SPECIAL NOTE:
My wife and I will be traveling in Europe for the next several weeks. We will be having guest Editorials during this period. I am still submitting the CLIENT EMAILS portion of the Cow Report. Will return to writing the Editorial upon returning to the States.
Thanks,
Joseph R. Hooper
Given Joseph is still on vacation, Greg Beauchamp will write this week's editorial. Greg teaches the Compound Stock Earnings Monthly and Weekly Credit Spread Seminars and is also in change of our Weekly Credit Spread Platinum Selections Service. He has now been trading with Compound Stock Earnings for over six years and is a very valuable part of our team.
GUEST EDITORAL:
I am quite honored (and a bit afraid) to be asked to write this week’s “Joe Hooper Editorial.” I’m afraid because
a) I’m typically long-winded, and
b) I like to be funny, but I’m the only one who thinks I’m funny, so Joe will read this and think, “that’s dumb” and Aaron will have to explain to him that I’m trying to be funny, then, Joe will say, “well, it’s not funny,” and Aaron will explain to him that I’m never as funny as I think, and Joe will say, “remind me to never ask him again”... and
c) I never consider myself smart enough to teach a seminar, or run a platinum service, much less write an editorial on Joe’s behalf; and
d) I’m long-winded (and tend to repeat myself).
Rules-based trading is critically important. Rules-based trading was one of the critical aspects that brought me to Compound Stock Earnings. Rules-based trading is crucial for success. It takes emotion out of our decision-making process, and allows us to act with reason. It allows us to be ruthless traders, not blown here and there by emotions. Emotions are the primary cause of trading failure. We allow fear or greed to affect our decisions, and that effects our results (I did use affect and effect correctly – I looked it up so you don’t have to).
When you use the Compound Stock Earnings rules-based trading, you can rationally follow the rules. While there are subjective decisions to make, there are always rules to guide us. I’ve spoken to hundreds of clients over the past six years, and every one who loses money breaks the rules. Invariably, after a costly lesson on rule breaking, these clients get back to the rules and start producing the consistent returns that most of us regularly enjoy.
Speaking of emotions, I’ve found that I am a much better trader when emotions are held in check. That’s hard for me, because I’m an emotional person. I like to live big, and love big, and laugh hard. I even cry (there, I said it. I didn’t want to say it, but one look at any scene of Brian’s Song and I turn to a blubbering idiot (I know the idiot part is simple to believe)) (are you impressed that I keep track of open parenthesis?). As an emotional person, I have to be careful that I don’t trade with greed or fear. They are the two worst emotions any trader can have. Here’s what I do: first, I remember the rules, and make sure I follow them to the letter. Second, I remember that there are a lot of things more important than my trading results. My significance is NOT based on trading. I look at The Lovely (my wife of 21 years) and my three kids, and know that there are a lot of things more important than trading. When I have a great month, I don’t puff my chest and think I’m more special than I was. If I have a losing trade, I don’t take it personally. I move on, just as anyone would do in any business. At the end of the day, if I have my faith, and my family, and everyone is healthy, then life is good. And with that perspective, I have little greed nor fear in my trading.
Money is not the most important thing in life. I don’t want to get too philosophical here, and I’d feel much better if this were all only funny. Money is a tool to provide for the necessities in life for you and your family; and it is fun to have a bit extra for things you enjoy; and it can be used to make the world a better place.
To that end, I have to tell on Joseph Hooper. My daughter is 16 years old, and wanted to go this summer on a mission trip to Ghana. Some of you may wonder about the sanity of parents who would let their 16 year old daughter go to Ghana, but we believe a) there are precautions in place to keep her safe, and b) there are more dangerous places than that less than 10 miles from our home here, and c) she can see things in Ghana that she cannot see here, and can expand her worldview. She can see how people live in third-world countries, and she might gain a perspective on her life here. Besides that, she has a big heart, and wants to go help.
All of her friends started writing letters and sending them to everyone they know, to raise support for the trip. The trip costs $3,000. The funny thing is that we know we’re going to get letters from dozens of kids, and all those parents are all getting the same letters, so we’re paying for most of the trip by donating for each other’s kids, and they donate to ours (but that’s an aside). I told her that I wanted her to a) send out as many letter as she could, and b) to get a job at a local hamburger place where 50% of her pay would go to cover the cost, and c) I’d cover any shortages.
So Sarabeth wrote letters. Now Sarabeth is quite tenacious, and was determined to raise the entire amount herself, and wanted to send out more letters than anyone else. That means she asked me for my Rolodex to send letters to everyone.
Then she asked the question I had been dreading, “May I send letters to Joe and Aaron?” She has never met Joe or Aaron, but they are such a great part of our family’s life that my kids feel like they know Joe and Aaron, so it was a natural question. I said, “You can send one letter to them, and send it to the office.” She did.
Two days later, a courier came to the door with a hand-delivered envelope from CSE addressed to Sarabeth. When she opened the letter, she saw that Joe had written her a check for $3,000. He paid for the entire trip to Ghana!
Sarabeth first cried (she is her father’s daughter, and she is 16 years old). She then called all her friends (she is 16 years old). She then got all her friends together, and they had a Joe Hooper party. Joe, Aaron and CSE are the talk of the trip!
Joe and Aaron know that money can be used for a greater good. Because of their generosity, AIDS babies will be held, and orphans will be played with, and people with no food will be taken food, and Sarabeth will have an opportunity to make a difference (which is crucial in finding meaning in life). Sarabeth is scouting a location to dig a water well in the area, and when she returns, she’s already told me she is putting together a presentation to build a CSE well in Ghana for a community where they have to walk seven miles to fill their water jugs for the day. If she finds a worthwhile need, she’ll be eager to ask us to help with that cause. If that happens, I suspect you’ll hear from Sarabeth. You and I trade to make money, and if we use it correctly it can be used to make the world a better place. Thank you, Joe!
The cruise was great. There were aspects that will be improved, but the strength of the cruise was the ability to get to know each other, and visit with other traders, and get a glimpse of other CSE strategies and watch great traders do their thing in real-time. The Lovely and I are already excited about next year. I hope you will join us. We will be in Europe next year, and it will be great.
Speaking of Europe, Joe and his family are in Europe right now. They are there because Joe is committed to helping us all be more profitable traders. Over the last few months, European news from Greece and Portugal and Spain and the Euro have caused occasional havoc in the US market. Because Joe is so committed to us, he is there fixing the European crisis even as we speak. I have not heard one negative report since he got there! Way to go, Joe. Keep up the good work.
I spoke with Aaron today. I always appreciate his insight on trading – he always has something in the works, and I am excited about the future at Compound Stock Earnings. I am very thankful that Joe and Aaron have taught me a great skill, and thankful they continue to make it better. Aaron and I have a great surprise for the Masters, but you’ll have to attend to enjoy it. Trust me, it will be fun.
We’re in the midst of summer trading. It’s always wacky trading during the summer months, and this one is no different. We’re seeing wild swings up and down in the markets. That’s why we need rules. If you find trading difficult, you need a rules-based approach, and CSE is the best there is.
Now to some personal stuff: I reread my favorite fiction book this summer (for the 5th time – I read it every other year, just because it’s fantastic). If you’re looking for a good book (it’s the best fiction book ever written IMHO), try Jeffrey Archer’s As The Crow Flies. You’ll thank me. If you love that, then read Archer’s Kane and Abel. If you like that one, then read all the other Jeffrey Archer books. They are all great.
Let me wrap this up. I believe in rules-based trading and I am a father of a 16-year-old daughter. So, I’ve come up with 10 rules for anyone who wants to date Sarabeth. Here they are:
Rule One: You must have a GPA of 3.95 (on a scale of 1-4) or higher.
Rule Two: You must have never had a speeding ticket nor any traffic violation.
Rule Three: You must own a cell phone with a location-tracking capability which I can easily and constantly access.
Rule Four: You must wear a baseball glove on one hand and a hockey goalies glove on the other hand at all times when you are with my daughter.
Rule Five: Speaking of goalie equipment, you must wear a goalie’s mask at all times.
Rule Six: You must have her home prior to 9:00 p.m. – that’s my bed time and I don’t want to wait up longer than that.
Rule Seven: Prior to your first date, you must supply:
a. Driving Record
b. Financial Statement of you and your parents
c. Be gainfully employed at a job in which you work at least six of seven evenings per week. Rule Eight: You must ring the doorbell when you pick her up, and you better wait in the car out front until she’s in my house.
Rule Nine: You must pull up your pants, and never let anyone see your man panties.
Rule Ten: The following places are not appropriate for a date with my daughter:
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Places where there are beds, sofas, or anything softer than a wooden stool.
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Places where there are no parents, policemen, or nuns with eyesight.
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Places where there is darkness.
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Places where there is dancing, holding hands, or happiness.
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Places where the ambient temperature is warm enough to induce my daughter to wear shorts or anything other than overalls, a sweater, and a goose down parka zipped up to her throat.
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Movies with a strong romantic or sexual theme are to be avoided.
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Movies which feature chainsaws are okay.
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Hockey games are okay.
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Old folks homes are better.
That’s it. Follow the rules, and your trading life will be better. It is why CSE is the finest investment education firm in the world, and why we are so successful. If the boys in our world follow the rules, they might survive, too.
Greg
