Trumps non-speech speech

I'm not usually a day trader, but I couldn't help myself when Trump and his team informed the public earlier this week that the President is going to make a speech to the American public on Wednesday at 9 pm ET. 

Leading up to the speech, Marco Rubio released the following 2 min video:

His tone made me feel less than 100% confident in the administration's plan, so I decided to follow my gut and place an order to buy two put options on $QQQ at $575. In other words, I'd only make money if $QQQ traded below the strike price of $575; the stock closed April 1 at $584.31, which means it would have to dip 2% before I make any money.

Here's the Trump speech:

This morning, I saw that $QQQ was trading at or just below $585, so I immediately placed a market order to close my position. I pocketed nearly $400. It feels good to make money and even better following my gut. However, as Drunkenmiller has said, it doesn't matter that you're right: You need to be right AND have conviction (by putting up a big position). It's fine to lose (a little bit of) money and be wrong, but not that great if you're right and made only a few bucks. 

Thankfully I sold in time (hey, making money is still making money) as $QQQ has since recovered from this morning's low:

VTI: Buy and hold

Over a sufficiently long period of time, VTI has always had a positive return. There's something to be said about a buy and hold mentality and the American economy's innovative spirit. If you have the patience, the power of compounding even works in your favor because of the dividends that are paid that generate a return when reinvested. Bet on America.

On the other hand, buying single stocks and holding may not necessarily get you any returns. In this case, I've held Disney for over a decade and actually LOST money. Who would have thought that Disney, known for its parks and movies, could have negative returns after holding for a decade??

IH-2526J Iron Heart canvas jacket

I bought this jacket over the summer (absolute steal on eBay), BUT the issue is that the jacket is snug. I can only wear a t-shirt underneath. Also, the cuff is too tight for me to wear a wrist watch, so I leave the cuff unbuttoned. I wasn't sure if this is considered faux pas for a jacket this nice. Did a quick Google Images search, and turn out that most people do leave the cuff button undone. Vindicated!

New strap

Replaced a traditional NATO with a stretchy NATO strap. 

What I did:

1/ Cut the strap so there's less material

2/ I burned the end with a small candle to ensure the material doesn't fall apart as easily

3/ Inserted the metal clasp

I quite like this new strap. I'll try it for a couple of weeks.


GenAI images is helpful for online shopping

Since buying a vintage Rolex submariner, I've been eyeing various bracelets to swap out the OEM one to an aftermarket one. The reason is simply I want something different.

Some options that I'm considering:

1/ Staib Milanese bracelets

Staib 2784 2785 Polished Stainless Steel Milanese Mesh Watch Bracelet - Holbens

Staib 2792 Matte Stainless Steel Milanese Mesh Watch Bracelet - Holbens

2/ Forstner's Rolex bracelets

These are very high quality bracelets (read: $$$) and before pulling the trigger, I asked Manus to help imagine what they would look like on a Sub. Here are the results (including some that I passed on):

rolex_on_ladder_braceletpng


rolex_on_mesh_braceletpng


rolex_on_president_braceletpng

After looking at these results, I may just stick with the OEM bracelet. It's hard to imagine anything else fitting a Sub, frankly.