WELL........DUH......BIG DUH. Are Prediction Markets Gambling? Lawmakers increasingly say “yes”; the companies behind the markets need to give a clearer “no” if they want to avoid regulatory trouble. https://www.city-journal.org/articl...P0y98aq7RibBjQ&vcrmiid=moIh8Omcp0KyHMIjT0IlgQ AND.....we stupidly call this stuff......"MARKETS"......and....."TRADING". It is pure and simple......GAMBLING.
I will tell you how....because they are in far better shape....have far more money......and feel much better.....than the MEDIA and the BS sentiment PUSH POLLS tell us. How Are Consumers Still Spending So Much? https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2026/04/how-are-consumers-still-spending-so-much/
LOTS of good discussion here about RISK and VOLATILITY. Both are very important issues for the average retail investor. AND....both are totally tied into human behavior and emotion. Risk, Not Volatility, Is the Real Enemy for Investors Understanding the difference between the two is a key step toward reaching your financial goals. https://www.morningstar.com/markets/risk-not-volatility-is-real-enemy
And to continue on the above topic. Volatility Mean Reverts https://trendlabs.com/volatility-mean-reverts/ "......volatility is collapsing faster. But what really matters is what comes with it. Explosive upside. Persistent trends. Markets that don’t wait around for everyone to get comfortable. If you’re still thinking in terms of slow recoveries and gradual moves, you’re already behind. This is a faster market now. And it’s not slowing down for you."..... A good article and good discussion. BUT.....if you are a long term investor.....especially if you are fully invested all the time......like I am.....this has no relevance to me. I do believe that the "faster" markets now have a HUGE impact on human brain based behavior and emotion based investing behavior. It creates feelings of unease and insecurity. Investors have to be....thicker siknned.....and able to resist all the fear and panic that this leads to along with the constant MEDIA amplification.
To continue the above about betting and risk......again....DUH. this is a HUGE problem for men....especially YOUNG MEN. Billionaire Investor Warns Sports Prediction Markets Harm Men https://finance.yahoo.com/news/billionaire-investor-warns-sports-prediction-113038136.html
Thank goodness.....the market boom has driven all the manipulators....like Mr A-HOLE and the other speculators and fear-mongers out of the headlines. The Iran conflict has also driven all the media BS and AI negativity off the front pages. BUT....dont worry....it will come back once the current issues go away.
YES.....and for the markets in general.........a HUGE confirmation for investors that are.....fully invested for the long term. We are seeing the big averages hit RECORD HIGHS. I am sure many retail investors that sat through the last 2-4 months are now starting to see the same thing in their portfolios. AMD, Oracle, Microsoft and the IGV lead a monster week for tech stocks https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/17/big-tech-stocks-winning-streaks-oracle-amd-microsoft-igv-.html
I have a BIG gain so far today. Six of seven stocks in the GREEN. The single RED stock.....of course.....COST. AND....that is highly IRRATIONAL......for a company and stock that has proven it THRIVES in any and all economic environments.
Yes I do own some AMD @Smokie. I hold it in my HSA, 401k and roth 401k. I guess what WXYZ would call a 'full position'.
The BIG RALLY continues today and is actually growing into the day. Lets HOPE it does not FADE into the close since it is a weekend. I suspect it will NOT fade since most of the speculators will probably be afraid to be out of the markets since the direction for news that impacts the short term and speculative markets...is toward the positive right now. I think I might be at a YTD high right now with my current gain....but....I have not gone back and looked.
A GOOD DAY for investors today including "me". I had seven of seven stocks GREEN. I also beat the SP500 today by 0.37%. A great end to the week.......TGIF. RIDING THE WAVE.
I am now year to date for my entire portfolio.....+3.25%. If feels so good to hit that plus symbol on the keyboard. It has been a while....much of this year. NOW....I have to build up enough of a cushion that I can with stand the inevitable weakness and even perhaps a correction......over the rest of the year. RIDING THE WAVE. I was just drifting around for a while and even being swept backwards.....but now I have been on a nice strong and growing wave for the last 2-3 weeks. Am I at a YTD high...perhaps. I am not going to go back and look.
Looking at some of the data on Schwab. My one year return in my entire account.....+50%. Five year is annualized return of +21% per year. The market LOW this year for me was on March 30, 2026. At that time my portfolio was at a year to date of....(-10.25%)
It is happening.....the corporate compression and productivity explosion. AI and other tech at work. This is a significant cut......and....is only the start with more to come later this year. Exclusive-Meta targets May 20 for first wave of layoffs; additional cuts later in 2026 https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/exclusive-meta-targets-may-20-194219078.html 8000 jobs.....10% of the workforce now....... and later this year...... probably more cuts taking the total up to 20% of the company workforce.....in a single year. This is the direction we are going to see in the corporate world for the next TEN YEARS.
The KILLER market today. How the worm turns. S&P 500 notches first close above 7,100, Nasdaq posts longest win streak since 1992 https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/16/stock-market-today-live-updates.html
According to Schwab....see above....my account hit the LOW on March 30, 2026 at (-10.25%) I remembered posting about a possible market bottom some time back around that general date. So I want back and looked. Here is what I posted back on March 31, 2026. "I had one of the largest gains in a long time today. ALL my stocks were STRONGLY green....except COST. In addition I beat the SP500 today by......1.20%.....on a day when the SP500 was up BIG. Unfortunately a totally news driven day today.....so.....this could be a short term big gain. OR...if we are lucky....in hindsight.....perhaps we will have just seen the market bottom and a big bounce off that bottom today.....as we start to move back up." Lets hope we are now at that "hindsight point".....and going up from here as earnings come through with record numbers yet again.
I HATE....the current move to Socialism or Communism. Anyone that is an investor in any way.....BEWARE. A Reality Check on the Inequality Panic Calls for wealth redistribution rest on a faulty premise about inequality. https://pastimperfect.humanprogress...e&r=67wdy&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Indeed, a very nice week for us. We will take whatever we can get at this point. The market definitely "wants" the uncertainty to clear up. I don't know. We will just have to wait it out either way. The amount of optimism may be a bit much this early, but these things are in a very unpredictable environment at the moment. The number of "players" involved now makes it a bit more difficult I would think. I can't imagine being the mediator for this group.... what a job that would be. Anyways, it is nice to have seen some nice gains this week.
