Conquering the Bear 🐻 and Dragon 🐉

The Climb to Your Life Goals

Author

Snowfish
October 09, 2023

Welcome back!

It was my birthday last week. Yup! Another year older, another year wiser 🧙‍♂️

A time to reflect, give thanks for my blessings and create new goals!

Which got me thinking about my battles of conquering the bear and dragons.

Where are you in the climb to your life goals?

Let me tell you a quick story, sit back chill and just read.

I. Mindset

Imagine yourself on a colossal mountain, its peak obscured by the clouds, and at that summit lies your life's greatest goal. As you begin your ascent, you reach a plateau, a resting point where you pause to recharge. The plateau offers sustenance —a river flowing with fresh water, trees bearing fruits, and a bustling ecosystem. It's a place of comfort, a sanctuary to prepare for the climb ahead.

Sounds great right…but guess what, the weather isn’t always perfect. Life has its storms.

Sometimes they are external, like economic downturns, pandemics, or personal tragedies — a Bear on your path you must outsmart to continue your climb. At other times, they are internal, the Dragons that haunt your thoughts — limiting beliefs, emotional trauma, or the aftermath of past pain.

These inner dragons can be relentless, whispering doubts in your ear, reminding you of past failures, convincing you to settle on this plateau. So, you pause, you rest, and you fight but conquering your inner dragon isn't easy- it demands self-development, building emotional resilience, even professional help at times. It's the battle within, and it's one you're determined to win.

Tips to Conquer Your Inner Dragon 🐉:

  • Self-Reflection - Start by identifying your inner fears and doubts. Understand the thoughts and beliefs that hold you back.

  • Positive Affirmations - Replace the negative self-talk. Remind yourself of your capabilities and worthiness. Rewrite your mindset.

  • Seek Support - Seek guidance from a coach, mentor, therapist who can help you navigate and overcome these internal resistance.

  • Continuous Learning - Commit to lifelong learning. Read self-help books, take courses, and engage in personal development activities. The more you learn, the more tools you’ll have to face your inner challenges.

  • Set Small Goals - break your large goals into smaller, manageable steps. Achieving these smaller milestones boost your confidence.

Now that you’ve conquered this inner dragon (because you’ll come across multiple throughout life), you set out to climb the mountain again, fueled by newfound strength.

But this journey is far from over as ahead you see a bear — an external resistance, symbolizing challenges you can't control, obstacles that block your path. Now you must find a way around it, devise a strategy to overcome, and keep climbing. The next plateau awaits, offering sustenance, refreshment, and growth.

Tips to Outsmart the Bear 🐻:

  • Strategic Planning - Take a step back, identify potential obstacles and create contingency plans to navigate them.

  • Network and Support - Surround yourself with mentors, peers and friends who can provide guidance, share experiences and help you navigate external challenges. Build a strong support network.

  • Resilience - Understand that setbacks are part of the journey. Learn from failures and use them as stepping stones towards your goals.

  • Continuous Improvement - Keep learning and growing. Stay informed about the changing landscape around you whether it’s in your career, finances, or personal life.

  • Courage and Perseverance - Don’t back down when external challenges seem daunting. The more you confront and overcome, the stronger you become.

  • Flexibility - Be adaptable. The bear’s size and strength may vary, but your ability to adapt and find alternative routes is key to overcoming external resistances.

The cycle repeats as each level up the mountain gets steeper, the bears grow larger, and the dragons more cunning. But your life goal remains at the summit, and you're resolute. There are also various mountains for instance: a mountain of health, success, relationships, finances, etc.

But guess what as you ascend, you are not just conquering the mountain; you are conquering yourself — building mental toughness, embracing self-development and honing emotional discipline.

The choice is yours — to settle in comfort on the lower plateaus or to continue the climb, hungry for growth.

II. Money

Imagine you are climbing your Financial Mountain, with the ultimate goal being financial stability and security. As you ascend, you will encounter external challenges, represented by the Bear:

  1. Market Volatility: The financial markets can be unpredictable. External factors like economic downturns, market crashes, or unexpected events can threaten your financial journey.

  2. Debt: Whether it’s credit card debt, student loans, or mortgages, can loom like a bear on the path. It's a financial obstacle that requires careful navigation.

  3. Job Loss or Income Reduction: Just as a bear can come out of nowhere, you may face unexpected job loss or income reduction, impacting your financial stability.

  4. Emergencies: Medical bills, car repairs, or home maintenance are unforeseen expenses that can disrupt your financial plans.

While external challenges are formidable, internal obstacles represented by the Dragon can be just as daunting:

  1. Fear of Investing: Fear can hold you back from investing your money. You might worry about losing it all, preventing you from building wealth.

  2. Spending Habits: Uncontrolled spending tempts you with short-term pleasures, making it difficult to save and invest for long-term financial goals.

  3. Financial Ignorance: Lack of financial education and awareness can keep you in the dark about important financial concepts and strategies.

  4. Procrastination: Delaying decisions on saving, budgeting, or investing can hinder your financial progress.

Conquering the Bear and Taming the Dragon on Your Financial Journey:

  • Diversification - Diversify your investments to spread risk and protect against market volatility, just as you would outsmart a bear by finding alternative routes.

  • Emergency Fund - Build a robust emergency fund to cushion financial blows caused by unexpected events, like a job loss or medical emergency.

  • Budgeting - Create a budget to manage debt and control spending, ensuring your financial path remains clear and free from obstacles.

  • Education - Educate yourself about personal finance. Read books, take courses, seek a mentor to gain knowledge and confidence.

  • Mindfulness - Practice mindfulness to be aware of your financial decisions. Recognize and address the emotional triggers that lead to impulsive spending or financial procrastination.

  • Professional Guidances - Consider working with a financial advisor or planner who can help you navigate the complexities of investing and financial planning.

By addressing external and internal challenges, you'll move closer to your financial goals, ultimately achieving the summit of financial security and success.

Just as you conquer the bear and tame the dragon, you can navigate the financial mountain with determination and resilience as you climb towards your financial goals.

III. Markets

The first week of October brought somewhat mixed action for the stock market. Mega caps put the Bulls on their back carrying the team evidenced by a +2.5% gain in the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) versus +0.5% gain in the S&P 500. While, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) fell -1.2%.

Here are the main points from last week:

  • September Jobs report showed a big upside surprise; a 336k increase well above the 170k forecast; indicating a resilient US economy. The unemployment rate came in at 3.8% vs the 3.7% expected. The stronger the economy the more aggressive the Fed can get with their rates decision in November and December.

  • US 10-year yields continue to climb at their highest levels since 2007 tagging 4.8% earlier in the week before closing at 4.78%. Up another 20 basis points this week, this is not good for risk on assets like stocks and crypto (discussed why here).

  • US government averts shutdown as McCarthy gets ousted. President Biden signed a stopgap spending bill to fund federal agencies for 45 days just hours before the deadline. In unprecedented action, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy was voted out of his position, a move led by Florida Matt Gaetz who accused McCarthy of making a side deal with President Biden on Ukraine aid. This will likely complicate negotiations to avoid another government shutdown on November 17th.

🚨 All eyes this week will be on key inflationary data 🚨

This will provide signals on the effectiveness of the Fed’s ongoing efforts to tamp down inflation.

Producer Price Index (PPI): September Forecast: Core M/M +0.2% in line with August .2% and Headline M/M +0.3% vs +.7% in August.

Consumer Price Index (CPI): September Forecast: Core M/M +0.3% to match August .3% and Headline M/M 0.3% vs .6% in August. Annual rates at 3.7% overall and 4.3% core in August are forecasted to come in at 3.6% and 4.1% respectively.

$SPY: bounced from its 200d moving average and that 420 support we spoke about last week in office hours, closing green for the week for the 1st time since September 4th. Will it be a dead cat technical bounce or the start of an early Christmas rally is the question? With key inflation data Wednesday & Thursday and Banks kicking off earnings season, the next 2-3 weeks will tell!

SPY has resistance above 430-432,435,438,440. Support at 425,420,418,415

$QQQ: held 355 support and formed a triple bottom on the daily along with a H&S. It closed Friday testing 365 resistance if it can’t get over it this sets up the SQQQ play I discussed in this video a couple of weeks back.

Over 365 trades to 370,375,380. Failure to hold 350 the next time look for a move to 340 and 332

Q3 Earnings season kicks off this week with banks

This Week’s Watchlist 📊

Here are some charts we are watching this week:

If you are interested in getting our swing trade alerts ahead of time, reply back or comment “I am interested in the swing trade alerts” for more information

$FAS: Financial’s are kicking off Q3 earnings season- they have been trading in 20pt trading range $50-$70 since March (the Financial crisis). It bounced off the bottom of its trading range last week at $54. They will give us a preview of what earnings season sentiment will look like.

The sector has a lot of work to do and needs to reclaim $72 for a move up to $82 and $90. If earnings come in weak I doubt $50 support holds and we can look for a move down to $40

$JPM: JP Morgan Chase is reporting earnings on Friday, it has been consolidating right above its $140 breakout level. JPM chart is among the best looking from the financials sector.

If it can reclaim $150 it trades to $155,$160 and $165. If it failures to hold $140 trades down to $135 and $128

$GOOG: One of the best looking Mega Cap names, is in a strong rising wedge testing $140 resistance. If it cannot break through it may form a triple top which would be extremely bearish.

Over $142 look for it to trade to $150 and $155. Failure to do so pulls back to $135,$130,$123

*None of these stocks above are recommendations to buy, sell or trade. We do not give financial advice, you should always do your own due diligence and practice proper risk management.*

If you are interested in getting our swing trade alerts ahead of time, reply back or comment “I am interested in the swing trade alerts” for more information

This segment is brought to you by Ceni Capital which was founded as a way to foster a community of like-minded individuals and empower them to create long term wealth by capitalizing on shorter term investments. Check out their Finance Fundamentals Series to help you become more financially savvy.

Photo by ben o'bro on Unsplash

Life's journey is your mountain to climb. Face the bears of adversity and tame the dragons of self-doubt to reach your highest peaks. 🙌

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