InvestingWithBrandon

This is the best argument against covered calls I've ever seen & it's one chart.
$Q is the 100 biggest companies on the Nasdaq.
$QYLD is the exact same 100 companies... but it sells covered calls on them every month for "income."
Same stocks. The only difference is the covered calls.
If you invested $10,000 in each & reinvested all dividends/cash flow:
$10,000 in Q became roughly $66,000.
$10,000 in QYLD became roughly $26,000.
ALL distributions reinvested.
That's what capping your upside costs over a decade.
& when the market dropped, QYLD dropped right along with it. The premium didn't prote

The first 25k is the hardest
but... the first $100k is is a little easier than the first 25k
but... the first $1M is a little easier than the first 100k
but... the first $2M is a little easier than the first 1m
One you get one level the second comes faster
Trust me!

Humans like to have their trade thesis confirmed by the share price immediately mooing higher.
Sometimes that happens, but most of the time it does not...
This again is why i only do 1+ year options at a minimum because timing the market any shorter is VERY hard if not impossible in a consistent way.
This is also why Warren Buffett doesn't play games with short term stuff either...
Zooming out made me millions.

The best stock of a generation fell 94% first. Most people don't know that.
$AMZN, dot com crash. Roughly $113 down to about $5.50 by late 2001.
Down 94%. $100k became ~$6k. & this wasn't some junk startup... it was THE Amazon. The company that went on to change everything.
Two lessons off this one chart & they both matter:
First... even the greatest company in the world can fall 90%+ when you buy it at a bubble price. Amazon the BUSINESS was fine. Amazon at 1999's price was a 13 year mistake. This is why I stress the importance of valuations so much.
Second... the people who actually got rich

Retail investor: Nike $NKE just hit a 52 week low. That's gotta be a steal at these prices.
Me: Maybe. Let's actually check instead of guessing.
Retail investor: It's Nike. Everybody knows Nike.
Me: Brand recognition doesn't matter... Pull up the earnings. Are profits growing or shrinking over the last few years?
Retail investor: ...I don't actually know.
Me: That's the whole question. A falling price with growing profits is a dip. A falling price with falling profits is a company in trouble...
Retail investor: So a 52 week low means nothing by itself?
Me: Nothing. It's a price, not a value. W

Retail investor: I've been investing 5 years & I'm barely up. Starting to think this doesn't work.
Me: What have you been doing?
Retail investor: Bit of everything. Swing trades, some options, a few stocks people were hyping.
Me: So 5 years of trying to beat the market by being "ACTIVE."
Retail investor: Yeah pretty much.
Me: & what did plain $Q do over those same 5 years?
Retail investor: ...way better than me.
Me: So the market worked fine. The activity/strategy is what didn't.
Retail investor: That's kind of depressing.
Me: It's actually the good news. You don't need more skill. You need to

Retail investor: I've got $300k in the Nasdaq $Q. Honestly that feels like enough. I just let it ride.
Me: You're ahead of almost everyone. You should be proud of yourself!
Retail investor: Then what are you doing that I'm not?
Me: Your $300k does one job. It grows. Mine does two.
Retail investor: What's the second job?
Me: Securing puts. I promise to buy great companies at a discount & someone pays me cash today for the promise.
Retail investor: Do I have to sell my index funds to do that?
Me: Not a share. They keep compounding exactly like they do now. They just also back the trade.
Retail i

Retail investor: I bought $Q right before COVID & panic sold when it crashed. Still makes me sick.
Me: I bought $Q in January 2020 also. Look at those lots.
Retail investor: ...those are all up over 200%.
Me: Yea... just the ones in this screenshot made me about $40,000
Retail investor: So the only difference is I sold.
Me: That's the only difference. You didn't pick wrong. You didn't time it wrong. You just reacted when it made sense to do nothing & actually even allocate more...
Retail investor: It felt like the world was ending.
Me: It always does at the bottom. That's what a bottom feels l

Retail investor: How much cash do you keep on hand to secure all your puts?
Me: Here's my cash balance.
Retail investor: ...that can't be right. You make $25k a month selling puts.
Me: That's right. Cash isn't what secures them.
Retail investor: Then what does?
Me: My shares of $VOO + $Q + Elite companies. The broker just needs to know something covers the sold puts. Shares work.
Retail investor: So your shares are compounding AND securing the trades?
Me: Every day. Cash secured sellers park a mountain of money that earns nothing for months... if not years. This is where the portfolio secured

Retail investor: I could never hold through a real crash. I'd fold.
Me: You know $META fell from $382 to $89, right? Late 2021 to November 2022.
Retail investor: I remember. Everyone said the company was finished.
Me: 77% down. "Zuckerberg burned it all on the metaverse." Headlines were brutal. & at $89... would YOU have bought?
Retail investor: Honestly? No shot. It felt like it was going to zero.
Me: That's the thing. It was still printing billions in profit at $89. The fundamental BUSINESS value wasn't down 77%... the share price was. Very different... Price fell way below fair value.
Retai

Imagine a guy who knocks on your door every single day offering to buy your house.
Monday: "I'll give you $500k!"
Tuesday: "Actually... $430k."
Wednesday: "MARKET'S CRASHING. $350k, final offer!"
Thursday: "Never mind. $520k."
Same house. Nothing changed. He's just manic.
You'd never let that lunatic decide what your house is worth...
But that's EXACTLY what people do with stocks.
The price on your screen is just Mr. Market's mood that day... not what the company is worth.
The earnings decide what it's worth. His panic prices are just offers.
& when he shows up terrified offering me a great co