I have now...EVOLVED...to having a borderline BIG gain today in my account. It is being driven by my two green stocks.....COST up by +$25......and NVDA by +$4.83. Amazing how only two stocks can drive a portfolio for a day...or part of a day....if you own the right two.
Happy to see that our Halloween traditions have....invaded....England, LORI. Sounds like you are getting into the......"spirit"...of it all. It should be pretty exciting for a two year old to experience it. The challenges of trick-or-treating in a rural area....Smokie. When my kids were younger we lived in a CEO type neighborhood in Redmond....big houses. But not too far away was a really big mansion on acreage. A big gate and a long, long driveway. My daughter and her friend discovered that if you were brave enough to go in that gate and down that long dark driveway....there were BIG candy bars being given away. Not a lot of kids were willing to make that walk. The last neighborhood we lived in before the current one.....all the parents would go around with the smaller kids and at each house they would get chili, or some other food item and once in a while a jello-shot or drink. We always had pretty good trick-or-treating when I was a kid. When we lived in Germany for three years the big military apartment buildings...... with three stairwells in each building and 18-24 apartments in each building..... made it possible to hit a lot of doors and get a lot of candy. Of course back than what you got was a single piece of candy and at times..... home-made items. In the states....we always lived on military base housing......and those neighborhoods were grouped by rank.....so in the lower officer ranks.....LT and CAPT there were massive numbers of kids....so it was pretty fun.
I have now improved to four stocks green and four red.....but my gain for the day is a bit smaller...in spite of the broader stock participation. i will be happy if I can hold on till the close with the medium gain I have right now.
I posted the 2026 new income tax brackets and some info earlier. HERE are the 2026 capital gains. The IRS upped capital gains brackets: How much you can earn and still pay $0 in 2026 https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/09/the...uch-you-can-earn-and-still-pay-0-in-2026.html
Some interesting and valid advices I picked today. A few tips for bull markets: 1. Track the leading sectors. 2. Focus on the leaders, not the laggards. 3. Add to your winners, not your losers. 4. Be ready to cut your losses quickly. 5. Don’t fall for FOMO. 6. Buy dips and breakouts. 7. Focus on growth and price action, not P/E ratios or dividends. 8. Study fundamentals, charts, and market cycles. 9. Take some chips off the table when everyone gets euphoric. 10. Think in probabilities, not certainties. 11. Be flexible and adapt to market changes. 12. Be patient and wait for the right setup. 13. Don’t try to predict tops and bottoms. 14. The trend is your friend.
A very good list of items to keep in mind for any sort of market...RG. A very good post and an excellent summary for investors. Thanks...RG.
I had a nice big gain today in my eight stocks....contrary to all the RED in the big averages. the four stocks that gave me this gain.....COST, NVDA, PLTR, and AMZN. Plus a stellar beat on the SP500 today by......1.13%. COSTCO was up today by +$28.09....not as big as it sounds...... but still about.....+3.07%. LOVE IT. A good day.
The big story on NVDA.......that took the stock to a new high and the company to a market cap of 4.6TRILLION. Export licenses for the UAE deal signed in May.....up to 500,000 NVDA chips. WOW. think of all the chip deals that we have seen over the past few months....millions and millions of chips.....a money machine. We are in a chip BOOM and chip FRENZY. Nvidia Stock (NVDA) Rises on Major AI Chip Export Approval https://www.tipranks.com/news/nvidi...ves-multi-billion-dollar-ai-chip-sales-to-uae NVDA: Nvidia Stock Breaks New Record After Cantor Hikes Price Target to $300 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nvda-nvidia-stock-breaks-record-192123133.html
I posted a couple of articles about the new tax brackets and capital gains for 2026. Taxes are always a HUGE factor for investors. They are especially relevant when you are sitting on a big gain in a position that has grown to dominate your portfolio. I am in that situation with NVDA and a little bit with PLTR. I have no answer....other than if it bothers you....simply sell some and re-balance.....and bite the bullet and pay the taxes. As for me.....I am not doing that yet with either of these positions. Don’t Let the Tax Tail Wag the Portfolio Taxes alone shouldn’t drive your investment decisions. https://www.fisherinvestments.com/e...ntary/dont-let-the-tax-tail-wag-the-portfolio
Looks like Vanguard's...."VOO"...is now the king of SP500 ETF's. It has crushed the prior leader....."SPY". BlackRocks....."IVV"....is second place. Investors are fleeing "SPY" in droves. The reason....probably the best reason in the investing world.....fees. The fee on "VOO".....0.03%.....the fee on "SPY"....0.09%. The S&P 500 ETF wars are over — VOO has won out over SPY https://sherwood.news/markets/the-s-and-p-500-etf-wars-are-over-voo-has-won-out-over-spy/
I have no issue with the market cap weighting of the SP500. YES....that concentrates the majority of the Index in the top 25 or so companies....especially the top ten companies. BUT....why not? I prefer to have more money focused in the largest and best companies that are the most successful in the world.....AT ANY ONE TIME. After all..... MSFT is the only member of the top ten names that was in there in year 2025. According to this article the turnover rate is 30-40% every 5-10 years. So to me the way the index is weighted works well....companies come and go in the top ten. So my money in the SP500 is constantly being re-balanced into the new....most successful companies in the world. I dont consider this an issue...I consider it a benefit of the index. Basically I think concern about over-concentration is nothing more than looking for issues where none exist. Just plain DUMB. Trying to turn a positive into a negative. BUT...that is me. The New Normal of Stock Market Concentration https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2025/10/the-new-normal-of-stock-market-concentration/
For example: The Dangers of Passive Investing https://www.apolloacademy.com/the-dangers-of-passive-investing/ BALONEY. I have one question...is it better to concentrate your money into the best most successful companies in the world...at any one time? Or would you rather have your money going to less successful companies? if you dont like it there are many equal weighted SP500 ETF's for you to choose.
As to the current gold and silver BOOM. Silver Powers on Near Record as London Market Squeeze Worsens https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gold-retreats-while-silver-rises-074703238.html Silver is now over $50 per oz. Up over 75% YTD. Far more than.....yes.....GOLD. I have some......siting in a big safe off site....but will NOT be adding any at these high prices. I will continue to give one AMERICAN SILVER EAGLE one oz silver coin to kids and their spouses for birthdays and Christmas.
The age old battle between "dumb money" and "smart money". Although many of the "smart money" people....the Wall Street insiders....cant seem to manage to beat the SP500 over the long term. Retail investors buy stocks in droves, fueling Wall Street bubble fears https://finance.yahoo.com/news/retail-investors-buy-stocks-droves-122045746.html What else are retail investors supposed to do? There are no pensions anymore outside of government jobs.....so they are putting their money into stocks and funds with IRA and 401K accounts. They are investing for the long term. AND....when some crisis happens....is it always the "smart money" professionals that panic and sell....while the little investors just hold.
MORE...good news for big cap tech and especially for NVDA. TSMC posts forecast-beating Q3 revenue surge on AI boom https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tsmc-posts-q3-revenue-32-053736693.html
If you care about the next FED chair...in about 6-7 months....here you go. Trump’s Fed chair candidates list narrowed down to five by Bessent after interviews, sources say https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/10/tru...-by-bessent-after-interviews-sources-say.html
YES.....being afraid of investing and the whole process is the big mistake....for young people. Large percentages of GEN Z (29%) and MILLENNIALS (24%)....are NOT invested in stocks or funds. The......young years....when you have massive amounts of time to compound investments is your GOLDEN ERA for investing. YOU....can take advantage of this time in your life. YOU...just have to take the first step and get involved. Usually a good broad ETF like the SP500 is the best way for a new investor to start. Once YOU do start....it does not take long to give yourself some basic education and move forward into the investing world. DO IT FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY. This is the ‘biggest mistake’ young investors make, Josh Brown says https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/10/thi...ake-young-investors-make-josh-brown-says.html
I SEE NOTHING. unusual in the markets today. Basically a perfectly NORMAL day in the markets......and.....a good open. Stocks tick higher, S&P 500 and Nasdaq head for weekly gains https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/09/stock-market-today-live-updates.html
WOW.....at exactly 10:01 Central time....all the big averages TANKED. ALL went from nicely green to a big drop into the red. I dont know what caused it....perhaps this: Consumer sentiment remains desolate as consumers fret about inflation, jobs prospects Interviews with survey respondents offered “little evidence” that the federal government shutdown is contributing to sluggish consumer sentiment. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cons...about-inflation-jobs-prospects-142350679.html Sentiment polls....just GARBAGE and NOISE. The consumer is just fine. AND....the data shows that AMERICANS that own stocks are feeling....just fine. OR...perhaps this: China retaliates with new fees on U.S. shipping https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-retaliates-fees-u-shipping-145957216.html I have no idea but it is very unusual to see all three of the big averages go from green to red......strongly....at the exact minute in the day. Some trading platform or ALL the big AI Trading Platforms....decided to act in concert and TANK the markets.
