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"Pay Yourself First" Was My Foundation for Wealth Building

Often people save only if there is money left over after expenses and discretionary spending.  This is how I started when I started working....

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

A Reason for the Memory Stock Rout Yesterday

Last night, I found this article SanDisk, Micron stocks plummet as Korea shockwave batters the great memory boom which gives a reason for the sharp decline in memory stocks yesterday.  If this is main or only reason, I expect that memory stocks will be up sharply today.

We'll see if my assessment is correct later today.  If yes, buying MU on discount yesterday was the right move.  It would be great to get a 10% or more advance today.

Disclosure:  I own MU in our accounts, which I purchased Monday and yesterday.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Tuesday, May 12, 2026

MU and STX Buys - Arrrggh!

It wasn't such a good idea to buy MU and STX yesterday.   After going up immediately yesterday, both have declines significantly, up to 10%, by 1PM today.  Volatility cuts both ways, on the way up, and now on the way down.

At this point, I only have a few shares and can afford to hodl through this volatility.  I expect there were a number of stop orders that were crashed through this morning.  Hopefully, the action will settle down by end of day or tomorrow...hopefully.

  • Edit 1:  After dropping as much at 11%, MU has rebounded and is only down 6% at 2:22PM.
  • Edit 2:  What a roller coaster ride.  From yesterday's close of $795 down to a $706 low and back up to close at $767.  I bought MU today on the way down at $750, $745 and $728.  All three buys closed green. Woohoo!
  • Edit 3:  I found this article SanDisk, Micron stocks plummet as Korea shockwave batters the great memory boom about the reason memory chips dropped precipitously today. 

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

TACO Tuesday or NACHO Tuesday?

Hey, it's Tuesday which means TACO, or maybe now NACHO (Not A Chance Hormuz Opens).  Either way, the stock market will react by going up.   

TACO. Iran war is over for the 13th time.   Stock market goes up.

NACHO.  President Trump, "Strait of Hormuz is open."  Stock market goes up.
                 Iran, " Strait of Hormuz is closed."  Stock market goes up.

Can't make this up.   It works until it doesn't.  YMMV.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Monday, May 11, 2026

Feels Like It's 1999

I remember the dot.com bubble.   Stocks would go up 50-100% in a day sometimes.  This went on for months.  Relatives, colleagues and friends would tell me how rich they were getting everyday.   I stayed out of it.   It seemed too good to be true.  Eventually, it was too good to be true when the crash of 2000-2002 happened.

At this point, I'm hodling for now.   I admit, I did buy 2 shares of memory stocks in today's premarket, 1 of MU @ $790.79 and 1 of STX @ 787.87, to ride the rise or decline.  Other than that, I'm avoiding making buys in this market, except of tax loss harvesting.

I was out this morning at the open, when both MU and STX dipped below my purchase prices.  As of 1:20PM, MU was over $800 and STX was $836.  I am hoping both will go over $1000 this week.
 
We'll see how this goes.   

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Is it "Stonks Only Go Up" time?

Since March 23 bottom, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite have been up 6 consecutive weeks.  The Dow was up 5 out of 6 weeks during that time.  The S&P YTD total return is 8.52%. The Nasdaq composite YTD return is 12.8%.   The Dow YTD return is 3.2%. 

These results are after 4 months and would already a great return for a whole year, in the case of the S&P and Nasdaq.  Woohoo! This level of returns is not sustainable longer term, but may continue in the near term for days, weeks or even months.

Is it "Stonks only go up" time?  The answer is "Yes," with the caveat that uncertainty is for how long.  Right now, the market seem irrational, and it will work...until it doesn't, and when it stops working is unpredictable.  In the meantime, I'll enjoy the continued runup, and be prepared for the inevitable correction.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Sunday, May 10, 2026

Where did all the Bears go on WSB?

There were very few bearish comments on WSB (WallStreetBets) tonight, which gives me concern that the top may be in or close.   Pretty much euphoria in most of the comments.   It making me a little cautious and reminds me of the sentiment just before the dot.com crash.

Oh well, we see how tomorrow goes.  For now, I continue to hodl.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

New Tennis Champ in our House

This year, my 13 old son starting beating me in tennis.   Not just barely, but crushing me 6-0.    I've started to have him spot me 4 games in a set when we play now.

I have always been a mediocre tennis player, skill wise.  I made up for the deficiency with hustle and scrappiness.  I walked onto our HS tennis team as a sophomore, never having done more than play tennis at 1 week summer camp a few years in elementary school.   I made the team and was slotted at 3rd doubles.

Each week the coach would have a challenge to determine the seeding of the players/doubles teams.  We were always seeded 3rd doubles at the start.   Each week, we won the the challenge and played 1st double in the match.   We were just scrappier and hustled better than other players who had better skills.

Fast forward to my son.   When he was younger, we put him in many sports activities:  soccer, T-ball, flag football, swimming, golf and tennis.  The only one that stuck was tennis, which he has been playing since 6 years old.   He loves tennis.  We enrolled him in summer tennis camp, had him take lessons, and put him in tournaments.   At 13, he is much better than I ever was.  He can even sub in my Men's Doubles League if needed.

At this point, I am encouraging him to enjoy tennis. It's a sport that can be played even when much older.  In high school, he may tryout for the school team.  He may or may not play in college. Pro, probably not. However, he will have a anchor for high school, college and life, which I consider excellent.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Saturday, May 09, 2026

My Go To Sources for News that Affect My Financial Decisions

CNBC?  Not.  CNN?  Not.    Bloomberg?  Not.

I go to Wallstreetbets on Reddit and my feed on LinkedIn.  Why?   Wallstreetbets posters on the thread What are your moves today, or What are you moves tomorrow. seem to be ahead for news sites by quite a bit.  I read about the shooting at the Correspondents dinner on Wallstreetbets before any of the news sites had articles about it.   One morning, I found out about the missile attacks on U.S. and Iranian ships first on Wallstreetbets.   With almost 20 million members, they seem to keep on top of and post about events that potentially affect financial markets.

LinkedIn members are using posts to promote their business, often taking opposing sides on AI and Investment options.  I get to read both sides and the middle, which offers me the opportunities to see multiple views and make an evaluation myself.

Otherwise, I'm a very low Social Media user.   Never use TikTok, Instagram.   I use YouTube for do-it- yourself repair projects, but never for financial projects.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Friday, May 08, 2026

HUBS - Arrrgh!

HUBS (Hubspot) announced good earnings results, IMHO, but disappointed.  The stock is down 23% and has dropped as much as 26%.   This is one of my "buy the dip" software stocks. It was initially the best performer up as much 24%.  Now, it's the worst performer.  Ah, the excitement of volatility.

Fortunately, HUBS is not a large holding and the rest of the account is doing OK.  For now I'm going to hodl HUBS and wait.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

"I Used to be Young and Poor,

and after working for 40 years, I am no longer ... young." - satircal post from Wall Street Bets.

From what I 've read, that's how many people near or in retirement feel.  Social Security isn't enough.  Retirement savings isn't enough.  Combined, it's still tough to cover all retirement costs, especially growing medical costs and future costs for senior living expenses such as assisted or long term care.

And now, if Congress doesn't act, Social Security benefits will be cut 23-24% across the board in 2033.  Yikes.   That may make some seniors old and poor.

IMHO, to avoid being old and poor, I work with my kids to save as much as they can, up to 20% of their earned income.  Invest the funds in the S&P500 and HODL.  If there is Social Security, consider that a bonus.  If there's an inheritance, that's another bonus.

In our case, our employers had a retirement savings plan but no pension.  We assumed that there would be no Social Security and targeted to save 20X our pre-retirement income before retiring.  In hindsight, 30X would have been better to help during the Great Recession, which occurred immediately after we retired in our 40s.  We did receive Social Security and an inheritance.    

So far it has worked, and we continue to watch and manage our retirement income.  As always, it works until it doesn't.   YMMV.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC