2022 Retrospective
December 31, 2022
Hello everybody, I hope you’re all doing well. Welcome to the end of 2022.
Milestones: 2022 was a milestone year. We celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary. Less than a month later, Wife gave birth to our 1st child. This month, we celebrated Sebastian's fifth month of life and 1st Christmas. He learned how to roll-over from his back to his stomach and took his 1st bite of solid food. We are over the moon. Several of his cousins, aunts, and Grandma flew in from California, just before a historic winter storm brought temperatures of -30. Six days later, it is now 62 degrees and Bashi is outdoors smiling and touching all the plants.
Art Output: The trader interviews and podcast sit firmly at the top of my list of proudest artistic accomplishments of 2022. To record interviews with my trader heroes has been the opportunity of a lifetime. I have met them in person; ate lunch with them, and got to know them a little bit. I am forever grateful. I still receive positive messages about the music-related content which is always inspiring to keep pushing to share.
Music: Each year I share my favorite music for the year. My 2022 playlist was the soundtrack to my workouts, chillouts, and adventures.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): Last December I wrote about some of the generative art I had been coding. One year later, I am even more a firm believer in the future of generative art; specifically via Artificial Intelligence. Spent a significant portion of December curating new artwork with AI. To instantly mimic styles of amazing artists like Hieronymus Bosch and Piet Mondrian to create fascinating new compositions is mind-bending. There is a whole world of related ethical, moral, and legal questions for this new field; from privacy and intellectual property considerations to estate compensation for commercial use of derivative works, and so forth.
OpenAI launched ChatGPT publicly in December. In short order, the chatbot was used to write college admissions papers and philosophy essay assignments. It can even generate exceptionally well-written computer code across several languages quickly and easily; very similar to typing a search query into Google.
Institutions and society at large will now grapple with whether or not this use of machine learning should forever be branded as “cheating”. As technology changes, so do our societal norms. Recall how Wikipedia was once considered "cheating"; that was less than two decades ago; back when hardcover books from the school library were the only "reputable" sources for students to cite in research papers. Teachers have a real-world dilemma. It will be exciting to watch the evolution of homework (and grading!) due to AI. It should be noted that critics of AI make very valid points. AI can be quite dumb, bland, and straight-up incorrect. One thing is for certain — Artificial Intelligence has arrived for the masses.
Onward to 2023: I am amazed to think this blog is now 4 years old. Appreciate everybody who ever reads a single word. As we prepare to ring in the new year, I want to emphasize how fiercely optimistic I am for 2023. It will be the best year yet! Let’s stay motivated to chase our dreams, reach our maximum potential, and be good humans!
Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍
-anthony
November Notes
November 30, 2022
Hello everybody! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Grab a drink of your choice & let’s recap the month of November.
Political Spending: November marked midterm elections. According to OpenSecrets, $1.2 Trillion was spent on Congressional races in 5 States leading up to the Midterm elections. The States are Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Ohio.
On the one hand, it can be claimed that more actors (i.e. individuals, corporations, political action committees [PAC’s], legal entities, etc.) are "participating" (in the loosest definition of the word) in the democratic and political process. However, the deeper one chooses to investigate the meaning of the term participation, in both intent and outcome of these actors will yield the disturbing correlation — high net worth individuals & entities who seek to purchase political influence at (literally) any cost. While this is nothing new for 2022, per se, the exponential multiplier in which dark money competes with Democracy in modern American society is both historically unprecedented and certainly a cause for alarm.
Cryptocurrency Meltdown: The price of Bitcoin fell 47% in the past 6 months; 18% of the 47% happened in November. The major catalyst and likely the death knell to modern-day cryptocurrency was the surprise and sudden bankruptcy of FTX and demise of its CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (“SBF”). SBF will go down as the Bernie Madoff of this generation. Over $1 Billion worth of clients' funds have disappeared with no signs of return. Meanwhile, SBF remains elusive in both explanation and physical location. This topic will become the subject of dozens of documentaries for years to come.
Happiness: Whether it’s an impending recession, global warming or worldwide hunger, being away from family, and/or some billionaire doofus running your old startup (into the ground), it’s easy to feel a bit blue these days. However, the solution is never to bury our collective heads in the sand or give up. Keep up the good fight. We must find a way to cheer ourselves up and keep chugging along. If you think I can be helpful in any possible way; even just as an ear or if you need a dose of optimism, please feel free to get in touch.
Happy Holidays!
Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍
-anthony
The Little Pumpkin 🎃
October 31, 2022
Happy Halloween, Everybody!
Happy memories created hour after hour, day after day, in October.
Vegas: I am lucky to have met some of the nicest humans, who happen to be among the greatest traders, coaches, and firm managers on the planet, face-to-face, in Las Vegas in October at Traders4ACause. Talk about good vibes, positivity and encouragement in one of the most difficult professions on the planet. For anybody reading this who I met, thank you for being amazing. Heard lots of positive feedback about the interviews, which I was not expecting; it means a lot.
The Trip to Vegas via Boston and New Hampshire was surreal. Lots of cherished memories were created. I met so many amazing people. I am incredibly humbled.
The Little Pumpkin: Flew from Vegas to Los Angeles to fly with my mother and nephew back to Cleveland so they could relax in Ohio for a couple weeks and meet The Little Pumpkin (Sebastian)! Exciting to watch Mom holding the little one; followed by his Great Aunt flying out to Cleveland to meet him, too.
Today, we celebrate Sebastian's 1st Halloween.
Elections: The midterm elections are fast approaching. Filled-out my ballot and dropped it off at the Board of Elections. Actually voted bi-partisan in this election. In other words, voted for both a few Democrats and Republicans. Patriotism favors no single political party.
In the year 2022, the following must be reiterated: if the person(s) and/or Issue on the ballot that you support does not win, don’t be a sour grape about it. No need to invent (or subscribe to) conspiracy theories. All that said, we now live in a world of increased attempts to influence elections in all States across America. These efforts will arise from misguided, fringe groups. Democracy, at the core, requires comfort when losing.
Twitter: Purchased by Elon Musk. Commentary is available in To Kill a Twitterbird.
Stay safe, stay sane, and let’s keep being good to one another.
Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍
-anthony
Traders For A Cause 2022
September 30, 2022
Hello everybody. I hope you’re all doing well out there. Today, let’s talk about the trading community giving back to others.
Flying is not my favorite. Weeks leading up to any flight, I check the Aviation Weather Center website several times per day. It’s been this way since October 2017.
Heading home from Las Vegas to Cleveland, I was on the flight from hell. Sure, it was horrifying. The experience was also profound. I was 98% certain we were about to crash and perish. In moments like this, the body’s natural biological reaction is an adrenaline dump. The fight for survival begins. Eventually it fades to frustration then acceptance. Introspection kicks in. I remember creating an ordered checklist of all the things I hadn’t accomplished yet; making promises to complete specific milestones should the plane somehow land safely. One emergency landing in Salt Lake City later, we finally landed in Cleveland.
Once home, I immediately finished writing my book Year One: A Trader’s Journey about my experience trading full-time. One of the chapters is literally about the event that brought me to Vegas — Traders4ACause. I was so incredibly proud of being part of an event wherein traders give back some of their profits to organizations which make a profound impact on people’s lives. I saw and met so many incredibly humble, successful, welcoming traders that I’ve always wanted to return. My fear of flying, however, had gotten the better of me for nearly five years.
Fast-forward to 2022. I am writing from Las Vegas at Traders4ACause 2022. I am blown away. Flying here to meet and spend time with some of the greatest traders of my generation will forever remain some of my greatest experiences. I have been fortunate enough to interview many of them. I remain forever honored and humbled.
It’s time to give back!
Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍
-anthony
August Notes
August 31, 2022
Hello everybody. Hope you are all doing well out there! Grab a drink of choice and let’s recap a truly historic month.FBI Raids Mar-a-Lago: For the first time in American history, the home of a former U.S. President was raided by the FBI. Former President Trump was, at minimum, sloppy with national security secrets. Further investigation will reveal whether he had nefarious intentions when he refused to return entire boxes worth of top secret national intelligence secrets from the National Archives. In total, the FBI seized 15 boxes containing over 300 classified documents from his compound. Important to note the former President’s legal team refused to return the documents in question for a prolonged periodo of time; a legal blunder on several levels which will go down in history. Encourage everyone to review for themselves the timeline of events leading up to the raid and the redacted affidavit issued by the FBI.
In response to the Mar-a-Lago raid, one supporter of the former President attempted to raid / shoot-up the FBI field office in Cincinnati, Ohio; just a few hours from where this post was written. Keep an eye on the rise in domestic stochastic terrorism. If you read regularly, you may recall I specifically wrote the likely increase two years ago in October 2020. Worth a review.
Stochastic Rhetoric: While former President Trump inches closer to a likely federal indictment, it will be integral for both political scientists and citizens alike to keep an eye on President Trump’s political allies; from news pundits to politicians. It is fascinating to see some former ‘back the blue’ advocates now turn heel and make anti-law enforcement dog whistle calls for violence. Critical to remember both the importance of chain of command in law enforcement and the military and that the highest ranking law enforcement officer is the US Attorney General who leads the Department of Justice.
One interesting individual with regards to such rhetoric is former national security advisor and retired Army Lieutenant General Mike Flynn, who received a Presidential pardon after lying to Federal Investigators regarding his top secret conversations with Russia’s ambassador. Flynn is now out touring the Country on his ReAwaken America tour, wherein the rhetoric can easily be described as part civil war / part holy war. The power of such rhetoric showcases how, with vague instructions, political operatives can incite others to take violent action; not too dissimilar from the tragic events in Cincinnati this month.
Midterm Elections: So far, the midterm elections revealed discontent within the American public in response to fringe right-wing ideology, particularly the newly radicalized conservative Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. It appears many (but not all) GOP candidates now find themselves scrambling to backtrack their affiliations with Trump and hardline abortion stances. There appears to be genuine worry within the GOP about potentially underperforming in the upcoming midterm election. Taking all these variables into consideration, we could see some of the following political shifts occur in the next few months / years: (1) Trump could be indicted for several Federal Crimes; (2) The GOP could begin to distance itself from Trump; (3) GOP could push for a new Presidential candidate hopeful in 2024. At the moment, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis comes to mind.
As anybody who studied political science would be, I remain fascinated to see how this all turns out.
Student Loan Relief: On the other side of the political aisle, things aren't entirely perfect either. President Biden announced a plan to cancel $10,000 in student debt. For this, he will become an easy target for political attacks related to the economy and recession. It will be interesting to see what effect, if any, this policy decision will have on the upcoming elections.
All politics aside, let’s be sure we are good humans to one another; regardless of political affiliation, social status, or other factor(s). The vast majority of Americans work hard trying to do good for one another, ourselves, and the Country. There remains more to Unite us than should ever divide us. Have a safe Labor Day holiday.
Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍
-anthony
Sebastian Vaughan Nieto
July 31, 2022
Hello everybody. Hope you are all doing well.
Sebastian Vaughan Nieto was born on July 21, 2022 at approximately 2:02pm in Cleveland, Ohio. Time of birth being a numerical palindrome so thinking math or engineering wizard. Jokes aside, here to ensure we do our best to raise a happy, healthy, respectful human. We are forever grateful to the team of doctors, nurses, and specialists who helped us bring this little miracle into the world. Received so many happy and positive vibes and well wishes from everybody in our lives the past 9 months; from our famliies to friends and neighbors and beyond; means a lot. Mom and Baby are home. We are all adjusting well. Sorry not sorry in advance for all the pictures over the years from this point forward.
Celebrated 39 trips around the sun. Might visit California next July for the 40th.
Got the opportunity to interview more awesome traders this month.
Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍
-anthony
June Notes
June 30, 2022
Hello everybody. Hope you are all doing well.
Wedding Anniversary: We celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary. One month from now, our little guy is expected to join us. Gosh, time flies.
Supreme Court: On June 24th, 2022, The Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade. For the vast majority of Americans, it was a somber day — The Court erased 50 years of progress for Women's rights in America. The decision sparked demonstrations in every major city throughout the Country.
From a political science perspective, overturning Roe v. Wade raises issues. The Judicial branch has largely remained an apolitical, nonpartisan institution throughout U.S. history. Justices symbolically sit apart from Congress during the annual State of the Union address.
This latest ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization confirms several unfortunate truths about the Supreme Court. First, it confirms last month's leaked ruling was accurate. Second, four of the nine sitting Justices seemingly lied during their testimonies to Congress during their confirmation hearings. Third, the notion of an apolitical Court are vanquished. In this new era, the composition of the Court may soon be up for debate.
Days after Roe v. Wade was struck down, Justice Stephen Bryer retired from the Bench. His former former law clerk, Ketanji Brown Jackson, has been sworn-in. She is now the nation’s first Black female justice.
Macroeconomics: Two years ago (March 2020), I wrote Pajama Republic. One of the long-term goals was to telegraph the inevitable attempts of “fiscal conservatives” to project blame of inflation and/or recession onto another political party or next administration. For all intents and purposes, it is my official receipt of exceptionally bad fiscal policy, reckless spending, panic, and outright lies. Worth a re-read in 2022-2023.
On a related note: perhaps in our lifetime, we could see America experiment with Universal Basic Income (UBI). Ironically, UBI would still benefit large corporations. Eventually hope to write a longform piece about UBI - Zero-sum finance.
Trader Interview: Got the opportunity to interview another awesome trader about stocks, cryptocurrency, and taking a vacation.
Wishing everybody a safe July 4th weekend. Let's have an amazing July!
Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍
-anthony
May Notes🌱
May 31, 2022
Hello everybody. Hope you are all safe and healthy.
Public health officials continue to monitor the recent Monkeypox outbreak.
America's self-inflicted gun violence epidemic rages on. The deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook occurred this month in Uvalde, Texas. No other modern Country on the planet experiences gun violence like this. The World recognizes the U.S. gun lobby's stranglehold on American politicians. Indeed, we are living through the worst form of American Exceptionalism.
On a more positive note, I am extremely proud of my Nephew on his High School Graduation and 18th Birthday. Few can overcome adversity like this young man. Truly unlimited potential. Look forward to his college studies and bright future ahead!
Got the opportunity to interview one of my favorite traders on the topic of ‘Finding Your Niche’. Some universally applicable lessons as well.
Let’s end the month on a super positive note. Our little one is kicking & strong. We see him every few weeks on an ultrasound machine. Third trimester, here we come.
Be safe, let’s make June the best month yet!
Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍
-anthony
April Notes☀️📈
April 30, 2022
Hello everybody. Hope you’re all doing well!
Ohio brought warmer weather this month. Trading has been good. Our little one's kicks grow increasingly strong. Happy happy happy days!
A few have asked about recent headlines regarding the ol' Birdhouse. Decided to write about it here: To Kill a Twitterbird.
Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍
-anthony
March Notes
March 31, 2022
Hello everybody. Hope you’re all doing well out there.
Huge Thank You to everybody who pitched-in this month and bought a shirt to help support the Cleveland Maidan Association and their mission to assist those in Ukraine.
March brought Sunshine and Sunshine. The weather in Ohio has been warm. We got to watch our little one kicking & moving on an ultrasound for over an hour this month. Truly a beautiful experience; unlocked sleepy chambers within one's heart.
The idea of raising a little one in the modern world is extremely exciting. Recall how stubborn I was as a kid. Luckily, it’ll be mostly cartoons for the first year or so. Helps to be an optimist in times like these. Promise this won’t turn into Dad Psychology Corner.
On the other side of the life-death continuum, we’ve now reached the grim milestone of 1 Million Americans killed by Covid. Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine has now claimed thousands of lives, including innocent women and children.
For the internet policy nerds out there: Some Truths about Truth Social.
Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍
- anthony
February Sunflowers🌻
February 28, 2022
Hello everybody! Hope you'are all doing well. Short entry with lots to say!
Russia’s War on Ukraine: The world watched, with shock and anger, as Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine. His goal is to overthrow the current democratic government and install a puppet state loyal to Putin in Moscow. In addition to territorial gains, Putin’s larger ambition is to drive a wedge between countries in Eastern Europe and Western countries, NATO, and the European Union.
Putin’s gamble in Ukraine might backfire. A new alliance of Western powers is solidifying, stronger than ever. Countries which have historically remained neutral, such as Switzerland, now vocally impose sanctions on Russia. Others, including Germany, have announced drastic increases in defense spending. One is inclined to wonder whether Putin will fail and lose power in Russia. Putin's fascism has potential to spark a new Russian Revolution; one which embraces Liberal democracy and the West. It's a topic I may write about in greater detail at a later date.
Blog T-Shirts: If you enjoy this blog, please consider ordering a Peace & Love, Worldwide Shirt. It’s a nice way to help me support the blog. 35% of proceeds are immediately sent to the American Red Cross for humanitarian efforts and an additional donation will be focused on Ukraine via Cleveland Maidan Association who sends funds directly to Ukraine. Thank you all for reading.
Baby Nieto: We are over-the-moon and expecting a little bundle of joy this summer. Details to follow in the months and years ahead!👶
Thanks everybody for reading. Until next time, stay safe and healthy.
Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍
- anthony
The Fed, Neil Young, and Podcast Policy
January 31, 2022
Happy (Lunar!) New Year! Hope 2022 has treated you well, so far. Lots to cover; what a wild month, which says a lot, considering the 2020 and 2021 we all just experienced! So grab a beverage of your choice and let’s recap the month!
Federal Reserve: One of the themes (for me) in 2022 will be watching the various permutations and effects of the Federal Reserve (“Fed”) winding down its $9 Trillion balance sheet which it amassed steadily ever since the financial crisis of 2007-2008. As background, the single most important player in the U.S. financial markets over the past 15 years, without a doubt, has been the Fed. Over a decade ago, rather than allow the invisible hand of capitalism to decide which banks and lenders (Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, etc.) would go bankrupt from irresponsible subprime mortgage lending practices, Our central bank intervened with a “too big to fail” approach; instituting rate cuts, Quantitative Easing (QE) measures, and an astronomical bank bailout. Chairman Powell recently announced that, starting in March 2022, the Federal Reserve will begin to increase interest rates and ‘wind down’ (i.e. “sell”) the Trillions of dollars of its balance sheet. We’ll wait and see if January’s correction turns into a bear market.
Supreme Court: Justice Stephen Bryer announced retirement. President Biden announced his ‘long overdue’ plan to nominate the Court’s first Black female Justice. A few names surfacing include California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, U.S. District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs, and U.S. District Court Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner. All are beyond qualified; look forward to the eventual nominee and appointment process in the weeks ahead.
Pushing Back on Misinformation: In an open letter to the streaming music service Spotify, over 270 doctors, physicians, and scientists requested Spotify revise its content moderation rules to ‘immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform’. Seems reasonable for the times. Then, Neil Young joined the conversation…
Neil Young: Legendary songwriter and longtime political activist Neil Young took the note a step further; he issued an ultimatum to Spotify: keep the Joe Rogan podcast, which continues to spread Covid misinformation, or kindly remove Neil Young’s catalog from the service. For the record, Young is no stranger to drawing a line in the sand and making socio-political statements – His art is a testament to his views: anti-slavery, anti-racism, and anti-war, etc. He wrote the anthem Southern Man in direct response to the South’s history of slavery and wilful ignorance to biblical teachings. He wrote Ohio to protest the Kent State shootings which shined light on Presidential use of armed force on peaceful, college anti-war protesters during the Vietnam War.
The internet’s knee-jerk response: “Ok, like so what!? Like, Neil’s old right? Haha? He doesn’t matter. After all, Why would any of this matter!?!?”
Here are two HUGE reasons (there are dozens) why Neil Young’s stance matters:
Old Music Still Matters (point #1): Folks would be wise to understand the implications of Neil Young’s actions moving forward. ‘Old music’ not only matters, but it encompasses 70% of all music streams in the United States. In reality, ’Old’ Music is Killing New Music. It’s only a matter of time that additional artists currently on Spotify will follow suit and request their catalogs also be removed from Spotify. Subscribers will cancel their accounts, and Spotify will be forced to act. We’ll see the company expedite its content policies. So far, Spotify has lost $4 Billion since removing Neil Young, although in fairness the whole stock market took a dive in January. But this brings me to the larger issue regarding Spotify…
Podcast & Content Policies (point #2): Bigger picture, the issue of online misinformation, content policies, and Misinformation Entertainment is extremely fascinating. Sure, I’m biased from prior policy and legal work for the internet, but consider how Covid misinformation took the whole internet by storm in 2020. It comes as no surprise to see misinformation become a high priority topic for the European Union (EU), who defines misinformation as ‘verifiably false or misleading information created, presented and disseminated for economic gain or to intentionally deceive the public’. Spotify’s headquarters remain in Stockholm, Sweden and therefore it remains bound by the laws of the European Union (EU), which has publicly stated it seeks to reduce the harms of online disinformation. Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume that Spotify will soon announce updates to its content policies and user guidelines. Expect it to be minimal at first, most likely a note from the CEO. However, the pressure will continue to mount and the company will be forced to think harder, dig deeper, and make actual policy changes in compliance with EU directives. From an internet policy perspective, this will be exciting to watch!
Meanwhile, in the United States, YouTube’s recently banned the misinformation entertainer Dan Bongino off its platform for his intentional, repeat violations of YouTube’s content policies. Nevertheless, misinformation entertainment remains a huge market for content creators throughout the world.
Covid: America has now surpassed 905,000 deaths resulting from Covid, as reflected in the U.S Citizen Covid Mortality Rate chart.
Russia & Ukraine: All eyes are on Russia, as it placed nearly 100,000 troops on the Ukraine border. Two important notes here. First, this would be the second time in 7 years that Russia has desired to take land in Ukraine. You may recall the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, which sparked the Euromaidan and Ukrainian revolution. Second, the United States’ relationship with Ukraine is perceived as a major threat to Russia. You may recall the first impeachment of Donald Trump’s Presidency centered on His protecting Russia, seeking to punish Ukraine, and simultaneously souring U.S.-Ukraine relations. In light of current events, it makes a bit more sense. NATO and the United States recently provided weapons and training to Ukraine citizens, which will only logically heighten tensions with Russia. Keep an eye on this in the days, weeks, and months ahead. Also strongly urge everybody to watch the new Navalny documentary, as soon as possible.
Lots of other exciting things happening in the world; especially around here. Next month will dive into some more artistic updates. Until then, be safe.
Peace & Love, Worldwide ✌🏼❤️🌍
- anthony