Siza Tackle Traders!!! 

Rob and I came crawling out of Italy and have made our way to Budapest, Hungary. This is by far one of the most amazing cities I’ve ever been to and by far one of the coolest cultures I’ve had the pleasure of mingling with. As for Italy, well… Florence was amazing and Venice was even better. The only problem was we were not able to spend as much time as I would liked in Florence and Venice—somehow someone got ahold of my TD debit card info and I had to cancel the card. But, as mentioned in an earlier blog, never put all your eggs in one basket. Especially your A.T.M. cards. Thankfully, Bitcoin made its charge and I reluctantly sold some to live off of until the new TD card arrives. 

Last week’s Robin Hoods were dragged down by our Toddler-in -Chief and North Korea’s dear leader, Kim Jong Uno’s pissing match. Indeed, gold pushed north but it very likely will move right back to where it started. Let’s just keep an eye on the Dollar and position ourselves accordingly. Fortunately for all of us nuclear war was averted and most likely would of never have happened. That said, “tiny hand’s” implementation of real estate bully tactics in geo-politics is a very dangerous game to play and, obviously, does not work.  

 

Another concern of mine is not only is this guy incapable of uniting the world toward a common goal, but he can’t even keep a nation united. It’s in these times plurality matters most and the worst thing one can do is turn a cheek. Remember when I said, “the world is in this state not because of the evil doings of evil men, but because of the indifferences of good men?” We all have civic duties, folks. It does not matter what country you are in or version of Virginia you claim. This attack on intellectualism and the higher ordering principles of progress and human solidarity will have a horrendous effect on our future…mark my words.  

 

Robin Hoods: 

 

AMD—Advanced Micro Dynamics 

 Bitcoin and ETH’s spike will help this sucker out. I anticipate getting a massive bump this week from it. I issued Naked Puts last week—Sept, 12 strike price.   

 

USO—United States Oil Fund.  

Last week I mentioned that Crude would be testing that $50 resistance point… Well, it tested it and retreated on Monday afternoon. I anticipate a quick move back to support. Now, keep in mind that the last OPEC meeting didn’t go very well. This could send crude back down to $42 a barrel and could present a fantastic opportunity for a short.  

 

X—United States Steel 

The Bad Korea squabble kept this one below $25 per share. I’m bullish on it and have Naked Puts issued—Sept, 23 strike price. Now, this one could move south quick if momentum goes against it, be prepared to strangle the trade if this happens.  

 

FCX—Freeport McMorhan  

 Im bullish and have Naked Puts issued—Sept, 14 strike.  

 Targeted Stocks: 

 

FSLR—First Solar 

 I’m bullish and uncovered.  

 SPWR—Sunpower 

I’m bullish and uncovered.  

 

TSLA—Tesla Motors 

 I’m bullish and have a Bull-Put Spread issued. Now, be mindful the 380-resistance point is approaching rapidly… Prepare to collect profits or wait for a potential break-out…Your call.  

 

 

Environmental Hedging: The Categories of Authentic Travel—The Idea of Home 

 Someone once a that a man or a woman travels to learn what they’re lacking, then returns home to find it. Today travel has become degenerate and has been commandeered by vacationers and holiday-goers. The spring-breakers of the world have got it all wrong. 

 

In its origin Travel had a purpose beyond, as Thorsten Veblen would call it, “conspicuous consumption.” In fact, the term travel originates from the Latin root: tripilium—which is a medieval torture device. And indeed, travel in its true form can sometimes feel like torture. But, to Travel with a capital “T” one first needs to at home in their travels.  

 

Therefore, Home is a category of Travel. Now, it’s important to distinguish the difference between one’s home of residence and the home of a tortoise, which carries its home on its back. In that respect home could be as simple as a back-pack with 4 pairs of clothes and a cell phone if you really think about it. When one Travels it’s important to understand that you have left your home of residence and substituted that for unfamiliarity.   

 

However, home is much more than a simple distinction between one’s residence, a backpack, or a hotel room in a foreign land… Home is character, home is culture, and home is a language everybody on this planet understands. When one travels home come with you. For example, traveling to escape your problems at home doesn’t work—you will find them in your luggage.  

In my experience, its best to travel in an effort to share something unique about your home, something that the less fortunate does not have access to or something that simply does not exist in a particular country. In doing so you get to see the homes of others. You get to go beyond the tourist traps and bear witness to the true nature of a culture. And sharing culture, authentically, currently is very important. It’s important on two levels: For one, you learn a lot about yourself in this process. Think of it as a form of self-improvement, if you will. And secondly, you get to learn why people are the way that they are.  

 

For example, Hungarians are incredibly kind people and very talented. And Albanians are probably the most educated, intelligent collective I’ve come across thus far. Now, if I was to say that in England, I’d most certainly be laughed at because an Englishmen’s take on an Albanian is vastly different than mine.   

 

Now, one could argue cultural understanding could be achieved via the internet…However, I’d wager the argument which my mentor in philosophy, David Lovekin, wagered: “The freedom of information is nothing other than the masquerading of freedom.”.  

 

I believe in the information age its evermore important to “see it for yourself”. Its only on these grounds can truth be dialectically discerned. For example, a person skimming Breitbart or Info Wars may find white supremacy and domestic terrorism as secondary to some great, well contrived, Neo-Liberal conspiracy to enslave the masses. But if you were in Charlottesville recently, I am sure you carry a different perspective. How could you not?  

 

But, Ill let Mark Twain make my point: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” 

 

One of the reason(s) Matt Justice and I created this system was to create the necessary capital to uphold Twain’s maxim. Not only do we want people to reduce their carbon-footprint and usage of net-negative corporations, but we also want people to expand their minds and become “broad, wholesome, and charitable” people too. In other words, we want you to get out of the house and lend a helping hand. You will have monies to do so… 

 

In summation, we are very lucky at Tackle Trading to have the students we have. You are all incredibly talented people and very soon you will be able to share that talent with the world. Our hope is that in doing so we can make our planet a better Home for everyone, environmentally and culturally.  

 

Cheers,  

 

Bob Shannon.