InvestingWithBrandon

This is why I talk so much about the "base portfolio"
It allows you to be MUCH MORE tax efficient.
Taxes are likely your biggest expense, it's CRITICAL to reduce as much as possible so you can re direct that money to investments.

When the market was cheaper a few weeks ago, I wanted my beta (volatility factor) higher than the market.
I sold more puts and added more exposure.
Now the market is less compelling, so I have to do the opposite.
I trimmed a little this past week & may continue to do more.
The totality of the data dictates how I allocate, not BS short term headlines or emotions.
The framework I want everyone to internalize is the hierarchy of bullishness.
Shares are mid-bullish.
Selling puts is super bullish.
Buying calls is max bullish 10 out of 10
This is also the order of difficulty of making money.

The first $100,000 is the hardest money you will ever make.
Not because the math is hard.
Because the psychology is brutal.
$10k in the bank. You want a vacation.
$50k in the bank. You want a new car.
$99k in the bank. You want to celebrate.
The people who blow it there never get to compound.
The people who hold it there watch the next $100k come way faster.
Then the next one. Then the next one.
The first $100k proves something more important than money.
It proves you have the discipline to not be your own worst enemy.
That is the hardest thing to learn.

There will be a point in your life where you realize...
Going to work at your day job is actually costing you money to be there.
You'll realize your time is much more valuable than your hourly rate and you can produce MUCH more money investing or simply doing something else...

The best math you can learn is how to calculate the future cost of your current actions.

Retail investors pick strike prices completely wrong.
They open the options chain.
They look at delta.
0.32 delta.
32% chance it goes in the money.
"I'll take those odds."
Here is the HUGE problem...
Delta does not factor in:
EPS growth rate.
Revenue trajectory.
Whether the company has a moat.
Whether the market is a bubble.
Whether the Fed is about to hike.
It factors in 4 things and calls it a "probability" but excludes so much of the true needle mover stuff...
Here is how I pick strike prices.
Market/stock is cheap.
Moat/pricing power/competitive advantage/good valuation.
I sell puts 10%

I want nothing but the best for everyone but I know a lot of ppl got SMOKED with covered calls.
I have been very LOUD about this.
They are a trap!
They cap upside and don’t help much in downside.
If you are bullish enough to hold the shares in your account why would you wanna immediately bet against yourself.
The cashflow you pick up is peanuts and you are missing the big move…
They work 9 out of 10 times.
But that 1 time, it will wipe out what you did the other 9.
They don’t work.
Stop with the garbage retail strategies done by ppl that don’t beat the market.

🔴If you sell cash secured puts, just know that you are making a MASSIVE mistake.
Selling puts means you are BULLISH on a company, yet you wanna let a bunch of cash sit there and do nothing...
Why not use the cash to buy shares of the company you are bullish on...
Secure the trade with that.
& guess what, you will not be on margin.
No margin interest.
Simply securing the puts with your portfolio, not cash.
Cause guess what, shares can be sold for cash if you gotta take assignment.
Many will say this is risky.
But you are simply wrong.
Keep your ratios in check.
Quality companies.
Quality valua

🟢 Keep your emotions in check.
Continue to DCA into quality stocks/ETFs at good prices.
When you find compelling set ups:
1. Sell 1+ year portfolio secured puts. (not CSP)
2. Take part of that cash flow to buy shares.
3. Take part of the cash flow to buy LEAP calls.
4. Always keep ratios in check to handle 50% crash.
Then be patient and let the plays work.
Simple.

A lot of people do cash secured puts, covered calls, poor man covered calls, & spreads.
A lot of people also underperform the Nasdaq...

Retail investors have been fed crap their entire lives about how to make it in the stock market.
Do more trades
Get more screens
Draw more lines
Get more indicators
Take on more leverage
Get your timing better
Do more complex options strategies
All to realize... it was all a waste.
The disgust you will eventually feel will be like nothing you ever experienced before.
You poured your heart and soul into trading and didn't make it.
Just like almost everyone else...
And at that point, you will give up and think the stock market is not for you.
But the hard truth that took me many years to realize

🔴Stop making 30+ trades a month.
That's one of the dumbest things you can do.
Why?
Because there is not 30 "table pounders" every month.
Trust me, you will do MUCH better if you simply make plays on ultra high confidence plays only and make bigger bets when they come.
Understand that some months there might only be a few compelling plays, but some months there may be dozens.
Let the market come to you & be patient.
More trades does not equal more money.
It's often the exact opposite.