NIA | Purpose - Purpose Driven Investing

 What is your Purpose? I've heard the best inventors, investors, musicians, and operators in the world are driven almost to madness to achieve their mission or purpose. If you recall my post of Netflix movies, you'll find a show called "Mindhunters". This show follows the development of the FBI's first behavioral analysis unit. No disrespect to local law enforcement, but it helped them stop guessing and use clues from the crime scene to narrow down a subject based on their behavior. One of the key persons in the show was an academic that first assisted the FBI as this unit was being developed. What stuck with me was she said after years of interviewing and analyzing people, CEOs and Politicians often have similar traits to the psychopaths they were tracking, interviewing, and studying. So a subtle reminder to be careful in your purpose driven mission because it's a thin line between helping people and filling your self-interest bucket.

So on day 5 of Kwanzaa I challenge you to find your purpose by finding ways to serve. The inventors who solve society's problems are celebrated. Facebook is my rolodex to everyone in my life before their were cell phones (I know imagine there was a time without cell phones). And what a compromise, I hate their data privacy practices but occasionally log on so I no longer have to keep a spreadsheet of my contacts (yes years back I kept a spreadsheet). Today my buddies on Wall Street are falling over themselves for ESG Investing. ESG is short for environmental, social, and corporate governance. So you mean the smartest nation in the world just NOW realized that we should be interested in preserving our planet, social justice and diversity issues, and ensuring that those CEOs who use their power to have relationships with their subordinates maintain good corporate governance. Wow it's 2020 and I need my billionaire friends on Wall Street telling me that ESG is in vogue and now is the time to move away from coal and eventually transition to electric, wind, hydrogen, and other solutions. I need my billionaire buddies to tell me its time to measure how many people of color and women are employed at some of the largest companies in the world AND more importantly how many of those persons are in senior management and C-Suite roles (positions of real power). It's hard for me to take them seriously because I see historically what I saw with colonialism. You stayed with strategies (slavery, coal, colonization, globalization) until they served your "purpose"...and then you peaced out.

So for me my overriding purpose is to serve by teaching those how I continue to build my core, my pillars. Being independent, able to strategically think on my own, able to complete in any setting in any part of the world means I am not easily influenced. We all have obstacles:

• When my last employer couldn't support the need for me to take care of an elderly parent in their golden years -- my approach allowed me to leave
• When I was told not to purchase a home on the South Side of Chicago - my purpose was public/private, a play on doing something that was good for me and my community. My home will double in price soon as I bought during the depths of recession (buy low, sell high) and I assisted in stabilizing my community
• When I first started as an independent contractor people told me I needed the safety of Corporate America -- haha I remembered laughing often and telling people companies stopped offering pensions decades ago. My CEO buddies come on CNBC and speak everyday and must hit quarterly earnings targets. Let's just say, they'll do what they have to make the numbers. I'm not concerned because with my dedication to my craft and 3 certifications, I have the confidence that I will be one of the few left standing --- but am I describing a job or the cutthroat show "Survivor". So I struck out on my own, negotiated deals in my favor, and actually stumbled into the best of both worlds. I have both a Corp job and a startup...funny thing is my client asked me to come on full-time...not me.

My startup company is to invest in people that are underrepresented in Corporate America so we can get them in the door. Next, I plan to invest in real estate for persons that usually get the worst housing selections because no one there isn't much choice for low-income Americans. I also want to create a hedge fund or wealth advisory/family office firm in the next 5-7 years. They don't know it but my mentors: Peter Lynch, Warren Buffet, Cathie Woods, Mario Gabelli, Seth Klarman, John Rogers and a few others have dropped enough nuggets over the years that my investing portfolio is achieving it's purpose - giving me an opportunity to retire early, invest in other projects, and donate to worthy causes.

So I challenge you to define your NIA, and together let's serve with a purpose by investing in our community and the world. God bless 

Stock Update: Today I am employing Tax Loss Harvesting. If you had a big year, many wins in your portfolio...did you know that yes the tax code allows you to sell losers in your portfolio and they offset the gains. You can carry a loss of $3K into the next tax year, no fear the government is here. But imagine that, most middle class Americans can't take advantage of this because they don't own stocks or manage their own portfolios. 

How Netflix Shows Help Me Invest - Mindhunter | Black Mirror | Beats

 

Mindhunter - This show is about the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and how they first formed the Behavioral Science Unit. Simply put, this is the unit that came up with a methodology for investigating the murders that most local police forces couldn't solve. They coined the phrase "serial killer' and how to profile people. Oddly enough, maybe we do operate in "patterns" and when you consider history...it can often be used to solve the most complex murders. The irony in the show is how often people "back then" said this type of thing doesn't happen around here. I guess when it comes to investing, I try to create a profile of the economy. I ask myself what events and triggers are likely to occur because of my profile analysis. I do lots of research, as history tends to tell a story that often and sometimes unfortunately repeats itself. Finally, I look back in time for patterns. Patterns, especially those found in charts historically help me find great entry points to plant seeds --- or invest in companies.  

The simple mind easily complains about the athlete on TV who grinds through a physical game and calls them spoiled brats...the mindhunter wonders who pays all the salaries of the athletes on a team and how can he/she afford that payroll.  Makes you ponder -- if a particular league is 75% one race --- should coaches and executive management look more like the end product.  I guess they've never heard of no taxation without representation. 

More to come from me on Ice Cube's Contract with Black America. Just imagine if the decision - makers (Congress) had a guide to some of the items that could improve life for African Americans. Decent thought Cube, but bend your mind further --- why doesn't Congress simply reflect the represent 15% of the population that African Americans represent. No taxation without real representation. 

In The Dark - This show gets a thumbs up from me. I like the premise of the lead character being a blind person who has a messy life. We all do, so it's refreshing that they add layers of complexity to this show. It even turns the table on of the white savior complex as a black person actually is capable of helping the damsel in distress. While this theme is short-lived,  they go back to a white person saving the day but they tried. I cite this movie, because eventually as a society we are SLOWLY moving away from fake narratives and getting more real. Black people can help and save white people too. The cute white girl that's blind can have a life full of messy complex vices. This is REAL. Just like it's real when states are struggling to make ends meet. It again doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize they will have to find creative ways to balance their budgets. Hence my mindhunter investments into stocks like: Ceasars, Draftkings, and other gaming stocks. Just image that, the culture that holds puritan values so high needs gaming to save the day. It's just reality. When I travel to the United Kingdom, sports betting is prevalent on every corner. I can walk into a store that looks a lot like how a cell phone store is constructed here in the US. Instead of buying an I-Phone you can place a bet. Makes you wonder who is actually "In The Dark". 

Dark - After Black Mirror, the show "Dark" was easily next favorite series to watch. I couldn't spoil this show for you even if I tried. It's a German series that attempts to discuss how life is connected in more ways that we can imagine. I like the premise because as humans we attempt to dumb down life by only talking about the duality of life. What does this mean --- well have you ever heard someone describe things as simply black or white...good versus bad/evil?? This shows turns that concept on its head and blows up the duality narrative of life. We all know the concept is BS but we go along for the ride at every step of the way. What explains gay marriage, legalized drugs and gambling, priests who abuse their power, white supremacists', and so many other complex subjects. Boardwalk Empire shows us that will enough $$$ the prohibition of alcohol can be done away. The three-fifths clause in the constitution shows you how dark the human mind can delve to justify a means to an end. I am pro-business but I also recognize that business invest in the areas that need transformation --- in government we call this entitlements. I believe in social values so why don't we pay government workers private sector rates so that they can put food on the table and fund their own retirements and even possibly rid the system of pensions (or contractual obligations) that now many want to backtrack on and not pay? Why is this all so DARK, maybe because we try to simplify this into a dual world - good vs bad and black vs white...and it ain't that simple.

Black Mirror - Black Mirror is hands down my favorite show and describes my persona to a "T". I couldn't understand why so many don't see the harm of social media like I clearly see it. I've only had "that feeling" I get when I log into Facebook one other time and that's when I played a slot machine in Vegas. I've only done it once and it was crazy how it made me feel. I almost lost my entire $40 dollars and was prepared to go against my principle of adding more $$$ when I hit it $400 large. Then stupidly I thought well maybe I could do it again. I probably gave another $60 dollars back and decided. Enough was enough...I pulled the plugged. That dopamine effect was a feeling I've never felt before until I logged onto Facebook. The need for likes, the need to only post my travels, night outs, and big purchases. Then I decided 5+ years ago, this is overrated. So I don't log on and when I do, you get the good, bad and ugly of my life. I remind people, if someone is giving you anything for free in life --- YOU are the product. 

Beats - Finally, I wanted to highlight the movie Beats. This movie is about making it out of your environment and overcoming adversity. I don't always like the background of the need for music to black people's away out --- but music is in our DNA whether you are African, Jamaican, or African-American. I remind people to expect the road to be hard. The biggest thing I tell people to do nowadays is learn how to be independent. Find a service, skill, product that people need and be supply them with that legally. Negotiate your own terms and sleep better at night because I have no one to blame but me. More to come but I signed by first major business contract just a few months ago. I saw the tactics used against me were signs of systemic oppression because I became woke to how people were making money off of me the "talent". I appreciate the introduction, but why do you get paid tens of thousands of dollars when I'm the consultant and doing the actual work. I will tell you about this journey soon and how I am hiring people of color in an IT landscape that screams for diversity.

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My job is to help the largest corporations in the world to simplify their most complex and riskiest businesses. So I do that for people here when it comes to the economic engine of the world. It's a machine that has patterns. People at as if the world operates in a black and white manner but it simply does not. Right now its simple, the US government has printed 13 Trillion dollars. Most of that has gone to companies. Those companies are skyrocketing as their stocks are going through the roof. Roku is up so much that I am simply making trades each week that will make money betting the impossible will not happen. For example, Roku will NOT increase 30% in one week and if does not, please cut me a check. I usually execute these trade when I am supposed to be most scared --- when Roku reached its all-time high of $239 just in the last week. They want me to be scared to put the trade on but I'm not. I simply do it for the culture -- we can be talk about how wrong the system is or we can Robin Hood it and help our folks. I don't see them listening and trust me a system this rigged ain't changing anytime soon. Here is me slamming Roku. I trust you can do math on my gains. Any trades highlighted in Green means I only held the trade for 7 day, IMO a week. Not bad for a guy with a 9-5 and a side hustle.

Note: I'm masking my trades as I hope to dust off an alert service startup company I had dreams of running over 10 years ago. For almost a year, I've been literally an open book in hopes of teaching and showing people a different way. I'm not here to motivate, just to plant seeds. If we plant enough seeds, change gon' come.