Why I am not trading for a few months and investing in Self. $$

By Alex Nuttall - Bio

The Sell Off

I sold all my lowly shares of $PWAV.  That's Powerwave Technologies for those of you who have just stepped into the conversation.  I sold 30.  That's not a lot, but that was enough for me.

OgFOMK ArTS monkey business by R. Nuttall (c)

What's Next?

Something tugged at my intellectual heart-strings. If you know me, you will know that there is barely a line between my heart, head, and stomach.  This makes me a well rounded lucky fool.  So what happened was that I read my latest favorite personality Jim Altucher who I have a truck load of respect for.  What he pointedly made me think of was that I needed to invest in myself before I invest my money in anything else.

Now if you have a lot of disposable income it might be a good idea for you to find a broker that you trust and invest with him or her. You might do a trinity of two brokers (who don't know each other but you trust) and get an investing account for yourself. This way you can win if everyone plays fare, but if you have some unscrupulous character involved you might get a chance to win anyway.

So the what's next is that I am going to invest in an ereader.  I am thinking the Kindle because it is so inexpensive. It has WIFI, plays MP3's (Does it play ogg? It should.), it has a Web browser that is not too bad, it is small, long battery life, and some.  I played with one the other day in Best Buy.  I liked it.

The ereader is about me reading more. There are many great bloggs where investors and other pundits bleed knowledge. It wont substitute the experience but it can at least get me in the game with a chance. For those of you who say, "Book knowledge is no substitute for real life experience." I say, "bullshit".

There are plenty of people I have worked in the last 22 years in construction who still don't know their ass from their elbow.  They do the same crap over and over and they rely upon someone else to solve their problems or they coast by rote and make some progress but in the long run... waste time. On the other hand I have bought books on construction, read trade journals, taken classes and learned by rote. I make more money because of this. I am an expert. I can hold a conversation with the owner, architect and my fellow workers. I'd like to do the same with trading and stocks. I don't have time for rote.

Ye Olde Hardware (c) OgFOMK ArTS 2011

Right now I am using an old laptop. My old laptop is 10 times better than your new laptop because it runs Xubuntu, Ubuntu and Windows XP. It has WIFI (I installed it myself), it has a DVD/CDRW drive.... bla bla bla. BUT! It is a big clunky monster that has a 45 minute battery life.  It gets very hot. The power supply I have a heat sink on top of to keep it from melting. I love it.

That's is what is next.  Get a smaller piece of network hardware so I can read more.

GOALS

I still have my goals. They are like the Bob Dillon song "a changin'". I have been looking for a mentor kind of character. I need some kind of person who can give me the ear and the finger.  I have had some noted personalities in my life like this. They have been incredible and exactly what I needed at the time. Those relationships did not last.

CHANGES

A friend of mine, The Legendary Reverend Snatchmo, once said: "Alex changes his religion like some people change their underwear." I was inspired by the stories of Ramakrishna, so I decided I should learn the many too.

Cookie Monster, Siddhartha and Elmo with Mala by R. Nuttall (c) OgFOMK ArTS 2010

Today I am a Buddhist. Buddhism is pretty easy. I am responsible for everything, so I can't blame anyone. I can pray if I want because no Buddhist will ever tell me praying is stupid. I do have some responsibilities or precepts (prescribed behaviors). I follow at least one a day for a few minutes.

THE PORTFOLIO

My little portfolio now stands in that mystical area between ACH and Bank Account. I am keeping my trading account, but she will be empty for a few months. I was disappointed with my decisions and my lack of discipline.  I was not patient.  I was disillusioned. I was over confident. I was me.

What killed me was my constant buys and sells. I spent $75 in commission and that was a waste of money.  Better to go to a fake portfolio and track those results than to pretend I am big time.

I want to put a larger sum of money into one stock and leave it.  I don't know what to do. I just don't know what to do.

The Velvet Reverend Al (c) OgFOMK ArTS 2011

WRITING

I have been writing as a writer for 25 years. Out of all of the things I have done, this is what I am most proud of.  Once in 1992 I burned all of my notebooks.  This was a stack of 15.  I managed to later find digital copies of some of my work. It has always been about non-attachment.  Non-attachment was not about some enlightened point of view, but the fact that I knew I could lose any stability I had at any time.  This is the dumbest wisdom I have ever espoused. Sabotage is not sacrifice.

Today I am writing because it makes sense.  In the dynamic universe known as life writing is what gives us the ability to see the graffiti on the wall from the past triumphs and losses. Thank you Google for this blog we are about to receive.