We are spending a few weeks this summer in Carlsbad, Ca. to be closer to our new granddaughter. She is just a little love bug and we can’t get enough of her.
Ironically, I must be trying to recapture my youth at the same time. Think VW Bus with surfboards on top cruising up and down PCH (Pacific Coast Hwy in California) circa late 1960’s and early 1970’s with Buffalo Springfield playing on the 8 track. I figured now or never and I bought a new longboard last week and starting surfing again after a 30 year hiatus. Considering sound effects accompany getting off the couch these days I was pleasantly surprised I could actually stand up and ride.
Surfing has never been easy. Surfing at 66 years old is downright hard. What the hell am I thinking?
Boards have leashes now. I didn’t trip over it once going down the cliff or heading in to the water although when I got out I couldn’t figure out how to get the damn thing off. In retrospect, this is something I should have known prior to getting wet to prevent potential death in the unlikely event the strap gets caught on something like a giant shark swimming by and I have to detach myself while getting dragged under watching my life go whizzing by Mr. Octopus and family. Actual paddling through waves is also required to get out there. I know, isn’t that ridiculous. It seemed so much easier 50 years ago. So, once you get out there, at my age, you are freaking exhausted. Also, to add a little more thrill on my first day back in the water with my new board a 15 foot great white was spotted just down the coast in La Jolla off one of the buoys. My buddy said “don’t worry Don, he’s just welcoming you back”. Jeez, can’t a guy get a little alone time? I almost forgot…the racks, the stupid surf racks. I had to get some for the car. It only took me three frigging hours in a hothouse garage to finally figure out the stupid rack latch thingamajigger. Surfing isn’t easy.
In full disclosure I did go surfing two years ago in Hawaii. I rented a board for an hour and after 20 minutes I was too tired to paddle and had to drag my ass back to our spot under a rather fragrant flowering frangipani tree and collapse in utter exhaustion while my wife kept asking why I wasn’t trying to get my monies worth with the rental time. It took me 15 minutes to catch my breath to tell her I didn’t think she needed to call 911. I vowed then and there to get in shape so I could really surf again.
After two years of daily swimming and hitting the gym I was thrilled to be able to paddle out with relative ease, catch a wave on my first attempt and actually stand up and ride. I’ve got to tell you, it was magical. The memories of my youth spent surfing every day flooded in; the salty thick smell of the ocean, the soft warm sand squishing between my toes, the feel of the sticky wax chafing the top of my feet while paddling and finally, the lightness of gliding…ahhh+ If that wasn’t enough for a good day I got to do it with my grandson and son in law. It was a day I will remember for the rest of my life.
Trading and surfing are very similar. They are both extremely difficult endeavors that require years of hard work to become proficient.
I hope that by sharing with you the lessons I have learned over many, many years of trading you become more confident and profitable in your own trading and investing and get a few giggles along the way.
And finally, I thank you for your support as it forces me to be accountable to you and without it I wouldn’t have the opportunity to get better and better at trading. Without you I would probably get lazy about my own trading/investing. I think I might be getting better at writing too but I’m really not sure.
One more thing…
Every summer just down the road are the Del Mar Horse Races. Just this past week two horses had to be put down due to a crash during a race and two jockeys had to be taken to the hospital. Enough! I propose Butterfly Races. You can still gamble on the outcome and wear a fancy hat. Right?
By the way, SPY did almost exactly what I told you it was going to do on Monday…luck or hard work? You be the judge. See 10 minute SPY chart.
S&P500 Index ETF (SPY) 10 minute
Cowabunga,
Don