NFLX and GOOGL

HOLY Smokes. What can I say... NFLX and GOOGL made a move today with NFLX making a move post-market yesterday on 15JUL15 and rallying today after a minor dip this morning.

I had 30 contracts total on NFLX; 20 contracts 18SEP15 @ 115 and 10 contracts 18DEC15 @ 120. The market makers and others shook the stops this morning and I thought the direction was going down so I sold... Too early!

I made out with about $4000 but had I held out I would of gained another $10-15k. My hunch about NFLX was bullish, the volume said bullish, and all day the news ran for NFLX was bullish. Analysts probably upgraded the stock and raised the price target and the joker Cramer even felt elated by the earnings. At one point I was considering selling options at 115 to cover the dip...

The mistake I made today was sitting out on the action. I knew the moment I sold that I made a mistake and I sold twice! Instead of getting back into it as usual I went and moped all day missing out on MANY opportunities to double or triple my returns. Volume speaks volumes and I knew the underlying was going up no matter what...

Sometimes we are too short sighted and hate being wrong that the mistakes clouds our judgement and stops us from getting back into it. There is nothing with people wrong or acting incorrectly. The most important thing is to get back into the positive mindset to push forward.

Between last week and this week I've made more money than I've ever made in a month in the military. Total potential gains that I let slip away total to more than my account value right now. To say that the opportunity isn't there is simply not true. It's what you make of the current opportunities that is in front of you that makes all the difference.

Keep learning, making small and infrequent mistakes, and keep trading. The more I looked at investing from a fundamental standpoint the more useless I think it is for most investors. It's easy to 'invest' if you are a billionaire that can get shares 20-30% below market value, sit on it for a while, collect dividends, and then sell it for a 100% ROI. For rest of us, we have no other choice but to swing trade either stocks or options.

There is nothing wrong with being a fundamental investors as those strategies are crucial for those wishing to invest in LEAP options or other leveraged instruments. Determine your investment goals and strategies then execute them with a clear mind.

Everything starts within the mind

This post is a departure from the normal talk of money or investing but leans more to self development. There are many who have mastered the art of persuasion (ability to sell) and self discipline in mind, body, and spirit. Why are these things important and what does this have to do with investing?

Right now I am going through Jordan Belfort's Straight Line Persuasion system. Yes, that's the same Jordan Belfort aka Wolf of Wallstreet who was depicted by Leonardo in the film. Reading topics of self improvement has always been a habit of mine since my teenage years and I am developing a greater sense of appreciation for it a decade later. Jordan's course is good, his ideas sound, and the system easy to understand to get in the right mindset to putforth the action necessary for success.

In discussing books recently I was talking to my friend about Napoleon Hill's books Think and Grow Rich and Positive Mental Attitude. What triggered this discussion was that a few weeks back I attended a career presentation by Combined Insurance which was founded by W. Clement Stone who was a successful implementer of Hill's book Think and Grow Rich. So I figured if Stone was successful and Hill wrote about successful people that I should read Stone's book The Success System that Never Fails to gain his perspective followed by subsequent reading of Hill. Stone's book is way better than Hill's for many reasons because it gives the reader his first hand experience with the strategies and his view on how to implement them for success. Hill's book, while good overall, is riddled with excessive stories. I am a fond believer of simplicity and Hill's book can be read by strategically capturing key information while leaving out the filler for subsequent reads if necessary.

My friend and I agreed that most of these books are common sense but that we, from time to time, need a reminder of these principles to go forward. There is no better time than today for me to refresh on some of these ideas as I transition between jobs and determine my true path for future success. All successful people succeed in similar ways and all unsuccessful people fail in the same ways. This is common in all self improvement books regardless of author and how they decide to spin the steps to get from no where to somewhere.

What I want to share is the key elements that makes a person successful:

• Believe in yourself
• Self empowerment - You can or you can choose not to
• Confidence - if you don't who else will?
• Self discovery and introspective reflection
• What's your purpose?
• What are your strengths?
• What makes you happy and why?
• Are you willing to sacrifice vices for success?
• Mentors
• Save yourself the time with someone who is more experienced
• Guide you through similar situation(s)
• Act Immediately
• Else everything remains the same
• At least you are doing rather than thinking
• Persistence/Dedication
• Can't quit
• Success, What's next?
• Repeat

The idea that you have to sell to yourself is that you CAN be successful at some or all aspects of life. After you truly believe that you CAN be successful then you can have a higher level of thinking or be in the winner's mindset so as to be able to accomplish something.

I've never truly enjoyed accomplishment thinking like a loser even if I won but I've always enjoyed every bit of success no matter how small in a positive mental mindset. Joy is empowering, boredom enervating. Plan to succeed, act on it, and make it happen. The first step, however, is in the mind as with anything else since it is the origination of thought and your existence.