. I thought it was too risky, that I didn’t have the time or it just wasn’t worth it. Over the years, though, I studied, watched videos and took hours of training on options, as this was something I wanted to make part of my investing toolkit. In all that time, I never took action and never actually traded any options (I did some paper trading but that only lasts so long). However, something clicked for me, recently; maybe it was the quality of the content that I studied from or the investing tools that have improved over the years coupled with my desire to finally take action and my knowledge and confidence level – probably all of the above.

My first trade was a short put vertical on Roblox. Just to get to this point was a huge accomplishment: to feel comfortable and confident enough to know which strategy to use, what expiration to aim for, how much premium to receive, the analysis of the charts, implied volatility rank, probability of profit, width of strikes, liquidity and how and when to close positions, and this is only scratching the surface. It has been invigorating! Of course, the goal is to make money but the education has been priceless. I have a defined risk strategy and my probability of profit is better than average while still providing enough return to make it worth the time.

Short put verticals, short call verticals, iron condors – these are my preferred strategies right now. During a time of low implied volatility, long verticals are also in my wheelhouse and something I’m looking to do more of, as fits the strategy and probabilities. I’ve always enjoyed finance, but I’ve grown an even deeper appreciation for the strategies for improving returns, especially using options. I will continue to grow my expertise in this area so long as it makes sense and fits within an overall risk management and capital appreciation strategy. I encourage anyone interested in learning to stick with it, if for nothing else than to have a better idea of what investments are available and how different areas of finance operate. Also, this isn’t gambling. It takes dedication, planning, strategy, understanding of markets and a whole host of other things that aren’t gambling. I love me some blackjack and craps in Vegas, but this is so much more exciting because it is a long-term investing process that is fun and can provide excellent returns if you follow certain proven strategies.

If things continue as planned, I’ll share more of my options trading results in future articles.

Hello world!

Just a quick note as you pass through here. “Hello world”, a simple phrase that is more meaningful to me than just a silly phrase. My first few emails that I ever sent used “hello world!!” through the very advanced (at the time) Pine email system, way back before hotmail was even a thing. I created web pages in Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia DreamWeaver, many moons ago, when web page development was in its infancy; I always started my development with “hello world!” and became amazed each and every time I hit refresh and viewed the creation on the screen. I created buttons in Visual Basic that displayed “hello world!” when clicked and was awed by the execution, as simple as it may have been. And there have been so many more creations that I’ve built along the way that included that phrase. So, hello world, thank you for visiting, whoever you are and wherever you come from — you are welcome here.