Money Tips

Lack of money is the root of all evil.

My favorite traditional bank is Capital One.  

Online Savings Account: 360 Performance Savings | Capital One They offer banking with no BS. No minimum balances, transfers, automatic deposits required. No games. Being able to set up multiple checking accounts is nice.  You can use it to set aside some money specifically for monthly drafts if you choose to pay that way instead of through bill pay. This would be great if you decide to join a gym, your car insurance, or other monthly auto drafts. This will keep you from a failed transaction fee on the receiving end if you accidentally forgot a small purchase and your balance was low. Side tip: Splitting up your accounts where you have under $600 in them, you give yourself a little more protection on privacy in those accounts, and psychologically it seems like you have less if you split it up which helps me keep a tighter grip.  https://www.capitalone.com/bank/friend/  << Signup Bonus!!!

Capital one....What's in your  wallet?

Here’s my Quicksilver referral link: https://capital.one/3qwm5cX

Secured Card - If your credit is weak and you need a card to build back:

Here’s my Secured referral link: https://capital.one/3uxNZFb  NO FEES if you treat it right they treat you right!  Deposit gets you the credit line, keep up with it they give you more room.  After a while, they'll offer you a card spending rewards and a higher credit line!  I earned a nice credit line again, right at my comfort level. I'll be using the credit line for a security deposit to rent a car while I am getting my van fixed up.

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin made its debut in 2009.  Kraken was founded in July of 2011 and was one of the first mainstream exchanges.   Since then, there have been quite a few other crypto assets and exchanges to hit the scene.  I do not offer tax, financial, or legal advice.  I am simply sharing nuggets from my journey.

Bitcoin has been as high as 69,000 but it is likely headed to 12,000 range before it turns around.  https://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/121815/bitcoins-price-history.asp 26 dollars to 12,000 in ten years is pretty good ROI, right?  Guy with Coin Bureau is great. Everything you wanted to know and things you didn't know you needed to know about crypto.(Dated stuff here I don't even know when I wrote it lol)

The bankers have created their own cryptocurrency.  Ripple.com Ripple is XRP.  Under 50 cents to me looks like an INSANE BARGAIN. Some are thinking target near 10 dollars. 

ZCash ZEC is near $50 and fairly steady.  Built almost identical to Bitcoin, but you can shield the details of the transactions. (Don't know when I wrote this)

Cryptocurrency may eventually replace the dollar.  It's something that can't really be stopped.  It's a good hedge against the collapse of the dollar. Silver is also excellent if you can guard it.  

Kraken https://www.kraken.com/  Based out of California, Kraken could possibly go public in 2022.  It was the first big exchange.  It's regulatory compliant in all places it operates. I wasn't really impressed with their app, but then I found there's a pro version https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kraken.trade and a pro site https://trade.kraken.com/.  I am not a big fan.  I am still puzzled if there are any true advantages to this platform.  I have found some minimum transactions a bit restrictive.  https://support.kraken.com/hc/en-us/articles/205893708-Minimum-order-size-volume-for-trading. I think Kraken is one of the old school tools that gets used by the older crypto generation. One advantage I am seeing is it may be lower fees with larger transactions.

XLM Stellar.org  Stellar seems to be very cheap right now 12/27/2023

Robinhood now allows you to purchase crypto and send it out.

https://www.blockchain.com/explorer

The Lightning Wallet by Kraken is being used for the ability to use Bitcoin to make small purchase amounts on a side chain not needing to verify through as many channels and makes the transactions cheaper and faster.  This is how El Salvador pays! I play Bitcoin Bounce and Turbo 84 though :) I've gotten some Satoshis in my Lightning Wallet.  (FREE CHANGE FOR PLAYING GAMES) it's really miniscule really.

Brave browser allows you to control the frequency advertisements as you are compensated in BAT for viewing them. Brave browser has a non-custodial wallet (you hold the keys) Uphold crypto exchange https://uphold.com/en-us put to use the BAT rewards from brave https://brave.com/brave-rewards/  (Miniscule really)

Found another wallet/exchange https://www.metalpay.com/

Coinbase is a good crypto trading platform that will teach you the basics and give you a bonus to get started. Join Coinbase.. 

I haven't given Crypto.com a try.  They also offer a spending card with rewards.

Trading and Investing in Stocks 

I just recently started trading with Interacive Brokers IBKR.  I think I am going to like this. One of the greatest features is the ability to trade through an API.  Having the ability to use a Python script to execute your trade can give you the freedom you need to live your life while the computer executes your trading plan.

A really simple social way to invest in stocks is Public.  public.com/dfwsas you can see some of my trades there. I am beginning to build a portfolio there.  There are as not many restrictions as Webull.  So far, I really like the simplicity and the community and it's more powerful than Cashapp.  One of the neat things is you can purchase just a few shares of a stock under a dollar, and you can invest as little as one dollar in a fractional share. It is more difficult for me to keep up with something if I don't have at least a few pennies riding on it.  In Webull, you must purchase at least 100 shares of anything under a dollar and at least $5 in fractional in Webull, $1 in Public.  Public just introduced crypto but the fees bite you in the end.  I see the same problem as with other platforms when you are trying to sell a stock with insane price actions, a middleman that doesn't always get you the best deal.  Just setting a trigger price at market level is not the same as an ask/bid auction like situation.  You can't get the most from your trades!  But this is a simple interface great for beginners on stocks.

IBKR Became my favorite broker. 

They allow automated trading through their secure bridge software.  Free robust data access if your comission fees are over thirty dollars in the month.  You can put in adanved order tickets that can even be triggered off of provided scripts run on thier servers.  They have trading of some penny stocks that go out further decimals without rounding allowing you to have a chance in those stocks.  I really like it, although it is a beast to lean.

I like Fidelity.  I am hearing of advantages in Fidelity for trading access on the floor with their Active Trader Pro app which gives you a huge advantage in squeeze plays!  With Fidelity, you have direct and intelligent order routing. In a company like Cashapp, Robinhood, Webull, where they use PAYMENT ORDER FLOW and they make money by getting a special deal for all of the orders.  If you choose to sell at market value when it is volatile, you may not get the market value of when you hit sell, sometimes considerably less!  Fidelity has an app for Windows and Mac Active Trader Pro.  They also offer a Fidelity debit card that you can use tied in to your money management accounts.

Tradingview has automated trading capabilities with Tradestation

There are some interesting portfolios with insane returns on Etoro.  You can copy a trader's portfolio, but you will need to fund it with a at least a couple hundred bucks usually. https://www.etoro.com/discover/copyportfolios/

A powerful way of managing a stock portfolio and even borrowing off of it is M1Finance.  I don't have personal experience with it yet. You can copy an investor pie or make your own and even borrow off of your stocks if you qualify.  It automatically adjusts to balance the portfolio if you choose.

Those Wall-Street Bets guys sometimes have interesting tips, you know.  The hedge fund managers and the people are fighting. The people want a fair market.  The hedge fund managers just want to keep playing the same game and we have turned it on its head.  SHORT INTEREST, DAYS TO COVER 

WeBull is a trading platform I have used for serious swing trading.  They were a little shady in the MMAT TORH deal. You can trade crypto no fees, but you don't get a wallet you can send and receive from, so to transfer you would have to cash it.  Get 2 FREE STOCKS by making a $5 INITIAL DEPOSIT! Open an account and get a free stock! Deposit and get another free stock!  https://act.webull.com/ro/NT6XJS1ybzMx/0og/inviteUs/main 

Webull is great for their alerts. Being able to set multiple alerts when stocks or crypto rapid rise, rapid fall, volume goes above a certain level, is very helpful. Webull news section is a great way to keep in the news on the stocks you are watching. Keep in mind, big money manipulates the news to make money in options driving the price up and down spotlighting positive or negative highlights depending on which way they want it to go to maximize gains. The comment section is filled with vulgarity and deception.

The most cost effective (free) way to fund WeBull is through a checking or savings account, but it takes about 5 business days to clear and it is very important to have the funds available when it finally does pull.  You get some immediate trading credits based on your credit standing. You cannot sell the stock until the funds clear without what they call a Good Faith Violation.  One GFV may not make a difference.  With more than one, you will almost surely lose immediate trading credits for a year. They only allow two pending transactions from one account at one time, so be careful not to move too small chunks if you want to pick up a stock right away you will have to use another platform or wire money. You can buy slices of many different stocks allowing you to invest and diversify with very little money, but you can only do it at market rate, so timing is important.  Python is the unofficial way to automate trades, but that's tricky even for me.

Webull has have had their faults.  They really screwed people over in the Support SPRT GREE acquisition. That's an eyesore in my portfolio. The trading was disabled just as the buying frenzy began and was not re-enabled for a couple of days, and even then they did not have trading of fractional shares available and most people ended up with fractional shares.  They offered a worthless share as a peace offering to some.  People lost 75% from the time trading halted and the time we could trade again. Corruption is deep within all of the retail trading platforms I am afraid.  Robinhood and Citadel conspired against the retail investor as well, allegedly, when they disabled purchasing of the GME stock during it's squeeze.  This is why Fidelity could give you a huge advantage on big squeeze plays with direct access smart order flow. 

Robinhood "crashed" when the Gamestop play was going to cost Citadel and they took away the buy button for that stock.  So, we are all still riffed about that.  They do offer crypto trading without fees and I am on the list to get the wallets.  Robinhood also offers a debit card.  Robinhood has scheduled maintenance and other interruptions on crypto trading which is annoying.  Their minimums for investing again are lower than Webull.  You can invest in most anything with as little as a dollar.

Crypto ATMs are mind-blowing to me.  With Bitcoin depot, you can set up a secure wallet with a user name and it generates a key word phrase.  You plug that info into the BitcoinDepot app, use the barcode, and pull out whatever you need!  This allows for huge amounts to set securely in a wallet off the chain and cash it out through an ATM.  This is helpful for some in financial traps!  I am finding more Bitcoin and Crypto ATMs.   I can't find the low fee ones, I'll try to get back to it.

BinanceUS isn't available yet here in Texas.  It's all a little new to me.  I am learning.

 (links and explanations of basic strategies here)  

These traders on X are an excellent resource 

1. @I_Am_The_ICT — For structured, high-probability day/swing setups.

2. @investorslive — For real-time momentum/day trading ideas.

3. @PeterLBrandt — For timeless technical/chart-based profitability.

4. @OptionsHawk — For options-specific actionable flow.

5. @DeItaone / @KobeissiLetter — For news/macro catalysts that drive quick profits.

@boytrader08

@stomping_llama

@Mitch___Picks

@BeforeTheRocket

@CoachNickMoney

@Ultra_Calls

@TheStockDon

@Maximus_Holla

@Pjmatlock

@greatstockpicks

@tigerlinetrades

@Mini_Tradez

@stockplaymaker1

@zerohedge

@Ryan__Rigg