How does this keep happening to me?

I spend a lot of time trying to simplify things.

For instance, just about every week I have to have a “sitting & thinking” session to evaluate what things in my business life have grown complicated, and then trim them. You’d think I wouldn’t need to do this every week, yet chaos continues to grow.

In that case, simplifying means pruning.

Something else:

I’ve been doing research on personal finance lately. Something I’ve noticed about guys like Dave Ramsey is that, at the end of the night, they have a pretty simple message.

In Dave’s case, it’s along the lines of live on less than you make, get out of debt, stop adding new debt.

That’s like 80% of what he teaches.

And he’s been teaching the same thing -- in books, courses, coaching groups, seminars, and his daily radio show -- for like 30 years.

Why?

Partly because every new person into his World is brand new to all his teachings (so, even if it’s old, if it’s new for them, it’s new period).

But also because, as humans, we need reminders more than we need new information.

There’s probably nothing I’ve shared in this newsletter that’s new to you. But you probably keep opening because you want the reminder & a little entertainment. I try to give you both every day.

Anyway, this simplifying mantra is part of what I love about my trading system.

Every time I explore some other system, seeing if I can find a trading edge to improve my skills & hopefully share something new with you, I end up cutting it away. Pruning it for the simple system of selling Puts, collecting premium, and rolling with the markets.

Simple systems seem to work best.

Yahoo Finance

Why it matters …

Contrary to this quote, from the article…

“The Trump-Xi meeting overnight failed to provide a boost, even as it delivered effectively a one-year trade truce. The US will halve fentanyl-related tariffs on China in return for a 12-month pause in Beijing's curbs on rare earth supplies, while China has pledged to start buying American soybeans again.”

This news would generally boost the market, but the Fed Chairman's comments about “a December rate cut is ‘not a foregone conclusion — far from it.’” has the market “bummed” it seems. Earnings from several companies keep steamrolling positive which will eventually overcome this negative sentiment.

Comments: The markets are mixed a bit; really sideways. The almanac shows this to be a historically bullish day. Tomorrow is the last trading day of the month which causes “wonkiness” but this might be a great couple of days to roll positions into next week for great premium if the opportunity avails itself. Otherwise, listen to the wind chimes and sweet sounds of diminishing premium …

A Bravo scan trade at about 1.30% return on risk into next Friday’s expiration.