Selling a Stock is a Difficult Decision for Me

I don't have a good methodology for deciding when to sell a stock. I usually base the decision on vibes or locking in a certain percentage of gains.  Unfortunately, this approach sometimes causes me to miss out on big gains as described in Panic Selling Winners Reduced My Investment Returns.  I tend to sell my winners, for small gains, especially after they have dipped significantly.

My spouse tends to ignore the volatility and just hodl.  As a result, she has up to 1800% gains on GOOGL which she has held since 2013.    On the other hand, I probably sold at 20 to 30% gains and never bought back in.  The difference is she held through all the dips instead of panicking and selling later.

That's what is difficult for me, holding after a big dip.  I have had some stocks go up 500-1000% which then go down  50% or more and never rise again.  Psychologically, I am afraid that will happen with any stock that rises and then dips.  So I settle for locking in profits at much lower gains.

I've only kept one profitable stock long term, stock from the company I worked for and retired from.  That stock is in my profit sharing retirement account, which was contributed 100% by the company.   I've held it partly because of NUA tax benefits, partly because of inertia of transferring the shares, and partly because it is a good company.  The shares are up 2700%.   Woohoo.

If only I was able to do that reproduce by not selling and hodling stocks like AAPL, GOOGL and AMZN.  Ah, hindsight is 20/20.

For more on Reflections and Musings, check back every  Saturday for a new segment.

This is not financial, stock selling, nor investment advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Making Bank on Buy the Dip Stocks - For Now

I bought the dip on SAAS software stocks in early February 2026.  They dipped further before rebounding overall for gains in March.  Then they dipped again in April 2026 and then rebounded again in May 2026.  The big swoon happened in June with most buy the dip stocks going underwater as much as 50% and flattening in early July.   Then another big rebound in late July and early August gave me the highest overall gains to date, despite a few stocks still being underwater.  

It's been quite a roller coaster ride.  The biggest gainer is TEAM, up about 75%, followed by MSFT, up about 25%, both of which were my largest share purchases.  Two fallen stocks are down about 5% and 18%.   In total, I'm up about 14%.  Not bad for a little over 7 months.

Data as of the close on August 12, 2026.

While I'm enjoying the gains, I have quit buying dips.   I continue to hodl to September,  just before midterms.

Of course, it works until it doesn't.

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday for a new segment.

This is not financial, stock investment, nor investment advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Becoming Addicted to Free and Fast Delivery

Many years ago, delivery came at a price that driving to pick up, for me, was more economical.  Even when delivery prices were lowered, I chose to pick up.   Occasionally, I would exceed the minimum for free delivery, which I would take.

Then came Amazon Prime, which offered free delivery for a membership fee.  At first, we did not become a Prime member.  Then our purchases began increasing, making a Prime membership worth it.   The local big box stores started offering free shipping when above a minimum threshold.   Sometimes, there are promotions for completely free shipping or members of the rewards program.

Nowadays, I often don't go the store anymore.  I research on the internet, place my order, and get it delivered in 1-2 days.  Sometimes, there is even free same day delivery.

I don't know if it's because I'm older; I don't like searching in the store; or I don't like the time it takes to drive to the store.  Whatever the reason, I'm using the internet more to buy items and get it delivered.

However, I still don't and I don't plan to order online and get delivery of groceries.  I still prefer to shop and pick out my items for purchase, especially the fresh produce, at least for now.

For more on Crossing Generations, check back every Thursday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Starting to Sell Short Dated Covered Calls

Last week, I started to sell short dated  (1 month expiration or less) way out of the money (OTM) covered calls on some of my stock positions in my Roth account.   

Here's my rationale:

• First, I willing to sell at the strike price if it hits.  For example, I sold the 30 strike price with 2 weeks expiration when SLS was around 10.  I received $30 premium.  If the price triples in 2 weeks, great, I'm happy to sell. 
• Second, I make some extra money, known as option premium, for selling the cover call.

This works because some stocks have high IV (implied volatility) which makes the premium very high.  Not all stocks have a high IV.   SLS is a small biotech currently in phase 3 clinical trials, which results expected before year end.

I also sold a a short dated covered call on NNBR with a 5 strike with 2 weeks expiration for $20  premium when the stock was around 4.

It appears both call will expire worthless on August 21, 2026 and I will keep the premiums as profit.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every Wednesday for a new segment.

This is not financial, investment, nor covered call selling advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Keeping Oil and Precious Metal Stocks

With Iran claiming that they are willing to wait until 2029 to end the war, I'm hodling (for now) my oil and precious metal stocks for now.  Oil reserves are very low, the dollar is weakening, and there is no end in sight for the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

However, I am not buying more oil or precious metal stocks. I feel I have enough holdings already.  However, I plan to sell some holding into strength, especially if they rise to new 52 week highs.

For more on  Ideas You Can Use, check back every  Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial, policy nor investment advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Website Upgrade Complaint Miraculously Solved

Recently, I decided to give regular feedback to customer service about their website, rather than just put up with the issue.   Maybe it's working.

Over the weekend, my broker did a significant update to their website. I tried to login to a brokerage account website.  It wouldn't allow me to login.  I called tech support and their solution of clearing the cache worked.   When I logged in, the brokerage had updated the website.  Unfortunately, the website only showed 1/3 of the stock positions and there was no way to scroll down.  I reversed the alphabetical order and it only showed he bottom 1/3 of holding, but didn't allow view the first 2/3's.   

I called tech support again, but hung up after waiting 53 minutes.  I called a different number which was answered right away.  I explained the problem but was told that "the back office" was not in on the weekend and needed to be contacted Monday to Friday during business hours.  I said, "Please inform IT of the issue before Monday, if you can."

I hung up expecting to wait until Monday.  I tried logging in again and miraculously the "problem" was solved.  I was able to access all the stock positions.   

Finally, I admit that I'm often the first customer to report a website issue.   Maybe, IT was already working on it or maybe, my call in got some attention. 

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every  Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial, IT nor customer service advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Buying Treasuries not CDs

For my fixed income bonds, I'm buying Treasuries, not CDs, to lock in 5% rate for longer terms.   Simply, Treasuries guarantee paying the same coupon rate until maturities.   Most, if not all, long term CDs are callable, meaning if interest rates fall, the bank will terminate the CD early.   Call dates are as little as 3 months to one year in the future for 10 year CDs.   So if interest rates drop, that will be the end of one's CD.

Coupon rates of 5% for Treasuries have historically be high and therefore, attractive.   Of course, interest rates may rise further, but I don't expect them to stay high for long.   Also, I wouldn't mind buying some Treasuries at 6 or 7% yield if that should happen.

To address the risk of rising interest rates, I'm scaling in over the year when buying Treasuries, instead of committing all of the funds in a single purchase.  That way, if interest rates should rise, I will still have funds to invest in bonds.   If interest should fall, I will have locked in at least 5% for part of my fixed income funds.

For more on Strategies and Plans Ideas , check back every Monday Saturday Sunday for a new segment.

This is not financial, bond investment, nor investment advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The New Groundhog Day

I saw this on LinkedIn:

ROFLMAO.

Disclosure:  I did not receive any compensation from LinkedIn or Groundhog Day for writing this post.

For more on New Beginnings, check back every Sunday for a new segment.

This is not financial, policy nor investment advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Muskman - BIGGEST Government Parasite

Muskman was a master at financial engineering that maximized the benefit from the carbon tax credit program, which essentially was the government subsidizing Tesla.  Congress let it happen by allowing businesses to sell their unused carbon tax credits instead of only offsetting taxes on profits. 

Tesla made money mainly by selling government issued carbon credits to other car companies.  Calling people on government assistance government parasites is a bit... well, hypocritical, IMHO.  Musk took advantage of the tax benefit, and gamed the system since Tesla only produced electric cars that had no carbon emissions, and earned carbon tax credits which Tesla could not use, but could sell.  

The article below shows that Muskman knows exactly that SpaceX is likely to follow the Tesla path using government assistance to reap profits for a private business.

Elon Musk says SpaceX is like Union Pacific, which is extremely funny if you know what actually happened to Union Pacific

For more on Reflections and Musings, check back every Saturday for a new segment.

This is not financial nor business advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Was I Brilliant This Week?

Yep, that's a great question.

• With exception of HUBS, my "buy the dip stocks" which are mostly SAAS software stocks (e.g. TEAM, ADBE, NOW, and CRM) and MSFT made a great comeback this week.  One of my best ever weeks since buying the dip.
• My memory stocks fell, but not too hard.
• TSLA, which has fallen significantly, about 25%, in the past month is creeping back up.
• Unlike Situational Awareness hedge fund, I didn't lose $30 Billion shorting SAAS software stocks and being long AI stocks. Not bragging, but I was did over $30 billion better that this hedge fund.

Nah, I was lucky.

• Situational Awareness needed to close out billions of dollars of short positions on SAAS software stock, which drives up the price.
• AI hype is diminishing as it is more evident that benefits are not evident.
• SPCX, which is highly dependent on delivering AI, fell 50% from its high.
• President Trump's TACO seemed to have more impact this week
• Finally, it's still a strong bull market, despite what bearish pundits continually claim.

Someday, I may become brilliant, but this is not the week.

For more on  Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday for a new segment.

This is not financial, investment nor bragging advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC