a99kitten's Musings

Today was a Funko NFT drop – this time for “Retro Comics”. I told myself I’d buy a pack or 2 but kinda forgot about it until a friend texted me about it. It’s been hard to care about much lately but have been trying with organizing my collectibles and selling some. Listed a few Freddys yesterday. I hate dealing with POP buyers though so just did a few to start.

Today I bought my few packs. And then was able to buy a few more so did. Ended up getting almost 2 full sets which grants you a special NFT and token as a “Royalty Set” (changed from the first named Mastery Set because of ridiculous wokeness.) Then you redeem the digital token for a physical POP.

Since I just need a few more to complete 2 full sets, I decided I might as well. They are digital collectibles so no problem with space. Of course, then I get a physical POP for having these full sets so…more stuff. lol

Maybe I’ll list all of my dupes to get WAX. At least that’s currency.

Never ends. But keeps my mind off other things for a little while.

Trading/investing/researching stocks

Trading/investing/researching cryptos

Trading on Star Wars Card Trader

Trading on Disney card trader

Monitoring 3 stock trading groups

Staying up to date/trading on SWCT Discord groups

Staying up to date/trading on Disney CT FB page

Moderating/staying up to date on Funko Funatics board

Updating social media with Smokey pics

Updating social media with collecting pics

Monitoring FinTwit re: stocks, cryptos

Monitoring twitter re: CA fires and now FL storms

Funko NFTs – so much

NFTs – even more

Gardening

Smokey hikes

Regular daily housekeeping/chores.errands

Now football season is upon us…fantasy crap, sell tickets, etc etc.

This is my day. Every day. No wonder I have 2 page list of TV shows and movies I need to catch up on. lol

Being retired is tiring.

During the Dot Com boom – every company had a vision, a mission, promises. As long as they secured their .com they could do anything. Until they couldn’t.

And now we compare every possible “bubble” with that (well…and with tulips but ok…) But guess what – out of those dot com bust ashes came Amazon. Google. Netflix. And others.

And really…if you were the founder of Pets.com would you not be fn pissed looking at Chewy.com every day??? Genius idea. Knew it would work. Just too early. Webvan.com? Look at Safeway.com. Blue Apron. Whole Foods via Amazon Fresh. WTF right? Just. Too. Damn. Early.

So sure…Bitcoin could likely be tether-funded crap and really worth $1. And SAFEMOON probably will not save the world. DOGE? Well…I suppose Elon can make it work if anyone can. But out of all this crap will emerge new tech, new ideas. And maybe even old/current ones will almost die but then prosper?

So are you that sure they will all die? And that crypto is a scam? And we will live forever with paper money – even after a pandemic 2020 had most businesses not accepting cash? Or is it possible and likely that some will not only survive but grow? Or that new ones will grow out of the corpses of the old?

Why would crypto-currently NOT be the future? Of course it will be. Only a complete ludite can’t see it. But will the governments of the world control it instead of the de-centralized dream it sprang from? Who knows. Probably.

I’m just here to make money from what it is right now.

Today is 1 of those days…or maybe I should the last few hours are…or really the last 15 months are…when I feel like my brain is melting. So much stuff running around in it.

Lats year at this time, I’d go to my trading group chat and laugh (or worry) at the latest China/pandemic/Trump/guvmint crap. Or were we still all in it together then?

For the past 6..7..8 years? Or more? I’ve gone to this trading group in off-trading hours to laugh. Or snicker. Always a great group. Weird assholes most of them to be sure. But great.

But then last week, after I had a crappy 8 weeks of trading, I said I was going to probably take a short break. Re-group. And received a shitty response from the owner. Oh. ok. Fuck you.

I logged in to feel the camaraderie. It was fun. Even when we were losing money lol. But f off – I don’t need your shitty attitude. Bummer is some of the other people there immediately chimed in to my defense. I do like this group so much. But really not in the mood right now.

So I’ve stayed away mostly. Meh – who cares. I checked in over the w/e during crypto carnage. And again tonight. And what the F am I reading tonight? FFS.

Proof I do need a break. From everything online. Sometimes I think writing or talking about it get it out of my system and I’ll feel better. But this seems to stick.

Home project I’ve wanted done for like…8 years is done today! Shades in my “Half Moon” windows at the front of the house. There are a few hours of every day for a few months out of the year when the sun BURNS into the house and now I will BLOCK IT OUT! So happy.

But this meant the installers were here for about 90 minutes = guys, ladders, drilling. Smokey was NOT happy. He stayed next to me and kept an eye on them. They were 2 very polite young men and loved both Star Wars and dogs so I think he figured out it was OK. LoL. But even though he didn’t try to eat anyone, the stress of these types of things takes a toll. And he he gets older, I think it’s a bigger toll.

I took him out fir a walk as soon as they left to go see his friends and we saw 3 of them and he liked that. But he still followed me around the house until I finally took a shower and sat down. He’s such a goof. But he is who he is. That will not change. That old dogs, new tricks thing. It’s a real thing. He’s now having a nice treat while I have a glass of bubbly – bottle was opened from over the weekend – not letting that go to waste!

I wish he didn’t stress so much. After days with serious changes in routine, he needs a night of me just sitting here with him. So I will catch up on Bad Batch, watch crypto go up and down…and up and down…and let him settle back into his calm state.

This week is the one year anniversary of the market melting down due to the rona. Or more accurately, the media and politicians’ reaction to the rona. March 18th was the low I believe and we struggled a but but DID continue to go up from there.

I did well in my accounts over the year. Although I think a blind chimp did well in his/hr accounts this past year. People who never invested before in their lives made money in their newly opened Robinhood accounts.

Altho, this past month – meh. Not sure how those same RHers have done in this chop. Or if they gave any thought to their tax implications due soon. Surprise!

Biden has been a pile to stinky crap for the market. Certainly cannot lay all the blame at his feet (although since Libs liked to do that with Trump – I’ll go ahead.) But not knowing what the tax issues will be (though we all know they will raise taxes so F Biden), the still inconsistent state reopening issues, etc. has been a giant pile of suck.

I mean – what good is a vaccine if we all still have to wear masks everywhere? HOW STUPID IS THAT? If I still have to wear a mask, you can keep your vaccine. F off.

Seriously considering cashing up a lot and waiting out the next month or quarter or even through summer. Do small trades, or maybe add to long term positions but this chop fest over the last 4-6 weeks has been sucky.

Trading was fun this past year. Even on the stressful, down days – it had a better feel to it. Hopeful to get out of the “pandemic”. But now that we got to the near-end – a vaccine – the magic jab! – it’s still crap. Actually – worse crap. Biden is not hopeful. Biden is not Presidential. So we have no optimism in our leadership. That’s pretty suck. And please do not get me started on Gavin.

These past 2 months have really been not fun. Even on the good days with good trades – always the feeling in the back of my head of “how fast will this turn?” And in a period of time where we are enforced to not have fun, that really sucks.

Once this quarter ends, let’s see if things turn around a bit. But I have to say – I do not think it will. Eventually. But not yet.

F Biden. F China.

I love the idea of Bitcoin/cryptocurrency. LOVE it. Mostly because I love the idea of keeping big government out of anything and everything.

Does that mean I don’t believe oversight is needed? No. While I hate big government, I am also well aware that humans are retarded and most of them require supervision. That pretty destroys the ideals of Libertarians. You need common sense and decency for it to work. Sadly…that is not common.

I started buying crypto in 2016. I bought a Ledger Nano to store it on. The whole idea of cold storage was you keep it it a drawer (or fire-proof safe) and it was safe from hackers, government, etc. Sure. Sounds great. Crypto was finance embracing technology. Store your money *on* tech.

I take it out and check it every few months. Every single time there is some update that takes forever and I always wonder what if this thing just dies? It’s electronic – of course it will. That’s the nature of tech – you need the new upgrade every 2 years. Just ask Apple.

But the reviews for Ledger are always good. And I have my root words stored away. Because NOTHING says top tier, cutting edge technolgy and the future of money than having to keep your recovery words stored on a FN piece of paper someplace so it can’t be hacked. Sigh.

Today – open up Nano S. Move my ETC because I want to sell it. Get rid of shitcoins. Well – that transaction still shows pending after 8 hours. Fun times.

Also want to move some LTC. Decide to sell some to buy other crypto. LTC is a shifty crypto at best. Move some. THEN Ledger says I need to download/install their update to complete moving. Huh? Fine. Quick download/install. Plug Nano back in – the screen that you need to enter your passcode. Black. WTF? Then it comes back in spotty illuminated fashion – I am able to see it just enough to enter my passcode. After that screen – the illumination is JUST FINE. Only the most important passcode section is basically dead AFTER THE LEDGE UPGRADE. I try to complete the transaction but it says “OH IT MIGHT HAVE FAILED TRY AGAIN.” When I try – the passcode screen – black. DED.

Go online – search for issues about this. Yep – dead. You can order a new wallet. Or use an online one to recover your crypto BUT (and all warnings were strong and in capital letters) if you use an online wallet, you will need to enter your recovery words and they can be stolen, hacked, don’t trust the web, don’t trust online, don’t trust your computer – use a computer you only use or this!, etc etc etc.

So I need to order a new unit (which I did), or use an online wallet, to recover my money sitting in the ether USING MY PIECE OF PAPER WITH MY RECOVERY WORDS ON IT WITH MY PENCIL. Stored in the real world. Kind of like…my $20 bills would be….

You know….gonna start hoarding gold coins. F it.

What an insane week in the stock market (also 3 day blizzard.) I mean…it’s been a bit nuts since the crash in March but this week has been bananas.

I do love this stuff. And kinda hate it – mostly because I am so tired. lol I’ve been interested in this stuff since I was 19 years old. So I guess I am a nerd. But instead if caring about video games etc, I care about Wall Street junk. Well…obviously I care about some traditional nerd stuff: Star Wars, Marvel/DC, Star Wars, Disney, and oh yeah…Star Wars.

But I think what I hate the most is NONE of my friends care. I have no one to jibber jabber about this crap with. I mean…my ex and I chit chat about it the most but beyond that – it’s a meme to people and they don’t really care. Weird. Because it effects you. A lot. Even if you do not realize it. But ok.

I’d say I need new/more friends but who has time for that. I have to trade! (and shovel snow…and collect Star Wars stuff.)

Finished my 2020 P/L today along with my weekly P/L. Needed to finalize 2020 tax planning. Always a fun Saturday when taxes are involved. Plus did some crypto trades today (24/7…yay…sonofa…)

Did well in 2020. But I think a blind monkey just banging on his keyboard could have made money this year. But I’m very thankful to have done as well as I did. Of course, now I am convinced of a market crash – like everyone – which is why it won’t happen quite yet I suppose. But need to stay on my toes. This week beat my 2nd best week last year by $90 (realized trades) – lol. I’ll take it. Did a LOT of trades. My long term positions did well for the most part. I did sell some $TSLA because it’s just. so . high.

Supposedly, the next 2 weeks are traditionally awful (although I have not looked up those stats.) And monthly opex is Friday and that always seems to mess with stuff. So we’ll see how it goes. Add a few crypto stock plays in AH on Friday on a hunch – hoping I’m not smacked upside the head on those.

Crypto trading is fun. Although only doing small trades. I still had my BTC, ETH, LTC and XRP from 2017 buys. All that is in cold storage. HODL! Luckily, I also started building a trading position in 2018 in BTC and ETH after the crash so I sold a 1/3 portion of that BTC this week to free up some trading cash. And have been buying BCH and OXT. Just sold all of my BCH for a nice win. Adding to OXT here.

Sadly, I should have been adding a lot more to my ETH. Seems like it can do well % wise this year if the crypto run continues.

…have a bizarre sense of humor.

Friday and today were absolutely excellent trading days for me. My trading account hit an all-time high today. Excellent moves/sales in TWTR and GPRO calls bought last week, sold LC also from last week and sold my UWTI position +5% that I was down 20% just a short time ago. And I jumped in and out of the monster that is TWLO for a very nice win. Was feeling pretty happy….so naturally AH decided to take me down a peg…

I bought some HAIN calls last week (have had a small stock position in my 401k for a long time) as it started running. I *ALMOST* sold the position as a quick in/out trade on Friday as it really heated up but then didn’t. Got greedy and thought maybe they really DO announce an acquisition over the weekend. And then when nothing was announced – almost sold AGAIN this AM. Still up on position. But nooooooo….the greed devil on my shoulder said “hey they are September calls…hold them a little longer….” Sigh…It’s a small position but make some VERY annoyed. Since I ignored myself TWICE to sell. Gah.

HAIN came out after hours today and announced reporting/financial issues. Always a winner. Stock tanked about 25%. Yay. I will likely add to my LT position at these levels (maybe) but those calls should be nice and worthless. Grrrr. Hate that greed devil.

The stock market gods giveth, the stock market gods taketh away. Back to work to make that back….