Blackberry (BB) Hopium: Big Loser in 2025, Winning Big in 2026 So Far

In early 2025, I bet big (for me) with call options on BB going up to $7-10 by 2026 in both a taxable account and a Roth account.   All the call options expired in January 2026 at a strike of $7 or $10.   They all expired worthless.  I lost $113.98 on three $7 call options and $170.64 on four $10 call options for a total 284.62  in the taxable account.  I lost $148.30 on five $7 call options and $169.30 on five $10 call options for a total of $317.60 in the Roth account.

Coming into 2026, I was still interested in buying call options for BB, but more conservatively.  I ended up only getting one $7 call option on April 10, 2026 that expires in January 2027 for $7 when BB was $3.90.  Based on my losing experience in 2025, I decided not to be aggressive with BB call options.  I tried to get another $7 call option in my taxable account at $7 but it did not execute. I quit trying after the option started increasing in value when BB stock value rose.

Fast forward to Friday, April 22, 2026, when BB closed at $7.99 and achieved a 52-week high.   The $7 call option is now worth $1.485 per share or $148.50 for the contract.  My profit is now $141.50.  So, maybe I wasn't wrong about BB, just a year too early in buying options.  We shall see.

My plan is to hodl until the $7 call option is worth $3.50, which would be $343 profit and offset the loss of $317.60 in my Roth account on BB options earlier this year.  If BB should significantly rally to $20, my call option would be worth $11 or more per share or $1100 for the contract.   That's what I'm hoping will happen so that I cover the previous losses and make additional profit.   Hopium at its best.

Disclosure:  I've owned BB in a taxable account and Roth account since 2021.

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

No Space X (SPCE) IPO for me

I'm not buying into the Space X IPO.  

1. I don't like IPOs.  Too volatile.
2. I think Muskman stocks are overrated, even though I am trading Tesla.
3. Muskman is the ultimate government parasite.  Tesla never made money selling cars.  It made made money from selling carbon credits from the government to other car companies.

To note, I'm always wrong.  I didn't invest in the AAPL, AMZN and META IPOs.   Probably best to inverse me.

Disclosure:  I own AAPL, AMZN and META at this time.

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

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

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GameSlop and Ryan Cohen

I remember when Eddie Lampert took over Sears.  Many thought he would be a savior.  Instead, he was destroyer and Sears no longer exists.

Ryan Cohen founded Chewy in 2011, which he then sold to PetSmart in 2017.  At first, people thought Ryan Cohen would be the activist savior for Gameslop when he joined the board in January 2011, in line with a Nelson Peltz.   Turns out, he is no where close to Peltz and is likely closer to, if not overlapping, with Eddie Lambert.   

Cohen's latest activity was offering to buyout Ebay, with half stock and half cash.  Nevermind that GameSlop has a 10 billion dollar capitalization and Ebay has a 52 billion dollar capitalization.  The math doesn't work, even if one is regarded.

Although I made a tiny bit of money on the original GameSlop run in 2021, I regret buying 2 shares for $51.70 in June 2024 when it popped.   No more believing Ryan Cohen will revitalize GameSlop before it's demise.

Disclosure: I own shares of GameStop (GME) in my Roth account.   

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Hunting for Coupons and Sales

I've always been a coupon and sales hound, and I continue to be one in retirement.  Coupons for free items, with no purchase necessary, are one my favorites.   These are usually grocery store coupons for grocery stores within 2 miles of my house.  Then, there are coupons that give you another product with a purchase.  Recently, I got a $16.99 ratchet adapter set for free with a purchase, and I needed it.  Of course, there always the BOGO, buy one get one, free coupons.  My favorite coupon retailer is Costco.  Coupon are automatically applied at checkout for significant savings.

Then there are the holiday sales:  President's day, Spring Black Friday, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Black Friday, yada, yada, yada.  Luckily, when we need a major kitchen appliance, it was during on of these holiday sales.  Recently, I bought an oscillating tool package for about 50% off the individual components.  One of my routine favorites is buying my anti virus software during black Friday.  The normal price is $80 and I can buy for $20.   Since the activation key never expires, I buy a couple and install them as needed.

Is it worth my time to find the coupons and sales?  Do I really save enough money to justify the effort?  Probably not, but I find the effort fun and entertaining, even though my family feels it's too much effort.  But then again, I may score big when we get a new car, since our cars are 14, 23 and 24 years old.

Disclosure: No compensation was received from Costco for this post.

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Less Need to Turn Off the Lights

When I was a kid, I was always instructed to turn off the lights when not using, and reminded when I didn't turn out the lights.  The rationale was electricity costs money and leaving lights on when not needed wasted electricity. True, especially with incandescent lights, which give off significant heat also.

With LED lights, the amount of electricity used for the same amount of light is 75-85% less.   While electricity is still wasted when left on, it is much lower than when I was growing up.   Still an issue, but much less than with incandescent light bulbs.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Free is a Good Price

I like free stuff.  Especially, if it's something I use frequently or need.

• My tennis club allows family members  or junior members (17 and under) to use indoor tennis courts for free, if they "walk on" a few minutes before and don't make a reservation.  I do walkon with my son 2 times a week, which saves 50-75 dollars a week if I reserve and pay the hourly charge.  We live 5 minutes away from our tennis club.   This more than covers the cost of our membership fee, which includes swimming during the summer.
• My grocery and hardware store occasionally offer coupons for free items to membership customers.  Sometimes awesome products, sometimes minor products but free.   My grocery free items are usually 1-2 dollars and no other purchase is required.  My first free hardware item was $16.99 and it was useful.
• My neighbor and I routinely share tools and help each other with DIY repairs.   I admit, he gives much more than me, but we consider it fair.  My best story about him:  I inherited a snow blower from my in-laws which hadn't been used for 5 years and the gas had not been drained.  As a result, it wouldn't start.  I moseyed over to his garage to borrow some carburetor cleaner.  Instead, he decided to take apart the carburetor, clean it and reassemble it.  It started after he did that.
• My broker financial advisors did a free analysis on when I should start taking Social Security payments.  Two different brokers recommended the same:  take as soon as possible. 
• The tax preparation company I worked in would offer free tax planning advice throughout the year to every client who had paid to do the previous year's taxes.  Despite being free, clients never took my offer and didn't contact the company off season.

OK, some may point out that these aren't really free.  After all, I have already paid a club membership fee, bought some product, or contracted for a service.  I'm just getting extra product or service in addition to what I already purchased.  Fair point, but I still feel like I get it for free because it would be an out of pocket cost if I did it elsewhere.  Feel free to convince me otherwise.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Bond Values Drop when Interest Rates Rise

Most of my account values are falling due to interest rates rising.  That's because bond/CD values go down when interest rates go up.  Similarly, bond/CD values go up when interest rates fall.

I'm not worried about bond/CD values going down since my plan is to hold to maturity, which means I receive 100% of par value, which is usually the issue price. While waiting for maturity, I am paid a 4-5% total annual payment for holding the bond/cd, no matter what the interest rate is.   The bond/CD payment is what is really important to me, and it will be consistent no matter what the interest rate is.   

That is my strategy for retirement income at this time so that I can be stock market volatility agnostic.  This will be one of the first tests on the strategy.

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This is not financial, fixed income, nor retirement advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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No Believable TACO, Stocks Fall

The stock market has become accustomed to President Trumps TACOs, on Tuesday no less.   This time he tried to TACO pre-Tuesday, but the UAE has denied requesting a delay.   

Lately, the runups from TACOs have lasted for shorter times.  This runup barely lasted Tuesday morning before collapsing.

Buying expecting a TACO works until it doesn't.  Maybe that is now...

We'll see at EOD whether a weak TACO works.

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Holding Off Buying More Fixed Income for Now

Arrrgh!  Interest rates are going up.  Recently, I've been buying 20 year Treasuries which are yielding 5%.   I've been scaling in just in case interest rise.

I'm going to stop buying the 20 year Treasury for now and wait for interest rates to be close to 5.5% before resuming.  I will also stop buying municipal bond funds at this time due to interest rates rising.

However, this will be a good test of my current strategy of creating a retirement paycheck and being agnostic to stock market and interest rate volatility.  We'll see how the strategy weathers this event.

Of course, it works until it doesn't and YMMV.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

I've Been A Stock Market Scaredy-Cat

In the past, with every market pump, I've been scared to get in.  When the market finally dips, I've been scared to get in.  I expect that the Great Recession/Depression type bear market is going to happen.

As a result, I've never been fully invested in equities.

I still think that there will be an inevitable bear market.  The stock market can't keep going up forever, even with President Trump continuous encouragement and TACOs.  However, I have developed an investment strategy that will help me weather a bear market and keep my kids fully invested for the long term.

For now, I believe that March 31, 2026 is the bottom from which this rally has started. Although, I bought the dip prior to March 31, I'm going to hodl there is a clear top, which sometimes is hard to define.   In the meantime, I'm buying bonds and bond funds to create regular income, which should enable us to survive the stock volatility downward should it occur suddenly.

I still don't see a clear top yet.   So, I'm hodling at this time.

On the other hand, I'm having them make monthly investments into the S&P 500 Index in their Roth accounts, when they qualify for them, and continue to do so for 40 years.   For their 529 plan, they are invested mostly in CDs since they need the money in few years.  However, we're putting new 529 contributions into an S&P 500 Indext.

We shall see if this cures me from being a Scaredy-Cat.  Of course, this works until it doesn't and YMMV.  

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC