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

The Market Rewarded my Patience with Enjoyment, Excitement and Profit

I've been holding my "buy the dip" stocks since February 2026, through the ups and downs.  I was convinced they were oversold by the AI hype, and that gave me conviction to hold even when the positions went significantly negative.

The stocks were mainly SAAS software stocks, which the Situational Awareness hedge fund was shorting.  Recently, Situational Awareness closed out all their shorts, which may be partially responsible for the recent rebound in SAAS software stocks. I believe there is more room to run for the SAAS software stocks and continue to hold.  I'd like to see them reach about 80% of their previous all time highs before selling significant amount of shares.  

Since I am moving towards simplicity, I will keeping moving towards fewer individual stock positions as the "buy the dip" stock become significantly profitable. This is likely the last time I will purchase "buy the dip" stocks in multiple positions.  While it is an adrenaline rush when the positions go up significantly, there is also more anxiety with the likely volatility, that causes me to be more engaged on a daily basis, which is the opposite of simplicity. 

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Situational Awareness Status

Last week, Leopold Aschenbrenner's letter to investors said that despite a 67% decline in July, Situational Awareness is still up 80% YTD.   The fund has taken steps to stop the decline and preserve fund assets. The fund has survived to see another day.

However, based on what I've read in different articles, it doesn't compute.  For example, one article described the fall from $45B to $10B which is greater than 67%.  I guess there must be other funds besides Situational Awareness in this decline.

Oh well, I expect more details will be share in the coming weeks or months.

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

This is not financial, stock investment, margin, short/long strategy, nor investment advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

A Black Swan Omen?

The hedge fund, Situational Awareness, had a partial liquidation last week via Citadel.  The fund was overleveraged and on the wrong side of memory chip (long)  and SAAS software stock (short) trades.  It was the perfect storm this last week.

Leopold Aschenbrenner is the wunderkind hedge fund manager.  Here is more info about him in Fortune, Daily Mail, and CNBC.

Initially, Leopold made all the right decisions, turning $150M into $25B for his investors.  Until last week, when all his purchases and shorts went against him.  Fortunately for his investors, the fund was not wiped out, at least not yet.

The looming question is if this is a one off event or the first of many cockroach events to come.

We shall see.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Dumping TSLA due to Possible Muskman Shenanigans

Although TSLA was one of my buy the dip stocks, I'm considering selling TSLA once it become slightly profitable.  My reason is that I have lost confidence in TSLA due to SPCX rumors of a TSLA merger or buyout.   Since Muskman is a majority shareholder in both, he controls whether is will happen or not.  I expect Muskman will want all his companies under one corporate structure.  

After seeing Muskman's shenanigans with DOGE, I fully expect more shenanigans with a SPCX merger with or buyout of TSLA.  I don't like the possibility, despite Muskman's success with TSLA.   I believe a merger or buying is merely financial engineering instead of actually creating incremental value. 

However, Muskman is way smarter than me.   After all, he was the first trillionaire, although now a half trillionaire after the 50% decline in SPCX and 33% decline in TSLA.  

We shall see whether I can get out of TSLA for a small profit or become a longer term bag holder.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Not Worried About Declining Market - Yet

Even though the market is falling, I'm still hodling and not selling.    I'm not buying the dip either.   I believe there may be more further downside for longer, which will provide a real time test of my "retirement paycheck" strategy.

Right now, it seems the declines are rotating through different sectors.  Some of my stock sectors seem to have "balance."    When semis go down, software stocks go up.  When software stocks go down, semis go up.   I know this form of volatility my be transitional and eventually every position will go one direction, up or down.

In the meantime, I'm monitoring how my interest and dividends "retirement paycheck" is delivering.  As long as the amount remains relatively stable on annual basis, I won't be worried.  So far, the payments have been as expect for the first half of 2026..

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Are SAAS Stocks Back?

I'm still hodling my buy the dip stocks that were purchased in February 2026.  It's been a wild ride.  First they appeared to be recovering.  Then they dropped to 52 week lows last week.  Now, they are up 20-40% in just the first three days of this week.  What a roller coaster.

In the meantime, memory and space stocks which were on a tear since the beginning of 2026 are now down as much as 50% in the past month.   Muskman is no longer a trillionaire.  Muskman has lost his shine, along with the decline of space stocks and TSLA .  AI has also become tarnished as its capabilities seem less miraculous than doomsayers claim.  On the other hand, SAAS stocks have regained their previous luster. 

As I wrote two weeks ago, I've stopped buying the dip.   I'm sticking to that right now.  However, I'm slightly scaling out of one position, HUBS, since I am a little overinvested in HUBS. Otherwise, I am comfortable hodling my SAAS stock positions for a 100% return by end of year.

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Is It Time to Add More Fixed Income?

Back in 2021, I bought a CD paying 1% because I agreed with Bernanke when he said interest rates would never be high again in his lifetime.  Well, Ben is still alive and interest rates are now up to 5%.   My 2021 CD matures this year and I can reinvest it.

Historically, 5% has been a very good long term interest rate.  I've already put some funds into the 20 year treasury bond yielding a little over 5%.   I will wait to see how interest rates move before making our next bond investments.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Stock Market is Looking Really Ugly

The market sentiment is worsening.  With memory stocks falling precipitously, SAAS stocks still down,  AI stocks taking a hit, and even Space stock taking a dive, there doesn't appear anywhere that is protected, except maybe fixed income.  Wall Street Bets is now highly negative with numerous losses being posted.

The declines are becoming bigger, the recoveries are becoming smaller, leading to more investors carrying losses.  Some may start panic selling.  I know I'm starting to feel the urge to close out some of my small gains. 

However, I keep reminding myself of our strategy to create a monthly retirement "paycheck," and I stay the course.   I continue to hodl the majority of our investment positions, with only sales of peripheral small positions.   If the market continues to decline, it will be a first test of our "paycheck" strategy.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Volatility is Back and I Don't Care for Now

First, it was SAAS dropping and not recovering.  Now, it's memory stocks dropping 30-40% after a 9 month parabolic run and all time highs last week.  What's next??  The answer is:  I don't know.  The market may go down, stay the same or go up.  Hopefully, my new strategy will enable me not to care.

Why?   In the past year, I've sent up our investments to create a monthly "paycheck," which will be independent of market volatility.  However, since I created the "paycheck" the market has not had a major pullback.  Most of the time, it has rebounded quickly.

This time, it may continue downward for a longer period.  My immediate reaction will be to do nothing, no adding new positions, and neither selling nor buying for existing positions other that to thin out individual stocks or adding market ETFs.

Will I be agnostic to volatility?   I hope so. We shall see.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

I Quit Buying the Dip

I've stopped buying the dips.  I admit that is has been exciting, an adrenaline rush, that I have enjoyed; but it's not a long term situation that is sustainable. It requires more attention and work than I want in the future.  The index funds are less exciting, but less volatile, and require much less attention.  Overall, I have done better with the index funds than the individual stocks at this point.  Thus, I'm moving back to thinning out my individual stock holdings and investing in broad market equity funds and fixed income.

Basically, it's no longer fun and is becoming stressful.  If I had sold all my buy the dip stocks when initially profitable, I would have made money on all but one.  Instead, I held, hoping for bigger gains and instead half of them dropped to 52 week lows.  Psychologically,  I'm now a long term investor (cynically known as bag holder), waiting for them to profitable again, if ever.   Definitely, not fun and is stressful.

However, I plan to still hodl the buy the dip software stocks I purchased in February 2026.   I won't add to them if they decline further, and I won't sell if get slightly above breakeven.   Also, I still reserve the option to occasionally purchase an individual stock, but I plan to add no new positions and, longer term, reduce to only 10-20 individual stock positions maximum.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Being More Greedy for Now

I've been selling off our small share holdings just as they become profitable, even though it is a small percentage.   This is consistent with my objective of simplifying our equity holdings.  However, lately, if I had held some of this small positions a bit longer, I would have had more gains.  For example, I sold SandDisk for 58.51 for a very small gain in September 2025, after it was spun off from Western Digital in March 2025 and carried a loss.   Today, SandDisk is about $2000, benefitting from memory shortage due to AI needs.

Of course, even if I had held it, I would have sold long ago, probably less than $100 since I have had previous stock pop over 100% only to pull back and go below my purchase price.  However, now I have a few more stocks that are approaching breakeven after being down many years including: KOPN, DFTX, OUST, CLOV, PSNL, and NWL.  While my strategy is to sell immediately when profitable, I'm temporarily going to be more greedy and hold for bigger profits.

Being greedy can backfire and lose the small gains that I have, but it seems the market is irrational enough that I can stay greedy at least until October 2026, just before the midterm elections.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Wendy's - A Lotto Buy on New WSB Meme Stock

Every so often, Wall Street Bets focus stock becomes a meme stock that members are enthusiastic about buying.  The most famous and biggest meme stock surge is GameStop in 2021.  Others have had much smaller advance, but still attracted buyers.

The latest meme stock is Wendy's (WEN), which is a well know fast food chain.  Wendy's is the most famous running jock on Wall Street Bets, working there officially or unofficially (NSFW) due to losing bets in the stock market.  However, this time the members are out to save Wendy's with a concerted effort to help the stock surge.  Additional factors that may help the surge are:  New management and about 35% short interest.

A number of WSB members are buying large amounts of WEN and gambling on a big win.  Not me.  I just consider this a lotto ticket, likely to lose but entertaining to buy some.   I bought 10 shares of WEN last Thursday.  It's more expensive than most scratch off tickets, but I can deduct the losses when I have a losing lotto stock pick.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Entertainment from Stock Investing

Investing in the stock market used to be hard work and lots of worry for me.  I analyzed stocks, read reports and investment newsletters, and looked for value opportunities. I had to decide when to purchase and when to sell, which resulted in some anxiety when the stock when down after purchasing and rose after selling.  It was like having a stressful job.

Recently, I have changed our investment strategy to focus on creating a monthly "retirement paycheck" through dividend and interest payments.  This has reduced the pressure on me for choosing the best stocks for capital gains and deciding when to buy and sell.  Whether I make a right or wrong decision (either the stock choice or when to buy and sell), it has little effect on the monthly "retirement paycheck" we receive.

Now I consider buying and selling stock for capital gains like entertainment.  I set aside a small amount of funds that can be used for this purpose. If I make gains, great.   I end up with losses, that's OK too.  Best of all,  I can buy and hold comfortably and have fun watching the stock going up, hopefully.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Comfortable Hodling SAAS Stocks

I bought beat down SAAS software starting in February 2026.  These stocks have been on roller coaster ride since then.  Some dropping further and rebounding.  Some just dropping further.  Then most of them rebounded.   Unfortunately, all have fallen again, and some even to new 52 week lows.  It's ugly right now.

In the past, I would be itching to sell as soon as a position became profitable, and sometimes just at breakeven.  My attitude is different nowadays.   First, I am no longer dependent on stock gains to fund our retirement.  Second, I believe this stocks have good businesses, despite the concern that AI will eliminate a lot of current customers.  Third, I believe that these stocks will recover as results from using AI show that the cost isn't worth the actual benefit.

I have significantly reduced the impact of a loss, and therefore, minimized the risk for retirement income, due to creating sustainable income via interest and dividends.  This has allowed me to maintain conviction that the SAAS dip investment is good investment decision.   Thus, I hodl.

As usual, YMMV.  

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

These are Scary Times for the Stock Market

I have been in the stock market since 1980.    TBH, I have always feared a crash like 1929 that started the Great Recession.  That fear has kept me from  being fully invested. 

I have been through several bear markets and short term crashes, each time fearing it would become 1929 again:  1987, 2002, 2008, 2020 and recently 2022.   With each decline/crash, I had great anxiety caused by losing significant invested funds.

Right now, I still think there is reason for caution, as shown by the Buffet Indicator, the Case-Shiller Index the AI bubble stocks.  However, I'm not as anxious as much as before, due to investments in "safer" fixed income options, such as CDs, Treasuries, and Municipal bond funds.  I expect these to help me ride out any significant crash or bear market, until it recovers.   In addition, I have some cash set aside to put in the market if it falls.  I haven't had this cash cushion in previous declines.

Of course, how I weather the next decline is theoretical since the strategy hasn't been tested in a downturn yet.   As Yogi Berra said, "In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.  In practice, there is."  

We shall see.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Test of My New Investing Strategy

Today, Micron (MU) reports earning after the market closes.  Possibility, there will be a lot of volatility after earning and guidance is reported, either up or down.  I'm going to just hodl and not worry about it with my new investing strategy, which creates a monthly retirement "paycheck" independent of market volatility.

Thus, I am hodling my shares of MU, without gritting my teeth.  Which ever way the stock moves after hours and tomorrow, won't affect my retirement "paycheck" this month.  In addition, I have conviction that memory chips will continue to be limited in supply, which means MU profits will be improving since the price of chips is going up.

Instead of checking on MU every minute of today, I power washed our deck, "touched some grass," and checked on MU during my breaks.

Update: Although MU closed down slightly, it was up about 16% AH due to outstanding earnings.  Woohoo!

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Still Not Buying SpaceX

I'm still on the sidelines watching SPCX.  I'm waiting for it to fall below its initial IPO price of $135, which is below its opening price of $150 on June 12, 2026, the first day of trading.  At $135, all retail owners will be underwater, which may create a selling dynamic driving the price down further.

On the other hand, adding SPCX to the indices is expected to drive prices up, due to buying pressure. On June 29, 2026, SPCX will be added to the MSCI and Russell indices.  In early July 2026, SPCX will be added to the Nasdaq 100 index.  SPCX won't be added to the S&P500 until after a 1 year waiting period and achieving 4 quarters of GAAP profitability.  

The valuation of SPCX doesn't make sense to me.  It seems people are betting on Muskman to deliver extraordinary valuation like Telsa.   For reference, Telsa has a market cap greater than the next 35 car companies, despite being seventh in profitability.  Huh??  I guess that's the Muskman premium.

In 2025, SPCX lost $4.9 billion, yet valuation is about $2 trillion.  IMHO, the Muskman premium isn't worth that much.  I think I will wait until SPCX is under $10 before think about buying.  Today, SPCX closed at $157.73, down $30.40 or 14.74%.  

However, FWIW, I've often been wrong about tech/internet stock early valuation including many of the current top market cap stocks.

Disclosure:  I currently own Tesla stock (TSLA) despite being overvalued by traditional metrics.

For more on Strategies and Plans, 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

SpaceX or ScamX?

Let's just say, I didn't buy any of the SpaceX IPO shares.  I didn't buy any SpaceX in the open market today.  I have no interest in buying SpaceX in the near future.  The valuation doesn't make sense to me and is way to high.   

However, I'm not going to bet against Muskman, who has been doing masterclass in financial  engineering and corporate finance to maximum valuations for his companies.  I'm going to watch from the sidelines for now.

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

Saved by TACO Thursday

President Trump cancelled the Iran strikes scheduled for this evening.  The markets reacted by reversing on going up significantly.   

At this point, I am no longer buying the dip in anticipation of a TACO.   I'm just hodling what I have already.   Some are up and some are still down from my buying the dip  in February 2026.  Most of the stocks are SAAS software stocks that are down 50-70% from their highs. 

Although each succeeding TACO has less impact, I expect President Trump to continue TACOing up until the midterm election.  It may be hopium to hodl and we shall see.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC