No New Money Until the 2nd
By Jim Bauer
@porwest (91089)
United States
December 29, 2023 6:06pm CST
It's the only thing that sucks about this time of the year for a guy like me who practically makes his living from the stock market.
It's closed until January 2nd and today was the last trading day of 2023.
So, the next few days for me will simply be boring and unproductive from at least that perspective. Not that it's a terrible thing. It happens every year. But still. I can't buy shares, can't sell more covered call options contracts, can't make adjustments, can't take profits, can't create new profits...
The plus side is I can still do my research and decide what I want to do when trading begins anew.
Oh well, I suppose even making money needs to take a break once in a while. Meanwhile I will work on writing some articles and doing other things to make a buck.
Hopefully 2024 will be a good year, but with the markets reaching record highs I am almost SURE that there will be a turnaround, which isn't entirely bad either, although it offers up short term pains. But it will make for some nice discounted investments to look at.
Who knows? If the markets were predictable, I'd be a billionaire by now.
13 people like this
13 responses
@crossbones27 (49491)
• Mojave, California
30 Dec
I am just wondering how accurate markets are. I mean sure they somewhat, but always seems to be so high and never balanced. You are right I have no clue how they really work. 
2 people like this
@crossbones27 (49491)
• Mojave, California
30 Dec
@jstory07 Its changed so much, sure there is safe ones but you really need a big investment to show a yearly return that truly will take care off you. If you come in with a few thousand, enjoy that 100 bucks in a decade. Its why they always want a minimum now, its not worth their time if you do not have so much money. Not worth your time or stress really either. They wonder why more people not going into it? I am no expert though, just how I see it.
1 person likes this
@jstory07 (139725)
• Roseburg, Oregon
30 Dec
@crossbones27 My husband used to be good at selling and buying stocks.
2 people like this
@porwest (91089)
• United States
30 Dec
Markets are extremely "accurate," in that they are a direct result of and reflection of what the underlying businesses are doing, and since you have access to all the books and data, making educated decisions about those businesses is...accurate. lol
@RasmaSandra (79929)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
30 Dec
With your knowledge and your finances you probably will get to millionaire and then it's just a hop and skip and jump to billionaire,
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121604)
• Gainesville, Florida
31 Dec
I would think it would be a good time to do a little research so that you will be ready to go again when the market opens back up.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121604)
• Gainesville, Florida
2 Jan
@porwest Sometimes those dividend checks are what really makes the difference!
1 person likes this
@porwest (91089)
• United States
1 Jan
That's part of the plan. I actually did a "deep dive" analysis of one of my positions, QYLD as on paper my position is down 8.77% since I first bought shares in 2021. After I dug deeper it looks like when I add in the dividends, even though I did not directly reinvest them back into QYLD, my position is actually up nearly 15%, so I will keep it and add more shares.
1 person likes this
@porwest (91089)
• United States
7 Jan
@moffittjc Oh God. 
Let me rephrase that. I prefer my money to make money for me rather than work for it. 
Let me rephrase that. I prefer my money to make money for me rather than work for it. 1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (44554)
• Staten Island, New York
30 Dec
A few days break isn’t bad. Maybe you’ll be a billionaire one day. Never know.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (44554)
• Staten Island, New York
31 Dec
@porwest as long as you don’t have to watch every dollar you spend and can allow yourself some luxuries you’re good.
1 person likes this
@porwest (91089)
• United States
31 Dec
@lovebuglena I still watch every dollar I spend. I splurge when I want, sure. But rich people generally don't waste their money. It's part of the reason they are rich. lol
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (178869)
• United States
30 Dec
Take a break. Wishing you and your wife a great weekend and a happy, healthy, safe and prosperous New Year!!!
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (37594)
•
30 Dec
Enjoy the time and maybe do something fun, or take your wife somewhere, or? It will be Tuesday soon enough!
1 person likes this
@porwest (91089)
• United States
31 Dec
@MarieCoyle You almost have to. Saving money and investing it is VERY, very important. BUT at the same time if you never spend it, there's no point to having it, really. The difference is that I tend to spend the proceeds rather than the principal.
Work for it and earn it once. Keep as much what you earn as you can and save and invest it wisely, and one day you require less work and have more money from your money than from when you worked.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (37594)
•
31 Dec
@porwest
Sometimes, just getting to do something different refreshes the spirit. That's good that you budgeted for a bit of fun, Jim.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160708)
• United States
30 Dec
Lucky you are frugal and can out wait the seasonal closings.
1 person likes this
@jstory07 (139725)
• Roseburg, Oregon
30 Dec
The only stocks we have left are the two companies we worked for. We cash in the dividends every quarter and that pays our car and house insurance for the year. We sold the rest of the stocks when we retired and bought a new car and kept the rest to live off of while we bought a house in Oregon.
1 person likes this
@porwest (91089)
• United States
1 Jan
I'd have left some of the money earning more dividends and set myself up to live entirely off the dividends rather than the principal. In that way, you can never possibly run out of money. Just my two cents.
But so long as it works for you, who am I to judge?
@dgobucks226 (35621)
•
31 Dec
Hopefully the hot streak continues with the market! Having it close till next Tuesday is like a TV time out in a football game just when that team is first and goal and about to score. It can cause a loss of momentum. Here's to those continued profits in 2024. 
