Dodge Winston's Blotter

Some of the things I’ve done to enable visitors to get to know me and my writing is to design and build a website (www.dodgewinston.com), create a Flickr account and post some of my pics to it (Dodge’s Flickr), create a YouTube channel and post some of my vids and “favorited” vids to it (Dodge’s YouTube Channel), and of course this blog. I am trying to keep folks interested by updating these various accounts with new material in the hopes that visitors will come back and/or just keep me in mind as an author that they enjoy.

Well, once again, I want to share more. I’ve done a lot of things and I’ve had a lot of jobs. Back in the day I was quite eager to keep life fresh and new. I wanted to see new things. Do new things. Learn about the world. And I still feel the same way. But I am a dedicated family man now so my days of high adventure and late night travels are pretty much done. One of those fast-paced times in my life involved day trading. That’s right. I was trading money in minutes, hours, days, and weeks. I was holding short positions and once in awhile I went long. It was intoxicating and I was good at it… for awhile. I made good money. So much so that I quit my day job and traded full time from my small apartment. It was a great way to live. I was my own boss. I answered to no one besides the dreaded IRS. And I could come and go as I pleased.

Now, back then, I had luck on my side. Sure I studied the fundamentals and technical indicators until my eyes would bleed. I charted and I read plenty of company filings via the SEC. I even had my own rules to follow so I wouldn’t lose too much… just in case. Well, as I made more money, my pig side came out. You see, there are bulls and there are bears in the market. But there are also pigs. And pigs get slaughtered, like I did. What happened was that my emotions, the emotional connection to my money, got the best of me, blinding me from making logical decisions. I began making larger investments into more junk. And instead of following my trading plan, my rules that I would never break, I played on hope, not logic. So I began to lose… more and more. And as I lost more I got more stupid, more desperate to make a larger profit to live off of.

Eventually I bowed out for awhile. Once I got married and had kids I knew that I could never go back to trading the way I had. I was unsophisticated. I got caught up. And I wouldn’t have that for my family. They depend on me. Unfortunately there are traders out there who will take themselves all the way down and sacrifice everything… and often lose everything. I wasn’t one of those traders. I licked my wounds and established a different style of investing. I take less risk today by using a little bit of money that I can afford to lose. And I can’t afford to lose much so the big boy days are long gone.

I typically invest as opposed to trade. There’s a difference. I put money into company’s, commodity’s, ETF’s and ETN’s that are strong. Flash in the pan companies and fads aren’t safe. So I plunk some change into energy sources, foods, metals, or other items that have done well over the past decades. Nothing is fool proof but these are safer than some other investment vehicles. And it isn’t as exciting as the old trading days. But the story – “The Tortoise and the Hare” is probably a good comparison here.

That’s a sliver of me. And it’s a small slice of my trading background. To this day I really enjoy the markets, market psychology, and the observation of the abuse and manipulation wielded by the market makers. It’s fascinating and dark. There is a power there that can crush nations. A power utilized by the generational family’s and institutional investors that aren’t just American… they are globalists. There is a saying that goes something like this – “Economic coercion is violence in slow motion.” And that is one of the weapons used to make nations and cultures bow to the globalists desire to have all peoples under one ruling umbrella. It is a weapon of coercion and control. What will the end game be?

Anyways it is interesting to see how America, a nation built upon capitalist principles, has been and is the monetary purse for the world. America is also the police for the nations. Just look at the U.S. Navy’s new slogan – “A Global Force For Good“. The United States has been thrust onto the world stage by those with international goals. And it is the incredible wealth of the U.S. taxpayer that is involuntarily funding these actions. And you can bet as other nations are built up through there own means along with the injection by multinational companies that their wealth will be used for the same agenda. To create a more homogeneous populace across the board.

The illusion that America is in charge of this “conspiracy” is strong. It isn’t America. It is the powerful idealists like the Bush family, George Soros, the Rothschild family, the Rockefeller family, and so many more who are involved in groups such as the Trilateral Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bilderbergers… and others. There may even be a divine spirit or influence that is aiding in the merging of us all. Suffice it to say, it is happening.

So the near future looks grim IMO. The U.S. is spread far and wide in the Middle East. It is also the holder of the world’s reserve currency and is in such debt that it is broke, surviving on credit. Nations across the board, Iceland, Greece, etc. have gone broke but were bailed out… America cannot be bailed out. It is too big. The economic crash and contagion has spread. And no one seems to know what to do. America thinks it should continue to dilute the market with freshly printed greenbacks, diluting its economic power and that of the world’s reserve currency. Boy are other investors gonna’ be mad – China, Japan, etc.. Could this be why the call for a basket of currencies to be the world’s reserve currency be growing stronger? What about a global currency? Ever hear of the Bancor?

I can’t predict what will happen. All I can say is what I’ve read, seen, heard, and what dots appear to connect with one another, creating a bigger picture. But I will say I believe the price in commodities will drop soon. As of this blog entry, gold and silver has had a 400% to 500% ride upward. That should correct itself in the next month or so. But once this correction occurs it will continue back up and possibly accelerate. Just like the price of oil will. So a dip and then a fresh climb. And it will be this new surge that will make inflation go upward. Remember the dilution of fresh dollars? This dilution will help stoke the fires of inflation. I believe that. And as prices for food and energy go up we could and probably will see more layoffs, an increase in the unemployed and the homeless, and a bunch of miserable people who struggle to survive. And desperate people will do desperate things. I don’t blame them. The masses can be ignorant… believing in soundbites, armed with a “quick-fix” mentality. This will be a huge piece of the impending fall… what the masses don’t know or care to know will devour them.

So here are a few things you can do (in no particular order):
1.) Stock up on emergency food
2.) Stock up on emergency water
3.) Have lots of matches/means to cook
4.) Make sure your home is secure
5.) Protect your home and family
6.) Have a passport/keep documents in order
7.) Open a foreign bank account
8.) Grow a vegetable/fruit garden
9.) Have common sense survival books
10.) Create an emergency action plan
11.) Get a fishing pole
12.) Get a bicycle

Those are just a few things you can do for you and your family. Do you prepare for an earthquake, tornadoes, or any other natural disaster? Then why not prep for a man-made disaster? There’s nothing crazy about it. Remember how the Hurricane Katrina disaster was handled by our government? Do you think they’ll be on top of it to get you out of a bind? Do you think the higher-ups in our government care about you? It’s our Democrats and Republicans who got us here. And they won’t get us out. It will only get worse IMO. After all, they read from the same books to offset one another. Now look where we are today.

That’s enough of my soapbox. You get the idea. I’m just trying to pass on some scary opinions. You can take it or leave it. I got no one to convince. But I hope you do your own research and make a rational decision to at least prep for rough times. We are a fragile planet. And our civilization is on a rotting foundation. We can and will fall just as Rome did. The difference is that we are on the fast track program of destruction. Got a band-aid?

Dodge

Once in awhile you get sick. But once in a great while you get really sick. That’s what I am today – really sick. Yesterday I was feeling a bit under the weather. And as day morphed into evening the sick feeling grew. My throat became sore. My head grew taught. And I felt really tired. This is all quite unusual for me. So I went to bed fairly early – 11:30pm. I figured I’d pass out and wake up refreshed, ready to take on a new day. No such luck!

As I lay in bed my head began to throb more. My slightly runny nose turned into a faucet of snot. My breathing merged into a mix of light, airy gasps and gurgling mucous. I couldn’t breathe out my nose. And as I breathed out of my mouth I would cough at the slightest movement. Then my temperature jumped and I slowly became a sweaty mess as the late night wore on into the early morn. It sucked!

So throughout my battle with this virus I tossed and turned, seeking the perfect position where I could just breathe somewhat normally and get some sleep. Boy did I want to sleep. This hot, internal battle that plagued my bones and my curdled lungs was wrought with bizarre dreams and wild thoughts. It’s so weird how a virus will affect you. It’s almost like you become a different person. A sick person.

Here’s part of the dream… er nightmare? I was standing with two coworkers, Howard and Bill. We are having a discussion about something. Everything seemed normal. No stress. Then, all of a sudden, my mouth opens and I spit out all my molars from the right side of my mouth. I’m like a slot machine in Vegas paying out teeth. I look at these teeth and I know that something is amiss. This can’t be right. Then my mouth opens again and I spit all of my smaller teeth into my hand. So I’m standing there with a hand full of teeth. I’m rubbing all these smooth teeth together in the palm of my hand. And that’s the end.

I woke up in bed again. It’s 3:00am now. I toss and turn… more.

Suffice it to say I am now awake. The sun is out a tiny bit. Rain pelted the house all night. My wonderful wife got up and made us (our youngest boy, Grant, is home too) eggs, toast, bacon, and hashbrowns. It looked so good. The food was hearty, bringing me a bit of strength. But I couldn’t taste a dang thing. Drats! I drank two glasses of orange juice and I couldn’t taste that either. Well, even though I couldn’t taste the food, I sure do appreciate it. Thanks, honey:)

Today will be spent in bed, mostly. I’ll get up to use the bathroom or to look out the window if I’m up to it. But for now I’ll just lay here and hope that this headache goes away. In fact my wife is getting me Sudafed right now.

Hope this blog finds you, the reader, in good health. Appreciate that body:)

Dodge

After seeing the footage of the earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that followed, wiping out parts of Japan, I wanted to put up a link for those who are able to donate money and/or supplies to those affected by that horrible disaster.

Donate to Network for Good.

They need the help,

Dodge