 We will welcome everybody here to the independent investor channel. We are live here on a Friday live stream again For you guys, you know, it's awesome to monitor markets during times like this It it certainly validates what it is that we do and why we do it it it also helps to gain some perspective on What it is that we do during these times. It's a lot more a lot more well received when we talk about how awesome investing is during times like this and Certainly brings favor to the market. It brings attention to the market You know, the Fed pivot this week was something that was long anticipated, but still fighting the effects of the global pandemic that was three years ago and still feeling the after effect of that and the Really that the tough start to this decade It's been a tough go for investors record numbers of Investors have found it Justifiable to remain on the sidelines I Very much try to dig deep and always try to stay on the front side of the wave in Taking this opportunity and using all of our tools at our disposal To make sense of this opportunity holistically even though individually it is incumbent upon each and every investor to look at the very fact that Your investment thesis your portfolio your tolerance Your goals are yours and yours alone Very important to separate the methodologies the the discussion in the banter that we make around the stock market and to make sure that we are using those as discussion points to Look at your own portfolio Look at your own goals Look at what it is that you're trying to carve out in this life and Making sure that it is specific to you. That's it It does not need to appease Somebody that you do not know on social media. It does not need to appease Your family or friends. It does not need to appease Your financial planner as much as they would have you believe that they deserve your appeasement The sheer fact of the matter is with the dynamic nature of the stock market and how Wild the swings are even year-to-year It is even more Important for individual investors to acknowledge the opportunity. Yes Acknowledge that even I contend sometimes that the access is so Right there in front of your face that sometimes even that can be a little bit dangerous I had a colleague come up to me today show me his Robin Hood account said I threw three hundred dollars into a Robin Hood account I bought ten things. I had no idea what I was buying and and I'm up to eight hundred dollars What what what should I do? You know? I Think it speaks to people's desire to Put some capital to risk if there is in fact some identified surplus capital in your budget I Think people can resonate with this idea of being a participant in the stock market and do so in a capacity that would Allow you to enjoy the fruits of everything that the stock market has to offer over the long term and not get caught up and not Really get caught up into the allure of what the stock market can can deliver as well So very very important to acknowledge the importance of the stock market I think that if you were to look at it from an objective lens now I think you could very quickly at least our young community Personnel that make it make their way to the independent investor channel and look at the stock market and say Ryan This seems crazy to me now with all the opportunities out there to make money and I want to caution everybody especially the young people. I think we're Dealing with a generation that is ultra smart that has probably too many opportunities in front of them to choose from and I think sometimes that can be problematic in that I Think there's a perception that whatever Opportunity is chosen in one's career path or business choices Is going to automatically render successes. I really wish we lived in a world that that was the truth I want to bring you back to some level of reality and Remind you that Hard work is absolutely the key pedigree to to making it in this life and I think all too often This generation Would look at the opportunity that I know exists through my lens and I could be completely wrong. I don't believe that I am I think you're taking more risk by not participating in the market than Entertaining the idea of putting some capital to risk To the scale that you deem necessary, but I think it's very very easy To look at this stock market and make no sense of it whatsoever. I Have no idea what this is about especially during down times. I Have been steadfast on this project I lose track sometimes, but I think we've been doing it for about seven years. I Become very razor sharp with Putting forward the dialogue that I wish to convey No more and maybe more importantly no less No more means that I get on here and try to sell a hype train That I know in my heart of hearts does not exist for people Okay So if I'm speaking to that young audience that looks at the stock market is crazy. I Can take that crazy emotion and kind of spin it on its ear and Lead those people to believe that it is a casino handle And all that they have to do is just pull the handle and riches will be bestowed upon them it will fall from the heavens and and and fall and its infinite nature in your lap until you have everything that you need to be happy in this life My responsibility on the independent investor channel is very very real There have been ebbs and flows through the channel That of which really that I can chalk up as being a human being and That allure of the stock market that I speak of is is very very real There was anticipation of the last three years of an inevitable Upswing or coming out of the darkness that always seems to present itself at a time that is Unforeseeable outside of just looking forward and saying look there has to be better times on the horizon While we go through those deliberations and hard times it is doubly difficult to Continue to stay positive When the consensus over markets is negative when the consensus is sensed to be negative in the stock market Media will pile on Social media will pile on and you are left to understand nothing more about the stock market Then it being an absolute vacuum for your cap and it is not a re an arena that you as a young person are interested in Dabbling in because when you look at you know a hundred or five hundred or a thousand dollars You look at that as a means to put gas in your car You look at that as a means to survive until the next month you look at that as a means to bridge the gap to unforeseen Expenditures that may be incurred when your life is in your early 20s and you're going through those dynamic shifts I have been there. I've done it It's a miracle. I even made it out of my 20s for crying out loud There's probably some people in the community that could actually relate with that Kids nowadays I think have it really difficult. There's not a day that doesn't go by where I'm Super thankful for growing up in the country the way that I did and you know Learn those lessons of hard work and and going through those trials and tribulations and really not having a lot of the outside Influences that are Rampant now. I mean I remember when cell phones were invented so You know with social media being right there in your face one can only speculate on How that's influencing our youth to understand what is possible in nature? It relates to the stock market in the same light Whereas a young person I would Seek out my opportunity because the opportunity was perceived to me to be very very lean If if if accessible at all From a remote distance now all you have to do is just download any one of a hundred apps And you're often going in the stock market And you can be often going in the stock market in whatever capacity you choose if it makes no sense whatsoever Or if it's one of those things that you know nothing about but you want to get started and and you jump right in with both feet You can do that within a ten minute time period And I think that's scary for a lot of investors out there I Think that the contrast between what people think they need to know and what they should know is very very different I think what people? Want to know is a far cry from what they should know I think maybe it is prudent absolutely to not buy into that euphoria that is sometimes Beset upon a market like this that is easy to get excited about look the title of my video this evening is You know four and a half stacks a high society up in a month. I'm not surprised one bit. I'm a seasoned investor I don't invest necessarily for the money the money is a byproduct of a well-laid plan I've said that through the course of the channel and if my dialogue is different than what you're used to in a Money channel or a financial wealth building channel or or at the dreaded stock market channel Be refreshed by that because the second that I have social media Content creators talking along the lines that I speak I will continue to do this project The staunch reality of that is that not a lot of people look at wealth building the way that I Would suggest is the most prudent to view Financial markets through the lens and the philosophy that I that I talk about It has to be something that you're willing to integrate into your life and be with you 24 7 it is a way of life It can certainly govern the decisions that you can you make and it can certainly set you up for things that If you come from nominal means and you come from humble backgrounds like myself Ask yourself the scary and rhetorical question of yourself How based on the privilege that you have been provided in this life or can realistically provide for yourself What type of lifestyle do you realistically believe that you can carve out for yourself? Over this life that you've been provided for let's say 80 years I Would benefit you to infuse a little bit of oomph Would it benefit you perhaps maybe to tune in to the i2 once a week and get a little bit of Spiritual and philosophical motivation on the stock market Now for you guys that are astute subscribers and and astute investors and the type of really the type of community that I want to attract Are those people that understand that your day-to-day routine really should be until you're wealthy Consumed by some level of employment that makes you happy Investing to make a living is not something that I get behind It's not something that I teach upon. It is not something that I again look to take that euphoric Excitement for wealth building in in new Uh Participants in the market and jade in any way You are the most vulnerable that you'll ever be in your investing career at the beginning of when you start investing The hardening and the forgery happens well in in excess of having multiple years Before you're forged in fire can actually stand up to somebody like myself Or all the other influences in society and say, you know what ryan? I hear you, but that's not for me Okay, I'm very well laid in my program. All right instead of just hey, I tuned into these half a dozen youtubers I picked up on this this this this and this I put them all in a stew pot I mixed it up and it tastes really good. This is now my portfolio I have no idea really what it means for me long term And I have no idea how I'm going to continue to eat this stew for the rest of my life But this is what I have why because it is everybody else's program and I failed to adhere to this idea That the independent investor channel is about looking within and identifying what it is that is going to work for you over the long term Okay Stock market doesn't necessarily change so much people think that it does Over time it goes up and slightly to the right. Yes companies grow profits grow Opportunity has been proven to grow at least historically Large drawdowns through recessionary periods through different economic cycles, etc, etc But for the most part the economy is ever expanding and in 2023 I have no reason to believe that that expansion is not going to continue to happen Right that dynamic nature of the stock market has always kind of been there What what has radically changed over the last let's say 20 years since the start of this new century What has changed radically is the availability of information It is information overload It is information aimed at Influence and for that you need to be I will caution you to be careful of that There's been a significant amount of algorithmic trading and quantitative trading Electronic trading I've been to the New York stock exchange now four times and when I talk to the traders down there It's amazing how they tell me they're like Ryan things have changed so much Over the years this all used to be paper changing hands down here now everything is done electronically And that's true the small desks that you see all of that is Dealing with thousands and thousands of transactions All electronically, it's extremely impressive How we are here in 2023 to look at the convergence of availability Of information and and where the prospects of that emerging technology could lead I I bring it home in in in thinking about these things and instead of tuning into the independent investor channel to get your answers spued fed to you on On a on a silver plate The cool thing is that we like to provoke thought We like to give you the opportunity to entertain what this Opportunity can mean for you By the exploration of different options out there And some of those options are Ones that everybody is familiar with But if we mention certain buckets or opportunities In a little bit more of a detailed fashion all it means for you is just a further definition of terms in what a lot of people consider to be a very very confusing landscape that being personal finance and wealth building my friends This is my calling It is my hobby I've done this my entire life And i'm super privileged and i'm super proud to be closing out 2023 with you guys on the independent investor channel as we look forward To 2024 here. It's going to be bright times in the future And i'm glad to be on this ride with you be back with you in just a moment See becky you tune in to the friday live stream and i get to take you ice skating in central park You get to walk the brooklyn bridge and you get to take a helicopter tour Around the crown of the statue of liberty We are coming to you from the most powerful city in the world new york city here. I'm glad to be back In the roots of of new york. We're going to be here for a while and i'm happy to Broadcast the show from there. This is the roots of the independent investor channel Always will be and and and that's the way it will be For the for the foreseeable future Very very cool stuff So the huge announcement this week and great to see you becky. Thanks for coming on. I appreciate it the big The big going on this week really was the pivot of the fed chair j pal in his address to at least Continue to break what has been a uh a three pause Fed chair meeting of the prime interest rate and to Allude to the potential for Ceasing any more rate hikes going forward and the prospects of entering into 2024 With rate cuts on the table at least I believe that I take those as a grain of salt a little bit in understanding What it is that we know and not being so presumptuous going forward on What that could potentially mean for my money in other words, am I going to remain invested or am I not? um, that that's a very very simple question to me as opposed to try to understand the effects of You know, two or three rate cuts next year if at all I I don't believe that they should be so quick to to cut rates because cutting rates, it's a double-edged sword could actually be viewed as as a negative for um, the market in that financial conditions have have tightened labor markets would have continued to weaken And the uh quantitative easing could be looked at as a lifeline to the markets And so I I think if we can remain in this state The economy has been extremely resilient Um, I found the comments about you know, what this economy would have looked like had it not been for the overhang of high interest rates this year Because my friends as horrible as the first nine months of this year have been and were Of all the doom and gloom that we started out 2023 on the Inevitable 100 percent across the board consensus that we would absolutely have some form of recession this year um, none of that came to a fruition as a matter of fact like typical stock market behavior It ended up Delivering on the opposite We should end this year what up 10 to 15 percent. I think we'll probably end end up closer to the 15 percent range. So Almost clawing back what it is that we lost last year, which was the poor year down 20 percent Um, and and this year I I think to be able to come out of this with with a net positive year is is is really good I think a lot of people were calling for single low single digit positive returns from this year's market, but um, the the the breadth across the consensus At the beginning of this year was absolutely atrocious The the reason why I give you that tone and tenor and I don't think my observation is that far off I really don't if you guys think that you can watch um mass media And get any type of usable information from mass media Please correct me But I think all too often I think they have a very very short memory in that I think the latter part of this year In 2023 should actually be filled with them coming on and apologizing to the general public because all of the pundits all of the Visitors that they have come on and talk about doom and gloom They all say the exact same thing and they all say seem to think that they're super sure Those same people they come on right now and they just punt it until 2024. Well, it's going to happen in 2024 You know and it just it misleads people In where I think the focus should be and that is We have a stock market the stock market goes up and down How is it that we can look at the opportunity made possible through the stock market? to Benefit over the long term and grow wealth using the stock market. Look if that's not possible I'll pitch up pitch the tent. Okay. I'll I'll close up shop and and just fire down the mud mothership And we won't do this anymore but The reality is You know, I look over pockets of the portfolio and it's just unbelievable really over the last three years my safety net My safety net has been dividends We started both of the M1 finance accounts back in December of 2019 So just over three years ago The other one was in march of 2020 Those accounts three of them The one I started a little bit later Those two accounts from an accumulative perspective are approaching a hundred thousand dollars of aggregate wealth. That's three years So when I talk about dividends kind of being a little bit of a saving grace over the last three years I'm not kidding. I'm really not The fact that I have through the last three years and really going back over the course of my entire investing career Have always talked about the importance of cash. That's just for me Now I will say this I'm full well Understanding that the bet on cash Over the long term will probably turn out to be a losing proposition Okay, what I mean by that is if I took the days from now until then Holding cash for the peace of mind that I get and the opportunistic nature that I use When I have that cash buffer Over the long term as opposed to taking every waking dollar that I have and subjecting it to risk in the stock market The latter option would probably pay out to be a better option Over the long term. Okay. I do acknowledge that I really do However, I don't look at my portfolio As a collective whole in this sense I don't look at because I devote capital to one avenue that somehow it's taking away from another avenue or another Or another that's why I speak on different disciplines. Okay The dividend portfolio right now the one that I started in march of 2020 is approaching 50 grand I've disclosed through the course of the channel and I think it falls on deaf ears all too often That the impressive part of that dividend portfolio is that it has been fairly aggressively funded Just as of late I started doing about a hundred dollars every two weeks Nothing crazy But the more impressive part of that is that those dividend payers As crazy sick as intel has been and as crazy sick as visor has been and AT&T which have been held in that same dividend portfolio over this long term Dividends rendered times 97 current holdings in that portfolio right now Over the aggregate of investing back into the portfolio have built organic growth over that time with zero maintenance Zero fees zero cost Zero everything zero it has cost me nothing Now if I were to put a headline on there and say ryan approaches $50,000 make $50,000 in three years right People'd be clamor and all over themselves But there's 22 devote subscribers to the live stream tonight my friends I'm totally cool if there was nobody that came in here because The methodical approach I take to the independent investor channel and quite frankly deviated from for the last couple of years I'm getting back to and I'm steadfast in and if I have to do it like this over the next Or seeable future I'm totally cool with that Because those little nuggets of information are are what people need to understand about long-term wealth building and how they can look at specific pockets of wealth and Really utilize those to to their benefit. All right Gain psychologies and understanding, you know, what backing that or peace of mind that it gives you by having that cash buffer Are you more prepared to deal with an unexpected expenditure in your life? By having that cash buffer there probably I take solace in that Are you adhering to this idea that Some of the surplus capital can be segwayed to that As one of many buckets over the course of your wealth wealth building sure sure And you can kind of get this idea that I've had where I used to be an investor where I invested everything I had And it got to a point where I was so heavy levered in the stock market Stock market holdings go up a little bit and I'm I'm suffering to even feed myself during that dynamic flex of being early 20s Now I was a complete idiot. I was all over the place and have money to eat sleep Support my car do everything that I was trying to do no stable income But I have this, you know, $10,000 portfolio, right? And it's like my goodness it it looks far more attractive to actually live life at that time because you can't Substantiate the value or you've over levered to the market and not looked at the importance of Allocating toward toward those buckets when it is prudent to do so, right? So I think when we build this out and we look at these different opportunities We can discuss them without putting one red cent toward a specific discipline I speak about dividend income as as it pertains to me I don't expect that you're going to look at it and and and and fall all over yourself to say yep, ryan That's for me, but perhaps maybe you can relate with some of the things that I have talked about um in in weathering the storm I I'm impressed to look at some of those holdings over the last Let's say three years of market volatility And I'm encouraged to know that a lot of those Weathered the storm well. They did not outperform by any means, but they weathered the storm and now coming out of it You notice the roll-off in tech Where's that money going? I can be slightly presumptuous on the channel and suggest perhaps maybe that is rolling into value perhaps And maybe as a secondary offering, I would say that it's probably flowing into One of the most undervalued sectors or sections of the stock market right now And that is the small cap market. Okay um, I think the micro cap market Probably is going to be emerging from what has been a very very dismal Uh and horrendous phase in micro caps. I I think the systemic shock That um that was put over the markets and the Lockup of of perceived capital has really really put a Uh a lid on speculation for quite some time it's been a desert and If you suspect that it's going to change next week Or next month or six months down the line I'm not a I'm not a fortune teller. Okay. I don't believe in voodoo If you want to believe in voodoo, there's plenty of other channels out there that you can tune into that would suggest that they've got Um, all the voodoo dolls that you could ever want. They'll sell you one for 1099 if you join their private stock group um, and and you can play with your voodoo dolls all you want and then let me know where the market's going because I'm more in the camp of Understanding that people don't know and can't know and don't know and if they did know They would make a ton of money In in forecasting. There's a you know, there's people out there that have forecasted correctly and that does not mean That they knew for sure. It just means that they made a hypothesis and that hypothesis Held true over the long term. Okay but We we talked over the last couple of weeks about thresholds of wealth. That was three weeks ago last week we talked a little bit about um, the the number of holdings within each of those brackets right and so this week I thought it pruned to mention some of the philosophies or groupings of Each of those individual holdings remember we talked about the $500 holdings. We talked about the thousand dollar holdings The $10,000 holdings 25 and 50 and and and certainly I see matt money there. Sorry matt I didn't see a pop in there. I was in my zone. It's good to see a brother. Happy holidays to you Um, who probably has you know upwards of six figures in one specific holding okay But what philosophy is tied to that specific holding right is it $100,000 in palantir? Maybe At this particular juncture it might very well be the case where he's sitting on a real wealth builder In palantir and and and the holding is worth six figures I would presume that for the novice investor who's just starting this craft You know the idea of buying a couple of shares at 10 shares apiece is somewhat daunting It was for me I've bought thousands of stocks since I owned my first two stocks and it's fun to share And go back and I'm certain that you can relate with this Remembering the first individual stock that you bought mine was at&t And craft foods now craft foods at the time has done really well since then Uh at&t has been an absolute dog if you go back 10 years 12 years 10 years it just hasn't moved It's paid me a truckload and dividends. I think we're up to 375 shares And I don't even know how much of that has been free shares awarded For holding the block position, but uh, certainly been quite the value trap over the last multiple years it's been a horrendous holding but You know those are the most impactful Trades that we make when we're breaking through to a grander philosophy and understanding that Owning equities in your personal portfolio really isn't as scary as some might suggest that it is and I I don't think it's very unfair of me to come on and suggest that because that is honestly how I feel There was a time in my life when I had it in my mind that it was a scary thing and I'm here to tell you that To to to be fearful And to look at financial markets with the correct level of respect And tact and and and defensive approach is absolutely prudent. Okay. I'm not saying go buy You know highly speculative micro cap stocks that you know nothing about and ryan said have no fear Right and and you enter into these equities and you're surprised when you have a 90 or 95 drawdown That's not what i'm talking about What i'm talking about is buying established companies with a moat That have been around tried and true proven out to pay Increasing dividends over the long term starting at 25 years Right with your aristocrats and and looking at your dividend kings that have paid for over 50 years and Looking at those names and kind of starting there if you can only afford one share of home depot I'm okay with it one thing I learned by investing in m1 finance over the course of the last three years In in pursuing that $100,000 threshold within m1 finance guys. I I am in the process of actually Transferring away from m1 finance just for a disclosure of the group I disclosed last week. I disclosed the week before that I I think it is a wonderful wealth building tool for individual investors I think it's great to get up to that first 10 000 or first 25 000 dollars and allow m1 finance to help you Get used to passive investing Number one number two is to help you organically grow a portfolio correctly I think a lot of people are their own worst enemy in thinking that they have to Use a traditional broker which is a blank palette and have to build that portfolio using that blank palette m1 finance does everything for you. It has just been an absolutely phenomenal experience being with m1 finance Uh, but I have a goal of bringing in everything under one envelope and I plan on doing that and in the process of doing that Now it's a like-and-kind transfer all the assets will transfer like-and-kind to my new account with fidelity I did a lot of research I talked to a lot of people But there was a few people actually in the itu community one in particular that I really owe The greatest amount of thank you to for his referral to me and experience with fidelity specifically And I've had way too many positive comments come through for me Which really helped validate an over 25 year upheaval from bank of america Just because the anemic rates that they were awarding on savings accounts were were non-existent I mean really I took it as kind of a slap in the face and Look if I figure on idle cash if I can make you know, two and a half three and a half And he was making four nine nine at the time of the transfer of the time of the recommendation It's a far cry from the point zero one percent that I was making on all idle cash with bank of america So for a guy who likes to sit on cash, you know, there's a prospect there of making some really really good passive income In in in in in those accounts on idle cash and it was just a prudent move to do so Been in the process of that for the last Three weeks It is not fun I've done it Probably more times than I would have liked I really thought that I was very comfortable with bank of america over the years Unfortunately, it just the sign of the times led me to believe that physical brick-and-mortar Banks are are are moving to a thing of the past And the amount of overhead that is spent supporting brick-and-mortar locations across this country that never have anybody in them ever Comes out of my bottom line and I just didn't want to play ball anymore It made more sense to to transition over and I've witnessed a few things over the last Couple of weeks in getting familiar with fidelity that I've made the right decision So we're going to stick with that for sure, but the m1 finance accounts will swap over And and we will dissolve away the m1 finance. I will still keep the links To the accounts. That's for sure if those links will still work I believe that they will because the portfolios are still relevant, you know I mean, that's exactly what I used to build that wealth over this time frame and Can can the the the procedure can the nature by which I deployed to earn wealth be duplicated It can This is the care and rigor I take over the message that I convey here in Putting out information that if I came on and said look in three years I'm approaching a hundred grand and there was no way for you to follow in that That would be considered braggadocious And I would be an asshole for doing that Okay, the the sheer fact of the matter is I don't have to disclose that over social media the fact that I do shows my confidence in Kind of shepherding a little bit through and and doing a little bit of trailblazing In that when I embarked on the m1 finance journey I had no idea what the end result was going to be And I'm happy to report out to you If the results were The opposite of positive. I would tell you That that's just not my experience and that has not been my experience with wealth building through m1 finance It's just been a fantastic ride And I think people could experience the same now if you you could do the same thing with fidelity It's just that you're going to have to incur a little bit of more traditional platform okay, and a little bit more Imagination I think in really building out a portfolio that makes sense The structure that I have placed over the portfolio in m1 finance really is the value So if you didn't invest in the portfolios, I would at least look at how I broke down the structure. Okay um Very simple when looking at the 11 sectors of the smp 500 To award specific Categories or sectors, right? So as I was filtering in those dividend payers, it was very very simple for me to look at health care In the acute and say hey, you know, we want to throw johnson and johnson am jen Pfizer united health right at the murk Into the mix and that's what we did very very simple Now the dividend portfolio number two has additional holdings right like senofi Some other health care names in there that helped supplement and augment The the first portfolio those two accounts will be combined into one when it comes over To fidelity and I'm very very excited by the prospects of it because my goodness guys I look at that portfolio and It proved to me this and I'll share something there's 26 people in the live stream And I don't care I kick over I try to kick over as many many rocks If I thought that there was that golden thing for me to say and you would go and just Have this gold parachute You know open up above your head I would say it I really would But one thing I learned by investing in m1 finance is that it forces you to take long positions on good companies It forces you to understand that by nature taking those long long positions That one of two things are going to happen and both of those these things happened They are going to go through fluctuation and good companies go into downturn Just as easy Okay, sometimes for no foreseeable reason Other times for reasons that you would have never foresaw During your your your research period or your your understanding of deliberation between Lowe's and home depot Whatever whatever what you are going to find and learn very very quickly Is by observing those portfolios stock goes up and down goes up and down But the real takeaway from what I want to declare to you now is that a way not the best way But a solid very very real way That I think a lot of people do not pursue In wealth building is buying good quality companies for the long term. That is it and I am sorry if that is cliche I am sorry if that is buffet worthy But that is the god's honest truth and I'm not sure how you can have the validation to understand what I just conveyed to you Unless you experience it for yourself Yeah Yeah I can certainly bridge the gap for you between my excitement and my observations and looking at capital grow Making dividends is free money I work very very hard every single day for my paycheck. I work hard for that money Do I work hard for a dividend? Now, how come I Let's be real There's people across this world starving to death You don't think I take that serious You don't think that I want to convey a level of Responsibility as an investor As a wealth builder as somebody who's teaching people how to wealth build that they also have a responsibility not to active fool Earning a dividend is not hard Investing is not hard But I I find it interesting and what drives me on the independent investor channel is how often and how Repeatedly retail investors Royally muck this up It can be fun. It can be very very powerful. It doesn't change very much. It's the application It's the infinite amount of applications that can be deployed To extract the maximum value from the stock market going forward. Yes So how is it on an infinite landscape? Are you going to pick that? One philosophy that is going to work for you That one magic carpet ride that's going to carry you into retirement Right. Becky's in the group. She says she's very thankful because she found that one out of an infinite amount of possibilities Right, Becky. You got lucky You picked that lottery ticket, right and you got lucky, right You out of tens of thousands of people were that one person That picked that strategy that one unique strategy that was only unique to you that isn't available to anybody else To allow you to retire with some level of financial wealth into your future Does anybody truly believe that? If I truly thought that that was the case And we needed to rely on luck in our stock market application I would fold up shop and I would shut the train down and we would cease to exist on this project because I'll be damned if I'm going to come on to social media and try to teach people How to get lucky? That's effing stupid. That's a waste of my time. It is futile I don't teach people how to Go about their life waiting for their opportunity to get lucky. That's insane. I don't do that I don't believe in it I believe based on At least the rigor that I apply over my life that there is some level if not in its entirety Rewill that exists in our action that can render a result on the back end That's why I don't focus on the 45 000 I expected those results to be there and I don't bat an eye sharing it through social media that that's just where we've been We've prepared for three years, right? I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I was happy over the last three years No freaking way. I made a comment in the facebook group today Not my facebook group another one with regard to some people justifying being down Significance amounts on some of these speculative specs that came out in 2020 and I said you're absurd Absurd I'm happy that I'm down a hundred thousand dollars. I'm I'm more bullish now than ever. You're an idiot Okay, you're an idiot You you you lost a ton of money and now you're more bullish. You're becoming delusional And if I can impart to you anything by coming on to the independent investor channel I would just suggest that the sheer masses of people out there do everything they can do to deploy a defensive approach To their stock market approach To avoid that like the plague Invest close to the vest There's no reason to dabble in that type of activity no way I mean, I know some of these people. They're they're they're I'm independently wealthy And by nature of being independently wealthy It gives them the excuse to come on and make a post to Let's say potentially hundreds if not thousands of people that somehow they're okay with losing hundreds of thousands of dollars on a position That is that is effing stupid Maybe it's because my feet are much more rooted in reality To suggest that the slow and the steady will win the race The value investing approach will always play out over time Don't get me wrong. I have speculative positions on right now My most speculative position going into 2024 and my most exciting position quite frankly is the one that I share every week And that's a duro clean technologies. It's just that simple That is a value play that nobody knows about it is a value company that nobody knows about It's a nice tweet that I saw observed just this evening when I was looking over 87 percent of all of the companies that have risen in the history of the stock market over 1000 percent have started in the small cap space 87 percent Kind of cool right So it changes the expected potential for rate of return in other words when I invest in VYM I have a pretty good idea of my expected rate rate of return six seven eight percent If I get 20 percent out of VYM, I'm falling out of my chair and I'm trying to figure out if I accidentally bought QYLT, you know I'm not making 10 percent in VYM if I do it's a phenomenal year as chd. I own as well same thing vig Um, you know the smp 500 v o o is going to be more More volatile, but it's also going to provide a little bit more upward mobility as far as the the prospects for higher end capital returns I expect closer to 10 11 12 percent You know on the smp 500 with the expectation that it could be the same reciprocation to the negative on bad years That's just how it is But but when I look at the the the opportunity and I share it across the board with you guys I don't expect that you look at it and say, you know I have to dump all my eggs into this because ryan's a bull on it ryan's a bull on it Merely because I've made it make sense for me and it absolutely does it makes sense Where I'm at in the time of my life. I have plenty of surplus capital The position is relative to the total position in the portfolio and that's just where we are and and I'll share that and You know, look if if I'm going to continue to be wrong On on this or any other speculative position that I put on That then then you can call me delusional because it does no good to convey That everything is okay right And that you're happier And and and more bullish than ever on a specific stock when it has done nothing in way of performance Call it like it is it's my my attitude doesn't That going forward the stock isn't going to go up doesn't suggest that What it merely suggests is to be fair With the fact that potentially you made a bad trade All right, and in the short term It's a bad trade. You don't try to have to make a bad trade worse by You know continuing to double down on it put new funds to work I mean this particular company in question right now that you guys know I'm talking about stands the chance of A potential delisting in a river stock split So my current share position in that is reflective of the current risk that I'm comfortable keeping on the table And that's it. That is it. Am I happy about it? No That's not why I invested in the company All right a radical shift in direction is not why I cover a company Not why I invest my hard-earned dollars into it No way Is not what I not what I'm looking at when I compare and contrast my new bullish conviction on the speculative side for 2024 I look top top top to bottom and I look at an upper management that is a far cry From from from the radical shift that has happened in highly on Not so much at the top level right But firing, you know a hundred and fifty a hundred and seventy five workers out of 250 So what is it now? Is it just a company of upper management making overblown salaries? And you're more bullish than ever. Yeah, you're a stronger man than me You're a stronger investor than me if you're a guy or a lady out there that has that type of conviction I don't have it. Maybe that's my problem as an investor All right, you're this and that you're that and the look I hold the shares All right I'm I'm fine holding the shares. I sleep easy the shares. It doesn't affect my ability to put food on the table I'm fine But have a little common sense with this application my friends. You'd be so much better that you did And probably have a little bit more fun doing this gig very cool stuff We got Holland in the house. Great to see you my friend. Thanks for stopping by Got a couple minutes here if I had to get some shout outs and Jared Awesome, man. Happy holidays to you, brother. Good stuff You got a viper in the group, man. You got jamies in the house Good to see you jamie. Hope all's well with you good stuff, man If you can believe Tomasili the carna was 50 efficient this beats 33 percent of his it's captain might so I I'm bullish on this specific specific aspect. Okay, but it is premature And certainly irresponsible at least I'm gun shy I'm gun shy to jump on to another addressable market when we have just put $400 million into another addressable market to the tune of a trillion dollars of addressable And we have nothing to show for it. Yeah, I'm a little more. I'm good. I'm good I'll own my shares at these low levels the cost of capital is very very very low Okay But as far as getting excited now, I'll chalk it up as a proof at stormy story And if he does so be it it's business. If not, I will not be surprised. I will not because What I said, uh, is that it's it's it's irresponsible to um, you know, you can hope for things to happen but just took To to to put too much stock into what actually will happen Is probably in the irresponsible category and I I won't I won't do that again That's not going to happen. I can wait make way too much money value investing way too much It's way too powerful I have proved it over and over and over again and when it was convenient to do so I had people come on the channel and pick fun at my message, you know Hey eight to nine to ten 11 12 who wants 12 percent in the return when I can get 50 100 500 percent, you know And so it was easy to to to put those criticisms across the table Where are those people now? Where are they? They're gone gone Tuck tail Get in red hot in the stock market man. This is incredible. I'm I'm retiring. I'm the man And I'm gone Now the game is to have some staying power here in the stock market. That's that's just it and look if you don't want to Um relate with that message You're perfectly perfectly Um able to to switch off and go find some sort of a channel that will agree with you on everything. Okay Any more? I don't care if people disagree with me anymore. I don't care. I'm right So um, they can disagree with me all they want. They can deploy whatever strategy what they want That's no problem. I will say even as a not seasoned investor having the privilege to invest helped me in a very Various ways that I would have never done it by pure work and grind Totally agree man. The learnings that you will pick up is are insurmountable. That's for sure. I just want to make a dollar in the market I kind of felt that over the last three years. I was like, what's going on here, man? This is crazy Uh, I get cash. She's in the house. Happy friday. Fantastic. Good to see you He asked gained access to first brokerage account due to being issued company stock anyone old enough to remember those days Most definitely my friend for sure They're selling advertising. They're not trying to help the retail investor. That's totally true That's why we try to we'll try to stay to the close to the best year on this um try to deliver hard concrete testimonials On on what it is that I see what it is that I Witness works or or doesn't work There's certainly things that uh, I've been deployed that that don't work over the times and that's that's okay too Matt great to see you my friend Thanks for stopping by man. It's great to see Horizon and t are basically bonds. I don't know man. They're almost worse than bonds to be honest with you Everything where that's the heart of a teacher. I do I love it. Um, I really do I wouldn't do it if I didn't love it I wouldn't do it if I didn't if I thought I was no good at it. I wouldn't do it either Yeah, I don't I don't Mean to come across as arrogant or pompous at all But I I think I've got the ability to convey information in a way that's unique um unique Sometimes raw sometimes abrasive and that's all right as long as the message hits home for people And if the message hits home enough for people to take action upon that motivation and actually render positive results Well, then there you go I don't need to say anymore. It's the results that we're achieving and if we don't receive the results It's not worth putting the message out there. I followed and learned so much from him over the past years Ah, it's fantastic. You had all the knowledge yourself man. It's good to go Very cool. Well, we'll start to wind it down here pretty quick guys Start to lose my voice Use money transfer lockdown option for your fidelity keeps crooks away. It will do. That's a good idea. Thank you Money transfer lockdown That's a good one, man. I will remember that. Thank you. I will go do that right now Thank you my friend very cool Good tidbit We don't get lucky on it too. We make uh make money Right is the truth for all the non-believers Oh, that's an interesting comment Yeah, just I think investing is cool because you get to separate all emotion You get to adhere with this idea that I like Which investing your relationship with your money Is is all business There is no emotion in stock market. You've heard that that is legit Any emotion in the stock market is something that you have manifested yourself. That's your fault. It's your problem Now In its purest form a stock that is owned By an account that you own That you have ties to Is just that in its purest form any type of Emotion attached to the stock being up one week or down one week. That's your fault That doesn't exist in that purest form right The potential of those accounts those doesn't don't exist until they are material Right until they come true in nature All right, but I totally agree with you. I just I think way too many people maybe think that you have to get lucky or You know, you you start a business and then you're just you you prolong this idea that somehow you're going to get lucky and You need to be in the right place at the right time Uh, I don't know I don't want to look at my life and say well if I would have zigg'd instead of zagged I would have made it as opposed to not I would rather just adhere to a program That gives me a better chance of being in a better place down the line Right, so it just makes more sense to me To to to spend the the majority of my focus on something that I can control As opposed to focusing on something that I I know I can't control And quite frankly, I don't really want to rely on In the end. So pretty cool. I wanted a jeppy. It's a good fund. Matt knows a lot about jeppy Now at 1900 shares. There's no looking back. I think we get two payouts fantastic Now you got it man. Thank you for sharing that good stuff, man I got erics in the house. Happy holidays to you and the family brother I always appreciate you man for sure I'm very very happy for you man Very happy for you. I'm happy you're in the group Very cool. You guys are talking with each other. Very cool stuff Wife's birthday. Tell her happy birthday on behalf of the independent investor channel And that's a fantastic segue into closing it down for this weekend I want to thank all the To vote subscribers to the message and invite any new subscribers or would be subscribers to the message Help us support the message. Help us build us out man for sure We're building a wonderful core nucleus of subscribers That adhere to a common message and are creating results for themselves as individuals. It's that simple The The really the attributes and the power of the message comes through each and every ones of those results anything else Is uncivilized as far as i'm concerned. It's all talk and it's all propaganda But until we can start producing results for real people and real investors We're going to keep on keeping on with this message that I do believe scales to the masses I don't believe you have to get lucky. I believe that you can wake up You can give yourself your own kick in the ass Provide yourself with a little bit of motivation A little bit come to the i2. I'll provide you with the rest And the rest will be history when you relate back on your life and Minimize if not eliminate the potential for regret because you did everything you could do through free will to control the end of Where you end up in life and the fate that will inevitably be Be encountered by you want to thank all the subscribers. Thanks for tuning in to the fastest 60 minutes on youtube We will be back next week on the independent investor channel live stream. Be well be safe. Enjoy your weekend We will catch you next week You