With the current sentiment around the housing market being grim. It makes me wonder if building in a position in some of the down in the dumps stocks could really pop in a couple years. The down prices really leaves alot of runway to capitalize on
President Trump says Russia will supply millions of tons of diesel to U.S. and global markets. 📊 Key Highlights: ⛽ U.S. diesel prices hit around $6.28 per gallon. 🤝 Trump reached a supply agreement with Vladimir Putin. 📉 The goal: Increase supply and bring fuel prices down. ⚠️ The U.S. temporarily eased sanctions on certain Russian diesel shipments. 🌍 BUT THERE'S A CATCH! Analysts question whether the deal will significantly lower prices, while Ukraine criticizes the move. 📈 Could this change the global energy market? 💬 What do you think? Smart move or risky decision ?read more
Last week I said I'd watch what the banks were seeing. Well, the numbers are in. JPMorgan's card spending rose 10% from a year ago. Wells Fargo's consumer loans grew 4%. Citi's card delinquencies were steady or slightly better. Not exactly a consumer credit meltdown. That doesn't mean households are suddenly comfortable. Higher prices still hurt, and banks tend to lend to people with stronger credit. But there's a difference between feeling squeezed and actually missing payments. And right now, that difference matters.read more
So what stocks did you guys buy this week ❓❓ Not the greatest week for memory and semis but the overall market kept pushing higher as both indices are sitting at their respective highs.
Today, I’m taking a moment to appreciate how far God has brought me. This car means a lot to me because I know the work, patience, and sacrifices that go into building the life you want. It hasn’t always been easy, but I’ve learned to keep going, trust God, and stay focused on my goals. I’ve also learned that you can’t please everybody. Some people will celebrate your progress, while others will question your decisions. That’s life. At the end of the day, you know what you’ve worked for and what it took to get here. I’m grateful for how far I’ve come, and I pray God continues to give me the wisdom to keep growing. Never forget where you started, and don’t be afraid to appreciate how far you’ve made it. ❤️🙏 All thanks and glory to God for this blessing, and special thanks to $SPCX for last week’s trade with my trading community. I’m grateful for the opportunities, the lessons, and everyone who’s been part of the journey. 📖 ECCLESIASTES 3:12–13 “I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.” To me, this verse is a reminder that it’s okay to enjoy what you work hard for. Sometimes we’re so busy chasing the next goal that we forget to appreciate what God has already blessed us with. Not everybody will understand your choices, and that’s okay. I’m just thankful for what God has allowed me to accomplish. All glory belongs to Him. 🙏 🙏 MY PRAYER FOR EVERYONE READING THIS ❤️ Heavenly Father, I pray for everyone reading this post. You know what each person is going through, even the things they don’t share with anybody. You know their worries, their struggles, and the things they’ve been praying for. Lord, please give them strength when life gets hard, peace when their minds are troubled, and hope when things don’t go as planned. Bless their families, provide for their needs, and open doors of opportunity for them. For those who have been working hard and waiting for their prayers to be answered, please give them the patience to keep going and the faith to trust in You. Father, guide their steps, protect their homes, and surround them with people who genuinely want to see them do well. Remind them not to give up just because things are taking longer than they expected. Help them appreciate the little blessings along the way and give You thanks through both the good days and the difficult ones. My prayer is that everyone reading this finds a reason to smile, receives good news, and sees better days ahead. May God bless you and your family, provide for your needs, and give you the strength to keep moving forward. In Jesus’ mighty name, AMEN! 🙏❤️ read more
One of the more overlooked parts of the $BN story… Brookfield now has roughly $273B of carry-eligible capital, up from about $174B at the end of 2021. That is an increasingly massive pool of capital that could eventually generate carried interest as investments mature and perform.
Just bought all three today — UEC, AMPX, and LUMN — sitting at or near one-year lows. Here's why: $UEC Uranium. AI data centers are about to need absurd amounts of power, and nuclear is the only serious answer. Buying the fuel at the bottom feels right. $AMPX Next-gen batteries — silicon anode tech with way more energy density than standard lithium. Data centers, drones, EVs... everything electric needs better batteries. $LUMN The fiber backbone. All this AI traffic has to move through somebody's network, and Lumen is sitting there at a discount. Three different angles on the same bet: the AI buildout needs power and pipes ⚡ How you feel about these?read more
Personally, growing up, life wasn’t so easy for me. There were zero handouts. There was an ugly divorce between my parents that shattered us further financially. And by no means would there ever be a trust fund. But here’s the deal, I am forever grateful for all of it. Why? It built me into a machine. By 31, I hit coast FIRE and now I spend most of the year traveling and living what I call my rich life. I’m sharing this with you all because it wasn’t ever and will never be about the money. Yesterday evening, I walked into a restaurant here in Montenegro overlooking the sunset. The waiter asked me what I wanted upon entering the restaurant as he held a menu up. My reply: “give me your best, no menu needed.” I had fresh sea bass paired with a tasty Greek salad and a glass of local wine. Investors, please do yourself a favor and stop living for money. Live life and experience it all. Money is merely a tool to allow you to experience. Now I’m here to just document my journey to $1M and share how I will be 100% work optional by 35: https://www.instagram.com/ari.gutman?xtok=MTZlYW1ldjNqaHM2bA%3D%3D&utm_source=qrread more
🚨 Owning 5 ETFs doesn’t automatically mean you’re diversified! You could own 5 different ETFs and still have a large portion of your money invested in the same companies. Here’s how it works 👇 Imagine you own: 📈 $VOO — S&P 500 ETF 📈 $QQQ — Nasdaq-100 ETF 📈 $VUG — Growth ETF 📈 $SCHG — Large-Cap Growth ETF 📈 $MGK — Mega-Cap Growth ETF These ETFs have different strategies, but they can share many of the same major holdings, including companies like NVIDIA, Apple, and Microsoft. So what’s the problem? 🤔 If the same few companies make up a large part of several ETFs you own, your portfolio may be more concentrated than you realize. If those stocks perform well, that concentration can help your returns. But if they fall, multiple ETFs in your portfolio could fall at the same time. ⚠️ BEFORE BUYING ANOTHER ETF, CHECK THESE 4 THINGS: ✅ Holdings: What companies does it own? ✅ Overlap: Do you already own those companies through other ETFs? ✅ Concentration: How much of your portfolio depends on the same stocks? ✅ Purpose: Does this ETF add something new to your portfolio? 💡 THE LESSON: You don’t necessarily need more ETFs. You need to understand what you own and why you own it. Sometimes, 2 well-understood ETFs can make more sense than 7 overlapping ones. 💬 LET’S TALK: How many ETFs do you currently own, and do you know how much they overlap? 👇 Drop your ETF tickers in the comments! 📌 Save this post before adding another ETF to your portfolio. Educational content only. Not financial advice. read more
One of the best parts about the Blossom community is how open everyone is sharing knowledge and experiences. To make things easier for anyone just starting their investing journey, here’s a simple glossary to help understand and simplify various terms. Common Terms: Dividend: A share of a company’s profits paid to shareholders, usually quarterly. Ex-Dividend Date: The cutoff date by which you must own a stock to receive its next dividend. ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund): A fund that holds multiple stocks or bonds, traded like a single stock. Covered Call ETF: An ETF that owns stocks and sells call options to generate extra income (higher yield, limited / capped upside). Earnings Report: A company’s quarterly financial performance summary. EPS (Earnings Per Share): A company’s profit divided by its number of shares. Market Cap: A company’s total value (share price × number of shares). ACB: The total amount you’ve paid for an investment, including the purchase price plus any fees or commissions. Book Value: The value of a company according to its financial statements (assets minus liabilities). Yield: Annual dividend as a percentage of the stock/ETF price. Liquidity: How easily an asset can be bought or sold without impacting its price. Volatility: The degree of price fluctuations in a stock or market. Index: A benchmark of stocks (e.g., S&P 500, Nasdaq, TSX). Bull Market: A period of rising stock prices and optimism. Bear Market: A period of declining stock prices and pessimism. False Breakout: When a stock’s price moves above (or below) a key level, making it look like a new trend is starting, but then quickly reverses back. P/E Ratio: Price-to-earnings ratio (stock price ÷ EPS), used to assess valuation. Blue Chip: Well-established, financially strong companies with a track record of stability. Diversification: Spreading investments across assets to reduce risk. Broker: A platform or firm that facilitates buying and selling investments. Limit Order: An order to buy/sell a stock at a specific price or better. Market Order: An order to buy/sell a stock immediately at the current market price. Bid/Ask Spread: The difference between the highest price buyers offer and the lowest price sellers accept. Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA): Investing a fixed amount regularly to reduce the impact of market swings. Capital Gain/Loss: Profit or loss from selling an investment for more/less than its purchase price. IPO: When a company first sells shares to the public. Index Fund: A fund designed to mirror the performance of a market index. Short Selling: Selling borrowed shares, hoping to buy them back cheaper. Margin: Borrowing money from a broker to buy investments, which amplifies gains and losses. Margin Requirement: The minimum amount of your own money (equity) you must maintain in a margin account to open or keep a leveraged investment position. Margin Call: A demand from your broker to deposit more funds or sell assets because your account equity has fallen below the required margin level. Time Horizon: The length of time you plan to hold an investment before needing the money. Short horizons = more risk-sensitive, long horizons = more room to ride out volatility. Stock Split / Reverse Split: A split increases the number of shares (e.g., 2-for-1) while lowering the price per share. A reverse split reduces the number of shares (e.g., 1-for-10) while raising the price per share. Your overall value doesn’t change just the math. Long (Being Long): Buying a stock or asset because you expect the price to go up. Short (Being Short): Selling a stock you don’t own because you expect the price to go down, so you can buy it back cheaper later. TER: The total yearly cost of owning a fund, including the management fee plus other costs like administration, audits, and legal fees. MER: The annual cost that a fund charges for management (includes any leverage costs if used). Management Fee: A portion of the MER that goes directly to the fund managers for running the fund. Withholding Tax: A tax deducted on dividends/distributions from foreign investments (e.g., U.S. dividends to Canadian investors face a 15% withholding in TFSA/Non-Registered accounts). Total Returns: The full picture of an investment’s performance, including both price gains and dividends/distributions. CAGR: The average yearly growth of an investment over time. NAV: The price of one share of a fund (stock or etf) NAV Depreciation: When the fund’s share price goes down over time. Mutual Fund: A pool of money from many investors used to buy a mix of stocks, bonds, or other assets. Bond: A loan you give to a company or government, and they pay you back with interest. Asset: Anything valuable you own that can generate money. Portfolio: Your collection of investments. Option: A contract that gives you the right (but not the obligation) to buy or sell a stock at a set price. Future: A contract to buy or sell something at a set price on a future date. REIT: A company that owns real estate and pays investors income from rent. Alpha: A measure of how much better (or worse) an investment did compared to the market. Beta: A measure of how much an investment moves compared to the market. Sharpe Ratio: A way to see if returns are worth the risk taken. Hedging: Protecting your investments from risk. Rebalancing: Adjusting your portfolio back to your target mix of assets. FCF: Free Cash Flow Understanding these terms makes investing far less intimidating. If anyone feels other terms should be included, please share in the comments. I’ll update this post so we can build a complete beginner-friendly resource together! *Sorry tagged a few etfs for reach 🫣read more
⚠️ Warning: This post was vetted through AI. You may want to look away now. 😂 After experiencing the uninformed and unwelcome opinions of people shaming the use of AI, and, even more frustratingly, misrepresenting my financial situation, I decided to reread The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck*. It reminded me of something I already knew: Not every opinion deserves my attention. Fundamentally, I don’t participate in negativity, harassment or hate. I don’t need to convince everyone that my choices are right, and I certainly don’t need the approval of people who have decided they know my financial situation better than I do. But I did feel that the developing culture of AI shaming deserved my attention, not because I want to argue with the naysayers, but because I think there’s an opportunity to have a more positive, productive and inclusive conversation about it. I genuinely enjoy sharing my financial growth, milestones, lessons and journey here on Blossom. It’s one of the fun parts of this app for me. I’m excited about what I’m building, and I enjoy sharing the process with people who are interested in learning, growing and having conversations about money. And just to be clear: I don’t use AI because I’m illiterate, incapable or unintelligent. I was a professor in a dental department at a post-secondary institution. I know how to think, research, question information and form my own conclusions. Using AI doesn’t equal incompetence. It’s a tool. A tool that helps me organize my thoughts, be more productive, communicate ideas and accomplish my goals. And I actually think there’s something beautiful about that. Technology can make participation more accessible. It can help someone find the words they struggle to find, organize thoughts that feel overwhelming, communicate in a language they’re still learning, or simply make it possible to participate when life is busy. That feels more inclusive to me, not less. Of course, AI isn’t perfect. It can be wrong. It can misunderstand context. It can produce information that needs to be checked. That’s why I believe in using it responsibly: question it, fact-check it, protect your privacy and ultimately take responsibility for what you choose to publish. That isn’t giving up your intelligence. That’s using your intelligence to use a tool well. AI is here. It’s ubiquitous. And honestly, it has barely begun. We don’t shame calculators because people used to do long division. We don’t shame spreadsheets because people once balanced books by hand. So why are we suddenly treating the use of a new tool as a character flaw? Telling someone to stop using AI because it’s “not real” is about as logical as trading your laptop for a pen and paper, your smartphone for a corded home phone, and your GPS for a paper map. Technology changes. We adapt. And perhaps the most important part of all of this: The people who have reached out privately, with thoughtful messages, encouragement, curiosity and kindness, far outweigh the toxic noise. Those are the people I choose to give my energy to. AI isn’t going away. Neither am I. And I’m not going to spend my time arguing with people who are determined to misunderstand me. I’d rather keep learning, keep questioning, keep investing and keep moving forward. You don’t have to use AI. You don’t have to like AI. But you also don’t get to decide what tools someone else is allowed to use to build their life. And yes…AI helped me write this. 😉 I’m okay with that.read more
🚨 The Hard Truth Dividends are not free bonus cash. When a company pays a dividend, its share price typically drops by that amount. Spending that cash actively drains your long-term growth. Total return is the main metric that matters. 📈 The $1,000,000 Difference Invest $250/month into the S&P 500 from age 22 to 65: • Cash out the dividends (~8% price return): $1.11M • Reinvest every dividend (~10% total return): $2.14M That is an extra $1,023,000 simply for letting compounding work. ⚙️ The Solution Turn on DRIP (Dividend Reinvestment Plan). It systematically uses your payouts to buy more shares without manual intervention or commission fees. More shares create larger dividend payouts, which buy even more shares. read more
I added another 40 shares to my $LUNR position today at $12.22. That bumped my position up by 40%, and it now makes up 1.86% of my portfolio. My thesis hasn’t changed. The Lanteris acquisition turned Intuitive Machines into an end-to-end space company, which means it can go after a much wider range of government and commercial contracts. The fundamentals look stronger than ever, even though the stock has pulled back. The stock is trading near its 200 week SMA, which is the average price over almost the last four years. A lot of long-term buyers watch that level, and it gives me a spot I’m comfortable building around. Why DCA instead of one big buy? I don’t know if this is the exact bottom, and spreading my buys out lets me build a solid average price without needing to time it perfectly. This is still a high risk, high reward name, so I’m sizing it that way. I’m in it for the long term and plan to keep adding around these levels.
The greatest loss in 2026 is common sense. I dont like elon. Thats plain to see, but if I had to put a reason to it I would say it is because he is a salesmen first. Just a reminder that powerful people will say what is in there best interest first. We should do what is in our best interest first.
GARP is the iShares MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF from BlackRock. It tracks the MSCI USA Quality GARP Select Index, which screens US large- and mid-cap stocks for growth plus quality and value characteristics. GARP stands for growth at a reasonable price. Key facts: 0.15% expense ratio, about $3.5B in assets, around 134 holdings. Largest positions are Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, and Micron, each near 5% of the fund. Technology makes up roughly 59%, with communication services and consumer cyclical next. YTD: total return of 28.55% through Oct 6, 2026. For context, the S&P 500 sits at 15.14% and QQQ at 24.08% over the same stretch. Five-year total return is about 152.6%. Worth knowing: the dividend yield is only about 0.24%, paid quarterly, so this is a growth vehicle, not an income one. The heavy tech weighting means it behaves more like QQQ than a broad market fund when megacaps swing.
Canada has lost a total of 110,000 jobs over the past two months, including 68,000 in September. Canada's unemployment rate also jumped to 6.5%. Not the be a bummer but Canada has gotten the worse of the trade war since it started. Something needs to give.
🚨 A DECADE of dividend investing 👨💼 My portfolio is now worth ~$2M 💰 And it pays me roughly $10,500 in dividends EVERY MONTH 💵 8 HIGH INCOME ETFs with ZERO PRICE DECAY that I own or plan on buying!📈🔥 $SCHD 🏆 Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF ~3.0% yield ~531% total return Pays quarterly Launched Oct 2011 $QDVO 🏆 Amplify CWP Growth & Income ETF ~11.2% yield ~52% total return Pays monthly Launched Aug 2024 $OVL 🏆 Overlay Shares Large Cap Equity ETF ~10.5% yield ~208% total return Pays monthly Launched Sep 2019 $SEPI 🏆 Shelton Equity Premium Income ETF ~7.9% yield ~27% total return Pays monthly Launched Sep 2025 $IDVO 🏆 Amplify CWP International Enhanced Dividend Income ETF ~6.1% yield ~114% total return Pays monthly Launched Sep 2022 $GPIQ🏆 Goldman Sachs Nasdaq-100 Premium Income ETF ~9.9% yield ~105% total return Pays monthly Launched Oct 2023 $XQQI 🏆 NEOS Boosted Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF ~20.2% yield ~21% total return Pays monthly Launched Jan 2026 $HAKY 🏆 Amplify HACK Cybersecurity Covered Call ETF ~15.0% yield ~48% total return Pays monthly Launched Jan 2026 *Bookmark this one* 🔖👇 read more
Tony retired in 2024 in his 30s with a portfolio size of just over $850,000. Can Income Investing Fund Early Retirement?! In this interview I talk to him to better understand what it took for him and his wife to walk away from their job in their 30s and live off their investments. We'll see hportfolio built around covered-call ETFs and investment income actually sustain early retirement? Tony, better known as @onemadtony on YouTube and Blossom, is a Vancouver-area investor who left the workforce in 2024 with approximately $850,000 invested. His portfolio has since grown to around $1.23 million, even after withdrawing more than $100,000 over roughly two and a half years. Tony shares his unconventional journey from early trading and dividend investing to covered-call ETFs, income investing, and financial independence in his late 30s. We explore how he structures his portfolio, manages retirement withdrawals, and balances investment income with long-term growth. In this interview, we discuss: 🟣How Tony's upbringing shaped his relationship with money and investing. 🟣 Why his mother's cancer diagnosis changed his perspective on work, retirement, and time with family. 🟣How he and his wife decided they could afford to leave their jobs. 🟣 His three-part portfolio strategy: living expenses, long-term core holdings, and a more flexible investing account. 🟣 Covered-call ETFs, distributions, and why a high yield doesn't automatically mean a sustainable return. 🟣 His real-life experiment comparing his income portfolio against $XEQT , $VFV , $QQC , and $HYLD under the same withdrawals. 🟣 Retiring with an approximate 5–7% annual withdrawal rate, keeping a cash reserve, and managing risk. 🟣 The psychological appeal of investment income versus selling shares to fund retirement. 🟣 Why understanding the risks of income investing is just as important as understanding its benefits. 🟣 What financial independence has taught Tony about enjoying the journey instead of waiting until you reach your goal. One of Tony's biggest takeaways is that financial independence isn't just about reaching a portfolio target. It's about having the freedom and flexibility to spend time with loved ones when it matters most. Tony also offers a thoughtful perspective on the income-investing debate: the strategy that works best on paper isn't necessarily the one that helps you feel comfortable enough to stick with it. But before relying on high-distribution ETFs to fund retirement, it's essential to understand where the distributions come from, the potential trade-offs, and what could go wrong. 🍿Fun Facts: Tony shares how @mr.financial is one of his most favorite Blossomers with his detailed, in-depth videos/posts which create good engagement. 😃 Also similar to @karyungtom, he plays and is a big fan of Magic: The Gathering! 💬 I'd love to hear from you: If you were financially independent today, would you prefer to live off investment distributions or sell a small percentage of your portfolio each year? Why? ... For me personally, I am comfortable enough to sell a small portion of my portfolio, as that way I could have more control over how much money I can withdraw and could potentially lower tax implication based on a more optimized drawdown strategy. https://youtu.be/GmRSZ-v4BO8read more
📊 Stocks split ahead of a heavy week of bank earnings and inflation data. The Dow rose 0.38% for a third straight gain, the S&P 500 slipped 0.06% and the Nasdaq fell 0.44%. 💾 Micron ($MU) dropped 3.9% to drag on the Nasdaq as investors weighed rising competition from China's CXMT, which reported progress on a new chip structure. ☁️ Salesforce ($CRM) rose 2% to lead the Dow higher after Bank of America double upgraded the stock. 🛰️ AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS) climbed around 5% after Deutsche Bank upgraded it to buy and kept its $93 target, implying 82% upside. The stock fell 10% Friday on SpaceX's spectrum purchase and is down more than 26% this year. 🏦 Morgan Stanley cut Ally Financial ($ALLY) to equal weight. Analyst Jeffrey Adelson sees less earnings upside with higher rates and a softer credit backdrop, though he isn't calling for margin contraction or worsening auto credit. 🛢️ Oil climbed after Trump announced an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, which Zelenskyy said Moscow had already violated. WTI rose 2.06% to $93.74 and Brent gained 1.84% to $106.65. The energy sector ETF XLE touched an intraday record, its first in more than a month. 👨🏻💻 Researched and written daily by @timeminoread more
Here are 🚩3 big flags🚩that signal a company might not be a good investment, and I'll walk you through how to check for each one. (Free Stock Checklist at the end) --- 1️⃣ Declining Revenue or Earnings📉 🛑 Why it’s a red flag:A company with falling revenue or earnings may be losing market share, dealing rising costs, or the overall industry is shrinking. ✅ How to Check for This: A) Look at the Income Statement📊 - Find the company’s total revenue and net income in its latest financial report. Top-line & bottom-line, respectively. - Compare revenue and net income across multiple quarters/years. 3 years or 12 quarters is more than enough to indicate a trend - If both are consistently declining, it’s a warning sign. B) Check Earnings Reports🗂️ - Look at the company’s quarterly earnings reports to see if they’ve missed expectations multiple times. C) Compare to Competitors🔍 - Is the entire industry struggling, or just this company? 📚Website for financial reports: https://www.marketwatch.com/ --- 2️⃣ High Debt Levels 🛑 Why it’s a red flag:Companies with a capital structure heavily debt-reliant are more vulnerable in economic downturns and might struggle to repay obligations. ✅ How to Check for This: A) Find the Debt-to-Equity Ratio (D/E)📊 - Go to the company’s Balance Sheetin its latest report. - Find Total Debt and Total Equityand calculate: Debt-to-Equity Ratio = Total Debt ÷ Total Equity** - A D/E ratio above 2.0 (varies by industry) is usually risky. B) Check Interest Coverage Ratio🔍 - Look at the Income Statement for EBIT (Earnings Before Interest & Taxes). - Find Interest Expense and calculate:Interest Coverage Ratio = EBIT ÷ Interest Expense - If this ratio is below 1.5, the company may struggle to pay interest. 📚 Resources: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/debtratio.asp#:~:text=Key%20Takeaways&text=A%20company's%20debt%20ratio%20can,has%20more%20assets%20than%20debt --- 3️⃣ Poor Cash Flow 🛑 Why it’s a red flag:A company can be profitable on paper but still run out of cash to fund operations. ✅ How to Check for This: A) Find the Cash Flow Statement📜 - Look at Operating Cash FlowOCF). - If OCF is negative for multiple quarters, the company may be in trouble. B) Check Free Cash Flow (FCF)💰 - Free Cash Flow = Operating Cash Flow - Capital Expenditures - A company with negative FCF can’t reinvest in growth without taking on debt. 📚 Read more about Cash flow: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/07/easycashflow.asp ___________________________________________ Thanks for reading, I am open to engage in friendly conversations so I encourage you to leave a comment!💬 Access my free stock checklist at the link below⬇️ https://investingwithcole.gumroad.com/l/stockchecklist read more
📊 Tech led a rebound Friday, capping a winning week despite 24-year highs in long-dated yields. The Dow climbed 0.83%, the Nasdaq rose 0.64% and the S&P 500 added 0.59%. 📡 Verizon ($VZ) fell 8.75% to $41.65, its worst day since 2002, after SpaceX announced a deal to buy a nationwide spectrum portfolio. AT&T ($T) and T-Mobile ($TMUS) also slid on competition fears, while SpaceX itself rose 1%. 💉 Moderna ($MRNA) jumped after the New York Times reported the NIH will launch a public-private push on personalized cancer vaccines starting in December. Moderna is already developing one with Merck and is up more than 600% this year, the best performer in the S&P 500. 🏥 Humana ($HUM) soared 12% after its largest Medicare Advantage contract improved in the CMS 2027 Star Ratings. Alignment Healthcare went the other way, plunging almost 14%. 🍎 Apple ($AAPL) dropped nearly 2% after Nikkei Asia reported it cut component orders for the iPhone 18 Pro on softer demand. October production orders for the Pro and Pro Max were trimmed 15% from original plans. 🛢️ Trump said Putin agreed to supply diesel to the U.S. and global markets, starting with more than 300,000 tons immediately and 500,000 more in November. Oil closed marginally higher with WTI near $92 and Brent above $104, easing slightly after the announcement. Consumer sentiment fell to 46.3, its second lowest on record. 👨🏻💻 Researched and written daily by @timeminoread more
Welcome back to another episode of Financial KarMoe with @karyungtom and I (Moe)! 🎙️ Episode 23 is another community Q&A (Thanks everyone who sent us a question on Blossom!). We cover topics ranging anywhere from $XEQT and ethical investing to day trading, $CAGE, TFSA strategies, taxes, AI and planning financially in anticipation for having kids in future. Does owning XEQT mean you're directly funding companies you may disagree with? We revisit the comment we received on our previous episode about XEQT's exposure to weapons manufacturers and talk about the difference between owning shares on the secondary market and directly providing capital to a company. We also discuss ESG investing, personal values and why there isn't necessarily a simple answer when it comes to ethical investing. We tackle the question of day trading XEQT (Shoutout to Blossom member, Joe!). Is it possible to sell during a downturn and buy back lower, or are you simply trying to time a market that already reflects available information? Kar and Moe share their perspectives and why a simple, long-term approach can be so difficult to beat. Other questions from the Blossom community take us into CAGE vs XEQT, why new investors seem so attracted to technology stocks, whether there really is such a thing as a TFSA "super cycle," and how we think about taxes and account allocation when planning for early retirement. We also get a little more personal answering several other Blossomer questions: How much should your spouse understand about your investment strategy? How did we approach finances during maternity/parental leave? And what can you do ahead of time to prepare for a period of reduced household income? Plus, we talk about something relevant to the investing and social media communities such as Blossom: using AI to write and improve posts. Is AI assisted content really a problem, or is it simply another tool that can help people communicate their own ideas? We share our two cents on this topic. We squeeze in some lighter questions too, including first jobs, favourite sports, collecting things and where we'd travel if money and time weren't an issue. As always, we're not here to tell you that there's only one right way to invest. We're sharing what we do, what we believe, and why. You can agree, disagree, or somewhere in between. 😃 💬 We'd love to hear from you: What's one investing topic you've changed your mind about over the years? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-4LRIH0W6cread more
Originally published on Blossom on April 23th, 2024 Please find retrospective commentary at the end. Readers of KTS know that we frequently reference KTS #11 for understanding the differences between INSIDERS and INVESTORS. We accept that INSIDERS are the market makers. We also must accept our subservient role that we will follow the early INSIDERS and outperform most other INSIDERS and virtually all INVESTORS. If you have been following my posts/ trades, you’ve seen this in action by now with supporting details and profitable actions. So the aim of this series is to build our toolkit of investment strategies to learn to listen, read, and time the markets and the cycles to successfully – both consistently and sustainably – realize double-digit annualized returns. Early in this series, we provided a straightforward ETF only approach to handily beat the S&P500 – that I quit using. This follow the sector (KTS #2) approach is a proven method that can be enhanced by digging in on the key stocks that move these sectors through cycle rotation. Also through KTS, we have clearly stated the phase of the current real estate/banking crisis cycle, the TIMING of its completion, and why the current portfolio looks like it does heavy in Capital Markets, Industrials, Materials, and mainly Commodity-related securities. Last year the portfolio looked different as the Tech sector was dominant. We have now reached the part of the cycle where Tech really begins to tire out. It is important to recognize that each Tech stock chart can behave very differently. For the TECH SECTOR, YOU NOW MUST GIVE ALMOST FULL WEIGHT INTO ANY ENTRY INTO ANY INVESTMENT DECISION BY LOOKING AT THE TREND IN EARNINGS ESTIMATE REVISIONS. At this stage in the meltup phase in TECH stocks, you should run from anything seeing a downtrend in earnings estimate revisions. Key points: This is not the case for other sectors/subsectors that are now coming into favor. This is not the case for other speculative securities that do well at this point in the cycle (e.g. AI related tech, Crypto (no earnings but highlighting to show speculatives that will continue to do well), Small/Micro caps, Biotech, and other FOMO speculatives). This is not the case for TECH companies that continually beat their rising earnings estimates. Why is this so? Naturally, higher interest rates are working against increasing company growth rates as the intent is to slow the economy and the TECH SECTOR (being the king of fast growth) starts to weaken. But we are now seeing the INSIDERS losing interest in parts of the Tech sector. For example, $XITK has fallen out of favor with Wall Street since the rise in commodity investments we read in the markets over a month ago. So many investors are heavily invested in Tech - and as pointed out before, even the Conventionalists and their S&P 500 investment vehicles are OVERLOADED with the performance of this sector. The new AI stocks are here. They are yesterday’s VALUE stocks that are currently transitioning to tomorrow’s GROWTH stocks. If you learn to read, listen, and TIME the markets and their cycles, you would know that this is where you should be buying now. $XOM , $NUE , $CCJ , $MTDR , $FCX and $EQT are just some of the new AI stocks for example. Tech is tired. Evidence please?: Zuck, Bezos, and Gates are selling huge positions. $META initiated a dividend $NFLX is quitting reporting their 2 most prominent valuation metrics: subscribers and ARPU Wall Street is not investing as heavily and is rotating out. Retrospective commentary - October 12th 2026 This retrospective commentary is the perfect opportunity to address something most investors are still missing, even though it’s unfolding right before their eyes. Big Tech is TIRING. Since this original post, $XLK has returned +101.67% versus +35.41% for $XLE . On the surface, that hardly looks like it’s the case. But you must go beyond a simple number on your screen. The Magnificent 7 now represent roughly 35% of the S&P 500. Few would dispute that this group has driven the bulk of the main indices’ returns in recent years. Let’s assess the S&P 500 situation. S&P 500 breadth (ticker: $S5TH, the percentage of constituents trading above their 200-day moving average) stands at just 47.7%. More than half the index is trading below its long-term trend. The S&P 500 is up approximately 14.17% year-to-date (as of October 12, 2026, before the open), yet roughly 65% of its constituents are underperforming the index itself. If you rank S&P 500 constituents by YTD performance, the first and best performing Mag 7 name doesn’t appear until #112. Within XLK, which holds 71 companies, you have to go down to #39 to find the first and best performing Mag 7 stock. And that stock is $AAPL, the only Mag 7 company that isn’t spending massively on the AI buildout. And that weakening can be seen in the YTD returns: $XLE : ~ +45% $SPY : ~ +14% $MAGS : ~ +12% The group that accounts for roughly a third of the index is TIRING – underperforming the S&P 500 – while Energy is accelerating and massively outperforming. Do we need to say it again?? $MAGS is lagging the market while ENERGY is OUTPERFORMING the market by more than 30%. Have you ever watched a relay race? You know how the speed of the runner passing the baton is slowly decreasing while the speed of the runner grabbing it is slowly increasing. The first runner’s rate of change in speed is declining while the second one’s is rapidly increasing as the baton gets passed. This is exactly what is happening right now: the baton just changed hands here in 2026, but most are still looking at the runner who is slowing down. If you’ve followed my work and read my publications, you know that a core element of the KTS approach is identifying where the puck is going and positioning ahead of the herd by stepping back and learning the future. This is the perfect illustration of this with yet another sports analogy.😄 Did you pay attention to the sentence I fully CAPITALIZED back in April 23, 2024? “For the TECH SECTOR, YOU NOW MUST GIVE ALMOST FULL WEIGHT INTO ANY ENTRY INTO ANY INVESTMENT DECISION BY LOOKING AT THE TREND IN EARNINGS ESTIMATE REVISIONS. You can look at the $ORCL 5-year chart if you want to assess if there is any valuable knowledge in that… Or $NFLX . 🤣👍 Still need more evidence that Big Tech is TIRING? There are key indicators that a sector is TIRING, other than its performance. Look at both charts attached. Notice the steady compression in free cash flow yields, which are projected to turn negative next year. Notice the second chart where we made an approximate average of all FCF forecasts and then overlaid the stock price of $META . Can you see the similarity? How can you use this data to evaluate where Meta’s stock price is headed? Have you read our “Google vs. the Government” post? If not, read it right away: https://www.blossomsocial.com/posts/Google-or-the-Government__POST-1787405080828-nDo2PppJ_qoQV3QbaHcPIAvML Now ask yourself this question again: When was the last time you saw a company spend at this scale and its stock outperform over the medium term? Just recently, I came across a Bloomberg article about $ORCL trucking in natural gas to power its AI buildout. With diesel prices at ALL-TIME HIGHS???? The spending simply cannot stop and they are now taking ridiculous actions, because they cannot afford to lose the AI race. It’s happening right before your eyes. As a shareholder, you must ask yourself how you will be rewarded by that frivolous spending. All of this while global energy majors offer double-digit FCF yields? 🤔 Now that’s a reward.🏆 Need more proof? Let’s come back to $XLK . Let’s look at its top-performing stocks this year: $SNDK , $DELL , $MU , $MRVL , $HPE , $LITE , $STX , $AMD , and $INTC . If you own any of these stocks, have you figured out what percentage of their revenue comes from the Mag 7? As Big Tech continues to TIRE (see charts below), would you consider the recent performance of these stocks particularly strong or sustainable if most of their revenue comes from Big Tech companies that are already TIRING and spending as if there’s no tomorrow? When the music stops, are these stocks going to drop FAST? Faster than you can react? If yields, inflation, and commodity prices continue to apply increasing pressure on the stock market, do you believe the music should stop sooner rather than later? So look beyond the simple green numbers on your screen. Compare $XLE’s ~44% YTD return to $XLK ’s ~36% YTD return. Ask yourself: which runner is handing off the baton……..to the other one taking off? 😉 If you want to know how Beskar Capital is positioning as we acknowledge this transition - and you want to know the course of action that Beskar Capital favors in this environment, our website is the best way to do so. I always give you my best! 🏆 This is the Way! 🏄🌊 read more
After nearly 21 years of picking individual dividend growth stocks, I finally reached a point where I had to ask myself the big question.... Do I want to spend the next 40 or 50 YEARS doing this???? When I started investing, I LOVED stock picking. I enjoyed reading quarterly reports, going through investor presentations, comparing valuations and trying to figure out which company in my portfolio was the best place to put my next dollar. And .... I still enjoy it!!! However, after nearly 21 years of doing it, I started looking at the amount of time I was spending versus what I was actually getting in return.... There is a pretty important distinction between being good at researching companies and actually being able to consistently OURPERFORM a broad market index AFTER fees, taxes, mistakes and all the other things that come with trying to beat the market AND add in the time you spent that could have been spent elsewhere, like at my day job. And the empirical data wasn't exactly making me feel better about my odds... it had been glaringly obvious for years. So I did something I never thought I would do as a lifelong stock picker..... I sold EVERY. SINGLE. STOCK. in my TFSA. And then I moved into 7 broad market ETFs 3 of which factor tilt. I still kept some factor tilting because apparently I wasn't quite ready to give up my active investing addiction entirely 🤪 The biggest change for me wasn't actually my portfolio.....It was my LIFE. I was spending easily 10 plus hours a week researching, monitoring and thinking about my investments. And even when I wasn't sitting at my computer, there was always that little part of my brain wondering whether I should be doing something differently. Now?.... My portfolio requires a fraction of the time. I've gained back more than 10 hours a week that I can spend with my wife, working on the things I actually care about or frankly just existing without thinking about whether some company I own is going to miss its earnings estimate by 3 cents and start to crash.. You can put any of the billion scenarios into that sentence and I was thinking of it (ADHD brain). The reduction in stress has been even more valuable than the time. I didn't even REALIZE I was carrying that market stress around... but my wife sure noticed! I'm no longer constantly asking myself whether I picked the right stock, whether I should sell something, whether I'm missing an opportunity or whether I'm doing enough to outperform the market. The funniest thing is.... well not really funny, kind of sad, after almost 21 years of trying to become a better stock picker, I ended up realizing that maybe the better decision was to stop trying so hard to be one. There was still one question I couldn't answer until enough time had passed.... Did I actually make the right decision? It's now been 10 months since I made the change. It's still a very short period of time... but enough to short out my feelings on things. I've just finished my latest portfolio update, where I go through all 7 ETFs, exactly how I've structured the portfolio, how I'm using factor tilts, and most importantly... What actually happened over those 10 months.... and how did the portfolio perform compared to my benchmark and the S&P 500. https://youtu.be/3khfZJ7SY0g I'm not going to spoil the results here..... watch to see whether I regret walking away from over two decades of stock picking.read more
What’s the most important thing you look for when researching a stock and finding a winner? What are the things that a stock must have in order for you to own it? Let me know below, i’m super curious!
I am currently 47 years old. Unfortunately in that time frame I have lost a lot of family members. Some (most) were accidents, some to age, some to cancer, and one to suicide. That’s 11 deaths total. Only 1 person out of 11 had a will. When you are grieving the last thing you want to do is close an estate up. It’s even harder if nothing has been prepared in advance. After the initial shock of the death settles (the phase where everyone is usually nice), greed comes through in a most alarming manner. I’ve watched people turn into monsters. Make sure you have a will!!!! or people will fight. I know most people hate thinking about their death or their spouses death but honestly it’s just a fact of life. I’ve personally been the executor of 2 estates now. This is my advice: 1. If your young get life insurance. If you’re retired it’s not worth it. 2. Make sure you have a will. 3. Make sure you have a personal directive. 4. Make sure you have a power of attorney set up. 5. If your married make your spouse the beneficiary of your TFSA and RRSP(has to be done through the account not the will), they will roll into the spouses account without taxation. 6. If you’re married, and you own a house, make sure both names are on the title, joint tenant, NOT tenant in common. This activates right of survivorship on property and doesn’t have to go through the estate. 7. If you’re married, both people should have their name on all the vehicles, joint, otherwise it’s a headache after death. 8. Buy a file folding system. I have a plastic one that has a clasp and handle. 9. Put EVERYTHING in this file folder that would be needed if you died tomorrow. a) all land titles B) information on house insurance so it can either be eventually canceled or name changed over. C) your will (or the location of your will), power of attorney, and personal directive D) the information for your car, car insurance, and registration on vehicles. E) information on life insurance. F) all current year papers needed for filing your taxes. Because the survivor will have to do it and will need that information. G) where your household bills are. ALL OF THEM, electricity, gas, Netflix, magazine, subscriptions everything you can think of that is in their name. Because you are going to have to cancel them. H) their credit card information where to contact to cancel the cards I) birth certificate, SIN numbers, marriage, license, etc. J) information on all your investments accounts, bank accounts, etc. K) anything else you can think of for your situation If you’re married, I’d have one box per person. When you die, the funeral home will issue many death certificates. And your lawyer will give you copies of the will. These will be needed to change over any accounts. Everything else goes through the estate which is taxed and the lawyers take their fees so I’d avoid this as much as possible especially if you’re married. This is why having property in both people‘s names is so important because it doesn’t have to go through probate. I am widowed now and I have my black file folder and my two remaining children know if something happens to me, all they have to do is grab the folder. Everything they need to take care of my estate will be located in this folder. At the beginning of every year, I open this file up and go through everything to make sure it’s up-to-date. If you are young and do not own much or can’t afford a will, you can draft one up but it must be handwritten to be classified as a legal document. You cannot type it out!! If you’re not worth much, everything will most likely be sold to pay your bills and cover your funeral expenses. But you can state who your executor will be in your handwritten will. Disclaimer I’m not a lawyer or an accountant and this is not legal advice. Talk to a lawyer and talk to an accountant. Make sure everything is set up for you and your situation. These are situations that I personally ran into. Good luck Also I’ll add in. IF you have a lot of assets make an appointment with your accountant first. They will tell you how to properly set things up. Then take that information to your lawyer. read more
296K views
Join the conversation with 500,000+ other investors 💸
Create an account to get access to everything Blossom has to offer!
📊 Personalized algorithm based on your investing style, experience level and interests
📈 Powerful portfolio and dividend tracking tools
👀 See what top creators and others in the community are investing in
